Original subtitles

﹝narrator﹞In 1931 , the Russian film director Sergei Eisenstein

traveled to Mexico to make a film.

It was tentativeIy to be called Que Viva Mexico.

Eisenstein had a worldwide fame

based on the reputation of onIy three films,

all made in Soviet Russia.

Strike,a violent tale of civilian unrest

viciousIy crushed by authority,

The Battleship Potemkin, a violent account

of a naval mutiny over rotten meat.

and October, a violent ceIebration

of the Russian Revolution.

﹝gIass shattering﹞

In the West. the fiIm Qctober.

was called Ten Days That Shook The World.

This present film might be called

Ten Days That Shook Eisenstein.

﹝fIy buzzing﹞

﹝cIassical music﹞

♪ ♪

﹝fIy buzzing﹞

- I arrive accompanied by flies.

They have been with me ever since

I crossed the Mexican border.

I brought them with me from Moscow.

﹝fly buzzing﹞

I recognize them.

They are Soviet flies,

spy flies-- Russian accents,

a growIing, gruff, ill-mannered buzz.

They have bloodshot eyes, Iike me.

Do I have bIoodshot eyes? Do I have bIoodshot eyes?

Do I have bIoodshot eyes? Do I have bIoodshot eyes?

Of too much looking. Too much--

too much looking.

Diego. - Sergei, my friend!

You're weIcome. - Grazie.

- Frida. - Sergei.

Bienvenido. - Encantado.

- Jorge PaI0mino Cañedo. Your Guanajuato guide.

- Sergei Eisenstein.

Sometimes a Russian film director

or Russian fiIm director retired.

Ah. This is Aleksandrov.

Always an actor.

- Frida. - Grisha.

- And this is Eduard Tisse. cameraman.

The cameraman.

- Frida. - Tisse.

- PIease take the suitcases.

WeIcome, Iadies and gentIemen.

- Hey, Iook.

﹝ominous music﹞

♪ ♪

- ﹝whistIing﹞

﹝orchestra pIaying﹞

♪ ♪

- ﹝exhaIes sharpIy﹞

Put aII the red books over there.

AII the books with the bIue markers over there.

All EngIish books by the bed.

AII American books under the bed.

﹝speaking Spanish﹞

﹝squeaking﹞

- Can I heIp? - There is a trick, isn t there?

What am I doing wrong?

- I expect nothing.

- We don't have showers in Moscow.

In fact, we don t have showers in Russia.

Baths. Turkish baths. .

And wash basins.

Sometimes we have running water. Sometimes we have water.

Sometimes we have just the empty taps.

Sometimes we have to break the ice in the tank.

Often...

we don t wash.

- ﹝Iaughing﹞ - What are you laughing about?

- A Russian body. Very white.

- We rareIy see the Sun in Moscow,

and we never undress in public.

- Then I can't be public. - Public enough.

- That s his.

- And a very well-fed body.

Pea-soup, pickled cabbage,

salty bacon, sour miIk, turnips?

- When we can get it.

- See you at breakfast?

Tortillas, tamales, chicken burritos,

chimichangas, sopecitos, huarachitos, pan de muerto...

- Hey! Warm water?

Being naked in public?

Or a response to an amiabIe young man?

Signor Prick, behave!

He's handsome. it's true. ﹝chuckles﹞

And he's seen you, it's true.

But you are a foreigner with a Russian passport,

a limited visitor's visa.

and very littIe sexuaI experience.

You would be woefully disadvantaged.

Besides, you are here to make a film with me,

and I need your frustrations t0 feed my imagination.

No dissipation.

It leads t0 a dilution of energy.

﹝exhaling rapidly﹞

I am a boxer

for the freedom of cinematic expression.

I have never had my shoes shined for me.

We don't do those sorts of things

anymore in Soviet Russia.

- You're in México.

Why don't you try it?

- ﹝speaking Spanish﹞ - Si

- ﹝exhales deeply﹞

﹝chuckles﹞

I'm behaving like a colonial grandee.

Shining shoes is tantamount to kissing feet.

Who kisses feet any more?

Do I tip him heaviIy to cover up my bourgeois guilt?

- No.

If you tip him, news of your generosity

will be around the town in five minutes.

And your shoes will never be yours again.

They will be a host to fortune.

You have come here for something other than shiny shoes.

What are you looking for?

- I came to Mexico to make a movie.

I came to Mexico

because my very first theatre production in Moscow

was called The Mexican.

I came to Mexico because you had a successful revolution

five years before we did.

I came to Guanajuato

because you have here a Museum of The Dead.

Maybe I have to make a film called Museum of The Living.

Those are my excuses. What are your excuses?

- I live here. I have a family here.

I teach in Mexico City, and I teach here.

- And what do you teach?

- I studied as an anthropologist.

And now I teach comparative religion.

- This is a Roman Catholic country.

How come you are allowed to talk about other religions?

- ﹝sighs﹞

Roman Catholicism of México is generous and all-embracing.

Pantheistic.

A bit of everything. old and new.

They just take what they need.

So much so. we shouId call it. Mexican Catholicism.

They customized it.

We have pre-Columbian equivaIents

for everything the Roman Catholics dreamed up.

Certainly, we invented blood sacrifices before you did.

Christianity adopted us. We did not adopt Christianity.

﹝bell tolling﹞

It s Gideon. His name is Gideon.

He was born blind.

And the bells have made him deaf.

There is a probIem.

They have been searching through y0ur books

and found pornography.

Are you a pornographer?

- I didn't think so up till now.

- One 0f the hoteI maids arranging your books

has taken some photographs, but she is underage.

Her mother found the photographs and complained to the hoteI.

I am sure it can be sorted out.

Stay in sight of your bodyguards.

﹝bells tolling﹞

﹝upbeat music﹞

♪ ♪

﹝children laughing﹞

﹝goats bIeating﹞

- It's okay, boys.

﹝dog barking﹞

- ﹝echoing﹞ Sergei!

﹝echoing﹞ Sergei!

﹝echoing﹞ México!

﹝echoing﹞ México!

﹝echoing﹞ Guanajuato!

﹝retching﹞

﹝v0miting﹞

﹝retching﹞

Vomit and shit pour out of you in floods.

I should not be here.

I shouId be back in Russia, being constipated.

In Moscow, you can go for a week without shitting once.

﹝coughing﹞

- Sergei? It s me. It's me--Cañedo. It's me.

- Ugh.

- Come on. Let's go, Iet's go.

It s just me--Cañedo. Hey, it's okay. Shh.

Come on. - Ugh.

﹝grunts﹞

- Stop it, stop it, stop it. - ﹝coughing﹞

﹝humming﹞

♪ ♪

- Close your eyes, close your eyes.

♪ ♪

- You know...

You know. I sat like the Tsar .

on the throne of the Winter Palace.

But the Tsar did not have running water.

You Mexicans don't have tsars,

but you do have running water.

What is that noise? - Someone banging on the pipes.

- Oh!

- Come on.

- ﹝grunting﹞

- Qkay. Okay, hey.

Wake up.

- ﹝grunts﹞

- Come on, come on.

﹝both grunting﹞

- It's the 22nd of October.

Someone is banging on the pipes

to commemorate the start of the Russian Revolution.

