FILM 8
Misguided loyalty looks for one thing.
Destruction.
DO NOT DISTURB
You’re on sick leave.
I was discharged.
I’m on vacation.
Does your papa know where you’re spending your vacation?
I don’t report to my father.
You’re right, about the gun.
I wasn’t prepared.
When I was lying there in the trunk--
with my hands tied, choking-- I made myself a promise.
If I get out of this, I won’t let it happen again.
Ever again.
Teach me.
What?
How not to be a victim.
Come here.
Come, come.
Come here.
Come on.
Go on.
You wanted lessons. Here’s your first:
Always expect an attack.
-Do you understand? -Yes!
The second: Don’t wait for them to return.
Striking from behind is an advantage.
Third: Never attack without a weapon.
-You’re against weapons! -You don’t listen well.
I’m against the handgun. It’s your enemy, not your ally.
You worry about it, but it doesn’t worry about you. Got it?
I got it!
Use what you have on hand.
You get it.
Do you feel it?
I love you.
Do you know what mole syndrome is?
I took a course in strategic psychology.
Mole syndrome
is the danger of a double agent losing his frame of reference.
It’s based on a paradox.
In order to work effectively undercover, you have to adopt your enemy’s values.
The danger is that those values may replace the agent’s own,
so you need to know how to not cross the line.
And you don’t think that, at some point, you crossed the line?
NIZHNY NOVGOROD
The ninth one already.
The whole city is going crazy.
The girls are young, lovely.
The examiner says that she wasn’t stabbed with a knife, but some pointed tool.
Who do you have to be to do that? Thirty stab wounds.
Thirty-seven.
Screwdriver.
What are you writing?
Her arms are folded, like for a funeral.
Posing victims like that signifies remorse.
-I learned that in criminology. -There’s no remorse.
This is part of his memory, something very personal.
Pick a bouquet of flowers.
Pick a bouquet.
Animal. How can these people walk the earth?
He’s not an animal. He’s Nikolaich, your neighbor.
What neighbor? I don’t have a neighbor named Nikolaich.
Well, did you pick the bouquet?
Who do you play checkers with? Who do you have a beer with?
Petrovich? Ionich?
Excuse me, my dear.
Come here. What do you see?
Mine are long, and hers…
This is how women pick flowers.
Then you prune them to fit the vase. They’re all one length.
And this is what his hands did. Now that’s interesting.
So you mean to say he was picking flowers with her?
MOSS HILLS STATION
All the victims studied or worked in Nizhny.
They all took the train.
They got off, and that’s it.
A local saw the next-to-last victim get into a car.
The car was blue.
The driver was…
-What? -Well, like so.
Wearing pants.
Don’t talk like that.
We checked all the gypsy cabs.
It’s like this with us.
Half the town works in Novgorod.
They come back here to sleep.
The station is five miles from the city.
Buses rarely come.
Gypsy cabs will take you for 50 rubles.
I’ve talked with everyone. I even banned the gypsy cabs.
The people are starting to get aggravated.
Then I sent for some girls from the police academy.
They dressed up like students
and got on the train three stations away from us.
-For three months and-- -He didn’t bite?
No.
And we’re just… burying girls.
I said he’s an animal!
Take a closer look at your neighbor what’s-his-name.
Can you get him drunk?
What a sober person has on his mind, a drunk locks in his trunk.
Are you still putting the bunnies out there?
-Who? -The girls on the train.
In vain.
You’re our only hope.
-Why didn’t he bite? -He saw the fisherman.
There you go.
Papa! Pop!
Why are you sleeping so long?
Good morning!
Exactly.
Make us some coffee. Pop!
Will you buy me a ring?
Mom has a lot.
And a lot of necklaces. I don’t have any!
Yes, of course…
But, my daughter, I’m not a billionaire like Abramovich,
just a plain cab driver called Andriyevich.
But I’ll buy you one, of course. Absolutely.
Of course I’ll buy you one.
MOSS HILLS
How much to take me to Blukher?
I’m not going anywhere right now. I’m waiting on a client.
-Can you drop me along the way? -Are you deaf? Get out of here!
-You jackass! -Go on, go on.
Young lady, did you have an accident?
Your eyes are sparkling. When is the wedding?
-In two weeks. -Let me help you. Are you… Thank you.
-…psychic? -No.
I’ll let you in on a terrible secret. I’m not a psychic.
I’m a cab driver.
So why is that a secret?
Because of the killer. They’re chasing the cabbies out of town.
