Original subtitles

LENFILM

Trubetskaya - Irina KUPCHENKO

Trubetskoy - Alexei BATALOV

Volkonskaya - Natalya BONDARCHUK

Volkonsky - Oleg STRIZHENOV

Gueble-Annenkova - Ewa SZYKULSKA (Poland)

Annenkov - Igor KOSTOLEVSKY

Rayevsky - Lev IVANOV Rayevskaya - Raissa KURKINA

Annenkova - Tatiana PANKOVA

Ryleyev - O. YANKOVSKY Ryleyeva - T. FYODOROVA

Pestel - A. POROKHOVSHCHIKOV Kakhovsky - V. KOSTETSKY

Nicholas I - V. LIVANOV

Tsejdler - I. SMOKTUNOVSKY Lavalle - V. STRZHELCHIK

Miloradovich - D. SHILKO Lebzeltern - I. DMITRIYEV

Alexander I - V. DUBENSKY Levashov - V. TEREKHOV

Vausher - L. MAKAROVSKY Fyodor - A. TRUSOV

Nikitka - M. KOKSHENOV Pafnuti - A. KOZHEVNIKOV

To the women of Russia

THE CAPTIVATING STAR OF HAPPINESS

Written by V. MOTYL, O. OSETINSKY

Director of Photography Dmitry MESKHIEV

Production Designer Valery KOSTRIN

Music by I. SHVARTS

Sound by M. LAZAREV Song lyrics by B. OKUDZHAVA

English subtitles by T. Kameneva

Directed by Vladimir MOTYL

- Nikolai Nikolayevich is sleeping? - He's not at home.

He and Sophia Alexeyevna are vacationing at Belaya Tserkov.

You can go!

Marie!

Sorry for not having come sooner. It was beyond my powers.

Here, the letters from Pushkin.

Believe me, Marie, I missed you very much.

Pestel has been arrested!

Pavel Ivanovich?

What for?

The regiment under my command will have to place under arrest

the commander-in-chief and the head of the staff.

The Northern Society is for the preservation of the monarchy.

The Southern Society intends to abolish it.

To abolish the monarchy overnight is impossible,

especially here, in Russia. It can only be restricted by the law,

like in Britain.

But that will be a republic, Prince.

Your arguments are useless. We detest the ignominy of serfdom.

Pestel is not married.

Not married... Pestel...

Neither is Kakhovsky.

Nor Muraviev-Apostol.

But Ryleyev... His wife... and daughter...

I'll give orders to serve dinner.

The czar will certainly come to review the troops.

His death will be a signal to action.

We in the South want to know if the Northerners agree to regicide.

I'm pleased with your brigade, Prince.

I only regret that you haven't got rid of that spirit of giddiness.

It'd be much more profitable if you devoted yourself to military affairs.

Sire...

- I don't know the reason why... - You're too smart, Volkonsky.

Beware, Prince, you had let yourself get carried away with matters

that don't concern you when you were in Paris.

True, I myself had encouraged those extravagant dreams,

and even ordered to draft a Constitution.

Though I realize now that it's of no use in an enlightened monarchy.

Nor did I rescind the ban on the society you're a member of.

And don't try to deny it.

The tyrant's blood will deliver our country of the autocracy.

We can't but agree with the Southerners' plan, Prince.

If, by the spring, the Tsar doesn't grant the Constitution he'd promised...

And what if he doesn't?

Gentlemen, I will wait until 1926,

and, during a review of the troops, confess my guilt.

The Tsar will have me executed.

But he will grant Russia the statutes you failed to obtain.

The thunder will strike, gentlemen!

Perhaps I deserve to be condemned...

If something goes awry,

I hope you will at least try to understand us.

Us?

Oh God, us?

Maria!

What is it?

Oh, God, what does it mean?

Maria! Masha!

Oh, my God! An omen!

It's an omen!

A bad omen! O Lord! Forgive me!

She must be by the swing.

Maria!

Mashenka! Masha, hush, hush...

Nothing really happened. Calm down.

I could never imagine such a thing.

Enough, Mashenka, calm down. It was really nothing.

Come on, what's the matter with you?

Turn back!

Turn back, Your Excellency!

They put a guard at your house.

Don't go to Uman! A courier from St. Petersburg...

He brought the Tsar's order about your arrest...

Turn back, Your Excellency.

It's too late to turn back.

Ippolit!

Ippolit, please.

Here, these are my letters to my wife.

Distribute them, so that they are sent from different places.

My wife is still too weak.

I want her to learn about it as late as possible.

Yes, sir, I'll do it.

Go!

By the winter of 1825-1826, the Russian gentry was deeply divided.

The accession of Nicholas I,

to replace the dead Emperor Alexander,

was marked by a revolt.

Who is going to report about me to the Tsar?

Are you joking, Captain? There's been no order to arrest you.

On the day of taking an oath of allegiance, you were in the barracks.

Isn't that so?

But I joined the rebels when the guns were aimed at them.

You're slandering yourself.

I was a member of the secret society, and I must share their fate.

He's lost a lot of blood, and had nothing to eat for two days.

He gave up his sword of his own free will,

but when he was led to the guardhouse,

he offered resistance, and, therefore, was tied up.

In view of his hunger swoon...

He's been wounded. Let him remain seated.

I knew it would be you here.

You said, exterminate the august family? Was it you?

No, I never said it to anybody.

Let him eat.

I never said it to anybody, but I've been thinking of it all the time.

Stand up!

Insulting the most august highnesses?!

Excuse me! How can I insult their highnesses?

They have fortresses, the army and fleet. They fire with case-shot!

What do they care if I say: you, Nikolai Pavlovich, are a pig?

How dare you sit in the presence of...

Scoundrel! Swine! Scum! Scum!

Put him in irons, so he can't even move! Scoundrel!

