Original subtitles

LENFILM

First unified work.

And adaptation of George B. Shaw's 'Heartbreak House'.

MOURNFUL UNCONCERN

Script: Yuri ARABOV

Director: Aleksandr SOKUROV

Cinematographer: Sergei YURIZDITSKY

Art director: Elena AMCHINKSKAIA

Sound: Vladimir PERSOV

Editor: Leda SEMIONOVA

Concerning events taking place during the First World War.

Nurse!

Hesione!

Ariadne!

Ariadne!

Bernard!

Bernard Shaw!

Where are you?

Now where did you all come from...

and what did you come to see?

An old man...

who was once a famous playwright...

who talked about everything on earth, and wrote about it?

Well...

here is what is left of him.

There's not much to look at.

However, I have nothing to complain of.

I've been too busy.

And that means happiness.

Staying busy...

and having no time to consider whether you're happy or not.

I'm getting torpid...

I must stop.

Well, it's very pleasant to have seen you all here...

because you're my audience.

I'm a born actor.

I like an audience...

I'm like a child.

Goodbye, goodbye...

Goodbye all of you!

Eh! Hello!

Eh!

Have you ever worn a kimono?

A kimono?

What do I want a kimono for?

You can call me Nurse Guinness.

Now come with me.

Your room is ready.

- I think there's a kimono. - A kimono? For what?

Let's go.

Kimono...

- Ki-mo-no. - Hesione!

Nurse!

Papa, papa!

It's me, your little Paddy!

Don't you remember? You haven't seen me for years.

You invited me!

How could you be her?

You are a middle-aged woman.

It is said of women like you...

that you are nothing but bones.

Bones?

What are you talking about?

You haven't seen me in a long time.

You invited me.

I'm Ariadne!

Yes!

I think we should all rest a bit.

Hector!

Bernard!

Where are you?

Grant me the honor, madam...

Tell me: what is your name?

Ellie, Ellie Dunn.

I had a boatswain whose name was Dunn.

He was originally a pirate in China.

- Are you his daughter? - No, certainly not.

Though my father has not been a successful man...

nobody has ever had one word to say against him.

The forces of evil want to drive me crazy.

I mean to put the house in order...

but my daughter invites guests...

and leaves me to entertain them.

Hello!

Hello!

- I'm Ellie Dunn's father. - Nonsense!

- She should already have arrived. - Nonsense!

You've changed a great deal, Bosun.

I am Mazzini.

I took the name...

in honor of the Italian revolutionary, Mazzini.

I myself, in some fields…

am a sort of revolutionary.

I don't accept abandoning the ideals of youth...

and above all...

You're not only a revolutionary. You're also my guide.

Ah, it's you, Boss Mangan.

My daughter's spoken to me of you.

I thought you'd be taller.

But it doesn't matter, we have stilts.

And also, I've read Saint-Simon.

See here, I don't quite understand my position here.

I came here on my fiancée’s invitation.

Am I in her house or in yours?

It's all the same.

She's too young for you.

- Young! - Yes, young.

Neither was the prophet Moses.

Father, here I am!

Did you hear me?

She's here.

Mangan and Bosun, go to your cabins.

There are no kimonos for you.

The nurse on duty...

woke me at 8 in the morning and told me...

that my wife had died at 2:30 in the morning.

I went to see her.

She looked like a little girl.

When we got married...

a friend told me she had a face like a lump.

In her will it as stated...

that when she died we should take her remains to Ireland.

But then war broke out, and we couldn't.

Out of curiosity, I decided to cremate her.

Cremation was different then...

they didn't permit you to watch the burning of the corpse.

In those days...

the ceremony was completely unsatisfactory.

My God, if she hadn't died...

certainly I would have.

I was martyred.

Ellie, pettikins.

Ellie, pettikins.

Ellie!

Hesione!

Nurse told me you'd arrived.

- No need. - What do you fancy?

I've had a marvellous dream.

- You ought to get up now. - What do you fancy?

- I didn't picture you like this - This is a child's bed.

And how did you picture me?

- I thought you were a plain woman. - Get up, Ellie.

It's very windy.

A plain woman... But I'm not that.

Dynamite...

Dynamite.

A net.

All right, that's good...

Yes... good.

That's enough.

Say...

Thanks, Vladimir.

Just what you want...

A little, a little...

I see that you've been made at home.

Do you know that...

I spent my whole childhood in this room?

Strange that my father has lodged you here.

Why?

Only that it must be some kind of sign.

