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Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 0 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,000 Downloaded From www.AllSubs.org 1 00:00:05,638 --> 00:00:08,835 In association with 2 00:00:09,809 --> 00:00:11,970 present 3 00:00:12,612 --> 00:00:15,479 "It is not the literal past that rules us: 4 00:00:15,648 --> 00:00:19,209 "It is images of the past." George Steiner 5 00:01:33,460 --> 00:01:38,090 THE LAST BOLSHEVIK 6 00:01:40,066 --> 00:01:41,192 PART 1 7 00:01:41,367 --> 00:01:44,359 A KINGDOM OF SHADOWS 8 00:01:46,573 --> 00:01:50,805 FIRST LETTER 9 00:04:52,925 --> 00:04:57,055 We made this mask in 88 for a party. 10 00:05:00,133 --> 00:05:04,968 It's an exact replica of the masks he used in Happiness. 11 00:05:05,138 --> 00:05:08,835 Only Medvedkin could come up with this idea. 12 00:05:09,309 --> 00:05:14,542 Alexander Ivanovich had... a certain quality. 13 00:05:18,751 --> 00:05:21,777 A rare individual extravagance... 14 00:05:21,954 --> 00:05:24,149 Whatever project he was working on, 15 00:05:24,390 --> 00:05:29,657 he always approached it from an angle different to ours. 16 00:05:32,065 --> 00:05:36,229 As an artist, he was quite typical, a product of his time, even. 17 00:05:40,473 --> 00:05:43,271 But his destiny wasn't typical at all. 18 00:05:43,710 --> 00:05:47,908 His biography is full of blank pages. 19 00:05:48,281 --> 00:05:52,741 When the Civil War was on, he took part in the Civil War. 20 00:05:53,586 --> 00:05:57,545 During the period of building, 21 00:05:57,724 --> 00:06:01,751 he'd be on the building sites, or reclaiming virgin lands. 22 00:06:03,496 --> 00:06:07,159 Whatever happened in our country, 23 00:06:07,500 --> 00:06:11,368 he'd always be at the epicentre. 24 00:06:11,671 --> 00:06:15,038 On the one hand, Medvedkin, the man, is outside time. 25 00:06:15,208 --> 00:06:20,475 On the other hand, his own time has left very distinct marks on him. 26 00:06:21,748 --> 00:06:25,548 He's like a big tree with its growth rings 27 00:06:25,718 --> 00:06:31,020 and its bark marked by the carvings of passers-by. 28 00:06:32,658 --> 00:06:34,421 That's why he's so dear to me. 29 00:06:34,627 --> 00:06:38,654 We always assumed, having been shaped by Brezhnev, 30 00:06:38,831 --> 00:06:42,028 that talent and ideology didn't mix. 31 00:06:42,368 --> 00:06:46,600 And that's what first shocked me on meeting Medvedkin: 32 00:06:46,939 --> 00:06:51,672 Realising that talent and ideology 33 00:06:51,844 --> 00:06:53,709 could co-exist. 34 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:55,575 In this, Medvedkin was unique. 35 00:06:55,982 --> 00:06:58,974 I can assure you of one thing: 36 00:06:59,152 --> 00:07:01,450 He was the favourite 37 00:07:01,888 --> 00:07:05,415 of film-makers of the old generation: 38 00:07:05,725 --> 00:07:06,623 Dovzhenko, 39 00:07:06,859 --> 00:07:08,383 Pudovkin, 40 00:07:08,761 --> 00:07:09,989 Raizman... 41 00:07:10,296 --> 00:07:13,959 Medvedkin had a tragic career. 42 00:07:20,773 --> 00:07:23,003 His very first film was never shown. 43 00:07:23,176 --> 00:07:25,872 Every film he made since then 44 00:07:26,379 --> 00:07:28,745 was admired by fellow film-makers 45 00:07:28,915 --> 00:07:30,678 but was never screened publicly. 46 00:07:31,117 --> 00:07:33,108 Because of this legend, 47 00:07:33,453 --> 00:07:36,286 Medvedkin was to be rediscovered time and again. 48 00:07:36,556 --> 00:07:39,616 And each time, the discovery was a sensation 49 00:07:39,792 --> 00:07:43,592 because everything he did was so unusual for his time, 50 00:07:43,763 --> 00:07:46,732 stepping beyond all the rules. 51 00:07:47,133 --> 00:07:50,034 His film-making was utterly original, 52 00:07:50,536 --> 00:07:53,699 yet deeply rooted in folk culture. 53 00:07:54,173 --> 00:07:58,234 It was this combination which produced a sense of shock. 54 00:07:58,444 --> 00:08:02,039 That's the usual reaction to his work: 55 00:08:02,215 --> 00:08:03,409 "It was a shock." 56 00:08:03,649 --> 00:08:07,642 I'd never heard of Medvedkin when I was a student at the Film School. 57 00:08:07,820 --> 00:08:10,448 One day, our lecturer, Yureniev, simply showed us a film: 58 00:08:10,690 --> 00:08:12,749 It was Happiness by Medvedkin. 59 00:08:13,159 --> 00:08:15,127 None of us had ever heard about it. 60 00:08:15,695 --> 00:08:19,529 We were spellbound from the start. 61 00:08:20,099 --> 00:08:22,727 We were really elated, 62 00:08:23,069 --> 00:08:28,302 laughing and talking away 63 00:08:29,008 --> 00:08:31,704 all through the projection. 64 00:08:32,044 --> 00:08:37,311 By the end of the screening, we were completely dazzled by it. 65 00:08:37,650 --> 00:08:40,380 It didn't tally at all 66 00:08:40,553 --> 00:08:43,545 with our idea of films in the 30's. 67 00:08:43,890 --> 00:08:48,725 After a reel or two, I felt my mind was refusing to take it in. 68 00:08:49,061 --> 00:08:51,427 Everything was mixed up, topsy-turvy. 69 00:08:51,597 --> 00:08:53,588 It was very strange. 70 00:08:55,902 --> 00:08:58,735 And then I saw something that I'd never seen before. 71 00:08:58,905 --> 00:09:03,365 I'd never believed it possible in Russian movies of the 30's. 72 00:09:03,543 --> 00:09:05,374 It was this scene... 73 00:09:07,413 --> 00:09:09,381 There's never been in Soviet cinema 74 00:09:09,582 --> 00:09:13,484 such an intensely erotic scene. 75 00:09:18,724 --> 00:09:21,784 That was the moment I realised that I loved this film. 76 00:09:22,261 --> 00:09:24,456 When we came out of the film, 77 00:09:26,032 --> 00:09:28,432 we were Medvedkin's enthusiasts. 78 00:09:30,269 --> 00:09:32,703 And we were convinced of two things: 79 00:09:32,872 --> 00:09:36,638 That he was a genius and that he must have been shot after this film. 80 00:09:37,209 --> 00:09:40,110 Only later did I understand his tragedy. 81 00:09:44,750 --> 00:09:47,378 The tragedy of a pure communist 82 00:09:47,653 --> 00:09:50,679 in a world of would-be communists. 83 00:09:50,890 --> 00:09:52,983 He was a harmonious man. 84 00:09:53,326 --> 00:09:56,784 There was this group of film-makers. 85 00:09:57,063 --> 00:10:01,329 And as usual among film-makers, they were forever moaning: 86 00:10:01,500 --> 00:10:05,994 About freedom of expression, about censorship, etc. 87 00:10:06,339 --> 00:10:08,807 And here was this man 88 00:10:08,975 --> 00:10:13,435 who'd been continuously smeared, 89 00:10:13,646 --> 00:10:18,174 always censored, abused, hindered... 90 00:10:18,351 --> 00:10:19,909 Yet he just laughed at his troubles. 91 00:10:20,353 --> 00:10:22,947 He always emanated such a... 92 00:10:23,422 --> 00:10:25,686 such a life-force. 93 00:10:28,628 --> 00:10:31,563 After every discussion with him, 94 00:10:31,731 --> 00:10:34,529 I'd feel as if I had little wings. 95 00:10:41,207 --> 00:10:43,835 Now, when I'm studying his letters, 96 00:10:44,110 --> 00:10:47,102 as I'm going through his archives, 97 00:10:47,279 --> 00:10:49,747 I'm driven on by one question: 98 00:10:49,915 --> 00:10:51,610 What was he like? Who was he? 99 00:10:52,151 --> 00:10:54,676 My father: A Russian peasant. 