You used to swear better when you were in the army.

Catherine!

- Whatever you may be told about us... - Don't say anything!

Only God can judge you, Serge! You and your friends.

Mister Ambassador, I'm sorry, the Russian officials are here,

the Minister of Foreign Affairs himself...

What happened, Mister Minister? So early in the morning at my house?

I'm very sorry to disturb you at this untimely hour,

but your relative,

Prince Trubetskoy, spent the night at your house.

If the Prince remains at your embassy, you'll be presented a note.

I have sent for the Prince, but if he doesn't wish to come out...

- It's so awful! - I hope everything'll be all right.

What can I do for you, gentlemen?

The Emperor wishes to see you.

When?

Immediately.

What are you doing, Prince?

I hope, Ludwig, you will take care of Catherine.

Catherine! What are you doing here?

You can expect anything from those soldiers!

Father, I beg you, tell me, where is Serge?

Trubetskoy is not here!

Where is Serge?

Go away, quick, these are the rebels!

The rebels? Here? Where is Serge? I'm begging you!

Get away from here, quick! Go now!

Do you have at least one company?

Your Majesty, the artillery swore their allegiance, the guns are out.

Your Majesty!

The Grenadiers are outside. You'd better go back, Your Majesty.

These are the mutineers.

You're too late with your advice, General.

Good morning, boys!

Don't you recognize me?

Your Majesty, a company of the First Preobrazhensky Regiment is here.

But, through some misunderstanding, their rifles are not loaded.

- Looking for somebody, Lieutenant? - For my company, Your Highness!

In that case, we'll make way for you, go ahead.

Open order!

Open up from the center!

Hurray for the constitution!

Trubetskoy!

Soldiers! Perhaps no one has ever seen me,

or heard of me?

Who remembers me? Who knows me?

Tell me, soldiers, those who'd served with me don't remember either?

Neither the Moscow Regiment men remember...

Nor the Grenadiers...

But if I remind you in what battles I was with you...

in what campaigns...

where we were freezing in the snow together?

They probably don't understand to whom they should swear their oath.

For our Tsar! For our Motherland!

To the Tsar? Or to the Constitution? Though I don't know what it means...

Who of you was with me at Kulm and Leipzig,

Amstetten,

Brienna, Prechampenoise and Krems,

Bucharest, Obelesti,

Lake Oberalt, at Tarutino,

Vilna and Borodino?

No one was?

Thank God! There's not a single Russian soldier here.

If there was at least one officer, or one soldier here,

then you would know who Miloradovich is!

There're only rookies here! Brawlers! Vagabonds! Scoundrels!

You've shamed the name of the Russian soldier!

The honor of the military man!

You are a disgrace to Russia!

You are criminals betraying your Tsar, your Motherland,

and God Himself!

What are you up to?

What are you doing?

On your knees before the lawful sovereign Nikolai Pavlovich!

On your knees, boys! All of you!

The general is wounded!

Yes, Eugene.

While sharing your views, we remain Loyal to the crown and our Tsar,

whom we despise as a deceiver!

Dear Serge, habit is everything for a Russian man.

You said it yourself recently.

Prince Trubetskoy, are you familiar with these sheets?

Prince Sergey Petrovich! Answer me!

Manifesto.

"Save, O Lord, Your people, and bless Your heritage.

Abolition of the former rule...

Abolition of the right of ownership of human beings...

Equality of all classes before the law..."

The landowner, the merchant, the craftsman and the peasant -

they all have equal rights?

Was it you who wrote this?

Please, try to remember.

"The Russian people are not the belonging, nor the property

of a person, or a family.

The slavery of serfdom should be radically abolished."

This is your handwriting.

A revolution in Russia

is as preposterous as a woman grenadier.

Why does a European bourgeois take a dagger in his hand?

To usurp the rights he doesn't have, to rob and pillage.

Even if it's a society like the Mason loge, I visited them, too.

A lot of noise, agitation and verbal determination.

But once they return to their homes, all is quiet again.

His Imperial Majesty the Tsar Alexander Pavlovich!

We're getting old, Miloradovich.

Russia needs new power, new energy.

We live in the hard times, fields are sown poorly for the shortage of grain.

Peasants' food is loathsome, there's no bread.

They're being sold by the piece, their families broken, wives corrupted,

maidens robbed of their virginity.

And all this is done in the open! The oppressors have no fear!

The gentry think they own the honor, property and life itself!

Negroes on plantations are happier than our peasants.

There are monsters who make peasant women

breastfeed borzoi puppies.

Any member of the gentry who opposes the act of liberation

cannot but be called the enemy of the country.

And the first and foremost enemy is the Emperor himself.

I'm tired.

I trust in God, for it is said:

I boast when I feel my infirmity,

then the Lord will strengthen me...

Is that your hand?

Yes, mine.

What have you done?

What on earth have you done?!

Prince Trubetskoy! Of such a noble family!

Colonel of the Guards!

What was going on in that head of yours...

when you decided to link your name to that filth?

Leave us!

Your fate is going to be horrible.

Horrible...

Such a lovely wife.

You've ruined your wife's life.

O Lord...

I could shoot you right away.

Life would be a shame and punishment for you.

Shoot me.

Levashov!

You're lucky, Sergey Petrovich, that you don't have children.

Come what may!

Don't be afraid, Mademoiselle, I've got a magic touch, we'll get through!

Somehow or other!

What the heck! By guess and by God!

You intended to shoot the fortress's whole garrison, Mademoiselle?

And all this because of Lieutenant Annenkov?

By the way, you arrived just in time.

Today your friend was taken out of the noose.

Oh, my God!

Wait! Where are you going?

Wait!

As you were!

Calm down, the towel had gone loose, he was brought to his senses.

You can't detain me. It's been two days since I left Moscow.

Two days, Monsieur.