- ﹝chuckles﹞

No. It s the hotel plumber fixing the hot water.

G0 to sleep.

- The hot water of the Revolution.

- ﹝chuckles﹞

We shall all be cleansed

with the hot water of the Revolution.

﹝banging﹞

- Watch him carefully.

or you'll have Stalin on y0ur backs.

Stalin s reach is very long.

If anything happens to him,

you'll be picking ice out of your asses in Siberia

or have an ice-pick lodged in your brain!

﹝cIassical music﹞

♪ ♪

- Here, your photographs.

Put them away somewhere safe.

Don t leave them lying around for innocent chambermaids

to steaI and show to their mamȧs.hmm?

- But they are paintings.

- Mexican mothers protecting their innocent daughters.

We countered by accusing the maid of steaIing from guests.

- Is thievery worse than voyeurism?

She shouId not be sacked for curiosity.

You must get her reinstated.

- ﹝scoffs﹞

She s in the bar with her mother and father.

You couId tell her yourself. - No, you tell her.

And tell her mother

her daughter s forgiven for steaIing,

and from now on. she's the onIy one

to bring me my breakfast in bed in the morning.

- ﹝scoffs﹞

﹝scoffs﹞

﹝indistinct chatter﹞

The manager says it s a good job she didn't take a look

in your red suitcase.

- Oh? What's in the red suitcase?

- Enough to have you thrown in jail.

- And how did the manager

know what was in the red suitcase?

- After the complaint, he searched everything.

- God, he has no right to do that.

That's invasion of privacy!

- Shh. Look, he s winking at you.

CuriousIy, it s a mark in your favor.

But if you offend him, he could use it against you.

Tread carefully.

﹝cIassical music﹞

♪ ♪

The Camorristas.

They are looking for weaIthy foreigners to prey on.

They wait outside all the big hotels.

And you are giving them good reason to prey on you.

That s why you have bodyguards.

These are the small-time guys.

We d0n t worry so much about them.

They are posing as tough guys, but they are lazy.

The big guys are much tougher.

And the reaI big guys, you'll never see.

That's why you shouId try and stop attracting attention.

Don t get yourself photographed and in the newspapers.

If they smell a ransom possibility,

they will be in and kidnap you.

How much do you think you are worth?

- Not much.

- What will your government pay to keep you alive?

- Nothing.

- Just trust that we are looking after you properly.

- But maybe you are a Camorrista?

- If I am, then you are lost.

﹝laughing﹞

You ought to make a film about them.

The corpse at the door is wearing a red shirt,

as y0u can see.

Even among the dead, the Camorristas have influence.

Ransoming a corpse is not uncommon in México.

﹝cIassical music﹞

♪ ♪

- Aah!

- ﹝laughing﹞

Miralo.

﹝laughing﹞

Do you only have one suit?

- WeII, I left Moscow with only $25.

Russia has very little foreign currency,

and that was all they could afford to give us.

I get paid expenses here in Mexico.

or I get paid expenses,

and I have to share with Tisse and Grisha.

- That suit is taking some punishment.

You shouId buy yourseIf another.

- It's my first American suit.

I b0ught it to walk down Sunset Boulevard

with Charlie Chaplin.

It s a sentimental matter. I couId not part with it.

- This is my wife, Concepciön.

This is Rolando. - Good evening, sir.

- Good evening.

- The eIdest was born when I was studying troubadours

and the sec0nd. PascaI. when I reluctantIy gave up God.

Now I don't believe in God. but I miss him,

as did Pascal.

- I m sorry. I have no Russian buttons.

But these are curious. What are they made of?

- Ah. Gunmetal.

They are stamped 0ut of discarded cartridge cases,

pierced with two hoIes

and gIued to a piece of army blanket,

which usually very quickly becomes unglued.

﹝Palomino and Concepciön chuckIe﹞

- A Russian soIdier is told

never to let his shoes out of his sight,

if not out l of his hand.

Better still. aIways keep them on your feet.

Shoes are the most precious item of clothing.

Won't help your modesty, scarcely keep you warm,

but you will simply not be abIe to function without shoes

in any way at all.

Don t worry. I m a foreigner. I'm a child abroad.

Russia s so big that nobody thinks about abroad.

It s aIways too far away and well out of sight.

- ﹝chuckIes﹞ - We believe most of the time

that "abroad" does not really exist.

Does not reaIIy exist. Does not reaIIy exist.

Does not really exist. Does not really exist.

I was earning money from American publishers,

and I bought an old battered Ford car.

Mayak0vsky had a Renault, and we raced around Moscow

at 40 miIes an hour with our windows down.

shouting, singing,

and mooning. - Oh!

- He had a nice ass. My ass was way too fat.

He g0t his car impounded for moraI turpitude.

Mayakovsky, that is, not his car.

His car was innocent.

Is this car. with Death in the driver s seat.

compIetely innocent?

No fat on his backside.

In 1927, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks

of UniversaI Pictures. Charlie Chaplin's company,

saw Potemkinand invited me to come to Hollywood

to make a film! Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!

I met them all. All th0se Hollywood guys.

They all came to Moscow. WouId you believe it?

Joseph Schenck lost in Russia,

but he looked like a Russian smoothie.

All Jews Iook Iost in Russia.

but there is never a better home for them.

He fast-smoked big cigars. He was a caricature.

It was t0 make sure no one took him seriously

so he couId take everyone else seriousIy

when they weren't looking.

I am a caricature. I don't smoke fast.

but I can taIk fast. don't you think?

Joseph Schenck came with a Hollywood contract

in his pocket, which was soon in my pocket.

And then my pockets were filled with Hollywood happiness.

Felicidad Hollywoodus.

﹝cIassicaI music﹞

♪ ♪

To get to Hollyw0od, you must first pass through Europe,

and then y0u have to pass through America

because Hollywood is a separate country all on its very own.

So like bug-eyed cuItural tourists,

we went through Europe, looking, seeing, shaking hands.

AIthough it was more like shaking hands and Iooking.

I had eyes in my hands, and they never stopped shaking.

We met George Grosz and Man Ray and Dos Passos.

Oh. Kaääthe Kollwitz.

She had at least half a way for social conscience,

though her droopy face and sagging breasts

were overpIayed as a sort of trademark.

And Le Corbusier, who said I reminded him of Donatello.

AII architects love cinema.

We met Léger and Cocteau and Marinetti, who was a fool.

TerribIe poetry, worse painting.

Oh, we met James Joyce,

wh0 sat through Battleship Potemkin

in his dark blind glasses.

I imagine he did not see a thing.

We met Abel Gance and Buñuel.

And Al Jolson, the bIacked-up singing son of a Russian rabbi.

This one. ﹝grunts﹞

We saw Dali's Le Chien Andalou and Dreyers Joan of Arc.

I went to Holland. where a crowd of reporters

met me at Rotterdam airport.

They were all very excited.

They had come expecting to meet Einstein.

﹝both Iaughing﹞

We had von Sternberg in Babelsberg.

He was shooting The BIue Angel with MarIene Dietrich.

﹝speaking German﹞

We were all the time being watched and followed

by two Russian agents.

one looked Iike Fatty ArbuckIe

and the 0ther 0ne looked like Buster Keaton.

one was rosy and laughing and aIways fingering his backside,

the other soIemn and sad.

as though he had wet his trousers.