100 00:10:55,154 --> 00:10:57,349 My grandfather: A peasant. 101 00:10:57,757 --> 00:11:00,089 My great-grandfather: A peasant. 102 00:11:00,860 --> 00:11:04,626 I am a peasant by blood. 103 00:11:05,164 --> 00:11:07,098 This may explain... 104 00:11:08,134 --> 00:11:10,125 touch wood! 105 00:11:11,137 --> 00:11:14,368 ...how I managed to survive 84 years. 106 00:11:14,774 --> 00:11:17,242 And I intend to go on living 107 00:11:17,877 --> 00:11:22,075 for as long as possible. 108 00:11:23,416 --> 00:11:25,145 I don't mean until the 21st century, 109 00:11:25,418 --> 00:11:27,579 but another 5 years would be nice. 110 00:12:06,125 --> 00:12:08,685 This cross had been 111 00:12:09,195 --> 00:12:11,755 since 1894 112 00:12:12,131 --> 00:12:13,120 in the Assumption Cathedral 113 00:12:13,399 --> 00:12:16,163 in the Kremlin. 114 00:12:16,335 --> 00:12:19,463 Lenin ordered its destruction. 115 00:12:19,638 --> 00:12:21,105 But the plinth was saved 116 00:12:21,407 --> 00:12:23,102 and the cross restored. 117 00:12:33,452 --> 00:12:35,682 Their Imperial Highnesses... 118 00:14:59,298 --> 00:15:03,166 (Alexander Ivanovich's daughter) 119 00:15:27,293 --> 00:15:31,593 The village people were amazed. They couldn't believe it. 120 00:15:31,764 --> 00:15:33,493 They pleaded: "Be our priest!" 121 00:15:33,666 --> 00:15:37,124 "But I'm a communist", he said. "We forgive you", they anwsered. 122 00:15:42,074 --> 00:15:44,736 I may be wrong, but this is my theory: 123 00:15:47,313 --> 00:15:51,181 In his youth, or maybe as a child, 124 00:15:51,350 --> 00:15:53,944 Medvedkin was very religious. 125 00:15:54,753 --> 00:15:59,622 And after the Revolution, 126 00:16:00,025 --> 00:16:05,053 he abruptly exchanged one religion for another. 127 00:16:06,098 --> 00:16:11,400 My assumption is that he believed in the ideals of October. 128 00:16:12,271 --> 00:16:17,106 And behind theses ideals was the wish 129 00:16:17,910 --> 00:16:20,470 to bring happiness 130 00:16:20,646 --> 00:16:22,477 to all mankind. 131 00:16:24,350 --> 00:16:26,477 Not today, not tomorrow, 132 00:16:26,852 --> 00:16:28,877 but in a not-too-distant future. 133 00:16:54,413 --> 00:16:56,643 In 1919, I found myself 134 00:16:56,815 --> 00:16:58,305 in the 1st Cavalry Army 135 00:16:58,484 --> 00:16:59,678 under Budyenny. 136 00:17:00,119 --> 00:17:03,088 It was a romantic army 137 00:17:03,422 --> 00:17:05,856 and quite possibly, 138 00:17:06,291 --> 00:17:10,250 it was the most fantastic period of my life. 139 00:17:10,896 --> 00:17:14,024 The Red Cavalry 140 00:17:14,433 --> 00:17:16,196 of the Revolution, 141 00:17:16,502 --> 00:17:19,699 poorly clothed, poorly shod, 142 00:17:20,305 --> 00:17:21,772 but awesome! 143 00:17:22,341 --> 00:17:24,969 He was a Civil War man, 144 00:17:27,946 --> 00:17:30,210 so for him, the Civil War period was sacred. 145 00:17:30,549 --> 00:17:33,643 Later on, that attitude underwent some changes. 146 00:17:33,819 --> 00:17:36,117 But that was his youth, 147 00:17:36,288 --> 00:17:40,918 that was the foundation of his life. 148 00:17:41,093 --> 00:17:44,756 That's how he saw it. 149 00:18:38,450 --> 00:18:41,180 A horse would mount the podium. 150 00:18:41,420 --> 00:18:45,117 He'd be wearing a burka... 151 00:18:47,092 --> 00:18:49,253 That's a Caucasian cape. 152 00:18:49,761 --> 00:18:51,456 The hall is bursting at the seams. 153 00:18:53,732 --> 00:18:56,098 And the podium is made up 154 00:18:56,301 --> 00:18:58,098 of horses, only horses. 155 00:19:00,172 --> 00:19:02,367 The speaker is a horse. 156 00:19:03,475 --> 00:19:06,069 In front of him, instead of a jug, 157 00:19:06,245 --> 00:19:07,803 there is a stable bucket. 158 00:19:08,247 --> 00:19:12,684 As he gets nervous, he dips his head into it. 159 00:19:13,152 --> 00:19:15,586 He drinks and resumes 160 00:19:16,755 --> 00:19:18,052 his speech. 161 00:19:18,223 --> 00:19:19,747 The military crowd the hall. 162 00:19:20,125 --> 00:19:22,719 The horses report on the men. 163 00:19:22,895 --> 00:19:24,192 The speaker says: 164 00:19:24,463 --> 00:19:27,364 "My master is merciless. 165 00:19:27,733 --> 00:19:29,701 "At night, 166 00:19:29,935 --> 00:19:31,095 "the platoon leader, Ivanov, 167 00:19:31,270 --> 00:19:32,635 "jumps on the saddle 168 00:19:32,804 --> 00:19:36,934 "and off he rides to visit his girlfriend. 169 00:19:37,476 --> 00:19:39,137 "He spends the night having fun 170 00:19:39,411 --> 00:19:40,400 "while I shiver 171 00:19:40,746 --> 00:19:42,236 "in the chilly wind. 172 00:19:42,848 --> 00:19:45,214 "Isn't it true, Comrade Ivanov?" 173 00:19:46,752 --> 00:19:49,084 Comrade Ivanov is in the hall: 174 00:19:50,155 --> 00:19:52,680 "No... I mean, yes..." 175 00:19:53,158 --> 00:19:55,353 We had planted accomplices, 176 00:19:55,761 --> 00:19:59,094 that is actors, 177 00:19:59,431 --> 00:20:03,731 who helped get Comrade Ivanov 178 00:20:04,169 --> 00:20:05,363 deeper and deeper into trouble. 179 00:20:05,737 --> 00:20:07,261 It provided a whole interlude: 180 00:20:07,439 --> 00:20:08,770 "Did you really? How? 181 00:20:09,474 --> 00:20:11,101 "Who was she, then?" 182 00:20:11,743 --> 00:20:12,641 "Er... Eudoxia." 183 00:20:13,145 --> 00:20:15,079 "Eudoxia? But she's mine! 184 00:20:15,247 --> 00:20:17,272 "How dare you! You'll pay for this!" 185 00:20:17,616 --> 00:20:20,016 That's the spirit Medvedkin 186 00:20:20,185 --> 00:20:23,552 was to try and infuse into films all his life. 187 00:21:28,820 --> 00:21:34,053 He'd remained great friends with many of his old cavalry comrades. 188 00:21:38,130 --> 00:21:40,690 (Isaac Babel's wife) 189 00:21:41,667 --> 00:21:44,534 When we went to Kiev, 190 00:21:44,936 --> 00:21:47,131 he insisted we went to see 191 00:21:47,306 --> 00:21:49,774 the Great Lavra monastery and its caves. 192 00:21:49,941 --> 00:21:52,341 We were escorted 193 00:21:53,078 --> 00:21:57,777 by a cavalry veteran. 194 00:21:58,183 --> 00:22:00,947 The man was working for the NKVD 195 00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:04,520 and was one of Babel's "battle mates". 196 00:22:04,856 --> 00:22:08,917 He was showing us round 197 00:22:09,094 --> 00:22:13,861 telling us how they'd come across a whole hoard of diamonds. 198 00:22:14,032 --> 00:22:16,227 "How did you find it?" I asked. 199 00:22:16,401 --> 00:22:20,565 "Did you tap the walls to find hollow hiding places?" 200 00:22:20,739 --> 00:22:25,574 "No", he said. "We tapped the friars!" 201 00:22:25,744 --> 00:22:30,477 They would detain the monks, take them to the NKVD 202 00:22:30,649 --> 00:22:35,143 and make them reveal where the diamonds were hidden. 