You have no heart!

The Russians have changed so much!

As though the guillotine had been invented in Kostroma.

In your country, all the mutineers would have been executed long ago.

You're right, Monsieur! But they'd be entitled to have defense lawyers.

A petition for a visit must be handed in to the investigation commission,

then it will be submitted for the highest consideration.

- Do you understand? - No.

I could make it clear to you in Russian.

Monsieur, you're so strong, and I'm so weak.

And I have come as far as here.

Can it be that you, so strong a man,

will not help me, all alone in a strange country?

That's all I've got left.

It was given to me by my mother.

Somehow or other!

Take what comes!

Troshka!

Your Honour!

Mademoiselle Pauline!

The life of a cavalry guard's not long, Hence it's the sweetest in the world.

The trumpet sounds, a bedspread thrown, And distant saber rattle heard.

The guitar sings without fading, Yet the commander rushes forth.

Don't ever promise to a maiden Eternal love on our earth.

At last.

Lieutenant, what are you doing here?

Excuse me, Mademoiselle, but I'm at my home.

What do you mean? Isn't that a coaching inn?

It's no tragedy. You'll take a night's rest from that bug-infested place.

I don't understand. Is that your house?

This is my mother's estate.

There's about 100 kg of silver here... I'm scared being alone with roaches...

And crickets...

And on Holy Day, so much wine and smoking. What will your mother say?

Mother will have us flogged.

There's not a soul in the house except this deaf woman.

No one will disturb you here.

In vain you try prolong the story Of peaceful games with laughter filled:

You'll never come by a lasting glory Unless somebody's blood is spilled.

The sweet sublime world notwithstanding, Anxiety knit your brow doth.

Don't ever promise to a maiden Eternal love on our earth.

Twenty kilometers on foot are a dubious pleasure.

It's getting late.

It would be more prudent to come back.

Leave me alone! I insist on it!

Oh? So if you don't love me...

What are you going to do then?

- I'll fight! - With whom?

With anyone who dares to look at you!

And if it's not only one man?

I'll fight them all!

You'll get killed, and it will serve you right!

I love you like a madman!

Thousands of Russians and your compatriots lost their lives here.

There was war here in 1812.

Who knows, maybe my uncle's remains lie in these parts,

he was the jolliest man in the world.

My uncle and my father served Bonaparte.

Your father fought against Russia?

No, he died in the Spanish Kingdom.

I was orphaned when I was not yet nine.

Stop it! These sounds have been giving me a shudder since I was a child.

My father hated Bonaparte.

Any royalist would've paid with his life for sympathy to the Bourbons.

Though any revolution means blood, orphanhood and suffering.

However, if there has been no shake-up in France,

I would have never met you in Russia.

Jean! I'll arrange for your escape.

I'll bribe the soldiers, I'll put the officer to sleep or poison him.

You'll go in hiding abroad.

I can't, I must share the fate of my comrades.

No, it's impossible! I've already prepared everything!

I must share the fate of my comrades.

So much the better.

Fate has set everything straight

and spared you the cruel lot of becoming the wife of a convict.

You're insane!

I would be happy to become the wife of an outcast

if it could only alleviate your suffering.

Is it true?

Is it true?!

God's servant loann plights his troth

to God's servant Paraskeviya.

Are you joining this holy wedlock of your good and unconstrained will?

- Excuse me, what does it all mean? - What do you mean?

We'll be right back.

Mademoiselle Pauline!

Can you explain what's going on?

Look, even if I were dying of hunger,

I wouldn't have married a bag of money.

Have a safe journey, Mademoiselle.

Goodbye!

So you don't like me?

Bravo, Lieutenant! At last you thought of such a trifle!

You're too arrogant! I despise you!

An arrogant and conceited brat!

Oh, my God! What an idiot!

- Leave me alone! Go away! - I don't believe you, Mademoiselle!

Shut up!

I hate you!

Is it true?

It's true, Jean, I want to be your wife.

No one can suspect me of mercenary intentions now.

Even those at the fashion house where I still work.

Your purse, Mademoiselle.

Listen... Listen, Jean...

Thank you, Pauline. But I'm not worthy of your love.

You will meet someone you'll love. You're going to be happy.

Forget about me! Forget me forever!

Jean! Jean, don't dare saying that!

I'll never be happy without you!

It's all over for me! Goodbye!

I'll live in peace, and as the death angel cometh, I'll hold out my hands...

Mademoiselle, it's dawn already. The mistress asks you to come in.

She wasn't receiving you, because they dined all night.

...I want to save a place for a man

to whom I'll be inseparably tied forever.

Oh, my dear friend! What torments of grief my heart has experienced!

Oh, my lord, that's the end, very soon my brother

will be united in wedlock with Miss Clementine!

Poor Henriette!

What a lot for a maiden

whose beauty adorns the Universe...

I'm very sorry, Madame,

but I must tell you that your son is imprisoned in a fortress.

Mademoiselle is saying

that His Excellency Ivan Alexandrovich is in a fortress.

He must have gotten into debts again?

Madame... Madame... His life is in danger.

Listen to what he's written!

"I don't even have a pin at hand,

with which to put an end to my existence."

Ivan Alexandrovich wants to kill himself.

That will make our relatives so happy, they will get everything, scoundrels.

Only you can afford to buy a foreign passport for your son.

And I'll arrange everything else.

Yes, the passport, the master must flee...

My son? A fugitive?

That will never be!

Your answer is fit for the Romans, but their time has gone.

Jean is a child.

Ivan Alexandrovich is a little child.

Some child, to have picked up that masonic pest from the French

and wanting to marry a French woman.

Aren't you that French woman?

Strengthen us, O Lord, in our infirmity.

I was pierced to the bottom of my heart.

You should marry an English girl, not the Italian one.

Don't make the choice that may dishonor Clementine.

