Original subtitles

AsPiDe

MIRCrew Buona visione...

USSR 1937 THE HEIGHT OF STALIN'S TERROR

This is your new work gang...

Another fine bunch.

Each of 'em needs three assistants.

Two to hold him up...

and one to move his legs.

Wake up!

Here, the papers to be burnt on the major's orders.

This one's going to burn it.

You've got a cell with a working lock?

All are working. We just changed 'em.

Take us to a stove.

Come on, get a move on!

What's in there?

All your prison secrets?

Or last year's construction permits?

None of your business. For you, it's kindling.

- Got it? - Got it.

Go inside.

Put everything from the sack into that stove and burn it!

Look at me.

Don't think you can hide even a scrap.

If I find anything, you'll be in solitary for a month.

Got it?

Matches.

That'll be enough.

Give the match box back afterwards.

Lock him in.

What's the old man in here for?

SVE.

Oh! Undesirable element?

And I thought...

he was a watchman in a wood yard...

and let thieves slip in. Imagine that!

Maybe the old man ran a whorehouse somewhere?

"Dear Comrade Stalin,

I, Smirnov,

Ivan Sergeyich,

a Bolshevik Party member since before the Revolution...

have been falsely accused of belonging to the Trotsky-Bukharin faction...

They extort confessions from me.

They thrash me during interrogation."

"Our dear leader, Comrade Stalin,

we, the Pestrukhin brothers,

collective farmers, former red partisans,

are accused... Soviet power...

the state... damage...

They beat confessions out of us... torture us.

Devils. We're devoted to the Communist Party

we spilled our blood for it..."

We spilled our blood for it.

"Factory manager...

falsely accused...

I'm subjected to torture...

no strength to bear...

I beg you to intervene..."

"Communist justice."

Communist justice...

Communist justice...

"I request a cell visit by someone

from the prosecutor's office.

I have some vital information.

I.S. Stepnyak."

TWO PROSECUTORS

BASED ON A STORY BY GEORGY DEMIDOV

You have to knock.

What do you want?

To see the Major.

Open up!

Assistant prison warden.

There you go.

Good morning.

Come in.

Please have a seat, Comrade Prosecutor.

What can I do for you?

You have a prisoner here, I.S. Stepnyak.

The prosecutor's office has received his request for a visit.

What on earth!

We currently have tens of thousands of prisoners on our lists.

Do you know which block,

which cell this, uh...?

Stepnyak, Ivan Stepanovich. Yes, Block 5, Cell 84.

The Special Block?

You got a message from the Special Block?

Yes. What of it?

Oh, nothing.

It doesn't matter.

Excuse me.

Yes.

No.

Yes.

I don't know. Ask Petrovich.

Still more people?

Take them from Block 1.

No, they haven't been questioned.

Yes.

Understood.

Fine.

Young man,

permits for access to prisoners

under the jurisdiction of the regional NKVD

can be granted only by the prison warden.

I'm very sorry, but you'll have to come back another day,

or wait for the warden to return.

Will he be long?

There are many meetings nowadays

about prison accommodation.

And they are usually long.

Well, I'll wait.

May I wait in here?

Of course.

As it happens, I have to go off to one of the blocks.

They are all overcrowded,

and I've got my hands full.

So...

forgive me for abandoning you.

Duty calls.

Make yourself at home.

Thank you.

Let him pass.

Yes!

Do you know what Radek replied,

when asked what he was doing... before the Revolution?

No.

"I was waiting in jail."

And to the next question, what did he do after the Revolution?

No.

"Jail was waiting for me."

Well, what's up?

Some student has turned up,

with the credentials of an inspecting prosecutor.

So they've already appointed him?

And?

He wants to see the prisoner in Cell 84 in the Special Block.

Stepnyak?

How does he know Stepnyak is in that cell?

I have no idea.

Petrovich,

the new inspecting prosecutor has turned up.

Yes, they've already appointed him.

Just a kid...

He's asking to see a prisoner in the Special Block.

Fine.

Fine...

And what if he insists?

Fine.

You heard the one about Radek?

Yes. Of course, I'll report back.

We'll let him stew for a bit.

If he's still here at the end of the day, bring him to me.

Very good.

"Jail was waiting for me."

What are you standing around for?

Get to work!

The assistant warden's not here?

No.

Where is he?

He went off to see about something.

And who are you?

I'm a prosecutor.

Excuse me, who am I talking to?

Never mind, forget it.

Well?

The prison warden is waiting for you.

Open the door.

Yes!