203 00:23:39,284 --> 00:23:44,586 Woe betide Russia 204 00:23:45,757 --> 00:23:49,420 Weep, weep 205 00:23:49,761 --> 00:23:54,061 Russian people 206 00:23:54,232 --> 00:23:57,724 Weep, hungry people 207 00:24:02,107 --> 00:24:06,305 SECOND LETTER 208 00:24:13,151 --> 00:24:16,086 Medvedkin's voice (1985) 209 00:24:19,157 --> 00:24:23,093 People now forget 210 00:24:23,428 --> 00:24:28,092 that around 1921-22, 211 00:24:28,266 --> 00:24:32,134 things were quite different from the way they are now. 212 00:24:32,437 --> 00:24:34,701 The country was in ruins, 213 00:24:35,774 --> 00:24:38,174 people were worn out, 214 00:24:38,410 --> 00:24:39,399 the male population 215 00:24:40,312 --> 00:24:42,246 had been decimated 216 00:24:42,447 --> 00:24:44,005 by the Civil War. 217 00:24:45,150 --> 00:24:46,640 There was no bread. 218 00:24:46,818 --> 00:24:47,842 Industry 219 00:24:48,753 --> 00:24:49,981 had been destroyed. 220 00:24:50,155 --> 00:24:51,952 The transport system didn't work. 221 00:24:54,159 --> 00:24:55,683 On top of that, 222 00:24:55,861 --> 00:24:59,092 the First World War 223 00:24:59,798 --> 00:25:01,698 had brought up a generation 224 00:25:01,867 --> 00:25:03,061 of illiterate people. 225 00:25:04,202 --> 00:25:05,999 We got recruits 226 00:25:08,173 --> 00:25:09,697 who were illiterate. 227 00:25:09,875 --> 00:25:11,240 We taught them to read. 228 00:25:11,409 --> 00:25:13,639 His theatre was popular with the army. 229 00:25:13,879 --> 00:25:14,868 As a result, 230 00:25:15,213 --> 00:25:19,775 he was made a member of the Red Army leadership 231 00:25:23,021 --> 00:25:25,080 in charge of Propaganda. 232 00:25:25,457 --> 00:25:28,688 He was in charge of Propaganda for the whole Soviet Army. 233 00:25:28,860 --> 00:25:32,728 Today, his rank would be equivalent to that of colonel 234 00:25:32,898 --> 00:25:35,492 or even general. 235 00:25:35,734 --> 00:25:37,702 They stuck two diamonds 236 00:25:37,869 --> 00:25:40,702 on my epaulettes, a general rank, 237 00:25:40,872 --> 00:25:43,170 but I ditched it for the cinema. 238 00:26:21,212 --> 00:26:24,545 He wanted to make films for the soldiers. 239 00:26:25,850 --> 00:26:30,287 They were simple, straightforward, 10 or 20 minutes long, 240 00:26:30,455 --> 00:26:33,982 intended to be shown with a feature film. 241 00:26:34,926 --> 00:26:39,761 He had to give up his high rank but that didn't stop him. 242 00:26:39,998 --> 00:26:43,593 He told me that when he was developing the negative, 243 00:26:43,768 --> 00:26:47,636 he burst into tears when the first two shots he stuck together 244 00:26:47,939 --> 00:26:51,705 appeared on the screen and made meaningful and eloquent sense. 245 00:30:20,718 --> 00:30:23,016 I saw Battleship Potemkin in Germany 246 00:30:25,623 --> 00:30:27,318 when I was about 10. 247 00:32:28,313 --> 00:32:32,511 Preserving the past is a moral duty. 248 00:32:32,684 --> 00:32:36,882 We live in filthy times but life may improve in 20-30 years. 249 00:32:37,221 --> 00:32:42,090 And then people may want to know how we used to live. 250 00:32:42,427 --> 00:32:47,228 Then they'll have these relics which I've so carefully preserved. 251 00:32:56,741 --> 00:32:59,005 And I, with my little contraption... 252 00:33:04,949 --> 00:33:07,884 - That's enough now! - No, a real shot! 253 00:33:08,653 --> 00:33:10,518 That's a lovely shot! 254 00:33:20,598 --> 00:33:25,661 It felt as if a great big wave like a gigantic torrent 255 00:33:25,837 --> 00:33:28,067 had knocked down the ramparts 256 00:33:28,239 --> 00:33:32,938 and swept the Soviet Union as the Revolution erupted. 257 00:33:33,111 --> 00:33:36,512 The Civil War was hardly over 258 00:33:36,681 --> 00:33:40,811 and already we saw the birth of a new kind of theatre 259 00:33:40,985 --> 00:33:43,249 and a new kind of theatre artist. 260 00:33:43,588 --> 00:33:48,685 People like Meyerhold, like Vakhtangov, 261 00:33:48,860 --> 00:33:50,157 or Eisenstein. 262 00:34:09,113 --> 00:34:12,708 He was all for Meyerhold's style. 263 00:34:13,217 --> 00:34:16,414 The spontaneity of folk theatre, of farce, of the circus. 264 00:34:16,921 --> 00:34:19,583 Both were true communists 265 00:34:19,757 --> 00:34:24,126 and passionate about propagating new ideas. 266 00:34:24,462 --> 00:34:27,954 But that by no means stopped them 267 00:34:28,132 --> 00:34:30,600 from using satire 268 00:34:30,768 --> 00:34:33,635 and feeding it to their audience by the trough. 269 00:35:10,408 --> 00:35:12,103 Come right in, tovarich! 270 00:36:14,438 --> 00:36:16,906 Vertov used to say: 271 00:36:17,074 --> 00:36:18,473 "When you are shooting..." 272 00:36:20,011 --> 00:36:23,913 He saw fiction film as the enemy. 273 00:36:24,182 --> 00:36:25,581 He always said: 274 00:36:25,783 --> 00:36:29,549 "You have to show life as it is." 275 00:36:31,856 --> 00:36:33,084 "The truth of life." 276 00:36:33,257 --> 00:36:37,250 That was the term he used, "the truth of life." 277 00:36:37,428 --> 00:36:41,797 He used to say: "You capture news in 3 stages." 278 00:36:41,966 --> 00:36:44,457 The event itself: That's one! 279 00:36:44,802 --> 00:36:48,431 Absorbing it mentally in a flash: Two! 280 00:36:48,673 --> 00:36:49,901 Pressing the button: Three! 281 00:36:50,074 --> 00:36:54,033 If you can, within 2-3 seconds, execute this triangle, 282 00:36:54,278 --> 00:36:57,247 then, you have the know-how 283 00:36:57,415 --> 00:36:59,713 of a true "chronicler". 284 00:39:38,008 --> 00:39:40,738 What the Bolshevik regime leaves behind 285 00:42:01,986 --> 00:42:05,353 THIRD LETTER 286 00:42:07,925 --> 00:42:10,894 Sasha really liked me. 287 00:42:14,565 --> 00:42:17,693 We'd started together in the same studio, 288 00:42:17,868 --> 00:42:20,336 the Army studio. 289 00:42:21,205 --> 00:42:24,834 Then he told me: "I must travel across the country, 290 00:42:25,009 --> 00:42:28,035 "the better to show it, and know it." 291 00:42:28,212 --> 00:42:31,409 And so he set up his train. 292 00:42:31,582 --> 00:42:33,777 He'd always had the idea of a train, he said. 293 00:42:33,984 --> 00:42:35,713 What's the film-train? 294 00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:40,086 It's something unique in film history. 295 00:43:01,645 --> 00:43:05,308 That's Alexander Ivanovich's desk and his photograph, 296 00:43:05,549 --> 00:43:08,074 taken in France in 1971. 297 00:43:11,322 --> 00:43:14,723 It wasn't easy 298 00:43:15,159 --> 00:43:17,719 setting up a film studio 299 00:43:17,895 --> 00:43:20,420 inside train carriages. 300 00:43:21,198 --> 00:43:22,130 But... 301 00:43:23,300 --> 00:43:25,131 we were young 302 00:43:25,469 --> 00:43:29,769 and we were intrigued by the idea 303 00:43:29,940 --> 00:43:33,000 of pulling the studio off its stone foundations 304 00:43:33,177 --> 00:43:36,169 and resetting it in a train car. 305 00:43:37,715 --> 00:43:39,808 This is a reproduction of the train 306 00:43:39,984 --> 00:43:43,511 made to the exact specifications of Alexander Ivanovich's blue-print. 307 00:43:43,721 --> 00:43:47,680 Every detail follows his instructions to the letter. 308 00:43:47,891 --> 00:43:51,554 He'd been a railwayman in his youth, so it was all very precise. 309 00:43:51,795 --> 00:43:52,693 We took 310 00:43:52,863 --> 00:43:54,854 three passenger carriages, 311 00:43:55,466 --> 00:43:59,800 we removed the seats and all the fittings, 312 00:44:00,204 --> 00:44:02,172 to free as much space as possible, 313 00:44:02,539 --> 00:44:05,804 and then we installed the essential equipment. 