I've got a proud heart.

I want you to remember me with affection.

Neither the summer heat, nor the winter cold...

Mother, it's...

Mother, it's time for me to think of building a family.

And my spirit was exalted...

Who told you to come to Moscow?

Mother, I've got a bride. Will you please hear me out?

Well?. Have you found her in St. Petersburg?

You saw her, but you probably don't remember.

She works here, at the French fashion house.

It was only I who knew you're a fool, now the whole Moscow will know.

May your gracious hand heal me.

Covering her delicate daughter with endless kisses,

Marquise had moistened her with her tears.

Mother, don't make me go to extremes.

My intention is very well considered, I won't give up.

Don't give up, you won't scare me. You may marry even a peasant girl.

Are you depriving me of my inheritance?

Clementine was fascinated by your handsomeness. I don't deserve you...

- Mother, you mean you've cursed me? - Get out!

You haven't given me your answer.

Fyodor!

Don't give horses to Ivan! Let him get out of here on his own!

He takes after me, not like Grishka.

At least I have somebody to leave the inheritance to.

- Go and beg your mother... - Listen, Fyodor...

Can one who's deprived of his inheritance be called a bag of money?

Oh, no, master... Is it really so, master? Oh, God...

That's the answer!

Wait!

Come on, catch her!

What does it mean?!

Leave me alone!

You abominable, dirty creatures! Leave me alone!

Beasts!

Don't be angry.

You'll live here, you'll marry a general,

and forget about my stupid son.

You know how many diamonds you're wearing?

They are worth a hundred thousand, or maybe even more.

I'll be giving balls.

Give back my dress.

So finicky.

Come on, Prince, it's not my intention to find you guilty.

On the contrary, I'm giving you an opportunity to justify yourself.

But my situation is unenviable when I'm not trusted.

Meanwhile, I'm only the first citizen of our country.

You took up arms against a friend of your cause

and thus tied my intentions.

From the high position I'm placed at, one cannot but see

that even if any particular persons were guilty,

there had also been some general reasons for indignation.

A lot of people are involved.

It's more important for me to know that, than whether someone's guilty.

You have a wife, the daughter of Rayevsky.

Your son was born recently.

You may rest assured, Prince, your children are my children.

If you promise to be Loyal to the crown, I'll be able to forgive you.

Thank God, we thought something had happened to you.

How is she? Did the doctor call?

Calm down, Prince, the doctor was here. Though all was clear without him.

- What was clear? - Fits of sickness are inevitable.

God willing, we'll have a grandchild in winter.

If you can, Sergey Grigorievich,

please, don't leave me for long periods of time.

We never spend time together.

It's so strange, I don't know you at all.

Levashov!

Please.

I can pardon you, Prince Sergey Grigorievich.

That's the trouble that you can do anything, you're above the law.

And I would like your subjects to be dependent on the law,

and not on your will, caprices or momentary moods.

Put him in irons! Incarcerate as a villain!

He's a complete fool, that Prince!

Or a liar and an utter scoundrel...

There you go, little prince! There you go, Mikolushka!

Mikolushka! That's a boy!

Yegor!

- Why is this door locked? - I was told to lock it for the night.

Then unlock it.

Yes, Your Excellency, we'll report it to Alexander Nikolayevich.

Marie! Marie!

What's the matter?

Marie!

Hiding the mail from me? I learn about the winter troubles from hearsay.

Not a single letter from Sergey. And now this house arrest!

What are you talking about, Marie?

The prince is probably at the Turkish border. Father will come and tell us.

Father is in St. Petersburg, not in Bessarabia.

I'm tired, Alexander.

Since the first days of this awful year I've been so depressed,

and you're indulging me with some inventions.

It doesn't befit our friendship. It's even cruel.

Please, understand, no torture can be worse than uncertainty.

If you don't tell me now where Sergey is, I'm going to St. Petersburg.

And you know me, I don't waste words.

Sergey Grigorievich... how shall I put it...

What happened to him?

Well, all right... He has been sent to St. Petersburg.

You see...

Say it!

He took part in the antigovernment conspiracy.

Thank you!

- How shall I announce you? - Colonel Pestel.

Come on in, be so kind.

Please accept our deepest apologies for intruding at such a late hour.

- Something happened? - We have to be in Uman by morning.

Allow me to introduce Prince Yablonovsky and Mr. Grodetsky.

- You'd better spend the night here. - It's out of the question, Prince.

We must go to Warsaw immediately.

The Polish Society is waiting for our answer.

Just married and now back to my regiment?

There may be not another such opportunity for a year or longer.

When and where?

Tomorrow in Uman, at your apartment at 1 p.m.

All right, I'll be there.

Thank you. I knew I could rely on you.

Marie!

Thank you!

Are you glad?

There's no such awful thing Volkonsky hadn't been involved in.

He has a fortress in store for him, or even more horrible... hard labor.

The most horrible is behind us.

Now he will need me.

The night of July 12-13, 1826.

These state criminals

condemned to political death,

upon being deprived of ranks, orders and the status of nobility,

are to be exiled to hard labor according to the categories.

Lieutenant Annenkov! Stop it!

- What is it? - It hasn't been cut out right!

Proposed to deprive the Emperor and his Imperial family

of freedom when seizing the palace.

Directed the Northern secret society

which plotted mutiny.

Agreed to be named the head and ringleader of the army revolt,

though did not participate in it personally.

Who could know there'd be such a delay with logs.

- And what's the problem? - The cart broke down on the way.

Come on, men...

Let's take it down together. We must do it together.

The ropes are too short!

Such a bad luck...

What happened?

Bring him here right away!

What have you been sent to Russia for?

You have no executions anymore. Where did your Swedish brains look?

We'll have to wait, Your Excellency.

Mouzhik do mistakes. Poles not deep.