He's very sweet...

but I've said terrible things to him.

Oh really?

About Zanzibar, I suppose...

No photograph can give the strange fascination...

of the daughters of that supernatural old man.

Really?

And your fiancé? I invited him as well.

He should already have arrived with my father.

Tell me about him.

They say he is a Napoleon of industry...

and disgustingly rich.

I imagine he's an animal.

He's not that...

and if he were, he would be a domesticated animal.

There is some damnable quality in the two of you...

that destroys men's moral sense...

and carries them beyond...

- Is that it? - ... honor and dishonor.

Or do you think you'll keep him on a leash?

His parents were poets.

Don't shout...

When I was in India hunting with the king...

I saved a tiger from certain death.

But even then I didn't feel so much emotion.

Enough already, Hector.

It's strange that we haven't met before...

and that we've only seen each other in photographs.

But why all this?

Dear sister-in-law...

you're enchanting!

You're also marvellous.

Where'd that parrot come from?

It's not a parrot.

Do you really love all sorts of birds?

If I didn't love the birds and the other animals...

do you think I would have risked my life for a tiger?

Of course, you're right.

People...

are inferior to them.

Animals are much cleaner and better.

My family has two cats...

and a dog.

A little bitch...

a little bitch, my dear.

And may I caress this hummingbird?

It's not a hummingbird...

it's a tame bird.

Randall!

Excuse me.

How do you feel?

Beard.

Around here the battle never ceases...

by now we scarcely pay any attention to it.

Hesione, perhaps you do not understand.

Mangan is my destiny...

but Mark is divine.

Divine!

He told me that he was found in the garden of a viscount.

He was wearing a white shirt...

with his name embroidered in gold.

What did you say his name was?

Mark!

What a splendid name!

Splendid!

His life has been one long romance.

A tiger...

A tiger?

One time he saved one...

in India, in the hunting party of King Edward.

What did the king do?

He was furious, of course.

And even more so when he discovered Mark was a socialist...

and despises...

rank and titles.

Pity!

- All right, and what happened? - To whom? Mark?

No, the king.

He also became a socialist.

You'll squander your youth on Mangan.

- I've been virtuous... - Do you want me to prevent it?

...and timid my whole life...

dear friend.

Pettikins...

it's still not too late...

Always virtuous and timid.

Pettikins...

Hesione, there's someone here..

Of course there's someone here..

Mark, how did you find me here?

Him!

Him?

Mark!

Be careful!

Mark!

My God!

That's not Mark.

- That's my husband, Hector. - Hector?

I'm fed up with this confounded mess.

Don't take her seriously.

Were you feeling bored?

Probably, but I'm not sure.

What if I decided to seduce someone?

Whom?

I don't know, there are a lot of guests. Mangan, for example.

I'd prefer your sweet sister...

Go on.

She's been hardened by her imbecile of a husband.

Is Randall bothering you?

In spite of everything, you're an extraordinary woman.

Ellie!

Buddha…

This place is wonderful, even though it's too damp.

You're in a bad mood.

I can already feel the congestion.

What congestion?

Congestion, asphyxia, and the end of history.

I tighten up right away.

You're a devil, Mangan.

If it weren't for your kind heart.

Kind heart!

That's too much.

Do you think the man who ruined your father...

could have a kind heart?

Oh, not intentionally.

Yes I did. Ruined him on purpose.

You don't want to...

marry me now, do you?

Right?

We could get on very well together.

I'm sure everything you said is a lie.

Yes, yes.. a lie, a lie.

I know nothing of the truth.

Already as a child they called me a monster.

How did you overcome that?

The others...

have ruined themselves.

May they go to hell!

I am ready to be your wife... monster!

Suppose I told you I was in love with another woman!

Perfect.

With whom?

Hesione, for example.

Magnificent!

- I'm in love with her husband. - You little devil!

I'll go straight to her and tell her.

She knows it.

Without making noise...

I have a habit.

If my troubles don't let up...

I grab the woman closest to hand...

and embrace her until she can't breathe

Men never do anything for women.

From birth until death...

a man tries to be a woman's son.

A son who always needs her...

and who never repays her.

In the end...

because he needs to kill somebody...

he surrounds himself with war.

This war is total foolishness.

I can't find the words.

The situation doesn't change...

and all bright achievements are snuffed out...

killed, killed.

Is he asleep?

No?

No...

Aha, I found it.

Nurse, what's going on?

I was walking and I stumbled.

Yes...

it's very dark.

That's why I fell.