314 00:44:07,344 --> 00:44:11,804 The essential thing in a film studio 315 00:44:11,982 --> 00:44:15,418 is the laboratory. 316 00:44:15,786 --> 00:44:17,447 So half the carriage... 317 00:44:17,788 --> 00:44:19,688 (our carriages were larger 318 00:44:19,890 --> 00:44:22,120 than the French ones) 319 00:44:23,260 --> 00:44:24,659 Half the carriage 320 00:44:25,195 --> 00:44:26,457 was turned into a film laboratory. 321 00:44:27,297 --> 00:44:30,630 Here, the films were developed and here, they made prints. 322 00:44:31,001 --> 00:44:32,400 The other half of the carriage 323 00:44:32,803 --> 00:44:34,327 was turned into 324 00:44:34,538 --> 00:44:36,130 an editing room. 325 00:44:38,776 --> 00:44:40,175 Next to the editing table, 326 00:44:40,344 --> 00:44:42,209 there was an animation stand 327 00:44:42,546 --> 00:44:43,808 which was used for captions 328 00:44:45,816 --> 00:44:47,875 and animated cartoons. 329 00:44:57,695 --> 00:45:01,654 The garage with the van and a folding door to let the van out. 330 00:45:04,535 --> 00:45:09,199 This attached van offered the camera crews great mobility. 331 00:45:09,373 --> 00:45:12,831 It could take them to any location they wanted to shoot. 332 00:45:21,218 --> 00:45:23,880 We could get anywhere we wanted. 333 00:45:25,255 --> 00:45:26,244 We would stop the train, 334 00:45:27,357 --> 00:45:28,289 shoot our film, 335 00:45:28,792 --> 00:45:30,657 process it on the spot 336 00:45:30,828 --> 00:45:32,295 and show it immediately 337 00:45:32,796 --> 00:45:34,229 to the people we'd just filmed. 338 00:45:34,465 --> 00:45:36,933 It was an official project 339 00:45:37,101 --> 00:45:40,002 run and managed by a single man 340 00:45:40,337 --> 00:45:43,898 under a very strict socialist economy. 341 00:45:44,074 --> 00:45:47,043 An amazing feat. I asked him once how he did it. 342 00:45:47,377 --> 00:45:51,438 "Kolya, I just went to the Central Committee and demanded it." 343 00:45:51,648 --> 00:45:53,741 The main thing was 344 00:45:54,184 --> 00:45:58,211 we were a bunch of enthusiasts. 345 00:45:58,489 --> 00:46:02,425 We were young and romantic. 346 00:46:02,793 --> 00:46:04,727 We were ready to tackle anything. 347 00:46:26,784 --> 00:46:29,776 He defies the old bourgeois music, 348 00:46:30,187 --> 00:46:31,882 its sentimental lyre, 349 00:46:32,189 --> 00:46:33,884 its melodramatic impulses, 350 00:46:34,191 --> 00:46:35,988 its bitter laments 351 00:46:36,193 --> 00:46:38,093 about personal grievances. 352 00:46:38,462 --> 00:46:39,724 Honegger remains nevertheless 353 00:46:40,164 --> 00:46:42,564 an ideologist of capitalist society. 354 00:46:43,834 --> 00:46:45,131 Despite his talent, 355 00:46:45,335 --> 00:46:46,893 the author is guilty 356 00:46:47,171 --> 00:46:49,901 of fetishism of technique. 357 00:47:31,481 --> 00:47:36,009 One day, Naum Kleiman asked me: "Kolya, do something for me, 358 00:47:36,186 --> 00:47:40,122 "see if there is any film-train material in the archives." 359 00:47:40,290 --> 00:47:42,019 "Haven't they been preserved?" I asked. 360 00:47:42,192 --> 00:47:45,855 "Of course not. No one has seen them since they were made." 361 00:47:46,029 --> 00:47:51,296 I dived into the archives without any data or information whatsoever. 362 00:47:52,035 --> 00:47:56,131 Yet on the very first day, I came across two films. 363 00:49:25,562 --> 00:49:28,759 LETTER TO THE KOLKHOZ WORKERS 364 00:49:33,170 --> 00:49:34,159 We filmed the people 365 00:49:34,938 --> 00:49:37,702 and we'd juxtapose on the screen 366 00:49:37,874 --> 00:49:41,640 the good and the bad practices. 367 00:49:42,779 --> 00:49:44,804 After the projection, 368 00:49:47,184 --> 00:49:48,481 we'd address them: 369 00:49:51,488 --> 00:49:54,116 "What are you up to, comrades? 370 00:49:54,358 --> 00:49:56,724 "How can anyone abuse 371 00:49:56,893 --> 00:49:59,123 "his own livelihood and labour in this way? 372 00:49:59,296 --> 00:50:01,287 "You won't get anywhere like this." 373 00:50:01,798 --> 00:50:04,733 It was as if the dam had suddenly burst. 374 00:50:04,935 --> 00:50:06,732 Everyone was talking 375 00:50:07,471 --> 00:50:09,132 with unaccustomed force. 376 00:50:09,773 --> 00:50:11,104 We had given the people's anger 377 00:50:11,274 --> 00:50:12,605 an outlet. 378 00:50:13,176 --> 00:50:15,474 This raised the question 379 00:50:15,779 --> 00:50:17,076 of unwanted members. 380 00:50:17,381 --> 00:50:19,941 We weeded them out ruthlessly. 381 00:50:20,117 --> 00:50:21,482 There was a revolution going on 382 00:50:21,785 --> 00:50:24,276 and we were very strict. 383 00:50:24,788 --> 00:50:27,018 Nowadays, we tread softly, 384 00:50:27,257 --> 00:50:28,485 but we weren't afraid then 385 00:50:28,925 --> 00:50:31,291 of hurting anyone. 386 00:50:54,418 --> 00:50:57,649 Babel, of course, was horrified by it. 387 00:50:58,255 --> 00:51:00,746 In the Ukraine, 388 00:51:02,092 --> 00:51:05,858 ordinary peasants were convicted and executed 389 00:51:06,096 --> 00:51:08,792 for one simple reason: 390 00:51:08,965 --> 00:51:11,195 Because their farms made profit. 391 00:51:11,368 --> 00:51:14,166 They were by no means exploiters. 392 00:51:22,312 --> 00:51:26,408 He believed that the Russian muzhik didn't go willingly to the kolkhoz 393 00:51:26,750 --> 00:51:30,413 which was so ingeniously designed for him. 394 00:51:31,054 --> 00:51:33,921 Today, we know why he was so reluctant. 395 00:51:34,091 --> 00:51:38,187 Because he was bullied into it at gunpoint, he wasn't given a choice. 396 00:51:38,361 --> 00:51:42,661 If he had a say, he'd probably have chosen other forms, 397 00:51:42,833 --> 00:51:48,100 maybe even a co-operative, but under a different form. 398 00:51:48,338 --> 00:51:53,105 We know today that Stalin's total collectivisation achieved... 399 00:51:54,344 --> 00:51:55,436 very little. 400 00:51:55,812 --> 00:52:00,340 It was effective only in breaking the will of the people. 401 00:52:03,987 --> 00:52:06,785 Collectivisation led to famine 402 00:52:06,957 --> 00:52:09,858 and rationing in the cities. 403 00:52:10,460 --> 00:52:13,088 We all know now that right from the start, 404 00:52:13,263 --> 00:52:17,461 the kolkhoz produced ten times less than individual farms. 405 00:52:17,801 --> 00:52:19,393 But Medvedkin didn't know it then. 406 00:52:20,137 --> 00:52:22,332 He was wrong but he was sincere. 407 00:52:22,739 --> 00:52:24,866 He believed that working together was best. 408 00:52:25,108 --> 00:52:29,340 He adopted the argument which was applied to city workers. 409 00:52:29,513 --> 00:52:32,949 A worker on his own cannot produce much, 410 00:52:33,116 --> 00:52:36,847 but if we all work together in a factory, we'll do better. 411 00:52:37,020 --> 00:52:39,352 Except that land isn't a factory. 412 00:52:39,523 --> 00:52:44,051 The man who works alone from dawn to dusk 413 00:52:44,227 --> 00:52:48,186 can achieve much more than 40 men who do nothing. 414 00:52:48,365 --> 00:52:50,890 But that didn't concern Stalin. 