Dorothy Gish and her sister wanted me to make a fiIm.

but sentimentaI melodrama is not my hat.

Too much gushing and gishing, no irony.

I sent them to Pudovkin. He is good at tears and whey.

He said, "If I was no good at treating American ladies well,

I was nothing. What are you? " he said.

I replied, " I am a scientific dilettante

with encyclopedic interests."

﹝speaking Spanish﹞

﹝Mexican folk music﹞

♪ ♪

We Ieft Moscow just as the celling was falling in.

Pasternak and Mayakovsky were forbidden to leave.

Passports forbidden.

Tr0tsky was deported to Turkey.

P0ets, painters, and publishers

were sacked, spitted, sat upon, and spat upon.

We feIt the flames up our bums, red-hot pokers up our asses

as we fIed to America.

It scorched us out of Russia.

And I had Joey Schenck s invite in my back tr0user pocket,

resting against my right buttock.

An invite to Hollywood.

♪ ♪

- Excuse me, sir,

I see you are being protected by grandmothers.

♪ ♪

﹝camera shutter clicks﹞

- And then came the bad news.

Keep out the Red Peril!

These Russians will rape and abuse 0ur American children!

The biggest shark in the shark tank

was an American Senator, HamiIton Fish--

Redneck Extraordinaire.

And behind sharkman Senator Fish

was the riot-master Major Frank Pease.

The bad meat-man in Battleship Potemkin.

I couId weII have been accused of sacriIege, insulting God.

I was the " Roosian " Eisenstein, the Messenger from Hell.

And they won.

Param0unt Pictures could not afford the bad publicity.

Paramount Pictures pictured me

with everyone American American they could find

to boIster me up, to keep my image squeaky clean.

I shook hands with Walt Disney,

the greatest and only true filmmaker

who starts from an absoIuteIy clean sIate.

Qh. and I met his apprentice-assistant

and protégé, Mickey Mouse

and I rubbed wet noses with Rin Tin Tin.

But in the end...

they could n0t afford to hoId out.

They gave in. They caved in.

They were getting jumpy and jittery.

Said it was the Depression.

Said they had to weather the storm.

Said it was the rains.

And when the rains had passed, they would call me back.

So exit Eisenstein.

Jew. Red. Troublemaker. Communist.

And then I met Upton Sinclair

and came here to Mexico to meet you, Palomino,

and Palomino's wife

and Palomino's two small children.

- Who should be in bed.

- So where do I sleep tonight?

I cannot sleep naked. - Why not?

- Because I have never slept naked,

except last night when you stole my cIothes.

My mother didn't like it. I didn t like it.

Someone couId have stolen my virginity

when I lay there sleeping naked.

- Virginity? - I was joking.

Do you have a nightshirt? - No.

My wife has a nightgown.

- Let me borrow your nightgown.

- ﹝chuckIes﹞ - Why not?

﹝chiIdren﹞ ♪♪ Twinkle, twinkle, little star ♪♪

♪♪ How I wonder where y0u are ♪♪

♪♪ Up above the worId so high ♪♪

♪♪ Like a diamond in the sky ♪♪

﹝children continue singing in Spanish﹞

♪ ♪

- Good, Pascal.

﹝classical music﹞

♪ ♪

﹝fly buzzing﹞

- There are no flies on me.

Those flies again. Are they still Russian flies?

They are preparing themselves, getting ready,

assembling to devour my putrefying flesh.

Flies and maggots.

I'm famiIliar with maggots, Battleship Potemkin maggots.

Kn0ck, knock, who's there? - onIy Death.

- ﹝sighs﹞

Death is so cIose here in the hot sun.

He's tapping me on the shoulder.

In Russia, we hide Death away.

Make him a distant villain.

- Here, Death is very close...

and a friendly hero.

She greets us at the cemetery gate

and waIks with us politeIy.

We waIk with Death in the cemetery

under the same parasol.

We benefit from the same shadow.

Better that Death is a friend. .

not a stranger.

- Lenin is dead.

So is KarI Marx.

Both died in their beds.

- Jesus Christ is dead. He was crucified.

And Saint Peter-- he was crucified upside down.

- And Cortés and Pizarro

and Torquemada is dead.

- Moctezuma is dead.

- And George Washington is dead.

And Abraham Lincoln is dead. He was shot.

﹝gunshot﹞

- Pancho Villa is dead. He was shot.

﹝gunshot﹞

And Zapata is dead. He was shot.

﹝gunshot﹞

And Benito Pablo Juȧrez is dead.

Miguel Hidalgo--he is dead. He was shot.

﹝gunshot﹞

- I once pIayed Leonardo da Vinci

dying in the arms of Francois I at Amboise.

Eisenstein will die...

like Leonardo.

I'm not so sure

that filmmakers will be remembered.

- We have made a procession of the mighty dead.

Aren't you surprised that we spend

so much time making people die in films?

- All actors, sooner or later, and sooner rather than later. .

in theaters and cinemas ar0und the worId

are asked to fuck or die.

HamIet. Othello. Macbeth.

Juliet, Madame Butterfly,Joan 0f Arc, Yevgeniy Onegin,

CIeopatra, JuIlius Caesar,Savonarola, Helen of Troy,

Ivan the Terrible...

- We give you Iicense to show us peopIe fucking and dying,

and we know they are not.

And you know they are not.

And we know that you know that we know they are not.

- It s all to prove we are alive twice over.

First as an affirmation

and then as a challenge

to Death itself.

The willing and very necessary

suspension of disbeIief.

In modern-day Russia,

Death comes drunk in a crumpIed dark-gray suit with no underwear

because no one has money for vests and underpants in Russia.

He wears a secondhand grubby white shirt

with no collar and dirty cuffs.

Death in Russia is a shabby meeting at life's end.

Here in Mexico,

Death comes bright-eyed and laughing, totally sober,

beginning his greatest adventure,

kissing the air.

His head, his heart,

and his cock held high.

Sex and death. the two nonnegotiabIes.

Eros and Thanatos.

We are never aware of our own conception.

Can we really be a witness to our own death?

- You have introduced yourself to Death in México.

Indeed, you seem to me to have introduced yourself

to Death in México.

Perhaps now you need

to introduce yourseIf to sex in México?

- ﹝laughs﹞

WeII, perhaps n0w I need to introduce myself

to sex in the worId.

- ﹝chuckIes﹞

- Perhaps, Cañedo, y0u could introduce me

to sex in Mexico and the world?

- Another subject matter could be money.

- Money?

I am not so sure at aII about money.

It has not been around for so very Iong.

And now s0 many fools have it and so many wise men do not.

It cannot be very important.

And money can be s0 easily subsumed

into death and sex.

if onIy to deIay one and pay for the other.

- ﹝chuckIes﹞

An0ther subject matter couId be power.

Y0u will have to go back to Russia sooner or Iater.

And in Russia, y0u will witness power unlimited.

- Every morning there is a flood of yeIIow teIegrams

pushed under my door.

They want me back in Russia.

Russian power reaches its huge hand

here to me in Mexico.

Can anyone escape it?

- Now we sleep for one hour.

Enjoy your siesta.

A siesta splits the day in two.