And you shouldn't worry...

because maybe...

he'll be fine.

In any case, we must call a doctor.

Do you think it's the end for him?

Well, perhaps now...

you won't throw your daughter’s life away.

Mangan?

Mangan!

My God, Hesione.

What will become of us?

You know, I understand...

why you don't inspire respect.

Obviously, I'm too poor and humble.

Absolutely...

a soldier of freedom.

It's because you defend equality.

Equality...

is impossible if things exist such as...

that disgusting piece of meat there.

Stop, stop!

Doctor Knife, a friend of the family.

Take this.

Oh, my God!

Good.

Good...

And where is..

our cadaver?

Over there.

Perhaps you can't see it?

- I can't see very well. - There it is.

Doctor, he's dead.

Mangan!

So, is he dead?

As a doornail.

I'm going to dissect him to save his organs.

What do you think he died of?

I think that...

it was appendicitis.

If not that, of course, he was assassinated.

Mark...

How heavy he is!

Carefully!

Don't tear the epidermis.

Like that, very good.

Careful.

Let's turn.

Mark, why are you acting like this?

Acting like what?

Randall...

It's no use.

Go away.

Excuse me, do you have a sharpener?

We use a whetstone.

Get it...

and take those away.

Good...

It's painful...

we're never prepared...

for death's arrival.

Of course, it's painful.

Stains...

- A man like this... - Stains, stains...

- ... and he died of appendicitis. - Stains... stains...

Does it matter how he died?

No, it's all the same.

Okay, it doesn't matter.

These things pass.

There are greater obstacles to overcome...

- ... than being married to a woman... - woman...

like Hesione, my friend.

In our age we have Proust.

He doesn't have to ask permission from the Pope.

What would he seek from the Pope?

My God...

Nothing, my dear...

When two are in love...

their marriage has already been made in heaven.

- Your hands, your hands! - Pain...

- Stop! - Pain, pain, pain!

What's that?

Where?

Mangan!

And now we shall see...

why in the hell he kicked the bucket.

Let's see...

Do you think that in this house...

we allow the desecration of corpses?

We must cut him open quickly...

while he's fresh.

- For the good of science. - Yes, yes!

Look at him intact for the last time.

Ellie, Ellie!

Say good-bye to your fiancé.

Leave him alone!

I'm preparing to.

Yes?

Yes!

I think I can revive him...

if you can't do anything else.

It doesn't matter anymore.

I convinced your father...

that you shouldn't marry him.

Oh really?

Who asked you to do that?

Who?

Ellie, are you sure?

While I'm not around...

if someone tries to advise you...

about what's good for me or not..

you should pay no attention.

And now leave us.

We must speak alone.

I always said...

that Mangan would make a wonderful...

husband.

Man is the only animal...

that I fear disproportionately...

from the depths of my soul.

A well-fed lion...

is less dangerous than man...

since it won't attack...

if it doesn't need to eat.

I don't inspire respect...

in our current society...

of waste and chaos.

Perhaps God is in heaven...

but on Earth...

everything is going wrong.

Hesione...

Why do you meddle in things that don't concern you?

What does it matter to you if I marry or not?

Do you think it's as easy to find a husband...

as a flower by the roadside?

I am poor and respectable...

Ho! respectable!

How did you...

pick up my husband?

And you, how did you get him?

You were born to lead men by the nose.

Poor little woman!

I'd give Hector to you if I could.

Lovely, wretched victim.

Go to hell, you and Hector!

Do you know what they call women who are bought and sold?

You're confused, Hesione.

It is I who am buying him, and at a pretty good price too.

Ten Boss Mangans shall not prevent me doing far more as I please...

as his wife than I have ever been able to do as a poor girl.

So will you let me do what I want?

You are a wicked, sordid little beast.

Look how little, how tranquil...

Will you have children?

No, it's a bad time to bring a child into the world.

Baltasar!

Baltasar!

Baltasar!

My father has gone completely mad.

Baltasar!

I think we've done enough for him.

He is a little heavy.

Mangan!

Arise and walk!

There is no name for this.

My God!

While you thought I was sleeping...

I heard everything you said.

I did not want to wake up at all.

They call me a monster...

and why?

More poetry!

The devil take it.

And you...

you...

¿How...

did you try to finish me off?

Did you put hemlock in my drink?

Poet!

I wouldn't say such things if I were you.

Your fiancée is present.

- My fiancée? - Your fiancée.

But what are you saying?

Could you possibly believe...

that after what I've heard...

she could possibly matter to me?