415 00:52:51,067 --> 00:52:52,796 What mattered to him 416 00:52:52,969 --> 00:52:57,929 was that the imperialist regime had the power to commandeer crops. 417 00:52:58,108 --> 00:53:00,838 Everything the kolkhoz produced was requisitioned. 418 00:53:01,011 --> 00:53:05,004 That's what the kolkhoz was admirably suited for. 419 00:53:05,182 --> 00:53:09,209 Medvedkin, who knew nothing of this, was sincerely puzzled: 420 00:53:09,386 --> 00:53:12,219 "Why would people do such a bad job in the kolkhoz? Why? 421 00:53:18,962 --> 00:53:21,988 HOW DO YOU LIVE, COMRADE MINER? 422 00:57:56,906 --> 00:58:02,208 End of Part 1 423 00:58:23,766 --> 00:58:25,893 INTERMISSION 424 00:58:27,303 --> 00:58:31,103 CAT LISTENING TO MUSIC 425 01:01:51,040 --> 01:01:55,739 THE LAST BOLSHEVIK 426 01:01:57,780 --> 01:01:58,906 PART 2 427 01:01:59,082 --> 01:02:02,074 SHADOWS OF A KINGDOM 428 01:02:04,187 --> 01:02:08,487 FOURTH LETTER 429 01:02:39,889 --> 01:02:40,583 Good Heavens! 430 01:02:41,124 --> 01:02:43,115 Moscow, where are you going? 431 01:02:43,326 --> 01:02:45,954 The house is moving! 432 01:03:31,374 --> 01:03:32,807 Medved means "bear". 433 01:03:35,378 --> 01:03:37,505 He loved bear figurines. 434 01:03:37,713 --> 01:03:40,375 He loved animals. 435 01:03:40,550 --> 01:03:43,144 Not just cats, but all animals. 436 01:03:45,788 --> 01:03:47,278 Dogs, horses, everything. 437 01:03:47,456 --> 01:03:49,651 As a veteran cavalryman, he loved horses. 438 01:04:14,116 --> 01:04:18,052 Nastasia, a mischevious cow... 439 01:05:55,451 --> 01:05:57,544 All these constructions 440 01:05:57,853 --> 01:05:59,548 were commissioned by Stalin! 441 01:06:11,167 --> 01:06:14,261 Totalitarian art seeks to level everything. 442 01:06:15,204 --> 01:06:18,435 But Medvedkin, given his temperament and artistic sense, 443 01:06:18,607 --> 01:06:22,703 would try and escape the prevailing reality. 444 01:06:23,179 --> 01:06:25,704 The nobility of his fine mind 445 01:06:28,217 --> 01:06:29,980 inspired the nobility of his films. 446 01:06:30,152 --> 01:06:35,419 That immediately got him into trouble with the authorities, 447 01:06:35,891 --> 01:06:41,158 who, even then, were less concerned with ideology than with bureaucracy. 448 01:07:11,227 --> 01:07:13,491 Creative people 449 01:07:14,296 --> 01:07:17,197 always find it hard to understand 450 01:07:17,366 --> 01:07:22,065 the logic of the bureaucrat who is responsible for creative projects. 451 01:07:22,338 --> 01:07:25,535 Bureaucrats have developed a sixth sense 452 01:07:25,908 --> 01:07:27,671 which makes them very aware 453 01:07:27,877 --> 01:07:29,708 of any ambiguous detail 454 01:07:29,979 --> 01:07:32,709 that could be misinterpreted. 455 01:07:33,082 --> 01:07:37,280 "Who could possibly misinterpret this?" asks the artist. 456 01:07:37,453 --> 01:07:40,013 To which the bureaucrat's usual answer is: 457 01:07:40,356 --> 01:07:43,792 "We're not exactly short of morons." 458 01:07:44,126 --> 01:07:46,560 And if the artist says: 459 01:07:46,729 --> 01:07:50,563 "I made this film for intelligent people, not for morons!" 460 01:07:50,733 --> 01:07:52,462 The bureaucrat would reply: 461 01:07:52,635 --> 01:07:56,230 "It's still not clear for whom you made this film!" 462 01:07:56,505 --> 01:08:01,533 That's why he got his knuckles rapped for Happiness, 463 01:08:01,710 --> 01:08:06,579 despite the support of Eisenstein, Pudovkin, Dovzhenko and Tisse. 464 01:08:06,749 --> 01:08:09,582 That's why his next film was banned. 465 01:08:09,819 --> 01:08:12,879 There are about 30 variations on this theme. 466 01:08:13,055 --> 01:08:16,616 Some muzhiks arrive in Hell and settle down. 467 01:08:16,792 --> 01:08:21,456 Since they've already endured every possible trial before, 468 01:08:21,630 --> 01:08:24,394 they end up feeling at home in Hell. 469 01:08:24,667 --> 01:08:29,969 On the first day of shooting, they stormed into the set, 470 01:08:30,439 --> 01:08:32,407 it was 1936, 471 01:08:32,575 --> 01:08:36,534 and told him it was all over, that there was to be no more shooting. 472 01:08:36,712 --> 01:08:37,701 Why? 473 01:08:37,880 --> 01:08:42,943 Because somewhere in Stalingrad or in Saratov, I forgot where, 474 01:08:43,285 --> 01:08:47,346 some paper came out with a review of his film Happiness. 475 01:08:47,523 --> 01:08:50,185 The critic claimed the film was pro-Bukharin, 476 01:08:50,926 --> 01:08:51,858 anti-Stalin, 477 01:08:52,228 --> 01:08:55,220 against the Party line 478 01:08:55,431 --> 01:08:58,696 and openly siding with the kulak. 479 01:08:58,968 --> 01:09:01,835 Two of his films had already been banned. 480 01:09:02,037 --> 01:09:05,837 He was being persecuted by Shumyatsky himself 481 01:09:06,041 --> 01:09:09,477 because he had openly defended Eisenstein's banned film: 482 01:09:09,645 --> 01:09:10,873 Bezhin Meadow. 483 01:09:24,860 --> 01:09:26,953 It was a difficult theme for him. 484 01:09:34,036 --> 01:09:39,167 It was an ordeal for Babel: A son betraying his father... 485 01:09:39,909 --> 01:09:44,346 Babel couldn't condone such a thing. 486 01:09:44,647 --> 01:09:48,208 Medvedkin once said to me about Shumyatsky: 487 01:09:48,517 --> 01:09:51,384 "He was an old Bolshevik, a party member, 488 01:09:51,554 --> 01:09:53,647 "but he did such stupid things!" 489 01:09:53,822 --> 01:09:58,953 He didn't realise that Shumyatsky had done these stupid things 490 01:09:59,495 --> 01:10:01,986 because he was an old Bolshevik. 491 01:10:17,313 --> 01:10:22,376 "Anyone can be master of his country." 492 01:10:22,551 --> 01:10:24,485 That's the moral given 493 01:10:24,653 --> 01:10:28,749 at the end of many films of that period. 494 01:10:28,924 --> 01:10:32,951 There's always some kolkhoz man or girl who ends up on the platform, 495 01:10:33,295 --> 01:10:37,254 speaking as the master of the country to a cheering audience. 496 01:10:38,367 --> 01:10:41,768 "Master of the country", that, of course, was an illusion. 497 01:10:41,937 --> 01:10:46,738 An illusion which was carefully maintained to serve a purpose: 498 01:10:46,909 --> 01:10:50,037 To conceal the real masters, 499 01:10:50,379 --> 01:10:55,681 or rather the real master, the only real one, 500 01:10:56,018 --> 01:10:59,749 the only one who held the power 501 01:11:00,089 --> 01:11:05,391 to run the country and the people. 502 01:11:11,500 --> 01:11:16,563 Suddenly, I saw Stalin coming out into the Kremlin's courtyard 503 01:11:16,739 --> 01:11:20,038 and I was completely overwhelmed. 504 01:11:24,480 --> 01:11:26,573 But we loved Dziga Vertov so much 505 01:11:26,749 --> 01:11:31,846 that we all followed our motto: "Die but shoot!" 506 01:11:38,360 --> 01:11:39,486 I had to sit down. 507 01:11:39,662 --> 01:11:44,326 My legs were shaking so badly, and so were my hands. 508 01:11:44,500 --> 01:11:48,630 I deserved an entry in the Guiness Book of Records 509 01:11:48,804 --> 01:11:53,537 because I had my boots on, I wasn't wearing sports shoes. 