Bring benches, quick!

What a miserable empire! They can't even hang people properly.

Bring the Commandant to His Excellency!

If we don't act, we'll deserve to be called scoundrels.

That I would consider a failure!

We must only start, this is in our power.

Military bravery and political foolhardiness are not the same thing.

In the present circumstances, an uprising means death!

Yes, we will die,

but we'll set an example for the others.

...To put to death

Pavel Pestel, Kondraty Ryleyev, Sergey Muraviev-Apostol,

Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin and Pyotr Kakhovsky,

as determined by the court verdict.

For their heinous deeds, these criminals are to be hanged.

What day is today?

O Lord, stretch forth Thine hand on Your servants.

Pardon their transgressions, deliver their souls, O Lord, in Your realm!

Give me your hand. Listen... does my heart beat faster?

Give my husband back to me!

Give my husband back to me! Don't make him perish!

Nastenka! Beg father! Beg him, Nastenka!

Beg him for yourself and for me!

Our Lord, Jesus Christ,

who has left His commandments to His disciples and apostles...

Where's the Commandant?

Your Excellency, a message from His Majesty!

His Highness summons you to his side!

Hangman! Oprichnik!

Take off your aiguillettes!

Strangle us with your aiguillettes! They may be more durable!

Yes, Your Excellency!

Have you come here to watch us dying, General?

You can make your Tsar happy, his wish has come true:

we're dying in torments.

Hurry up, hang them!

The ropes are no good! We should send for the new ones.

I'm dying in torments!

But I'm happy that I'm dying twice for my Fatherland!

Ones who broke loose were pardoned in Russia. Shall we inform the Tsar?.

Hang them!

Pardon them who hate us and hurt us,

for not one of them will perish for us...

O Lord, You Savior of all through Your mercy,

all-generous God, the Savior of all through Your mercy!

O Lord, all-generous God!

Your Majesty!

Your Majesty!

It's done, Your Majesty!

We pay our particular attention to the situation of the families

from which, by a criminal action, their fallen sons had been torn away.

Blood ties pass on to the descendants the glory of their ancestors' deeds,

but never hold them up to disgrace for personal vices or crimes.

No one.

No one shall ever dare find fault for the blood relationship.

This is prohibited by the civil law, to say nothing of the Christian law.

What were you trying to tell me?

There's a pretty venomous opinion going the rounds, Your Majesty.

The cobbler in Europe rebels, because he seeks wealth and high standing.

And what on earth do our revolutionaries of noble birth want?

They must be dreaming of becoming cobblers.

Gen. Rayevsky shall be made a member of the State Council as a Senator.

Tell me, Prince, what's your response to the whim of my daughter?

You must tell Maria that you're rejecting her sacrifice.

Write about the hardships she'll experience if she follows you.

The letter must dispel her illusions, she'll lose hope and calm down.

You mean...

You mean she'll forget me?

Petersburg, Petersburg, Petersburg, Chernigov...

Will you repeat it, please?

Of course, to Princess Yekaterina Trubetskaya, English Embankment...

He hasn't gone a hundred miles yet, and already the third letter.

Prince Sergey, be a man, be a Christian.

You've ruined her life, at least don't become her murderer!

She has a frail health, she won't endure the horror of the journey.

Prince Sergey, don't be an egotist!

Your responsibility as father and husband...

Wasn't it your intention to abolish the autocracy?

And to replace the monarch with the conspirators?

Who told you all that?

If we are destined to be successful,

the Society's members will immediately withdraw from political life.

Wait, Prince, you subject yourself cold-bloodedly to the danger

of dishonor, shame, maybe even losing your life.

And if you're successful? No reward for the risk?

All we could hope for is that our descendants remember us well.

And had my participation in the Society's cause

stood in the way of my happy family life,

I would rather, albeit grudgingly, have renounced that happiness

than betrayed my convictions and duty.

Oh, gracious God!

How could you go to the altar with such a sin in your heart?

Good night.

I'll do everything as you ask.

Goodbye.

May God save you.

I'm so sorry...

May God save you, martyrs to the truth!

It's 2,000 versts to Yekaterinburg. Oh, my goodness!

About 7,000 to Irkutsk. Unbelievable!

And 800 more to Nerchinsk...

Yes, Princess.

Byron. Plutarch.

I understand your feelings, Princess.

But in such matters I'm obliged to follow the established regulations.

Of course, Your Majesty.

Count Orlov's seamstress was allowed to follow her convicted husband

to Siberia.

Have you been inspired by a common woman's act?

The seamstress was not losing much, whereas you...

The law cannot deprive a noble woman of what's allowed to a commoner.

By insisting on the rights of commoners,

a woman of noble birth may reduce herself to...

Everything is ready, Count!

Catherine, my poor child!

To flee the French Revolution, only to give your daughter to a conspirator!

Support us, o Lord, in well-being and prosperity...

Save, Lord, thy servant...

Yes, Princess.

Let's go, with God's help!

Mommy, let's go! Let's go, mommy!

Mommy, let's go!

Wait.

Your Majesty!

Wait!

Will you please speak Russian?

I don't speak Russian.

Come closer.

- What would you like? - Hear me out, Sire!

Your Majesty, as a special favour,

please allow me to join Lieutenant Annenkov in his exile.

Is he your husband?

I would have wedded him

if I wished to transgress the bounds of propriety.

I've decided on that daring act

after learning that Russian women who wished to follow their husbands

found compassion in you.

But this is not your country, Madame!

I'll renounce my country.

Take her petition.

Your Majesty!

Stop, I beg you!

Europe talks about your mercifulness to the families of the wretched men.

A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country.

Europe didn't doubt my heart.

I'll give you the answer in 3 days.

To own serfs, to revel in luxury,

and to consider oneself free?

For heaven's sake, gentlemen!