Here he is.

Go in, please.

Forgive me for making you wait.

But I got held up by the chief, what can you do?

We're living in troubled times, as I'm sure you know.

Please have a seat.

It's a pleasure to meet you.

Of course we are used to older people in Comrade Kornyev's post,

but times are changing and our former ideas

about young people's abilities are clearly outmoded.

Now the whole Soviet apparatus is rejuvenating, so to speak.

So what about my request?

You've been told what it's about?

Yes, of course, I've been informed...

of everything.

But you see,

it would be better to postpone your meeting with the prisoner

until better times.

For what reason?

With the...

current overcrowding in this prison...

comrade prosecutor must be aware of the problem...

we are not always able to maintain the required hygiene standards.

So we often get outbreaks of infectious diseases:

dysentery, typhoid and even spotted typhus.

Block 5 has been especially unfortunate in this respect.

It's also known as the Special Block,

as it holds prisoners charged with...

counter-revolutionary crimes.

There's a whole bouquet...

of infectious diseases there,

and I strictly advise against anyone whose work does not require it

against even looking in there.

That's why I'm here, to carry out my work.

Yes, yes, of course.

I only meant that

while a prison guard, for example, can't avoid his normal duties,

a prosecutor has the right

to postpone his meeting with a prisoner until a more suitable time.

It will hardly affect the outcome of the case.

And it's a very bad idea to visit now, as the doctors think that...

the prisoner you want to see,

has some...

infectious disease.

In that case, the prisoner should be transferred to the prison hospital.

A prisoner only needs such a transfer

if he's in a shared cell.

But Stepnyak,

as a dangerous state criminal, is being held in isolation.

In such cases,

the patient is treated in his cell,

as long as there is no need for an urgent surgical intervention,

or constant medical observation.

And if the disease is infectious,

the cell is off-limits.

I even discussed with the doctor

moving the prisoner to the room where defendants meet their lawyers.

But...

the doctor was dead set against it.

Such a transfer...

would infringe the rules of hygiene,

and might endanger...

the sick man.

What exactly is wrong with prisoner Stepnyak?

The doctors haven't made a definite diagnosis yet,

but something intestinal...

It might even be typhoid.

Typhoid? Well, that's not very risky.

I'm not going to shake hands, or eat out of the same bowl.

So you insist on meeting prisoner Stepnyak immediately?

Yes, I insist.

Number 5! Report to my office. Immediately.

You've just been appointed?

Three months ago.

Do you know where your predecessor is?

Yes!

Take Comrade...

Kornyev.

Kornyev! Take prosecutor Kornyev

to prisoner in number 84.

Accompany comrade prosecutor to prisoner Stepnyak

in number 84.

We must comply with the lawful requests

of the prosecutor's office without fail.

I'm very happy

that our new prosecutor has turned out to be

such persistent young man.

But all the same, I regret that you are so incautious.

Washing your hands with soap won't protect you from certain illnesses.

What do you mean?

All I mean is,

don't forget about the risk of infection.

I'll try not to.

I'm glad to hear it.

He's with me!

He's with me!

Open number 84!

By order of the prison warden!

The prosecutor has come to see Stepnyak.

Last name?

Kornyev.

First name?

Alexander Mikhailovich.

Open the door.

Citizen Stepnyak,

the prosecutor has come for a private talk with you.

Show me your professional accreditation, Citizen...

Prosecutor.

You don't trust the representative of the authorities?

I don't trust you!

The prisoner is within his rights to check who I really am.

Order them to unlock my bunk.

Then there'll be somewhere to sit.

Please unlock the bunk.

And now...

get them to leave us alone.

I won't speak in front of outsiders.

I'm not an outsider!

It's my duty to keep the prisoner under observation.

He can observe us through the peephole.

I have no intention of attacking the prosecutor.

But I absolutely insist that our discussion be private.

That is my right.

Leave us please, he's within his rights.

Leave us.

It's difficult for me to stand.

I'm here because of this note.

Did you write it?

I did.

I had to smash my knuckle against this metal thing.

There's nothing sharp in here.

Before using your own blood, did you ask for a pencil and paper?

I did.

But of course they didn't provide it.

How did you get your message out of the prison?

No need to answer if it's a secret.

What secret?

I simply gave it to the guard,

on a wing and a prayer, as they say.

And as you see,

it escaped beyond these walls.

Are you really from the prosecutor's office?

You've seen my accreditation.

It's child's play for the local branch of the NKVD

to forge such stuff.