510 01:11:53,709 --> 01:11:58,009 So I had to run in my boots, camera in hand. 511 01:11:58,347 --> 01:12:03,478 That was the last time that I did filming of that kind. 512 01:12:03,652 --> 01:12:06,746 It had become too dangerous. 513 01:12:06,922 --> 01:12:12,189 A cameraman mate was killed when he was filming like that. 514 01:12:12,628 --> 01:12:16,086 After that I always tried to avoid that kind of camera work 515 01:12:16,432 --> 01:12:19,094 and I never filmed Stalin again. 516 01:15:07,906 --> 01:15:10,170 It's nothing, just the sparkplugs! 517 01:15:29,161 --> 01:15:31,152 Instead of wasting time on these old things, 518 01:15:31,330 --> 01:15:32,729 get new ones from America. 519 01:15:32,965 --> 01:15:34,990 They'd be cheaper 520 01:15:35,233 --> 01:15:36,791 and better. 521 01:15:37,469 --> 01:15:39,528 Greetings, Comrade Bukharin. 522 01:15:53,151 --> 01:15:55,676 Bukharin, Rykov, Yagoda, 523 01:16:00,625 --> 01:16:01,353 Whatever the name, 524 01:16:01,560 --> 01:16:04,893 it's still the Fifth Column, the POUM, 525 01:16:05,130 --> 01:16:07,564 it's still the Ku-Klux-Klan. 526 01:16:07,733 --> 01:16:11,260 Fascists, warmongers and agitators 527 01:16:11,536 --> 01:16:13,766 operating in the international arena. 528 01:16:14,773 --> 01:16:17,037 An then, there was the fear. 529 01:16:22,114 --> 01:16:27,416 If Chiaureli, who portrayed Stalin... 530 01:16:27,652 --> 01:16:30,951 who glorified Stalin in his films... 531 01:16:31,690 --> 01:16:33,624 if he was scared of Stalin, 532 01:16:34,760 --> 01:16:36,284 then I was scared of Chiaureli, 533 01:16:36,461 --> 01:16:40,659 because he was telling me things he shouldn't be telling me: 534 01:16:41,333 --> 01:16:43,358 How Stalin would stare at him 535 01:16:43,802 --> 01:16:46,532 when he had to go to the toilet. 536 01:16:47,139 --> 01:16:51,200 He'd tell me: "It's most terrifying when the Chief..." 537 01:16:51,376 --> 01:16:54,277 In those days, we used this term. 538 01:16:54,613 --> 01:16:56,877 How would you translate it? 539 01:16:57,215 --> 01:16:58,614 "Chief and Guide." 540 01:16:58,784 --> 01:17:02,015 "...when He follows me with his eyes." 541 01:17:02,287 --> 01:17:04,255 At that time it was hard 542 01:17:06,758 --> 01:17:09,124 to follow our cinematic activity. 543 01:17:09,494 --> 01:17:13,396 Stalin used to watch every film. 544 01:17:14,066 --> 01:17:18,366 One could never predict what would cross his mind. 545 01:17:18,804 --> 01:17:21,705 He watched every documentary, every newsreel. 546 01:17:25,877 --> 01:17:27,276 (Medvedkin's editor) 547 01:17:27,446 --> 01:17:29,914 No film escaped Stalin's scrutiny. 548 01:17:30,248 --> 01:17:31,772 Even documentaries? 549 01:17:31,950 --> 01:17:34,248 Every single one! He loved documentaries. 550 01:17:34,419 --> 01:17:36,250 He also loved feature films 551 01:17:36,655 --> 01:17:38,384 but he watched every documentary. 552 01:17:38,590 --> 01:17:40,023 Following instructions by Trotzky, 553 01:17:40,325 --> 01:17:42,452 the "Block" leaders 554 01:17:42,761 --> 01:17:44,285 decided, in 1934, 555 01:17:44,596 --> 01:17:48,965 to kill the great Maxim Gorky. 556 01:17:49,267 --> 01:17:51,132 The man behind this heinous crime: 557 01:17:53,472 --> 01:17:58,774 Nedyochevo had been checking a certain newsreel 558 01:17:59,478 --> 01:18:03,608 which the NKVD took away for viewing. 559 01:18:03,949 --> 01:18:09,251 Well, you see, on the platform... 560 01:18:09,654 --> 01:18:14,182 the platform up there, on the mausoleum, 561 01:18:14,359 --> 01:18:19,387 you could see a nose sticking out, just a nose. 562 01:18:19,564 --> 01:18:21,225 It was Yagoda's nose. 563 01:18:22,767 --> 01:18:27,261 They confiscated the newsreel 564 01:18:27,439 --> 01:18:30,203 and we never saw Nedyochevo again. 565 01:18:30,509 --> 01:18:35,242 There were some film-makers, very few, but still, 566 01:18:35,413 --> 01:18:40,680 whose films were designed to pander to his taste. 567 01:18:44,422 --> 01:18:47,152 These were Chiaureli, 568 01:18:47,325 --> 01:18:49,793 Alexandrov, Pyriev... 569 01:20:09,574 --> 01:20:10,836 At that time, 570 01:20:11,009 --> 01:20:16,311 almost all of Vertov's projects were denied production, 571 01:20:17,616 --> 01:20:19,743 and his films hardly ever got screened. 572 01:20:19,918 --> 01:20:22,148 So he tried to compromise 573 01:20:22,320 --> 01:20:25,448 and stifle his theoretical conceptions. 574 01:20:25,624 --> 01:20:30,926 He even tried in one film, to follow Stalin's personality cult. 575 01:20:31,496 --> 01:20:34,158 And he made Kolybelnaya (Lullaby), 576 01:20:52,250 --> 01:20:56,448 In Kolybelnaya, in the shot of children bringing flowers to Stalin, 577 01:20:56,621 --> 01:20:59,818 there's a black bar on the right, 578 01:20:59,991 --> 01:21:03,552 which means that someone had been erased out of the frame. 579 01:21:03,895 --> 01:21:05,453 Who was it? 580 01:21:07,265 --> 01:21:09,392 I really don't know. 581 01:21:09,567 --> 01:21:10,625 And now... 582 01:21:11,136 --> 01:21:13,468 Now, we'll never know... 583 01:21:13,938 --> 01:21:16,338 There was this awful business 584 01:21:16,508 --> 01:21:21,810 when he was accused of being a cosmopolitan. 585 01:21:23,381 --> 01:21:25,508 And there was Vertov, a proud man, 586 01:21:25,684 --> 01:21:28,448 weeping, beating his breast, 587 01:21:28,620 --> 01:21:32,556 confessing to being a cosmopolitan. 588 01:23:59,437 --> 01:24:01,337 You heard him, he pleaded guilty. 589 01:24:01,639 --> 01:24:03,573 I heard too much. 590 01:24:03,741 --> 01:24:06,232 The testimonies, the confessions... 591 01:24:06,411 --> 01:24:07,241 It's a sham. 592 01:24:07,545 --> 01:24:11,106 They were reciting, like a lesson. I don't believe in this trial. 593 01:24:12,584 --> 01:24:16,247 Why would the Party try them if it wasn't the truth? 594 01:24:16,421 --> 01:24:18,184 There were precedents, remember? 595 01:24:18,356 --> 01:24:19,084 That's just it! 596 01:24:27,332 --> 01:24:32,599 For three hours the charge is being read before a silent hall. 597 01:24:33,238 --> 01:24:34,500 They film us 598 01:24:34,739 --> 01:24:37,537 and we'll soon be displayed on the screen. 599 01:27:04,222 --> 01:27:06,247 Hard to imagine that a man like him, 600 01:27:06,457 --> 01:27:08,823 such a brilliant artist, 601 01:27:09,027 --> 01:27:12,292 the creator of such amazing works, 602 01:27:12,463 --> 01:27:14,727 is suddenly arrested 603 01:27:14,899 --> 01:27:16,992 and accused of being a Japanese spy. 604 01:27:28,312 --> 01:27:31,611 I often went on expeditions then. 605 01:27:31,783 --> 01:27:33,751 When, on my return... my God! 606 01:27:33,918 --> 01:27:37,149 I saw the magazine Ogonyok. 607 01:27:37,321 --> 01:27:41,314 There it was, a great headline. 608 01:27:41,893 --> 01:27:44,487 It was printed in red: 609 01:27:44,762 --> 01:27:47,526 "Sentence carried out!" 610 01:27:47,699 --> 01:27:51,897 Well, I am a placid man by nature 611 01:27:52,236 --> 01:27:55,399 but when I saw that, I sat and cried. 612 01:27:59,377 --> 01:28:02,540 It was terrible, as if they'd killed something within me. 613 01:28:02,747 --> 01:28:04,271 It made me realise 614 01:28:04,449 --> 01:28:08,215 that a person's existence was utterly meaningless. 