Will the life of our gentry forever stagnate from corruption and idleness?

Isn't that ignominy going to arouse shame and disgust in us?

What will you say, Lieutenant?

I'm ashamed of the class I belong to.

I'm a slave, just like my mother's house serfs.

The only difference is that I'm conscious of my enslavement.

Natalie, baby, where are you going?

Fedya!

Fedya!

Fedya!

Sometimes I even treated my old servant who adored me

in the manner of a true son of my mother.

Where were you hiding, Fedya?

All right, I'm forgiving you this time.

Thank you very much, sir.

The other day your mother bought 100 yards of fabric for a dress.

Don't talk rubbish.

And it's not the first time.

As soon as there's an expensive fabric on sale, she buys it all,

so that in all Moscow,

and not only in Moscow,

in all Russia, only she had a dress like that.

Ivan!

Oh, Our Lady in Heaven, save Vanechka from trouble!

Brush it up.

Stop jerking the comb!

Let me see. All right, leave that lock there.

I'm sick and tired of you, Ivan.

The last time you killed someone in a duel, now you've lost 60 thousand.

Tomorrow morning you're going to St. Petersburg.

I'm not giving you any cash. You'll be fed by Fedka on your way.

I myself will pay your debt. Don't dare meet your brother.

Come on, kiss my hand!

And don't dare coming to me in Moscow without my permission!

Sir Roland squeezed her hand...

Oh God, the same pleasantness,

the same loveliness on that dear face.

"Don't squeeze my hand so, Sir Roland," I interrupted his speech.

"You will sadden me if you make me repeat..."

Mademoiselle Pauline!

Champagne is poured in a flow, And misty view somewhat obscured,

With everything, just take and go, With everything as if for good.

A wooden cross it'll be, or leaden, With which to death we're betrothed.

Don't ever promise to a maiden Eternal love on our earth.

Only inequality stood between me and her.

You may not believe me, Sire, but my arrest had even made me happy.

The barrier that stood in the way of our union with her has disappeared.

At last I'm stripped of all rights, of my fortune, of my status of gentry.

Wait!

Stand back!

I would gladly pardon you, Cavalry Guard.

Only tell me, since you knew of the conspiracy, why didn't you report it?

Did you hear the question? Answer it!

Well?.

It's not honourable to report on your comrades.

What do you know about honour?!

- Do you know what you deserve? - Death, Sire.

Do you expect to be shot?

And cut an interesting figure?

No.

I'll make you rot in prison.

What are you doing?!

What's on your mind?

And you, why didn't you watch him?

What for?

I'm not going to live.

- Faster! - We can't go faster than that...

Hurry up, please! Quick! Go!

We need to change horses, and where can we get new ones?

- Here. - Thank you very much.

Somehow or other. Come what may! Faster!

We'll get you there!

Jean!

Jean!

Wait! Stop!

Jean! Jean! Don't leave!

The Emperor's answer!

- How long will we stay here? - I guess we can fix it in a week.

Seven days?!

It's been badly broken, Your Excellency, we rode like crazy!

We'll have to travel by relay horses.

- But it means a springless cart. - Other people use it.

People? Only mouzhiks and convicts.

- Did they carry them on carts? - Sure thing.

God will help us.

What's the matter, Charles?

Madame, think about your parents!

I promised them that we return if the journey is dangerous.

I'm in despair! Why didn't I convince you to spend the night in Tomsk?

I've seen a wolf!

Princess Yekaterina Ivanovna has ordered to take you to Tomsk.

I've got the money for our journey to St. Petersburg and your salary.

She took her carefully

and brought her home,

made a little nest, just like for Mikola Sergeyevich,

put Katechka in there and went to the woods to pick mushrooms...

"I'm always under surveillance, even more strict

than in a fortress.

You must obey your sense of responsibility.

You're a mother and a daughter.

I'm ready to sacrifice everything, if only it will give you peace.

My precious friend Marie!

Whatever you may decide,

and even if this decision will deprive me of the hope of ever seeing you,

that sorrow of mine will be alleviated by the belief

that you fully partake of my plight

and that your decision was caused by the cruel circumstances."

I don't believe it!

I'll never reproach you for anything.

Darling Sergey!

Nikolai Pavlovich questioned me at some length about the prince.

Of course, I tried to vindicate Sergey as well as I could.

But it was impossible to belittle the prince's guilt.

The Tsar even said that Volkonsky is unworthy of our sympathy.

I wouldn't have stopped to extirpate my respect for him

and consider my daughter's obligations annulled.

But I understand her: nothing is worse than eternal separation from him.

Don't worry, father.

I have no other troubles except those that concern Sergey.

I guess one has to have a stronger willpower,

not to devote oneself to those who need it.

I know I will be able to endure anything being beside Sergey.

You want to bury yourself alive?

In the name of what? Volkonsky is a conspirator!

Your foremost duty now is your son! You're going to kill your son!

Enough!

Only a year ago you were persuading me of my fiance's virtues.

And today you deny me a consolation.

I want you to know that I love my husband.

And I expect from you at least a little compassion.

You're deceiving yourself. You don't feel anything for him.

I guess it's the Volkonsky women's letters that speak for her.

Oh, God...

And first of all, his mother's, who'd gone out of her mind long ago.

They convinced her she's a heroine, and she tortures herself like a fool.

Look, Masha, if I knew that you were going there for love,

that your delusion would not dissipate,

I would have agreed to bury you alive.

I would've wept over you with tears of blood and let you go, nonetheless.

I can use my power to stop you. But, please, stop yourself!

Coming to your senses in Siberia would be a tragedy for you.

Have pity for your father, Marie!

Masha!

Princess Yekaterina Ivanovna! Welcome!

You're the last person I expected to see in this house.

Governor Tsejdler at your service. Please, have a seat.