Makes two days out of one.

But really, you must do it properly.

Undress.

and the most important thing of all.

sleep between cool sheets.

No snoozing in y0ur day clothes.

You must be naturally drowsy.

Give in. The best sIeep of the day.

Drift away.

Then you go to bed.

And pretend you are dead.

Silent.

Still.

The best sleep y0u will know when you are not dead.

And you are cheating death. ﹝chuckIes﹞

Go 0n, take your clothes off.

- I have a clumsy, unattractive body.

- It's not unattractive. I have seen it.

You make it unattractive.

Your belief in your ugliness is a sort 0f exhibitionism.

You are vain about your ugliness.

- I have a coward s bravery.

Short arms, big head...

big feet.

I have the correct physiognomy for a clown.

No woman could ever take a delight in my body.

- Why not? Clowns are loved by women.

Their heIpIess foolishness is appeaoing.

Is that really the problem, do you think?

That you have believed that no woman

couId approve of your body?

Or your prick?

So you have denied them.

- I have a prick only fit for peeing.

- ﹝Iaughing﹞

That could be very usefully true.

But it cannot be all.

Make it rise.

﹝chuckIes﹞

You see? It takes on a brand-new life.

Respect it.

﹝breathes deepIy, groans﹞

I am not going to deny myself sleep any more.

We will discuss your prick later when we wake up.

Now take a shower and lay d0wn.

Mmm.

I am aIready falling over the cliff

into the abyss of sleep.

This is really the way to fall into this.

Delightful.

GuiItless.

Unfatigued.

This way, you will not dream.

I never dream during a siesta.

﹝line trilling﹞

- Pera? Pera? Is that you?

- What s that noise? - I m in the shower.

Water. Warm rain.

I am in Guanajuato, and there is a man in my bed.

- What is he doing there? - SIeeping.

It s early afternoon. Siesta time.

We shouId Iearn to take siestas in Moscow.

What are you doing?

- What shouId I be doing here in Moscow?

Nothing much-- writing invoices,

typing scripts for the publisher,

being your secretary,

looking after your interests whilst you re away,

refusing chocolates and visits to the cinema from Boris.

- Pera, why don't you drop everything

and come to Mexico

and rescue me from men faIIing asleep in my bed?

- I couId never get a visa.

And there is no money for foreign visits.

- We have shot over 70 miIes of film. 20 hours.

I have a Iot of ideas, though they keep changing.

UsuaI stuff. It s gonna be a great film.

- PeopIe here are saying you won't come back.

- Of course I'm coming back.

- Sergei, be careful.

Don't get mad at me, but your American experience

couId act against you.

They ve stopped paying your mother.

Don't worry, I'm getting s0mething through to her,

th0ugh she continues to be very rude and condescending to me,

the bitch.

Sorry.

You know there is no love lost between us.

- His name is Cañedo.

- Whose name?

- The man in my bed. He s my guide.

- And what else is he to you?

- He's an instructor

of comparative reIigion.

- Since when have you needed instruction in reIigion?

- We talk about Mexico and death.

He's my guide to the UnderworId.

﹝indistinct chatter﹞

Pera? Pera? Are you still there?

The line is very bad.

- I hear all sorts of noises.

Iike someone banging a hammer on metal.

A spanner on a radiator.

- No. that s here-- upstairs or somewhere.

- Sergei, think of yourseIf. Think of coming back soon.

They are starting to ask even little me

aII sorts of questions, like,

"What do the Americans think of Sergei?"

Using your first name, suggesting we are intimate.

- I'm not with Americans anymore.

I'm with Mexicans, an entirely different race of people.

Pera? Pera? Pera, are you there?

- You are a long way off. - ﹝chuckIes﹞

Y0u're right. I'm in Mexico.

﹝distant banging﹞

﹝banging pipes﹞

- It is 9:45,

a quarter to 10:00 on the 25th October.

The officiaI time we stormed the Winter PaIace.

1 4 years to the minute when the Revolution began.

Ten days that shook the world.

- Except we have now changed calendars,

and it's all happening in November.

And anyway, if it's 9:45 here in Mexico.

it can t be 9:45 in Moscow.

The anniversary was over ten hours ago.

We missed it.

- Then Eisenstein did it all over again.

He recreated the Russian Revolution

all over again on film.

Though much bigger and much better

than the first time round.

And twice as expensive.

- With Eisenstein s versi0n, the street cleaners complained.

They took three days cleaning up the broken glass.

"The first time around." they said,

" PeopIe were more considerate.

They made far less mess."

- They thought the first revolution

was--was better ch0reographed.

They thought Eisenstein's version wasn t worth filming.

It was a waste of film. they said.

- With Eisenstein, there were much more windows broken.

more statues chipped by ricocheting bullets,

and much more noise.

The originaI revoIution had apparentIy been

a fairIy quiet affair,

with no swearing and no bad language.

﹝orchestra pIaying﹞

♪ ♪

Eisenstein is very equivocaI about women.

And he really is a vulgar, fat littIe chap.

Any opportunity to pass on obscenity,

he will fart it through.

Sublimated sexual frustrati0on.

He can be very crude about women.

He can't d0 the sex. so he'll talk it.

- C0me on. let's take the young woman home.

- ﹝chanting﹞

♪ ♪

﹝all chanting﹞

♪ ♪

- A present...

so you can ceIebrate your Russian RevoIution

far from home.

CongratuIati0ns, Mr. Russian Film Director.

- ﹝chuckIes﹞ Thank you.

I will wave it and remember.

﹝chanting continues﹞

♪ ♪

﹝thunder b00ms﹞

﹝distant beII tolling﹞

﹝distant thunder rumbIes﹞

- Turn around.

﹝distant thunder rumblles﹞

lnitiation ceremony.

FormaI initiation into life was essential for the Aztecs--

a full ritual.

You have Ieft it a littIe Iate, Sergei.

But doesn't matter. Better Iate than never.

- Better never Iate.

- You are far from home

and off your home initiation ground.

- I cannot.

- Cannot what?

Why not?

- Because I have argued with myseIf repeatedly

that this cannot be the way.

I have reached my accustomed point,

and this is where I stop.

- It used t0 be where y0u may have stopped.

It isn't any longer.

- This is where I get off the train.

- Sorry, no station.

- WeII. then I wiII have to jump.

- ﹝chuckIes﹞

Jumping off a moving train couId be dangerous.

And your prick teIIs you

you have a first-cIass ticket to continue the journey.

- My prick is a stowaway, an even sadder clown than me.

He wears a sad cIown's helmet.

- He's a wiser clown than you.

Follow where he leads.

And if you won't Iead...

Iet me.

I am the guard.

I wiII be at the back of the train.

I wiII be at the back of the train.

﹝distant thunder rumbIes﹞

- ﹝whimpering﹞

﹝grunts﹞ It hurts, it stings!

I'm going to vomit!

- Shh, shh, shh. - ﹝groans﹞

- That s what every virgin must say.

That's what the virginal New World said.

- I'm bleeding. - So you are.

Every virgin is supposed to bleed,

so you were perhaps telling me the truth.

Don't worry. - ﹝grunts﹞

- Small, broken, injured capilaries

in the sensitive anal interior sphincter.

Recovery aImost immediate.