615 01:28:08,386 --> 01:28:11,184 One could do with it what one liked. 616 01:28:11,355 --> 01:28:13,482 It was monstrous and horrible. 617 01:28:13,658 --> 01:28:16,456 Now, I must stop for a moment. 618 01:28:16,928 --> 01:28:22,195 Maybe Medvedkin did manage to escape all this horror 619 01:28:22,900 --> 01:28:27,963 by taking refuge in his work, in his thoughts about art... 620 01:28:28,306 --> 01:28:30,365 Art was a haven. 621 01:28:30,575 --> 01:28:34,409 He didn't like discussing the 30's. 622 01:28:35,680 --> 01:28:38,581 He admitted they'd been terrible years, 623 01:28:39,350 --> 01:28:42,342 cruel, intolerable and unjust, 624 01:28:42,520 --> 01:28:43,817 but he didn't like talking about it. 625 01:29:50,521 --> 01:29:51,954 They conducted a search... 626 01:29:52,290 --> 01:29:54,758 that is, they took all his manuscripts. 627 01:29:54,926 --> 01:29:56,791 I didn't see how it happened. 628 01:29:56,961 --> 01:29:59,020 We just sat side by side 629 01:29:59,363 --> 01:30:01,831 holding each other's hand in silence. 630 01:30:02,667 --> 01:30:04,999 As we were taken out, 631 01:30:05,336 --> 01:30:08,772 as we got in the car, he asked me 632 01:30:09,607 --> 01:30:13,168 to make sure Andr� knew about it. 633 01:30:13,644 --> 01:30:15,612 He meant Andr� Malraux. 634 01:30:30,962 --> 01:30:33,863 Then he said: "They didn't let me finish." 635 01:30:34,198 --> 01:30:37,759 He meant the book of stories he was working on 636 01:30:37,935 --> 01:30:41,666 and intending to complete in the autumn. 637 01:30:42,740 --> 01:30:45,675 We didn't talk much during the drive 638 01:30:45,843 --> 01:30:47,868 but he did say to me: 639 01:30:48,679 --> 01:30:50,772 "I must beg you to make sure 640 01:30:50,948 --> 01:30:53,815 "the little one wants for nothing." 641 01:30:55,286 --> 01:31:00,280 Our child, Lydia, had just turned two. 642 01:31:01,325 --> 01:31:05,091 I said: "Of course, but I don't know where I'll be." 643 01:31:05,429 --> 01:31:10,059 I knew that wives were arrested too. 644 01:31:10,401 --> 01:31:13,199 So the one seated next to Babel said: 645 01:31:13,371 --> 01:31:15,839 "We have nothing against you." 646 01:31:17,642 --> 01:31:19,371 We finally arrived. 647 01:31:19,543 --> 01:31:23,604 It was the big Lubyanka building. 648 01:31:24,649 --> 01:31:29,814 Babel hugged me tight and said: "We'll see each other again." 649 01:31:29,987 --> 01:31:34,924 He got out of the car and walked towards a door, 650 01:31:35,092 --> 01:31:36,889 flanked by two guards. 651 01:31:37,061 --> 01:31:39,791 They opened the door and he vanished. 652 01:31:39,964 --> 01:31:42,762 As for me, they drove me home, 653 01:31:43,334 --> 01:31:44,926 to our Moscow flat. 654 01:31:45,269 --> 01:31:48,432 I asked if I was allowed to go to work. 655 01:31:48,606 --> 01:31:51,871 They answered: "Of course, you are." 656 01:31:52,910 --> 01:31:58,177 So I changed my clothes and went to work. 657 01:32:28,946 --> 01:32:33,815 FIFTH LETTER 658 01:33:03,614 --> 01:33:05,343 I was so happy 659 01:33:08,486 --> 01:33:10,317 when the Munich agreement was signed. 660 01:33:10,488 --> 01:33:13,514 "Thank God, there'll be no war!" 661 01:33:13,758 --> 01:33:17,785 Then came the pact with the Soviet Union... 662 01:33:18,029 --> 01:33:19,496 Not only 663 01:33:19,697 --> 01:33:21,722 does the Soviet-German pact 664 01:33:22,066 --> 01:33:23,226 bond together 665 01:33:23,467 --> 01:33:27,096 two great powers, 666 01:33:27,371 --> 01:33:30,499 it strengthens world peace as a whole. 667 01:33:33,244 --> 01:33:35,712 We all wondered: "Where are we going?" 668 01:33:35,980 --> 01:33:38,039 We never guessed it would be Russia. 669 01:33:38,215 --> 01:33:41,844 We thought we'd cross over to Persia 670 01:33:42,219 --> 01:33:45,120 to attack the English from the rear. 671 01:34:02,273 --> 01:34:04,241 The Bolsheviks burn everything down! 672 01:34:11,816 --> 01:34:13,784 Here are a few specimens 673 01:34:13,951 --> 01:34:16,545 of those Bolshevik sub-humans 674 01:34:16,754 --> 01:34:19,188 who, on Stalin's orders, 675 01:34:19,390 --> 01:34:21,449 were to plunge Europe 676 01:34:22,193 --> 01:34:24,161 in fire and blood. 677 01:34:50,588 --> 01:34:53,284 He was amazing, 678 01:34:53,624 --> 01:34:56,388 like lightning. 679 01:34:56,560 --> 01:34:58,653 And he was afraid of nothing. 680 01:35:50,381 --> 01:35:53,145 We weren't ready for a winter campaign. 681 01:35:53,317 --> 01:35:56,286 We had only lightweight clothes. 682 01:35:56,520 --> 01:35:58,852 We'd already been through the mud, 683 01:35:59,490 --> 01:36:01,720 now, we had the freezing winter. 684 01:36:01,926 --> 01:36:05,123 Our vehicles couldn't go forward. 685 01:36:05,863 --> 01:36:09,264 So as the whole thing collapsed, 686 01:36:09,433 --> 01:36:11,162 our blankets got smaller and smaller. 687 01:36:17,274 --> 01:36:19,367 The Byelorussian plains 688 01:36:19,543 --> 01:36:21,773 are swept by the Soviet offensive. 689 01:36:35,492 --> 01:36:37,756 Our cameraman enters the town. 690 01:37:22,740 --> 01:37:26,437 This may be the only working example of Medvedkin's camera 691 01:37:26,610 --> 01:37:29,636 which he invented while working at the front. 692 01:37:29,980 --> 01:37:32,312 He'd had this extraordinary idea. 693 01:37:33,384 --> 01:37:36,512 He needed soldiers who'd agree to serve as cameramen. 694 01:37:39,223 --> 01:37:41,953 He chose volunteers from the disciplinary battalions. 695 01:37:42,192 --> 01:37:45,025 Choosing these battalions was a shrewd move 696 01:37:45,195 --> 01:37:48,961 since, like Stalin's camps, they recruited mostly educated people: 697 01:37:49,133 --> 01:37:51,761 Civil engineers, teachers, lecturers... 698 01:37:51,935 --> 01:37:57,134 people who already had the basics of technical knowledge. 699 01:37:59,209 --> 01:38:01,234 Teaming up in twos or threes, 700 01:38:01,412 --> 01:38:05,314 they would sneak up the rear of the German lines 701 01:38:05,516 --> 01:38:07,882 and achieve some incredible feats: 702 01:38:08,252 --> 01:38:10,550 Two men would capture a German 703 01:38:10,888 --> 01:38:12,913 as the third would film the operation. 704 01:38:13,190 --> 01:38:18,184 I was really scared of being taken prisoner by the Russians. 705 01:38:18,495 --> 01:38:22,522 I knew certain things had happened during the war 706 01:38:22,866 --> 01:38:24,561 which weren't quite regular. 707 01:38:41,318 --> 01:38:43,149 They were shooting a scene: 708 01:38:43,420 --> 01:38:47,618 The steppe in flames. 709 01:38:47,958 --> 01:38:50,449 But as it happened, the female extras, 710 01:38:50,627 --> 01:38:55,394 who were supposed to look anxious and serious, 711 01:38:55,599 --> 01:38:58,625 noticed a big hole in my trousers 712 01:38:59,470 --> 01:39:01,631 and everybody started to laugh. 713 01:39:01,805 --> 01:39:05,036 So I'd spoiled the whole scene. 