Allow me to remain standing.

I understand. It's no laughing matter: so many versts on our bad roads.

- Pafnuti! - Yes, I know, Your Excellency!

Could you tell me...

why I was not given horses?

There must be none.

It's strange, because the postmaster pleaded some ban.

Yes, yes, yes... Excuse me.

You see, I must inform you about something.

If you wish to proceed to Nerchinsk,

I'm obliged to inform you of the measures to be applied to you.

If I wish?

You think I've gone all that way just to meet you here?

Nevertheless, you'll have to hear me out.

Are you aware that all this will have to be sent back?

Nor are you allowed to take with you any sums of money

or valuable things.

But that is not all.

Your right to own serfs

will be revoked as soon as you move beyond Irkutsk.

So your servants will not go with you.

All right, they won't.

I suspect, Princess, that you...

You have no idea of what your life at the mines is going to be like.

You will live there like the poorest peasant.

Really?

The huts are dirty, stinking,

full of insects.

Your food will be bread and kvass.

I hate to mention the climate: it's horrible, it'll be pernicious for you.

But I'll be there with my husband.

You're right.

But don't forget, Princess, that your husband is in prison.

You'll be allowed rare visits, once a week, no more,

for one hour in a convicts' room, with an officer present.

I see... one hour... an officer... present...

Please, order them to give me horses!

Have you fully realized that all the rest time you'll be alone

among the savage population?

In the barracks you'll be surrounded by 5,000 branded convicts

belonging to the most corrupt and despicable class.

But the mines must be managed by someone?

The management won't be able to protect you from insults

which may even come to violence.

Aren't they punished there for crimes?

Princess, hardened villains

fear no punishment.

They will even deem it right to consider you their equal,

as the wife of a criminal sharing their lot.

Excuse me, Your Excellency, the samovar is boiling.

Would you like some tea, Princess Yekaterina Ivanovna?

This beverage is indispensable here.

God will help me.

Will you tell them to give me horses?

Please!

As you wish, Princess.

Written here is everything I've warned you about.

Your signature will mean you'll submit to all those measures.

Now can you send me on my way as soon as possible?

I'm sorry, Princess, but this paper

has to go to St. Petersburg for His Imperial Majesty's consideration.

By courier.

How long am I supposed to wait, General?

A month one way, a month back.

And how long it will take the Tsar to look into it and give his answer...

that, as you may understand, does not depend on me.

Will you wait? Or prefer to go back home?

Oh, God!

Don't torture yourself, Princess Yekaterina Ivanovna.

You're pure before God.

Where are you going, Madame?

Have pity!

We were told not to let you in!

Don't you hear? Have mercy!

I didn't think I would ever enter your house again.

However, before going to Siberia,

I want to give you an opportunity to regain your son's favour.

Madame has learned that her son, Grigory, was killed in a duel.

Oh, my God...

Wait.

Get out.

I see you're not of the weak kind, Mademoiselle.

But it's hard for a foreign woman to take a journey to Siberia. Don't go.

I'll buy you a house in Moscow.

You'll have everything.

Only don't leave.

As soon as I'm dead,

our relatives will take possession of everything here.

My son is young.

It won't be too hard for him.

His mother needs you much more.

It's impossible.

I know how scrupulous you are.

Take it, it will come handy in Siberia.

Give your support to Ivan.

I'm surrounded by monsters here.

The moment you leave, they'll poison me.

I'll pray for you!

Ivan doesn't deserve such a beauty.

Sure thing, dear mistress...

He doesn't deserve her, mistress, a rake what he is...

Hold your tongue!

Thank you most humbly.

She must pray and pray for Vanechka, that French trash!

As for taking your son with you...

As for taking your son with you...

Mommy!

...It can't be permitted... can't be permitted...

Mommy!

All my prayers are about my son, Our Lady Mother of God!

I already love the child who hasn't been born yet.

I would sooner feel affection for my husband

when I see his likeness in a child, his flesh and blood.

Help me, O Lord, help me...

To admit these feelings for the father of my future child...

It's a sin! A sin!

- Have you delivered mail? - Just as you said, sir.

- Is Masha in her room? - She went up to the children's room.

Did you call me, father? I was playing in the garden.

Sit down, Masha.

Prince Sergey Grigorievich Volkonsky asks for your hand.

The prince is a fine man, from a good family.

I'm sure you'll be happy with him.

I gave him my consent and I hope you'll do likewise.

- But, father, I don't know him. - The wedding's in a month. Now go.

My son is happy.

My husband is unhappy.

My place is beside my husband.

Marie! What will happen to father, Marie?

What have we done to deserve all this?

I will curse you, if you don't come back in a year.

Come back soon!

We all will be waiting for you, Masha!

She has shed not one tear.

She's the most remarkable woman I've ever known.

Why not retire

and enjoy the family life, raising children?

Dear Serge!

I haven't seen the Emperor for a while, and I must admit

that my feelings toward him have changed.

Should you see him, tell him the princess remembers him.

You got more cheerful, dear cousin.

When you arrived in Italy, you looked so sad.

Russian women don't like to travel.

The Russian woman's attachment to her home is unequaled.

The hot springs of Italy did you a lot of good.

You won't believe me, but the doctor has been so reassuring.

If we're to believe him, it won't be a year before I can give Sergey

a little angel.

I'll pray for you.

...Tomorrow, my dear guest, you must hear his opera.

Did you want to see me? Here I am!

- I hope I didn't disturb you? - No, I've finished already.

Don't forget: tonight we're invited to the duchess.

Why sit here for no purpose?

He is not at home!

Whenever His Excellency gets ill, he stays at his doctor's.

Getting all kinds of rubbings-in and poultices. He can't travel after that.

He must be staying overnight there, or he would've been here already.

You shouldn't have waited, Your Excellency, it's night already.