You can’t give any rides. It’s prohibited
If that lowlife had caught you, he’d strangle you with his bare hands.
How much to Kirov, the corner of Chkalov?
My car’s only worth a kopeck.
So I’ll take you for a kopeck.
But seriously?
Well, of course, I need the money. But I won’t take more than 50 rubles.
And save your feet! You have to dance at your wedding!
-Get in. -Thank you.
This is for you.
It’s a joke. It’s for my wife, for her birthday.
We checked her purse.
No ID. Just a phone.
We called the last number dialed. Looks like her boyfriend.
We asked him to identify the body.
Let me go!
A friend of yours?
My fiancée.
Your fiancée? Did you love her?
If you loved her, calm down and look carefully.
If you see anything unusual, you’ll help us catch this bastard.
Let him go. Look.
No, I can’t.
-Look. -Don’t you understand?
Look, look, look.
What do you see?
Her ring is gone.
What’d you say?
Her ring is gone.
I gave her a ring. Our wedding is in two weeks.
-What kind of ring is it? -Silver.
Good job. We’re going. Come.
The ring is missing.
He takes their things, rapes them, then kills them.
What’s most important to him?
Combining business with pleasure.
But mainly pleasure.
We caught the creep.
What?
We detained him at the train station. No documents, dirty, covered in blood.
We interrogated him, and he admitted to it.
Did he admit to all the murders?
No, just the one. Here.
As a matter a fact, it’s him.
Repeat what you told me!
-Wow! -There you have it.
It looks like your killer is blind.
Is he a rare type? Did he sniff out the victim with his nose?
What do you mean blind?
How did he confess?
Did you hit him or something?
I hit him once, well, for good measure!
He’ll confess to everything. Why don’t you ask him?
Interrogation is a joy. Yeah?
-What’s your name? -Mikhail.
Mikhail, go out into the hall. They’re waiting for you.
Whose move?
Misha’s.
I’ll play for him.
-Well, did you kill her? -Yes.
-With an ax? -Yes.
-Cut her into pieces? -Yes.
-Did you like it? -Yes.
Excellent, you get a cookie.
What cookie? He identified the location, described everything in detail.
-His hands are bloody! -He found the victim. He wanted to help.
He needs to go to the hospital.
You ought to, as well, but you’re healthy.
-They don’t take healthy people, do they? -What?
Why are you standing there? Help him!
You’re quick to take him. Maybe he’ll still see.
Major, shall we finish?
Help me!
Who do you see there?
Come on! Hurry! What’s there?
MUNICIPAL HOSPITAL No. 5
Four holes in her lungs.
Go on. Later, later.
I don’t understand how she survived.
You have two minutes.
Look at this, please.
Hello, my dear.
If you want to say “yes,” squeeze my hand.
Just don’t break it. You’re very strong. Understand?
Excellent. Tell me, please.
They found blood on your lips.
And your lips and teeth are whole.
I know I’m right to assume you’re smart.
You bit him, right?
Good job!
I didn’t get that. Say it again.
Flowers.
Flowers. What about flowers?
…flowers.
I don’t understand. One more time.
-In the car. -There are flowers in his car?
Excellent!
My clever girl, I promise you, before they fix you up here,
I’ll show him to you.
Agreed?
Don’t you worry. And don’t go dancing without me.
All right?
That’s all. Rest. Get better.
Let’s go.
Look.
You’re finished. We’re already here. We know everything. You have a wife, kids.
What’ll happen to them? We can catch you any second.
Keep watch. Those two. That’s us.
I can’t understand.
-What? -There’s a killer in town.
Everyone knows this, yet they still get in his car.
Well, everyone has their own method.
See you tomorrow.
What’s wrong?
Something’s wrong with me.
And what’s wrong with your hand?
It’s nothing.
You need to go to the doctor.
No, I need some peppered vodka.
Hello, Zhorik! I thought for a long time and couldn’t decide how to tell you.
I found someone else. We’re getting married soon.
Because of that chick?
Girls like her need to hang themselves.
Correct him.
Zhor.
Let’s go to sleep.
I’ll sit here a bit longer and then come in.
Did you like the ring?
It’s pretty.
Only it’s a little worn. What’d you do, buy it off someone’s hand?
Polish it, and it’ll be like new.
MOSCOW
Semyon Arkadyevich, Alexander Tikhonov, Investigative Committee.
I can’t find you.
Yes, I see.
WATCH REPAIR - OPEN
Hello.
Volodya gave this to me.
