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In association with
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present
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"It is not the literal past
that rules us:
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"It is images of the past."
George Steiner
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THE LAST BOLSHEVIK
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PART 1
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A KINGDOM
OF SHADOWS
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FIRST LETTER
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We made this mask in 88 for a party.
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It's an exact replica of the masks
he used in Happiness.
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00:05:05,138 --> 00:05:08,835
Only Medvedkin
could come up with this idea.
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00:05:09,309 --> 00:05:14,542
Alexander Ivanovich had...
a certain quality.
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00:05:18,751 --> 00:05:21,777
A rare individual extravagance...
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00:05:21,954 --> 00:05:24,149
Whatever project he was working on,
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he always approached it
from an angle different to ours.
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As an artist, he was quite typical,
a product of his time, even.
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00:05:40,473 --> 00:05:43,271
But his destiny wasn't typical at all.
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00:05:43,710 --> 00:05:47,908
His biography is full of blank pages.
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00:05:48,281 --> 00:05:52,741
When the Civil War was on,
he took part in the Civil War.
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00:05:53,586 --> 00:05:57,545
During the period of building,
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00:05:57,724 --> 00:06:01,751
he'd be on the building sites,
or reclaiming virgin lands.
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Whatever happened in our country,
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00:06:07,500 --> 00:06:11,368
he'd always be at the epicentre.
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00:06:11,671 --> 00:06:15,038
On the one hand, Medvedkin,
the man, is outside time.
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00:06:15,208 --> 00:06:20,475
On the other hand, his own time
has left very distinct marks on him.
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00:06:21,748 --> 00:06:25,548
He's like a big tree
with its growth rings
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00:06:25,718 --> 00:06:31,020
and its bark marked
by the carvings of passers-by.
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That's why he's so dear to me.
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00:06:34,627 --> 00:06:38,654
We always assumed,
having been shaped by Brezhnev,
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00:06:38,831 --> 00:06:42,028
that talent and ideology didn't mix.
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00:06:42,368 --> 00:06:46,600
And that's what first shocked me
on meeting Medvedkin:
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00:06:46,939 --> 00:06:51,672
Realising that talent and ideology
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00:06:51,844 --> 00:06:53,709
could co-exist.
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00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:55,575
In this, Medvedkin was unique.
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00:06:55,982 --> 00:06:58,974
I can assure you of one thing:
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00:06:59,152 --> 00:07:01,450
He was the favourite
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00:07:01,888 --> 00:07:05,415
of film-makers of the old generation:
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00:07:05,725 --> 00:07:06,623
Dovzhenko,
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00:07:06,859 --> 00:07:08,383
Pudovkin,
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00:07:08,761 --> 00:07:09,989
Raizman...
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00:07:10,296 --> 00:07:13,959
Medvedkin had a tragic career.
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00:07:20,773 --> 00:07:23,003
His very first film was never shown.
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00:07:23,176 --> 00:07:25,872
Every film he made since then
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was admired by fellow film-makers
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but was never screened publicly.
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Because of this legend,
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Medvedkin was to be rediscovered
time and again.
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00:07:36,556 --> 00:07:39,616
And each time,
the discovery was a sensation
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00:07:39,792 --> 00:07:43,592
because everything he did
was so unusual for his time,
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00:07:43,763 --> 00:07:46,732
stepping beyond all the rules.
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00:07:47,133 --> 00:07:50,034
His film-making was utterly original,
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00:07:50,536 --> 00:07:53,699
yet deeply rooted in folk culture.
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00:07:54,173 --> 00:07:58,234
It was this combination
which produced a sense of shock.
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00:07:58,444 --> 00:08:02,039
That's the usual reaction to his work:
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"It was a shock."
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00:08:03,649 --> 00:08:07,642
I'd never heard of Medvedkin when
I was a student at the Film School.
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One day, our lecturer, Yureniev,
simply showed us a film:
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00:08:10,690 --> 00:08:12,749
It was Happiness by Medvedkin.
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None of us had ever heard about it.
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We were spellbound from the start.
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We were really elated,
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laughing and talking away
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all through the projection.
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By the end of the screening,
we were completely dazzled by it.
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It didn't tally at all
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with our idea of films in the 30's.
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After a reel or two, I felt
my mind was refusing to take it in.
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Everything was mixed up,
topsy-turvy.
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00:08:51,597 --> 00:08:53,588
It was very strange.
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00:08:55,902 --> 00:08:58,735
And then I saw something
that I'd never seen before.
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I'd never believed it possible
in Russian movies of the 30's.
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It was this scene...
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There's never been in Soviet cinema
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00:09:09,582 --> 00:09:13,484
such an intensely erotic scene.
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00:09:18,724 --> 00:09:21,784
That was the moment I realised
that I loved this film.
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00:09:22,261 --> 00:09:24,456
When we came out of the film,
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we were Medvedkin's enthusiasts.
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And we were convinced
of two things:
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That he was a genius and that he must
have been shot after this film.