- BIeeding makes me vuInerabIe. - It does.

But you have no reason to feeI concerned.

UnIess you are a hemophiliac. ﹝chuckIes﹞

You are not a member of the Russian royal family,

are you?

Are you a Romanov?

Eur0pe gave México many things.

And perhaps Méxic0 gave onIy one thing back--

syphilis.

It was kn0wn f0r a time as the " Mexican disease."

Then as the " Spanish disease."

The Spanish gave it to ltalians in southern Italy.

The French army of Francis I caught it from the ltalians.

Then it was the "French Disease. "

The French soldiers took it back to France.

And then it was everybody's. ﹝chuckIes﹞

- The Mexicans had a natural immunity?

Is that really true?

- The old World, the New World.

You are the old World. I am the New World.

- But we have it all the wrong way round.

México.

Pre-Columbian MiddIe America...

is the old World.

Where you come from is the New WorId.

- And you teII me aII these things

whiIe your prick is in my ass?

- CouId be the reason.

CouId be an excuse.

Could be a justification

to remind you about subjugation.

But it couId be none of those things at all.

And it isn't.

And you are not entirely unwilling.

﹝chuckIes﹞

Curiously, neither were the Aztecs.

The European invasion had been prophesied.

They were God-fearing, superstitious people.

They did not resist.

The new New WorId shouId Iearn from the old.

They say all Americans, north and south.

0riginally came across the Bering Straits to Alaska

and then all the way down

to Tierra del Fuego.

If the original Americans came that way,

they must have traveled originally from Siberia,

which means all Americans,

and that also means all Mexicans,

were once upon a time Russians. - ﹝breathing heavily﹞

- And now, Sergei,

I want to enj0y your virginaI Russian ass.

- ﹝grunting﹞

﹝breathing heaviIy﹞

﹝grunting﹞

At 2:00...

on the 26th of Qctober. 1917... .

the Russian Revolution was over.

The Winter Palace had been taken.

I was 19.

- CongratuIations, Eisenstein, on a revoIution.

- 14 years ago, Russia lost its virginity.

I was 14 years too Iate.

﹝orchestra pIaying bombastic music﹞

♪ ♪

﹝thunder booms﹞

﹝moaning﹞

﹝chuckIes﹞

﹝thunder booms﹞

﹝both screaming﹞

﹝projector rattIling﹞

- Sergei, there has been a mudslide

to the south of the city--

the heavy rains Iast night.

There are many dead, many injured.

We shouId go there

and fiIm a naturaI Mexican disaster.

- Is there such a thing?

Aren't all disasters natural?

- Hey, come on, get your clothes on.

It s not time for idle philosophy.

Hey, come and help.

Come and tell us how we shouId film it.

- No, you do it. You know what to do.

I'm not s0 good with reality. I'm going back to bed.

- We have the car outside. We can be there in 20 minutes

if the roads are not washed away.

- The locaI peopIe will not like you seeing them distressed.

You are vultures. You will not be popular.

- Sergei, we can record it, show what happened.

- You go, I'll come Iater.

﹝indistinct chatter﹞

- ﹝speaking Spanish﹞

﹝indistinct chatter﹞

- Having children of my own

has just not occurred to me as a possibility.

Is that strange?

- No.

- It seems to be so very, very far

from what I have ever thought.

You really d0 have to have the thought in your head,

and I never have.

You need to find the desire.

And the desire needs to be consummated.

We stake a cIaim to be human

by continuing the inex0rable chain

0n and on and on. generation after generation--

gather, son, and grands0n--

which means we simpIy are in a hopeIess reIay race,

permitted to hold the baton

for a few yards of hectic running,

with me thinking and feeling aII the time

that I will default.

that I wiII drop the baton

and disgrace myself

and the team of an extended family

and, not Ieast, betray the woman who is bearing the child

at my request

and who is far more exhausted than me.

S0 better not to enter the race.

humiliate myseIf, and embarrass all around me.

﹝thunder booms﹞ -No, no fotos.

- Cañedo? Cañedo, help me! This baby is bleeding.

I thought she was peeing down my leg, but it's blood.

Look! Help me.

I couId not face a chiId bIeeding to death in my lap.

I onIy--I onIy construct death in the cinema.

I d0n t make it, cause it. Get the mother.

Where is the mother of this child?

I came to Mexico...

a virgin.

And I leave it debauched.

My body was a stranger.

And now it becomes familiar in its...

sheer vulnerability.

Come with me t0 Moscow.

- Impossible.

- I brush away my tears.

- I brush away my tears.

Am I weeping f0r that child?

For you?

For myself?

﹝thunder rumbles﹞

- Are you a hero?

- Mercedes.

Are you not disturbed

by the Russian fiIm-director s nakedness?

- Not at all. He is not interested in women.

- Not at all. He is not interested in women.

Besides, his photograph is in the papers.

He does not have long to Iive now.

Unless he has a great deal of money.

And unless he is very lucky.

And unless he is very lucky.

﹝thunder rumbles﹞

- Some papers say you are a hero.

This paper says you are responsible

for a child's death.

This one says

This one says

you and your wife have just had a row

about her m0ther. your mother-in-law.

And this paper offers you condolences

on the death of your daughter.

It s amazing how you have suddenly acquired

a Mexican family,

and the Camorristas don't normally like

and the Camorristas don't normally like

to get their hair wet.

- But they can get nothing out of me.

﹝thunder rumbles﹞

- There are two pe0ple downstairs

waiting to talk to you.

Shall I ask them to come up?

- Mrs. Upton Sinclair and her brother.

Upton Sinclair is famous in Russia.

Upton Sinclair is famous in Russia.

AII his books have been translated.

100,000 available Upton Sinclair books in Moscow.

﹝chuckIes﹞

Read Iargely by literature snobs.

Well, when they chopped my Hollywood contract,

I couldn't go back to Moscow empty-handed.

And I d met the film-director Flaherty,

who made Nanook of The North,

and he got me interested in going to Mexic0,

which I must admit wasn't difficult.

Well, FIaherty makes films

with people who are not actors, like me.

with people who are not actors, like me.

And he convinced me

I could make a film independently in Mexico

without actors.

And when I was in Hollywood...

and I was lonely...

and miserable...

and miserable...

and homesick...

I spent a great deaI of time in the Hollywood bookstore

and practically bought up their entire stock of books

on Mexico.

The owner of the b0okstore.

who had fought in the Mexican Civil War,

who had fought in the Mexican Civil War,

said I couId make a film in Mexico for $25.000.

And I taIked to Chaplin,

and he agreed it was a good idea.

Mexico is fashionabIe amongst all Chaplin's left-wing friends

in California.

They all have second homes here.

They aII have second homes here.

And Upton Sinclair

was one of these left-wing, fashionable friends.

He and his horse-riding,

name-dropping,

faded Southern belle wife were very excited

faded Southern belle wife were very excited

that they couId assist a Russian filmmaker

with all the right credentials.

With all the right credentials. With all the right credentials.

- Sergei! How are you?

- Sergei! How are you?

We have been waiting t0 see you.

Hunter is worried.

- PaIomino. this is Mary Craig SincIlair,

- PaIomino. this is Mary Craig Sinclair,

the wife of Upton Sinclair, famous American author. .

much published in Russia.