Perhaps this document will dispel your doubts about me?

So you studied at law school.

You graduated?

Yes, three months ago.

And how did you end up in the prosecutor's office?

Through the university quota.

So, the local NKVD have infiltrated

the prosecutor's office,

if lads like you...

who are still wet behind the ears

are being appointed.

Ivan Stepanovich.

Do you remember the speech you made at our law school anniversary?

Yes,

I was there at your school.

What of it?

You said that Soviet rule of law is part of the great Bolshevik Truth,

and that we future lawyers, we should fight for this Truth.

I paid great attention to your words,

and took them as more than just fine rhetoric.

You understood correctly.

It was all just as I said.

We fought for it...

for the worker-peasant Truth,

against the Whites.

And in dungeons like this,

we waited

to be shot

or hanged.

And doesn't defending Soviet law

still entail risks and difficulties now?

It seems you're not stupid, lad.

And since you're not stupid and you still came here,

you are also honest,

and no coward.

Are you married, by any chance?

No.

Are your father and mother still alive?

No, they're dead.

Then listen to what I'm going to tell you.

But first, look at what...

the NKVD did to me.

Just don't show any reaction!

We don't want the man at the door to know about it.

That's how things are, sonny.

You saw what I'm coughing up.

My urine is also red.

Once, during the Revolution,

I got thrashed by some Kulaks.

But I was young and curly-headed then.

I could cope.

But now,

another dose...

will finish me off.

It's probably pointless anyway.

What did they do this to you for?

Not "what for", but "why?".

I have a stubborn character.

I won't sign a death warrant

for myself, or other innocent people.

But that's what they want from me...

These undercover fascists from the NKVD.

The investigation block

is now a vast torture chamber,

where thousands of innocent people

undergo...

such beatings.

Tortured, starved, deprived of sleep,

all for the purpose of making them

sign false confessions

against themselves

and others.

Honest people are accused of crimes they wouldn't dream of committing.

The same story in the courts, which are also controlled by the NKVD.

They deal especially harshly

with old Party members.

In this district, they have exterminated almost the entire Party leadership.

It seems that,

out of all the members of the district committee,

I'm the last survivor...

because I was more obstinate than the old Party members,

and refused to sign anything.

They wanted me to sign a confession

that when I was with the partisans fighting in Ukraine,

I was a secret agent of Petliura.

The fascists here

have to make their victims confess to imaginary crimes

before they can shoot them.

They need innocent people to incriminate themselves,

in order to justify their actions

to the higher authorities.

"See how vigilant we are,

how keenly we root out subversion in our own house."

They fear being exposed,

and try to do everything...

as if by the law.

Of course, the executioners from the district authority

can easily beat an obstinate detainee to death,

but it is an undesirable measure.

So they preserve...

people like me.

They hope that a man

with smashed up internal organs

won't last long.

But my official cause of death

will be "heart failure,"

in this very prison.

These enemies of the people...

saboteurs from the NKVD,

don't break tools,

or burn down factories.

Loyal old Party leaders

are replaced by...

young careerists

and loudmouths.

And honest, knowledgeable experts

are substituted by ignorant charlatans.

I'm not asking for myself,

I've had it anyway.

It grieves me to see

our revolutionary project endangered.

If you are a brave man,

a real Bolshevik,

an honest Soviet lawyer,

then set off for Moscow today.

Get a meeting with Stalin.

If you can't get to him,

approach a member of the Politburo...

Yezhov, Voroshilov,

Molotov.

Report to them that here,

the cream of the Party is being exterminated,

hundreds of thousands of honest Soviet people.

And don't delay.

You insisted on a meeting with me...

so they won't leave you in peace.

Before you know it...

you yourself

will end up in a hole like this one.

Open up!

He's left the block.

He'll reach you shortly.

Wait.

Yes, yes.

Really, this work should be done before...

not after.

They're allowing idiots to graduate.

After the campaign

in 1916 at Kovel,

my good sir!

I lost me leg and me arm.

At that time there weren't no benefits for war invalids.

Them benefits only came later...

So I sees that I'll have to work

with just me left hand.

I thought I'd go home to me father.

Father says, "I've got nothing to feed you."

Would you believe it?

I scraped by for a year. Then I made up my mind...

and set off for Petersburg,

to ask Lenin

if there's any alms for the proletarian poor,

seeing as how, so to speak, I shed me blood!

Laid down me life!

And did you get alms from Lenin?

Hang on. Don't rush me.

See this learned young man here,

he needs everything in the right order.