My God.

It isn't my fault if I'm old...

and haven't a moustache like a bronze candlestick as your husband has.

Don't get hysterical, Boss!

My name's not Boss.

Don't call me Boss!

My name is Alf...

Alf!

But what...?

Painful psychic anaesthesia!

While I was sleeping you brought me here.

I'll remember it till the day I die.

You had no right to bring me here...

if you found me so repugnant.

Shame...

shame...

Is there no sense of shame in this house?

Strip naked if you've sunk so low!

Come on, do it!

- What if we gave him some valerian? - Valerian?

What!

I can...

What is that, Hector?

A bird.

A bird?

Could it be...

a hummingbird?

How could it be a hummingbird?

It's an ordinary marsh bird.

Baltasar!

It's been a horrible day.

A deluge.

A deluge.

How much can you drink?

I drink to keep sober.

Are you upset, captain?

Absolutely.

Let go of me, let go of me...

Go away from here!

All of you!

- I hate you! - Listen...

- I hate you all! - She hates us all.

Let go of me!

Keep away from me!

Let me go, I don't like it!

Go away, go away...

Please, go away.

Get away, stop!

Come on, go down...

carefully.

Down...

down.

Don't slip.

Now to the left...

We're already late.

What are we late for?

We don't have to be there.

Do we have to be?

- It's late. - Late?

Must I marry Mangan?

You must do what your soul tells you to.

Taking care of the soul is very expensive.

What is pleasing to the soul?

Many things.

- Music and pictures and books... - Books...

Mountains and lakes, beautiful things to wear...

and nice people to be with.

Mangan's soul...

lives on pig's food.

But his money...

will not be thrown away on me.

I don't understand it.

I'm very old...

All I can tell you is that...

if you sell yourself...

you deal your soul a blow...

that all the books and pictures will never heal.

Not books or clothes...

Not all the scenery in the world...

damned and a prisoner.

When I was on the bridge of my ship

in the midst of a typhoon...

or frozen into Arctic ice for months in darkness...

I was ten times happier...

than you or they have ever been.

At your age I looked for hardship...

danger, horror, and death,...

that I might feel the life in me more intensely.

How the hell did you end up in Zanzibar?

How the hell?

Ah!

You're alone, like me.

They've broken your heart, like mine.

Broken...

You're unhappy...

What about you?

Me too.

Listen...

I left behind a wife in Africa.

She's still alive, and she's black.

Black...

Enough, you want some more!

Hold on! Hold on!

Hold on! Hold on!

Hold on! Hold on!

Enough already!

That's enough, Randall!

The worst is...

that you want to take...

the place of my husband...

your brother!

You're a blockhead!

So are you!

Stop, you can't compare me with him.

Leave him alone!

But if I...

- Enough! - Enough!

Enough!

He's only a child.

So what!

He's already been at war...

and has killed...

people like us!

Were you at the front?

He's only a child.

Pick up the bicycle.

Good afternoon...

little sister.

We're having a very interesting conversation.

Good afternoon, dear.

What were you talking about?

Hector was telling us about...

a royal hunting party in India.

In India...

did you meet a padishah?

Dear...

there are no padishahs in India.

None at all.

And what about the barricades?

It's been this way our whole marriage.

The first year he told me...

about those tigers and barricades...

and when it began to drive me mad...

he began to flirt with other women.

He can't talk about anything else.

Only about barricades...

and tigers...

that would make him faint...

if they really existed.

And the medal I won for saving him?

You bought that medal.

Dear...

I think you're jealous of me.

On the contrary.

It's nothing.

No?

Jealous.

Well, what if I am jealous.

Finally...

you're jealous of me...

for the first time.

In spite of everything...

you're an extraordinary woman.

My God!

Ariadne, what's wrong?

Let's see!

1, 2, 3.

Let's spin round.

Do they need my help?

That lively young lady?

- Why doesn't she interest you? - Because she's alive.

You're an interesting man.

Nothing but the ideas of a martyr...

like some kind of Galileo.

Yes..

- ... Galileo. - Eh, Hector!

Galileo couldn't have imagined the effects of his ideas...

on your humble servant.

Do you see my eye?

I see that you're missing one.

You're right.

And that absence...

is the work of my own hands.

Man has many organs.

The organs abut against one another...

giving rise to diseases...

and carrying off the body's vital energy.

- And I decided that... - Hector, you're bothering Nurse!

...to the devil.

To the devil...

to the devil.

Poor, poor doctor.

You've gone out of your mind...