Mary, this is Palomino Cañedo.

- My, you're handsome, Mr. Palomino.

- My, you're handsome, Mr. Palomino.

﹝giggIes﹞

Palomino! S0unds like a horse.

I used to have a beautiful paIomino mare two years ago.

Tennessee Walking Horse out of an Appaloosa.

Are you a stud, Mr. Palomino?

Are you a stud, Mr. Palomino?

Are you registered at the Jockey Club

like my paIomino, Mr. Palomino?

Hunter, shake hands with a beautiful man

who couId have been a horse.

who couId have been a horse.

Oh. we c0uId have some coffee, too.

Oh, are you the maid?

Or are you doing for Mr. Palomino

what my AppaIoosa did for the Tennessee Walking Horse?

Bring us some coffee, wiII you, dear?

Sergei, Hunter and I wanted to know how you are doing,

how you are getting along.

﹝gasps﹞ Oh!

We have put your Iatest fiIm rushes

through the Iaboratory in California,

through the Iaboratory in California,

and I must say--

we all say... ﹝chuckIes﹞

They are truly splendid.

Albert says s0, and George says so, too.

﹝chuckles﹞ I'm sorry.

Albert Einstein and George Bernard Shaw.

AIbert Einstein and George Bernard Shaw.

- You have sh0wn my rushes to all these people

when I have not yet seen them myself?

- WeII, you couIdn't, couId you?

There are no Mexican Iaboratories

worth knowing, are there?

And we didn t want to disturb you in your good works

and your long hours. ﹝giggIes﹞

Though, Sergei, it is 10:00 in the morning,

and you are still in your pajamas.

and you are still in ylur pajamas.

Yellow pajamas, no less. ﹝giggles﹞

And in bed having breakfast?

- Mm-hmm.

With your friend.

- Cañedo is my official Guanajuato guide.

He intends to take me to Diego's favorite restaurant,

He intends to take me to Diego's favorite restaurant,

and I am to meet Frida.

Oh, I'm sorry. Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.

- Ah. - And then...

since I have been introduced to the siesta by Cañedo,

I intend to spend a Iarge part

of the aftern0on in bed. practicing it.

- WeII, it is good to know that you are in such safe hands.

- WeII, it is good to know that you are in such safe hands.

But Hunter here has to speak to you about budgets

and finances and money.

Y0u kn0w, y0u have been in Mexico for eight months now,

and we onIy budgeted, as you know, for 12.

Oh, shall I get the invoices to check?

- Oh, good Lord.

- Oh, well...

I see it is still quite early for you.

- Oh, yes. I am acclimatizing myself to locaI practices--

many of them imported from across the border.

You know? The border with America?

You know? The border with America?

Russians don't wear pajamas.

Even Stalin doesn't wear a pajama,

but I m sure that before Iong, he might very well do--red ones.

I am used to wearing a Russian nightshirt

which can be a cast-off daytime shirt.

It is usually genderless, and usually,

It is usuaIIy genderIess, and usually,

if you tug it well, can reach down to your knees

and even, with some sewing and some adjustments,

can be made. when it's really cold,

to reach down to your ankles.

- ﹝scoffs﹞ - WeII, we will be going now.

Hunter can make an appointment with you

Hunter can make an appointment with you

to taIk finances and--and rushes.

Is--is that the right word?

And maybe you couId do it over dinner, Hunter?

Is that all right?

- Infantile behavior.

- InfantiIe behavi0r.

- ﹝exhaIes deeply﹞

- ﹝speaking Spanish﹞

- Something else? - No, thank you, Mercedes.

-Gracias,Mercedes.

- However, Mercedes,

y0u couId put your naked elbow

you couId put your naked elbow

under the shower to test the water temperature.

And, oh...

perhaps you couId warm up the Iavatory seat for me again.

Take your knickers down,

sit on the seat the wrong way around,

take a pee, and wriggle around a bit.

take a pee, and wriggle around a bit.

- Do you really want me to translate that?

﹝thunder rumbles﹞

Was that wise?

- Wise? Wisdom?

- Wise? Wisdom?

What is that?

Learning how to live with a modicum of happiness

and no harm to others?

Freud says that there are five things

essential to a man's happiness

essential to a man's happiness

and if you can get them all perfectly aligned,

you are extremely fortunate indeed--

heaIth, work, money,

sex, and love.

sex, and love.

I have my health.

I have unbounded amounts of work.

M0ney? As you just heard,

I have a banker. and he has money.

It's not mine. but it's . in their bank under my name.

Sex? Well...

I'm more than agreeabIy accounted for there.

I'm more than agreeabIy accounted for there.

And love.

I have the love of a centaur.

Obviously a half a man, half a horse.

A palomino.

"ATennessee Walking Horse.

A stud out of an AppaIoosa. "

- ﹝laughing﹞

- Can you whinny and neigh and snort

and trampIe the earth with your hooves?

- ﹝laughing﹞ - I can

- ﹝imitating horse whinnying﹞ - ﹝laughing﹞

- ﹝imitating horse whinnying﹞ - ﹝laughing﹞

﹝continues imitating horse﹞

- Stop!

Stop.

﹝laughing﹞

Oh! Oh.

- Oh. - ﹝continues imitating horse﹞

- Oh. - ﹝continues imitating horse﹞

- Oh.

﹝Mexican folk music﹞

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- I am 33...

the age of Christ and Alexander at death...

the age St. Augustine said we aII go to Heaven.

It is 0bvi0us.

I had to come to Mexico to go to Heaven.

﹝chuckles﹞

- You couId have found this...

ordinary heaven Iike most other peopIe at 17.

ordinary heaven Iike most other peopIe at 17.

- I doubt it.

I doubt it very much.

I doubt that there are many 17-year-oIds

that found Heaven that very first time.

I am certain that I would not have.

I am certain that I would not have.

I was callow in all ways,

and it would have been a wasted experience.

33 is the ideal age--

oId enough to be wise enough to kn0w that 33...

is the probabIe limit of promise.

is the probable limit of promise.

After 33. you can no longer claim

to be a young person 0f promise anymore.

And at 33. . y0u are still young enough

to have your...

physical attributes,

physical attributes,

but old enough

to no longer have them with vanity or triumphaIism.

And...

33 is still young enough not to be hopelessIy cynical

and resigned to your fate.

I am discovering everything all at once.

I am discovering everything all at once.

And the catalyst...

the catalyst is sex.

I am just stupidIy living...

now in the present.

I couId be fodder for the Camorrista and not care.

I couId be fodder for the Camorrista and not care.

﹝both laughing﹞

Someone...

has opened a door to a...

wet...

wet...

and weeping...

dirty...

hurricane.

- Look after little Sergei.

He is a Russian innocent,

and Russian innocents are the most innocent

of innocents in the worId.

of innocents in the world.

﹝all chuckling﹞

- Y0u should be in that car, Sergei.

Keep them under controI.

St0p them from spending needless finances.

- Qh, don't worry. I'm following Iater.

-Señor.

- And they couId be better off without me.

Tisse is a Capuchin monk with money, doesn t eat.

Tisse is a Capuchin monk with money, doesn t eat.

And Aleksandrov is so charismatic

that everyone else pays for his bed and board.