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Only later
did I understand his tragedy.
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The tragedy of a pure communist
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in a world of would-be communists.
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He was a harmonious man.
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There was this group of film-makers.
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And as usual among film-makers,
they were forever moaning:
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About freedom of expression,
about censorship, etc.
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00:10:06,339 --> 00:10:08,807
And here was this man
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who'd been continuously smeared,
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always censored, abused, hindered...
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00:10:18,351 --> 00:10:19,909
Yet he just
laughed at his troubles.
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00:10:20,353 --> 00:10:22,947
He always emanated such a...
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such a life-force.
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00:10:28,628 --> 00:10:31,563
After every discussion with him,
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I'd feel as if I had little wings.
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Now, when I'm studying his letters,
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as I'm going through his archives,
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I'm driven on by one question:
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What was he like?
Who was he?
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My father: A Russian peasant.
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My grandfather: A peasant.
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My great-grandfather: A peasant.
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I am a peasant by blood.
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This may explain...
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touch wood!
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00:11:11,137 --> 00:11:14,368
...how I managed to survive 84 years.
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And I intend to go on living
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for as long as possible.
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I don't mean until the 21st century,
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but another 5 years would be nice.
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00:12:06,125 --> 00:12:08,685
This cross had been
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since 1894
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00:12:12,131 --> 00:12:13,120
in the Assumption Cathedral
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in the Kremlin.
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Lenin ordered its destruction.
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But the plinth was saved
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and the cross restored.
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Their Imperial Highnesses...
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(Alexander Ivanovich's daughter)
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The village people were amazed.
They couldn't believe it.
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00:15:31,764 --> 00:15:33,493
They pleaded: "Be our priest!"
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"But I'm a communist", he said.
"We forgive you", they anwsered.
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00:15:42,074 --> 00:15:44,736
I may be wrong,
but this is my theory:
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00:15:47,313 --> 00:15:51,181
In his youth, or maybe as a child,
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00:15:51,350 --> 00:15:53,944
Medvedkin was very religious.
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00:15:54,753 --> 00:15:59,622
And after the Revolution,
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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
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00:16:17,910 --> 00:16:20,470
to bring happiness
130
00:16:20,646 --> 00:16:22,477
to all mankind.
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00:16:24,350 --> 00:16:26,477
Not today, not tomorrow,
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but in a not-too-distant future.
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00:16:54,413 --> 00:16:56,643
In 1919, I found myself
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00:16:56,815 --> 00:16:58,305
in the 1st Cavalry Army
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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,
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00:17:06,291 --> 00:17:10,250
it was the most fantastic period
of my life.
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00:17:10,896 --> 00:17:14,024
The Red Cavalry
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of the Revolution,
141
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poorly clothed, poorly shod,
142
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but awesome!
143
00:17:22,341 --> 00:17:24,969
He was a Civil War man,
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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.
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00:17:33,819 --> 00:17:36,117
But that was his youth,
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00:17:36,288 --> 00:17:40,918
that was the foundation of his life.
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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.
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He'd be wearing a burka...
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That's a Caucasian cape.
152
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The hall is bursting at the seams.
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00:18:53,732 --> 00:18:56,098
And the podium is made up
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00:18:56,301 --> 00:18:58,098
of horses, only horses.
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The speaker is a horse.
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In front of him, instead of a jug,
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there is a stable bucket.
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As he gets nervous,
he dips his head into it.
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He drinks and resumes
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his speech.
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The military crowd the hall.
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The horses report on the men.
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00:19:22,895 --> 00:19:24,192
The speaker says:
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00:19:24,463 --> 00:19:27,364
"My master is merciless.
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00:19:27,733 --> 00:19:29,701
"At night,
166
00:19:29,935 --> 00:19:31,095
"the platoon leader, Ivanov,
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"jumps on the saddle
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"and off he rides
to visit his girlfriend.
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00:19:37,476 --> 00:19:39,137
"He spends the night having fun
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"while I shiver
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"in the chilly wind.
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00:19:42,848 --> 00:19:45,214
"Isn't it true, Comrade Ivanov?"
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Comrade Ivanov is in the hall:
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"No... I mean, yes..."
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We had planted accomplices,
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that is actors,
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who helped get Comrade Ivanov
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deeper and deeper into trouble.
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00:20:05,737 --> 00:20:07,261
It provided a whole interlude:
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"Did you really? How?
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"Who was she, then?"
182
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"Er... Eudoxia."
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00:20:13,145 --> 00:20:15,079
"Eudoxia? But she's mine!
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00:20:15,247 --> 00:20:17,272
"How dare you! You'll pay for this!"
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00:20:17,616 --> 00:20:20,016
That's the spirit Medvedkin
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was to try and infuse into films
all his life.
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He'd remained great friends with
many of his old cavalry comrades.
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(Isaac Babel's wife)
189
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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
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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
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Weep, weep
205
00:23:49,761 --> 00:23:54,061
Russian people
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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 regimeleaves 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
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