Imagine what kind of talent this guy had.
He didn’t have any patterns.
Nothing.
He saw the picture in a magazine
and did it from the picture.
Golden hands indeed.
Yes, golden.
Semyon Arkadyevich, tell me.
You said on the phone that you often visited Vladimir, right?
What do you call “often”?
He was completely alone.
Even when he was married.
He was obsessed with her.
And when she left…
I started to feel sorry for him. I thought he’d hurt himself.
We crossed paths in our modeling club.
And then I started visiting him.
To chat, to support him.
Tell me. Besides you, did anyone come to see him?
Well, no. Only some guy.
So, what guy?
I didn’t understand myself whether he was a disciple or a prophet.
A prophet?
They sat and talked for hours.
I said, “Volodya, what are you talking about?”
And he said, “Life.”
Well, what’s it to me if took his mind off things?
It’s better to be in a cult than a noose.
Yes, I agree. Do you remember what he looked like?
Yeah, like you.
Same height, same age.
Could we come by in a few days and have you sit with a sketch artist?
-If you must. -Excellent. Thank you.
Good-bye!
Good-bye.
FLOWERS
What kind of bouquet do you want, sir?
Does your daughter have some kind of event?
An event for her? Yeah. Every day with me, right?
That doesn’t even describe it, my dear.
-It was for murder. -What?
You served time for murder?
What is this, a joke?
Murder isn’t a joke.
You know what the situation is here.
Girls are being killed left and right.
How did you slip under the radar? I can’t wrap my head around it.
A normal man is plagued by boredom. Our kind by despair.
Those who have killed already, who have tried it, are beyond despair.
A gray, thick blanket covers them, because they’re cold.
For you.
Thanks.
You need to pay for it. Let’s talk.
I served my tenner.
I was young.
I was drunk and stabbed my wife.
Jealousy.
I came back. Every week, I bring flowers to her grave.
-Buying your way out of it? -Buying my way out.
And I remind myself.
I’d sooner hurt myself than lay my hands on someone else.
Never again.
Twenty years on the straight and narrow.
You’re a rare person, Arsen.
Even for a wife who’s still alive to get such treatment-- flowers every week--
you hardly ever see that.
-And you do this for your dead wife. -Arsen, do you have any regular customers?
Someone who buys flowers once a week or more.
No. No buyers.
The cabbie that gives me a ride takes the remainders to his wife.
Every day, he takes me to and from work, and my merchandise.
I don’t have a car.
And I give him a bouquet for that.
His wife lucked out. You’re a romantic, Zhora.
Zhora.
Do you know who the killer is?
You asked why they would get in his car.
He has flowers, you clever girl. Flowers in his front seat.
“Get in. I’ll tidy that up.
I buy flowers for my wife every day.
Fifteen years of marriage and I still love her. Can you blame me?”
-How could you not ride with him? -How’d you learn his name?
Glukhoi ran some lists.
Which of the locals prowls the streets boldly and more often than the others?
Glukhoi found out who had a blue car.
Georgy Andriyevich-- a good guy, a cabbie.
-Wife, daughter-- cute as a button. -And why didn’t you tell me?
Why are you making a fool out of me?
I’m telling you now.
So now we can bring him in?
How?
He doesn’t leave evidence.
It’s unlikely we’ll find something.
With a good lawyer, he’ll be out in three days.
Been getting a tan?
Yeah. There are no buses.
Where are we going?
-To the city. -Let me take you.
Get in.
-Give me your bags. -There you go.
You have a wife.
Look how beautiful it is! What an amazing field!
You live here your whole life and don’t know there’s such a beautiful field here.
Let’s stop.
Look. Get out. See how beautiful it is?
Look.
Flowers. Look.
Well?
Your whole life, you don’t notice. Look!
Look how pretty it is!
Well? Look!
-Kill him! -You don’t understand.
I do that when there’s no way out or no road back.
Who’s he going to hurt now?
They were 17, 19, 20-- all younger than me.
Kill him and I’ll buy you a cactus!
I’m begging you. You’re not animals. How do you know if we’re animals or not?
-Get in. -I have a daughter!
-You don’t have to! -You don’t have one anymore.
Kill him.
Help me, someone. Help me.
-Keep walking. -Help me, please.
Help me. God, it’s so painful.
-What happened? -We came to visit a patient.
-Help me. -Here. -Don’t kill me. -Come on.
-Don’t kill me. -Quiet.
Hello, my dear.
I promised you. Here he is.