He couId scarcely be a drain on anyone s resources.

- ﹝sighs﹞ We need to talk.

﹝engine turning over﹞

- ﹝chuckles﹞ Salud!

- ﹝chuckles﹞ Salud!

- Sergei, with over 100 miIes of film,

you're going to make a film twenty hours Iong

which is stupid and intolerabIe.

- Griffith shot 200 miles on IntoIerance.

Von Stroheim shot 100 miles on Greed.

It is normaI to shoot that much,

and we have a project here covering the whole of Mexico.

We are not at all doing badly,

considering all the language difficulties,

the extras that don't turn up or turn up too Iate,

the Mexican authorities who, out of the blue,

when we are all prepared, deny us permission,

the exceptionaI heat that is making everyone sick,

then--then the heavy rains, not known for 20 years,

and then I fall sick with some mystery disease

that no one can find a name for, even in Aztec.

And what about this letter

that Upton sent to the Russians in America.

saying that the hacienda st0ry's the onIy one that makes a fiIm

that anyone could understand in Hollywood

and that the rest is just aimless pretty pictures?

Upton does n0t simply understand

that the film needs to be edited the right way.

- WeII, he says the rushes are the same thing

over and over again. - Jesus!

That's the way you make a film, god damn it!

Where have you been?

We keep shooting till we get it right.

Not every singIe retake is in the goddamn film!

He said, anyway, at the end of his Ietter

that he was convinced that it wouId be

a beautiful and magnificent work of art.

- And--and Iook what he wrote t0 Stalin. " Dear Stalin... " .

- You d0n t address the Premier of the USSR like that.

- Upton did, and he s a writer.

" You may have heard

"that I have taken the j0b of financing a moving picture,

"which the Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein

" is making in Mexico.

"It is going to be extraordinary w0rk

" and I think will be a revelation

" 0f the moving-picture art.

" Someday you will see the picture

"which Eisenstein is making

" and realize that Soviet technique

" has advanced another step

and been crowned with fresh laureIs. "

- Well, I'm not sure what else he wrote in that letter,

but he must have provoked Stalin somehow,

because this is what he telegrammed

back to your husband.

" Eisenstein lose his comrade confidence in Soviet Union.

" Stop. He is thought to be a deserter

"who broke off with his own country. Stop.

"I'm afraid the peopIe here

"wouId have no interest in him. Stop.

" I m very sorry, but all assert it is the fact. Stop.

My regards, Stalin."

- How did you get hold of a private teIegram

from Stalin to my husband?

- WeII, from those very peopIe

wh0 apparentIy have no interest in me.

So who's Iying?

- And my husband wrote back at once.

saying he had never, ever thought y0u were a deserter

and had never been disloyal

and that you were ferociously attacked

by the American rednecks in California

and that you stood firm in your principles

and had every intention of returning

when the film was compIeted.

- There are so many c0ntradictions flying around

to your advantage,

it is hard to beIieve that you want us to succeed.

- And I wonder what y0u have not contributed

to aII these contradictions.

You have been nothing but troubIe

from the moment we started.

Even on the train Ieaving Los AngeIes,

y0u get into a fight with the brother

of the Mexican Chief of Police.

- WeII, we weren't to know who he was!

He was ravishing some woman 0n my couchette!

- Ha!

With nights under hoteI arrest until Sinclair phoned Chaplin

to persuade them to reIease you.

- WeII, see how popuIar we are.

In the end. we had 12 American senators.

DougIas Fairbanks,

and Albert Einstein rooting for us.

And the Mexican President apologized.

- What about that business with the young man

steaIing your gun and shooting his sister?

- That was an unhappy accident, which you well know.

And it wasn't my gun.

This troubIemaker, your brother,

is being very far from helpfuI.

His poor, not to say, bad management,

and his n0t kn0wing anything about film production

has wasted hundreds 0f dollars that we couId do well with.

He has presented me to your husband

as a liar and a blackmailer and God knows what eIse.

It is imp0ssibIe to work under such an ignorant tyrant.

What the heII does he know about fiIm production?

He's just a stockbroker saIesman from the provinciaI South.

You have to get him off my back.

I wouIdn't be at aII surprised...

-Señor!

- If he was spending the film money

on women, drink, and gambling.

We all know he was jailed in Mérida

for public indecency at a brotheI,

throwing whores into a... swimming pooI.

- You are a Iiar and a sIanderer.

I am a respectabIe businessman. .

and you and your company are just a bunch of homos.

- Ah, what have we provoked?

I think Mary, Mrs. Upton Sinclair,

we have aII said more than we intended, eh, Kimbrough?

- I think not. Mr. Sergei Eisenstein.

I think not.

- WeII. how am I to arrive. in this skeIeton state for reaI?

- You have four options.

One. The StaIin opti0n, an assassin from Moscow.

- Ah! Poisoned coffee. ﹝chuckIes﹞

- Machete in the desert.

- Pig falling down from baIcony. ﹝both Iaughing﹞

- Car without brakes. Eight out of ten.

- Oh, or two, wasting away

in a Mexican jaiI for moraI turpitude,

either for the seduction of the young and underaged or...

- or--or for sodomy,

in which case expect perhaps a red-hot poker up your ass

like Edward II.

- Six out of ten.

or three, Sinclairs revenge.

He sets light to my film.

- And throws you on the pyre. Two out of ten.

- or four, the Camorrista kidnap me

and cut me up into littIe pieces,

mailing me off on the slow boat to Saint Petersburg.

500.000 rubles for every pound of flesh.

Zero out of ten. - Which is it going to be?

- Well, I think the Camorrista are the most deserving.

We don't want to disappoint them.

We just have to take Hunter Kimbrough s photograph

and give it to the newspapers.

That wiII do nicely. ﹝both laughing﹞

- Camorrista!

﹝both grunting﹞

No! No! No! Aah!

﹝classical music﹞

♪ ♪

﹝both grunting﹞

﹝b0th Iaughing﹞

♪ ♪

﹝humming aIong to Mexican music﹞

♪ ♪

Come on, try it.

♪ ♪

Right. Come 0n.

Right, left.

♪ ♪

- Oh. Qh!

- Hey.

﹝breathing heavily﹞

Well. I have to teach from 11:00 for three h0urs.

See you Iater.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

﹝line trilling﹞

﹝line cIicks﹞

- Pera? Is that you?

- Sergei, it's the middIe of the night.

- Oh, I'm sorry, were you asIeep?

Did I wake you?

Do you have anyone with you?

- Sergei, is that likely?

- I was wondering if y0u had finally given in to Boris.

- Things are heating up here about your long absence.

They are threatening to take away your apartment.

- What? They can t do that.

- Sergei, I'm afraid they can.

Do you want me to start packing up your books?

My God, it will take me months.

- Listen, Pera, listen,

I have something extraordinary t0 tell you.

This country-- this country is astonishing.

All the Iarge things in life constantly hit you on your head,

in the pit of your stomach, and in your heart.

Nothing can be superficiaI.

You know how I work--

timid with affairs of the heart and body.

My prick aIways safely tucked up in my trousers.

- Sergei!

- Y0u know I'm a work automaton.

Well, suddenly my timidity collapsed.

My defenses fell down.

I shocked myself. I behaved without reserve.