Montesquieu. "Persian Letters".

I would have brought it to you.

Please!

Too bad I couldn't receive you again.

I'm not well, I only got up because of an urgent matter.

Besides, as you know, the Emperor's answer hasn't yet...

All right... all right...

I have no good news for you, Princess.

If I'm not mistaken, this is your tenth visit here, isn't it?

Excuse me, the eleventh.

You see?.

Where's my letter, General?

Where's the paper I signed?

- Couldn't the answer get mislaid? - Oh, no, the courier...

You see?

God knows I didn't want to bother the Empress.

Pafnuti!

- The paper? - Waiting, as you said.

Send it this week. No, next week.

Shall I send it on Tuesday?

Friday. Friday will be just right.

It will be just right on Friday.

Yes, yes, yes...

Friday is just right.

Or take the varieties of Little Russia...

Or rennet, for example...

This was planted exactly in the year

that Masha was born.

What did my sister's nail mark here?

It's better to doubt nobility than virtuousness.

A coal-miner's wife deserves more respect than a prince's mistress.

How did you like the prince?

You aren't matchmaking for me, dear brother, or are you?

Well, Prince Volkonsky is one of the best eligible bachelors in Russia.

Maybe I'd better wait for a more modest suitor. Why hurry?

I'd sooner run away than become the wife of a titled dandy.

Grief's constant sister...

Grief's constant sister...

Hope is high...

Hope...

Hope...

Hope.

Doesn't he love his Fatherland who makes sacrifices for his convictions,

who is ready to mount the scaffold for them?

Doesn't he command respect for the only reason

that he ventured a new cause before its time came?

Let's go, Your Excellency.

Get in, be so kind.

Your Excellency!

I was ordered to overtake Your Excellency.

A message from St. Petersburg.

Will you read it, please?

The wife of a state criminal is not

to leave the place of exile before her husband dies.

Even after his death, the government takes no obligation

to permit the widows of criminals to return to Russia.

Thank you.

Now tell me, how far is Yekaterinburg?

Two hundred versts, Your Excellency.

How come, Your Excellency?

Wait, I'll announce you.

But I don't know if he'll receive you.

Dear sir, you have received the answer last week.

Stop your evasions!

You know about the letter as well as I do.

Really, Princess? But I haven't read it yet.

Too bad, I didn't have the time.

Then read it, dear sir!

Certainly I will read it.

But I receive a lot of mail from His Majesty which concerns not only you.

- Maybe in a week... - Sir!

You've been keeping me waiting for almost six months!

Well, as you wish. Pafnuti!

You may read it.

At least read what's required of you.

I don't care, and you know it.

You're wrong. You're very wrong, Princess.

A wife, following her husband, will share his fate

and lose her former title of any rank,

that is, will be recognized as no other than an exiled convict's wife.

At the same time, she agrees to take any distress

that such a position may involve, namely:

children that may be begotten in Siberia

will be enlisted as factory peasants...

with no right of inheriting either the property or name of their father,

for they will be registered as serfs.

You shouldn't have tortured yourself so.

Had you listened to me in the first place, you would've been home now.

And your parents wouldn't have pined for their daughter.

Is that all? Can I go to my husband now?

Be so kind as to make arrangements for the horses.

Have you ever seen convicts in irons?

Answer me!

Why are you shouting?

Who gave you that right?

You gave it to me!

You're the wife of an exiled convict.

You yourself will be sent to Nerchinsk as a convict.

With your hands and feet in irons.

You will go with a group of convicts under convoy.

You will be tied up with the rest, as villains are, so that...

they don't escape.

And one more thing: out of 500 men we send under convoy,

no more than a third get to Nerchinsk alive.

Well?

Are you still willing?

I don't care, I just want to go.

Tell them to bring irons.

You will go, you will go...

I don't want to, I can't torture you anymore. I'm sorry, Princess.

I had been pressured to dissuade you by all possible means.

I just tried to scare you. I'll give you the horses, and may God save you.

The winter of 1826-1827 dragged on and on at the Blagodatsk mine.

No, no, let's go there.

You don't deserve the leniency you're accorded.

Leniency?

Using you in the works is a leniency to your sin.

You must prove your obedience by modesty and good behaviour.

I'm not well, and you know it, my good man.

Did you come here to take treatments?

Stand up when you're spoken to!

There, we're awake. My dear Alyonka is awake!

Now we'll eat, we'll eat...

My Goodness!

Your cheeks have frozen!

Now, have patience, mistress.

At last we're in the Promised Land.

Halt! Where are you going?

No one is to go in here.

Is Prince Volkonsky kept here?

There're no princes here, only convicts.

I have covered 7,000 versts to see my husband.

Run fast!

I pray the commandant wouldn't come here.

Oh, God! Oh, my God!

I'm so sorry!

A year later. Spring, 1828...

Do you, Praskovya, take this loann, whom you see in front of you,

as your husband, of your good and unconstrained will

and firm conviction?

Mademoiselle Gebl, do you take Jean to be your husband?

Yes!

Come what may!

My congratulations, Madame!

Hurry up!

Where are you taking him, the poor man?

I forgot to tell you...

I want you to know...

Stand back!

How dare you speak not Russian?

I don't understand...

You pledged yourself to speak only Russian!

Stand back! Are you deaf or what?

Don't dare! I'll kill you! Don't dare!

Don't dare touch her!

Scoundrels!

Bastards!

Onward, the Fatherland's sons!

Shut up!

Our hour of glory is coming! We're against tyranny!

I told you, shut up!

It does you no honour.

Restrain your heroes, General.

Stop it!

Madame, tell me everything you wanted to say

and I'll pass it on to your husband in the language which is prescribed.

I wanted to say, General,

that I'm very happy.

Your wife asked me to tell you that she's absolutely happy.

Go!

The End