So, you know, one way and another,

in carts and army supply wagons, my good sir,

I somehow got to Petersburg.

Well, can you picture it?

This lice-ridden soldier boy

found himself in the capital city,

which is like no other in the world!

There's Nevsky Prospect.

Goddamnit, there's Gorokhovaya Street...

and Liteyny Prospect.

A spire sticks up in the air,

goddammit, bridges hang by themselves,

without anything holding 'em up!

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon!

Don't drag it out, one-armed devil!

Don't rush,

you might have seen it all.

But he's young, hasn't been anywhere yet.

Probably never had a woman!

Hey?

I wanted to rent an apartment,

but the price was brutal!

While all my capital assets

came to a few fivers.

I found shelter in the Revel inn

for a ruble a night.

Dinner was cabbage soup.

I sees that I won't survive for long.

I asked where to turn to.

People said, "Go to the Smolny...

to Lenin himself,

to the heart of Soviet power."

That's where justice lives."

What idiot gave you that advice?

Shut up, you old weed! Better keep listening.

I got up ever so early, scraped off me beard

with me left hand, because to pay a barber

is to keep an account, so to speak.

Put on me shabby uniform

and me wooden leg

and tap-tap-tap...

can you picture it?

I set off to see Lenin

in the Smolny.

There's mirrors, vases, white ceilings,

columns, precious marble things!

People scurrying to and fro.

Could hardly get past them.

They say, "Go look for him."

So I rushed about here and there.

Everybody had seen Lenin,

but nobody knew where he was.

I tapped along on me wooden leg to some reception room,

tucked meself in a corner so I wouldn't knock over

any American or Indian gilded porcelain vase,

and there I waits.

I waits four hours,

and finally an adjutant comes out,

or some other clerk,

and he says:

"Lenin will come in now."

And the room's already crammed like beans on a plate.

All with red ribbons and smoking shag tobacco.

Suddenly people go "Shh, shh, shh,"

and then a terrible silence falls.

Lenin comes in.

Well...

Can you imagine?

A statesman.

On his face, so to speak...

and expression

befitting his high rank.

Everyone in that room is hushed and trembling,

waiting for their fate to be decided, so to speak.

Lenin goes up to one...

then another.

"What are you here for? And you? What is your business?"

He comes up to me, I dares to say:

"It's like this, Your Excellency, leader of the proletarian revolution:

I spilt me blood, lost an arm and a leg, cannot work,

I make so bold as to request royal alms."

Lenin gives me a shrewd look...

sees that I've got a wooden leg

and me right sleeve is empty.

"Very well," he says.

"Come back in a few days."

"We are always happy to see any proletarian,

even one minus an arm and minus a leg."

He never!

That's just what he said!

Yes...

"Come back, dear fellow."

I think, "That's it. The job's done."

And what happened next?

What d'you mean?

After that, what happened?

Nothing.

What d'you mean, "nothing"?

You seem to have lived long enough

to lose all yer teeth,

but you don't understand a thing.

But what about Lenin?

That was the last I saw of Lenin!

I came one day, then another.

It was a bitter pill...

"Tomorrow, tomorrow. Come back tomorrow."

I got fed up.

I kicked up a fuss! Tore into them! Chewed them out!

Then, out of the tobacco smoke, a constable appeared before me!

He must've been seven feet tall,

with enormous fists,

built like a coachman,

a veritable dentist...

They caught hold of me, a poor sinner,

put me on a cart, and send me off to prison.

I lived at the state's expense, got what they gave me.

Then they let me out. By then, Lenin had died.

Now I'm off to see Stalin.

They say he's got a heart of gold.

It ain't for meself

that I shed me blood, sacrificed me life.

So I want to ask you,

a learned man,

d'you think he'll give me alms?

Are you looking for someone, young man?

Yes.

Who?

The Prosecutor General. I have business with him.

If you have business with him, you should know where to find him.

Yes?

Sorry?

The way out. Where's the way out?

Down the stairs and turn left.

Are you feeling all right?

Yes.

Fancy seeing you here, old chap!

Well, congrats!

Congrats!

I always had faith in you. I always knew that you'd go far!

What a great chap you are! And how grown up you are.

In all respects, I gather?

Do we really know each other?

This is Comrade Mrazovich.

This is a former classmate of mine, a high flyer, you could say...

Mrazovich.

- Kornyev. - Kornyev!

That's what I said, Kornyev. This is Kornyev. He's a real artist.

- Come by and see me. - Yes, yes.

A big fish. If you need something, he's the one.