-Help the man. -I can’t see anything.
-You can listen to local radio. -I don’t see anything.
This is the deal.
We’ll give you and your daughter a new name.
Then we’ll take you to a new city.
Till then, you’ll stay with us.
Come on, quickly!
Mama!
Why did you turn him over to them?
So he can rest up while serving his life sentence?
Rest up?
Death isn’t always a punishment.
His whole life…
he’ll sit in a cage and stare into the dark.
What do you think? What’s worse-- that or death?
Again without calling?
This is becoming a habit.
You know, recently I found out…
that I can’t even make small talk with anyone.
I’m a sociopath.
Welcome to the club.
No, seriously.
Anulya’s gone.
Things are difficult with Papa.
I don’t even want to talk to Sasha. He whines about everything.
I can only talk to you.
Do you understand?
We’re the same somehow.
And how is Meglin?
Wonderful and terrible?
I don’t want to talk about him.
So we’ll only talk about what you want to talk about.
And then, if you want to, you’ll fuck me.
You won’t actually stay the night. Other stuff to do, right? I tell you, you understand everything.
Listen, what am I to you?
What am I to you?
911?
A dildo? A salve for your horniness?
-You started to have feelings for him! -Don’t talk nonsense.
If you have problems with him, go and work them out with him!
Why the hell did you drag me into this shit?
I’m not your mama. And I’m not your friend, damn it.
Is that clear?
You shouldn’t have mentioned Mama.
But you’re right about the rest.
Time for you to go.
Seriously?
Bye.
I could smell you from out there.
Did you drink too much?
By the way, I also had some snacks.
So you really shouldn’t-- shouldn’t count on it.
Yeah, I didn’t count on it anyway.
But do you know why… I came over?
You need more booze?
Be quiet, okay?
It really becomes you when you’re quiet.
Why’d you come over?
Yeah, I forgot.
You’re a monk.
You know what?
You’ve given me the runaround so long that now I need answers.
You want some? Come on, come on.
Come on. The answers.
What’s this?
These are all our kind.
So that means these are all your people.
How many are there?
Enough to fill up a small town.
So, 24 years ago,
your father was the lead investigator in the Olga Berestova case.
A very beautiful woman.
She was raped by someone within the agency.
And after developing PTSD, she had a desire for revenge.
She wanted to kill the guy who did all of this to her.
She found him by herself
and killed him, slowly.
Over two days.
Then she killed a second guy that looked like him.
That was just the beginning.
This desire turned into a bloody mania… for revenge.
They sentenced her to death.
But your father insisted that a second evaluation be performed.
She was found criminally insane.
Following that…
they started making noise about the Krasnoyarsk Killer.
When we got involved with the case, he’d already racked up 42 bodies.
By the time we caught him…
two suspects were shot, mistakenly,
and the third hung himself in his cell.
Hold on. You said “we.”
We-- your father and I.
You worked with my father?
We still work together. He’s my connection.
I don’t have a phone, and I need a connection.
So here’s the thing. We couldn’t pin anything on the Krasnoyarsk Killer.
We had to release him.
The higher-ups put on the pressure. They needed a fall guy.
Then your father remembered Berestova and pinned all the murders on her.
And what happened to the killer?
He turned into a cactus.
But you know that’s not all of it.
Ask your father.
Why.… did my father
demand a second evaluation?
Is she here?
-Should I wake her? -No, let her sleep.
Give me a smoke, huh?
-You quit. -Well, yeah.
Do you know where I messed up?
At some point, I thought we were friends.
After everything we’ve been through.
But you don’t have friends.
You don’t have human emotions.
You’re different.
Tomorrow, you’ll tell her the training is over and send her home.
Andrei.
She doesn’t listen to her own father.
Why do you think my words will have some kind of effect?
I don’t care how you do it.
Come up with something. You’re the genius.
And if I don’t?
Don’t repeat my mistake.
Don’t think that we’re friends.
Go ahead and talk a bit about Olga Berestova.
Pardon me. Who?
Olga Berestova.
I don’t know who you’re talking about.
This the first I’ve heard that name.
Did we really mix something up? It’s not likely.
I don’t know.
It’s natural to make mistakes.
He simply nods his head, and the tiger immediately obeys him.
There were times when they fought off these predators as a team.
MOSCOW
THE CIRCUS IGOR AND IRINA BORISYUK
…he assures us that he feels more comfortable in a cage with predators
than out on the streets today. Subtitle translation by Amelia Wolford