- ... and don't realize it. - Nurse!

Nurse!

But I admire your extremism.

You're the only man of consequence in this house.

- Where are you? - It's a pity...

that we can't offer you...

objects for your investigations.

It's painful...

but it doesn't matter.

Soon I will go to war...

and encounter all manner of evils...

for the good of science.

Husband.

So then, we've all ended up together...

in this ship.

With some of you...

I'm related without wanting to be...

or by blood ties.

All of us...

I hear the buzzing of mosquitoes.

- What? - Mosquitoes, listen.

It's rain.

No, that's not it.

Anyway, it's all the same.

I don't wish to placate you.

I'll tell you something...

that I've wanted to say for some time.

Repent!

Papa, that's really too much!

Perhaps you think, old man...

that something will be changed by our confession?

Your life depends on it.

If you don't, I will blow up...

my hole stockpile of dynamite.

You've gone mad...

completely mad!

Blow it up!

Blow it up! All that must be...

Now I understand, captain.

It depends on us.

Repent!

Tell us up front to whom you're referring.

All of you.

The sky has ended in vain.

Your lives are empty.

You've distorted the truth, been insolent and perverse...

and lied to such a degree...

that the sky quakes because of you.

What is that noise?

It's him.

- At last! - Who?

Baltasar!

Well then...

Do you repent or not?

Yes!

Yes!

And can I repent...

of having been too virtuous and timid...

my whole life?

That has hurt not only me...

but others as well.

My friends...

I want to say that I've never read Saint-Simon.

Proudhon changed my life...

even though I haven't read anything by him either.

I haven't read Voltaire...

or Jean-Jacques Rousseau...

even though, of course, I've heard a lot about them.

But I haven't read any of it!

Thanks for telling us!

And what else, father?

Everybody sit in the lotus position.

What's going on between you and my father, pettikins?

Nothing special.

We've decided to get married.

My God, poor old man!

What am I supposed to call you now?

- Mama? - Mama.

And now we breathe in...

and breathe out energetically...

seven times.

Ellie.

Ellie, pettikins.

I have to talk to you.

- Ellie! - Later!

The captain hears everything.

And now we concentrate on our navels.

Listen, wise man, it seems to me...

that that's all we're doing.

Hector's right.

Of course, he's right.

Baltasar is ready.

Baltasar.

Later!

Here comes our cadaver!

Baltasar.

Baltasar.

Truly marvellous.

This isn't half bad.

Certainly.

And the fresh air...

awakens the appetite.

A few dabs and you're done!

A few days before my death...

a radio station asked what melody...

I wanted to listen to.

I didn't choose classical music...

but rather an old song called...

'The old cow died'.

Really...

why is it impossible...

to make one woman happy...

without hurting another?

Doctor...

why is everybody looking at me?

We mean to...

Yes?

Hit him harder!

Pardon me.

Where are you going?

I think papa's begun killing us.

It turns out that Mangan...

has shot himself.

You're here.

Idiot!

Randall has shot himself.

Oh really?

Surely he went mad.

- Completely mad. - Yes?

My God!

- How damp it is! - Dear...

- My love... - Are you in the basket?

Are you feeling ill?

Very ill?

No...

not very.

It's only a scratch.

He shot poorly.

I shot poorly, I'm a bad soldier.

Now everything's going to be better.

Things will get better..

you won't feel so much pain.

Nothing can save me.

Are you still in pain?

It's just that I can't bear to see you quarreling.

Off at war it was better...

there you don't have to see the people you're defending.

What do you see?

Perhaps it's not abhorrent?

Very much.

If my death could change you...

Sometimes a person's death...

can put the survivors to the test.

Hector, be quiet!

Give me the pistol!

Give it to me.

What do you want it for, if nothing can change me...

nor bring me round?

Come on, give it back.

I won't miss a second time!

Give me the pistol.

- He's gone mad! - Don't be stupid!

He's gone mad!

I too have killed...

but it's not necessary to kill yourself.

What's stopping you?

Ariadne, calm down...

this is unseemly!

Another bad shot...

by a bad soldier?

What now, father?

Principal actors:

Shotover: Ramaz Chjikvadze Ariadne: Alla Osipenko

Hesione: Tatiana Egorova Hector: Dmitri Briantsev

Mazzini: Vladimir Zamanski Ellie: Victoria Amitova

Boss Mangan: Ilia Rivin Nurse Guinness: Irina Sokolova

Dr. Knife: Vadim Zhuk Randall: Andrei Reshetin