When were you transferred? What department are you in?

I've co...

Of course, I didn't think you'd come to see me.

What's the case, if it's no secret?

Sorry,

have we really met before?

Kornyev, stop playing the fool.

Come see me afterwards.

Room 312. No need to knock.

All right.

How can I help?

Good day. I've come to see the Prosecutor General.

Have you received an appointment?

No.

Comrade Kornyev,

the Prosecutor General only meets people

at the invitation of the Chief Prosecutor's office

so I'm afraid I can't help you.

I have come a very long way on extremely important state business.

Everyone's here on important business.

Have you got a travel warrant?

No.

But...

it's a very important matter.

If that's the case, then why didn't...

the office where Comrade Kornyev works

make an appointment for him well in advance?

Why doesn't Comrade Kornyev at least possess a travel warrant,

confirming that he has some business with the Chief Prosecutor's office?

I can't even include your name on the "doubtfuls" list,

on which the Prosecutor General himself will make a decision.

Here. I'm a party member.

I came to inform the Prosecutor General

of a vital and urgent matter,

and I need to see him privately, face to face.

It can't be done on paper, as you propose.

It's in your interests to take this seriously.

- Thank you. - Goodbye.

Please.

- Go through. - Thank you.

Fine. I'll report your presence to the Prosecutor General

and will inform you of his decision.

Wait in the reception room. Please.

Thank you.

- Thank you. - Goodbye.

Comrade Zavtrakin!

Please.

Please go in.

- Thank you, goodbye. - Goodbye.

Comrade Smirnov!

You are lucky.

The Comrade Prosecutor General, contrary to expectations,

has agreed to see you.

But you would do well to remember

that you have come to see one of the busiest people in the government.

Therefore be extremely brief,

don't waste the Comrade's precious time.

Two or three minutes at the most.

I'm listening.

My name is Kornyev. I am the inspecting prosecutor...

of the local prisons in Bryansk,

where I have discovered

an infringement of socialist law

by the local NKVD,

regarding their conduct of cases of counter-revolutionary crimes.

The rules have been broken regarding the detention of suspects.

I see. Continue.

I know for a fact that a detainee was repeatedly beaten

while under interrogation

by the local branch of the NKVD.

I believe that...

such beatings,

and other illegal methods of investigation...

are used systematically.

The fact that political prisoners

are deprived of the possibility of addressing complaints

to the appropriate authorities, provides further evidence.

This may be the only such statement from the political wing of the prison

that ever reached the office of the district prosecutor.

The material on which it is written, and the "ink"

the prisoner used... all this speaks volumes.

BRYANSK PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE

Why inform me of these infringements instead of your district prosecutor?

Because I have no confidence that the local prosecutor's office

will intervene with the local NKVD.

Moreover, I fear that...

the local prosecutor's office would not want, and indeed would not be able,

to protect any of its own staff who did intervene.

When the NKVD makes a wrongful arrest,

obtaining a warrant from the prosecutor's office

has long been an empty formality.

So turning to my superior would not only be pointless,

but it would be...

almost suicidal.

And I decided to approach you, not as a professional,

but as an honest Soviet citizen, and a Party member.

What is the aim,

in your opinion,

of these violations

which you suspect are going on in your district?

Comrade Vyshinsky,

I'm sure that a group of counter-revolutionaries,

posing as Stalinist Chekists,

are active in our district branch of the NKVD.

They are using their position to exterminate the best local people,

accusing them of made-up crimes.

They do this to undermine the district administration

and to discredit Soviet law in the eyes of the masses.

The leading workers of our area

are confused and frightened by these NKVD criminals.

This especially concerns the courts and the prosecutor's office.

It's even possible

that some of them, maybe against their will,

are working under direct orders from the NKVD.

This is highly likely,

since everyone able to identify the covert hostility of the NKVD

has been arrested or exterminated.

Devoted Party workers are replaced with new incompetent people

who carry out the orders of those loyal to the NKVD.

If any of them guesses there's something fishy,

they pretend not to notice. "Don't touch us and we won't touch you."

That's how the system works, Comrade Vyshinsky.

Maybe there are some time-servers whose silence has been bought

by their unexpected promotion, usually beyond their abilities.

I could follow their example, Comrade Vyshinsky.

But my conscience as a Soviet citizen,

a Party member and a member of the Soviet judiciary

stops me from doing this.

I cannot calmly watch these crimes being committed

continually and on a mass scale.

The highest prosecuting authorities must put a stop to them.