You would have been both shocked and amazed.

And I wouId have wanted you to be.

Everything we ever talked about has been bowIed over.

I have been moaning and complaining to you

that I could not go the distance.

Well. now I have... ﹝chuckIes﹞

And beyond.

I have got everything that I desired.

And not just the satisfaction of lechery.

- Sergei, your secrets are safe with me.

And you can tell me everything later in every detail,

but you must be carefuI.

Now, hold your excitement and tell me things

our listener might want to hear.

- Pera. I am sure there is. no secret Iistener.

It is you, Pera, y0u are the secret Iistener.

You are two peopIe.

- Sergei, you might be right.

I have probabIy aIways been two peopIe--

y0ur secretary, nurse, and bum-wiper.

- ﹝laughs﹞

Pera, you have never wiped my backside,

but Cañedo...

- But Cañedo has?

Sergei, shut up!

- Pera, you are the onIy person in the w0rId

that I can teII without holding anything back.

- That is both the best and the worst thing

y0u can teII me,

especially on a cold October morning

at five degrees beIow zero.

Now that I know y0u are well and happy and working hard,

I wait for your next call.

I'm now going to cry myseIf to sIeep.

Good night, Sergei.

Take very good care of yourseIf.

﹝line clicks﹞

- ﹝sniffs﹞

﹝bell in phone dings﹞

﹝cIassicaI music﹞

♪ ♪

- Death...

shouId aIways be ready...

to take a caII.

- Found you, Eisenstein. Is this filmmaking?

- Of a kind.

Looking after your feet is important.

Did you know that ignoring your feet in oId age

statistically brings on death?

Corns, chilblains, blisters.

In-growing toenaiIs cause walking problems.

ProbIems of baIance create faIIs.

which mean damaged hips, broken bones,

which don't mend so good after 60.

How old are you, Mr. Kimbrough?

- Eisenstein. I have a chiropodist

to tell me all that.

- Oh. another mark. of American affIuence.

Your average Russian wouIdn't know what a chiropodist was.

So look after your feet, Kimbrough.

If not, collapse of mobility,

a downhill slide to permanent horizontality without sex.

Pneumonia, bedsores, depression, death.

Stay vertical as long as you can, Kimbrough.

Look after your shoes and Iook after your feet.

- Upton has sent me with an uItimatum.

- You have 20 days Ieft on your visa, Mr. Eisenstein.

- G0d, Kimbrough!

Have you brought aIong the Mexican Passport Office?

- I'm afraid you'll have to Ieave Mexico, sir.

- In that time, you have enough raw st0ck to finish the film

and a budget of $8,000.

That's 20 minutes a day for 20 days.

Enough is enough.

We have to bring this thing to an end.

- " This thing "?

What to y0u, Mr. Kimbrough, is " this thing" ?

- A Iong, protracted, irresponsible adventure

Ieading to nowhere.

Mary says Upton has to tame

your disobedience and extravagance.

Upton has collapsed and is sick in hospital in Pasadena.

The doctors say too much unnecessary stress.

He's been running around on your behaIf,

forever raising money to satisfy your exorbitant demands.

I now take over.

Upton has 10st his faith in you and your integrity.

You have maneuvered him, used him.

He has empowered me t0 cIose it down,

wrap it up, the end, fuII stop.

You're Iike a Negro.

Kind words and consideration are not enough.

- ﹝chuckles﹞

- ﹝chuckles﹞

I thought I was a Red.

Now I m aIso a BIack?

And you aIso forgot, a Jew.

Being Russian is the miIdest of concerns.

You wear your prejudices proudly on your sIeeve,

Mr. Kimbrough, a true Southern gentIeman.

- Upton is exhausted by your hesitations

and deIays and changes of plan

and the dubious company you keep.

You have deIiberateIy packed fiIth in our Iuggage

sent through United States Customs Authorities.

The police said it was the viIest thing they'd ever seen--

obscene and bIasphem0us drawings of the Crucifixion.

I Ieave for Hollywood on Wednesday.

The Iast 0f the rushes have to be in by the 21st of December

when the contract terminates.

Amkino and Moscow

have said you must return to New York.

- You saiI from New York on the 17th of January.

You'II be arriving in Europe by the 23rd.

Perhaps you can be back in Moscow

by the 2nd of February.

- You miss the connection, you are on your own.

- Mr. Cañedo is no Ionger your guide here in Guanajuato.

He has been dismissed.

- Mr. Cañedo,

in Mexico City, they taIked about ending your contract

at the end of this period.

- It's best for his sake. Eisenstein.

you should Ieave Guanajuato immediately.

He has a wife and chiIdren.

I suggest tomorrow morning! Oh!

-Alli, cabrön.

-Quieto. cabrön. hijo de Ia chingada.

﹝upbeat music﹞

♪ ♪

﹝bell tolling﹞

﹝tolling continues﹞

♪ ♪

﹝bell tolls﹞

﹝banging 0n pipes﹞

﹝bell tolls﹞

﹝bombastic music﹞

♪ ♪

- AII right, Sergei.

Now you have to give them back.

﹝s0Iemn Mexican music﹞

♪ ♪

What were you thinking of doing--

opening a restaurant in Red Square?

﹝chuckIes﹞

Don t you have forks in Moscow?

- It was my insurance policy...

an excuse to be arrested.

﹝sighs﹞

♪ ♪

There.

Now I cannot Ieave Guanajuato.

I cannot g0 h0me.

You must never separate a Russian from his shoes.

- ﹝chuckIes﹞

- I cannot Ieave you.

I cannot.

- ﹝sighs﹞

- ﹝groans﹞

﹝coughing﹞

﹝vomiting﹞

﹝vomiting﹞

﹝coughing﹞

PaIomino loves weII.

- You were loneIy.

You needed comforting.

You were Iike a Iost child.

I Iove him.

- I Iove him. too.

﹝dramatic music﹞

♪ ♪

﹝upbeat music﹞

♪ ♪

﹝chiIdren singing in Spanish﹞

♪ ♪

- We wiII come to say good-bye.

We want peace...

aII of us.

And I am the one to seaI that peace.

You have to go now, Sergei.

Your time is up.

We want Palomino back.

He is not gonna spend his time dreaming of Moscow.

- Drive away.

This is the Day of the Dead,

and I am a dead man.

Drive slowIy to the edge of town.

This is a funeral cortege.

And when y0u reach the edge of town,

drive Iike the Devil.

I need to Ieave Heaven in a hurry.

﹝somber music﹞

♪ ♪

﹝narrator﹞Eisenstein left Mexico two months Iater.

He had shot some 250 miIes of fiIm,

which he was never allowed to edit.

Soviet Iaws made homosexuaIity

a punishabIe offense in 1 936.

Homosexuals were sent to Siberia--

ten years hard Iabor for sodomy.

Eisenstein dies 0f heart attack

aged 50 in 1 948,

banging on the radiator pipes f0r over three hours

to arouse his neighbors,

a prearranged signaI,

but they never heard him.

- Day ten of my stay in Guanajuato

is the 31 st 0f Qctober

and the eve

of the Day 0f the Dead.

In the West, my film October is called

The Ten Days That Shook The World.

I...

shall consider these ten days

as the ten days that shook...

Eisenstein.