714 01:39:06,276 --> 01:39:09,507 Then Alexander approached me 715 01:39:10,447 --> 01:39:14,008 and seeing how upset I was, 716 01:39:14,351 --> 01:39:17,912 he put his arm around me and said: 717 01:39:18,088 --> 01:39:21,888 "Albert... don't be sad. 718 01:39:22,059 --> 01:39:25,426 "I know what it's like, to be a prisoner of war." 719 01:39:39,543 --> 01:39:40,840 He was so happy when I came over. 720 01:39:41,478 --> 01:39:43,207 He would hold my hand: 721 01:39:43,580 --> 01:39:46,606 "We've been friends for 42 years. 722 01:39:46,784 --> 01:39:50,686 "It must last till the end of our days." 723 01:39:50,854 --> 01:39:54,620 He wasn't just saying it... It wasn't blah-blah... 724 01:39:54,958 --> 01:39:56,755 It came from here. 725 01:39:57,961 --> 01:40:00,953 And I can tell you quite sincerely 726 01:40:01,298 --> 01:40:04,961 that when I heard of Alexander's death, I cried. 727 01:41:00,591 --> 01:41:02,456 There's nothing to eat! 728 01:41:03,160 --> 01:41:04,718 Go sober up! 729 01:41:05,162 --> 01:41:07,630 I don't drink, you bitch! 730 01:41:08,632 --> 01:41:11,100 I worked all my life! 731 01:41:22,412 --> 01:41:24,573 Ruining the country is easy, 732 01:41:24,848 --> 01:41:27,817 but to do it in 5 years, that's really something. 733 01:42:54,137 --> 01:42:55,365 We came out of Afghanistan 734 01:42:55,606 --> 01:42:57,733 as if recovering from a long illness, 735 01:42:58,041 --> 01:42:59,474 leaving behind 736 01:42:59,743 --> 01:43:02,405 the folly of frozen dogmas. 737 01:43:11,188 --> 01:43:14,715 And so, Afghanistan has decided to forge ahead 738 01:43:14,891 --> 01:43:17,792 towards democracy and progress. 739 01:43:22,499 --> 01:43:26,799 This is what I was told in so many words by comrade Brezhnev. 740 01:43:49,993 --> 01:43:52,461 There are only women here! 741 01:44:20,824 --> 01:44:23,292 One August night, in 1991, people 742 01:44:23,527 --> 01:44:25,290 rallied to defend the White House. 743 01:44:25,629 --> 01:44:27,153 The only ones out in the streets at night 744 01:44:27,497 --> 01:44:29,556 are criminals, rogues, 745 01:44:29,866 --> 01:44:34,098 prostitutes, thieves and homeless tramps. 746 01:44:34,471 --> 01:44:35,836 Any normal person 747 01:44:36,540 --> 01:44:38,440 would be in bed, fast asleep, 748 01:44:38,608 --> 01:44:40,769 between midnight and 8 a.m. 749 01:44:46,316 --> 01:44:48,750 Why was I not called to the White House? 750 01:44:49,019 --> 01:44:50,680 Why were you called? 751 01:44:50,887 --> 01:44:53,412 Who called you? 752 01:44:53,857 --> 01:44:55,722 Our conscience! 753 01:44:55,892 --> 01:44:57,723 Their conscience called on your grandparents 754 01:44:57,928 --> 01:44:59,793 to storm the Winter Palace in 1917. 755 01:45:00,063 --> 01:45:02,031 We've seen the result! 756 01:46:12,435 --> 01:46:14,699 Look, guys, Felix hanged himself! 757 01:48:20,897 --> 01:48:25,800 LAST LETTER 758 01:52:54,237 --> 01:52:59,265 He was due to get the Stalin Award for one of his documentaries. 759 01:52:59,876 --> 01:53:02,401 But during the night, one of his friends... 760 01:53:02,912 --> 01:53:05,403 as we say: "There's always a friend on guard"... 761 01:53:05,748 --> 01:53:09,115 one of his friends managed to leak out just in time 762 01:53:09,285 --> 01:53:14,587 that Medvedkin had almost been expelled from the Party, 763 01:53:14,891 --> 01:53:17,416 that he had dissenting opinions, 764 01:53:17,760 --> 01:53:22,163 that he often voted against the district committee 765 01:53:22,332 --> 01:53:24,823 and slammed the door at the drop of a hat. 766 01:53:25,068 --> 01:53:27,332 In short, doomed by the bell. 767 01:53:27,503 --> 01:53:32,202 They'd taken his photo and told him to read the paper the next day. 768 01:53:32,375 --> 01:53:36,471 Next day, he opens the paper: Nothing, no photo, no award. 769 01:53:51,261 --> 01:53:52,888 Come, you indomitable youth! 770 01:53:53,129 --> 01:53:54,960 Stand united as one man! 771 01:54:11,247 --> 01:54:13,511 In the history of mankind, 772 01:54:13,750 --> 01:54:17,049 there has never been a generation like ours. 773 01:54:23,259 --> 01:54:25,523 To take an example from astronomy, 774 01:54:25,862 --> 01:54:29,093 it's like those "black stars". 775 01:54:29,766 --> 01:54:33,099 They measure only 776 01:54:33,536 --> 01:54:36,300 a few cubic inches, 777 01:54:36,973 --> 01:54:38,497 and weigh several tons. 778 01:54:39,175 --> 01:54:40,767 One such "black hole" 779 01:54:41,010 --> 01:54:44,173 could represent my life. 780 01:55:38,534 --> 01:55:43,028 Medvedkin defended all his life 781 01:55:43,239 --> 01:55:46,572 his convictions of the 20's. 782 01:55:46,909 --> 01:55:48,570 Was that good or bad? I can't judge. 783 01:55:49,178 --> 01:55:53,046 I believe there are some documents in the archives 784 01:55:53,216 --> 01:55:58,153 which do not show him in a favourable light. 785 01:55:58,654 --> 01:56:01,555 But Medvedkin never lied 786 01:56:01,891 --> 01:56:05,383 either to others or to himself. 787 01:56:05,628 --> 01:56:07,755 And if he's done things 788 01:56:08,097 --> 01:56:11,328 which seem now, even to me, 789 01:56:12,335 --> 01:56:15,133 politically damning, 790 01:56:15,304 --> 01:56:20,606 it's because he was true to himself. 791 01:56:20,777 --> 01:56:23,337 I can't blame him for it 792 01:56:23,513 --> 01:56:25,708 but I can't praise him either. 793 01:56:26,048 --> 01:56:29,211 It's a matter of life's circumstances. 794 01:56:29,385 --> 01:56:30,613 He was what he was. 795 01:57:03,286 --> 01:57:05,686 The will of Lenin's Party has welded 796 01:57:05,955 --> 01:57:08,185 his men into a monolithic army 797 01:57:08,491 --> 01:57:10,186 which is also entrusted 798 01:57:10,560 --> 01:57:13,188 with the protection of wildlife. 799 01:57:14,864 --> 01:57:16,525 As we take measures to advance 800 01:57:16,732 --> 01:57:19,462 scientific and technical progress, 801 01:57:19,802 --> 01:57:21,360 we must do all we can to ensure 802 01:57:21,804 --> 01:57:24,170 that they conform to a responsible treatment 803 01:57:24,474 --> 01:57:26,408 of natural resources. 804 01:57:31,614 --> 01:57:34,674 All these people were aware at the time 805 01:57:35,384 --> 01:57:38,512 of the full scope of the horror, the tragedy. 806 01:57:38,721 --> 01:57:41,588 All that they told us on TV, 807 01:57:42,291 --> 01:57:43,758 every word they uttered 808 01:57:44,026 --> 01:57:46,324 over the video pictures 809 01:57:46,496 --> 01:57:48,396 which were filmed by me 810 01:57:48,564 --> 01:57:50,293 or by my colleagues, 811 01:57:50,466 --> 01:57:53,401 were a monstrous lie! 812 01:57:53,669 --> 01:57:55,603 This is just another aspect 813 01:57:57,940 --> 01:58:00,067 of this atrocious system 814 01:58:00,243 --> 01:58:03,144 that regarded human life, whether one or millions, 815 01:58:03,312 --> 01:58:06,338 as utterly worthless. 816 01:59:28,664 --> 01:59:30,757 To the memory of Jacques Ledoux 817 01:59:31,100 --> 01:59:34,592 and the happy moment when we first saw HAPPINESS 818 01:59:36,339 --> 01:59:38,398 THE LAST BOLSHEVIK 819 02:00:31,293 --> 02:00:32,692 Subtitling by TVS - TITRA FILM 820 02:00:33,692 --> 02:00:43,692 Downloaded From www.AllSubs.org 60755

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