I think this highly destructive process must be halted immediately.

You want the Chief Prosecutor's office to begin an urgent investigation

into the supposed counter-revolutionary acts of the NKVD in your district?

Have I understood you correctly?

Absolutely correctly, Comrade Vyshinsky!

In principle, this would be possible,

if it was a matter of a normal government department.

But the NKVD, at this moment,

enjoys almost complete autonomy.

Even the Chief Prosecutor's office cannot raise a case against...

even an individual NKVD employee,

without the consent of the NKVD leadership.

If there were strong documentary proof

of law-breaking in the NKVD,

then their leaders would doubtless agree

to allow a case against those wrongdoers.

Comrade...

Kornyev?

said that he himself

saw torture marks on the body of a particular prisoner.

Can you back up your observation

with medical evidence?

It's the same prisoner who wrote to our local office in his own blood.

He's an old Bolshevik,

he was a leading Party worker.

I'd like to explain to the Comrade Prosecutor.

I could only get access to the prisoner

after insisting that the warden allow a meeting.

And this warden would find excuses

to delay the appointment of a medical commission,

until he had time to put me in prison too.

I am sure that he and his senior staff

are in collusion with the local NKVD directorate.

So I decided to rely on the Prosecutor General's personal trust in my report.

And frankly speaking,

I didn't know that even a secret investigation of a NKVD employee

requires documentary evidence.

Oh, yes,

for a lawyer, it is imprudent.

But the situation can be remedied.

Go back

and send us medical evidence about the prisoner who was subjected,

as you assert, to illegal methods of interrogation.

I promise that an investigation of this case

will start immediately.

But...

if I go back empty-handed,

I will immediately be sacked

and arrested.

I'm sure the counter-revolutionaries

won't let anyone who knows about their crimes go free.

Provide Comrade Kornyev with confirmation that he met me.

Address it to his District Prosecutor.

That will allow you to conduct your investigations

without risk to your own safety.

And provide Comrade Kornyev

with a ticket for his return journey from our reserved allocation.

Put down a short but detailed precis of what was said in our meeting.

Send it with the medical certificate.

And enclose this as well.

It will serve as auxiliary evidence.

How did it go?

Not now.

Get in.

You're in here.

- Good evening. - Hello.

Which seat are you in?

Number 5.

Let's make space.

Please sit down.

- You can leave that here. - No.

I'll put this here...

And this will go there.

And this...

Ah, we're off!

From Moscow?

Me? No.

- Where are you from? - Bryansk.

A student, are you?

I was. I've got a job now.

What do you do?

I'm a lawyer,

member of the defense lawyers' association.

Now I'm an inspecting prosecutor.

What does that mean?

I deal with citizens' complaints.

I make sure everything's done legally.

Well, well.

That's a fine profession, Comrade.

An essential one.

Why were you in Moscow?

You got a girl there?

Not at all.

So why were you there, if it's not a secret?

Business at the prosecutor's office.

In Moscow? Don't you have one in Bryansk?

I went to meet the Prosecutor General.

Vyshinsky?

Yes.

Look, Petya. So young and already meeting the Prosecutor General!

Oh, we haven't introduced ourselves: Petya.

Alexander. A pleasure to meet you.

- This is Vasya. - Vasily.

A pleasure to meet you.

Just a minute.

Bring us some glasses.

Oh, not for me.

Not for you?

It'd be a sin not to drink a toast to Soviet law.

Thank you.

Is there a guitar around?

I can bring sugar.

What a joker!

Now,

a toast to "good order"!

To good order!

- Sasha, have some snacks! - Thank you.

And what do you do?

We're liquidators.

We're engineers. From the Planning Institute in Moscow.

We plan factories, industrial plants,

the future, in a word.

You're architects.

Yes, we can do that too.

We're reconstructing a factory in Bryansk, a complex project.

Machine tooling?

- It's the Red Profintern. - But the technology's imported.

There are all sorts of hitches, misunderstandings.

A month ago they installed a line...

Something went wrong just before it was supposed to start production.

So we're off to sort it out.

Maybe human error, maybe sabotage.

Well, you'd know better than us.

Yes, sometimes you don't know if it's a mistake or sabotage.

Looks like a normal engineer.

Wife, kids, job.

Looks like everything's fine. Then it turns out he's a saboteur.

You could scarcely believe it, but they themselves confess.

- It's very scary. - Yes.

You know yourself, the times we're living in.

You must... have to deal with enemies.

But how to know if they're an enemy or not?

There are procedures.

If a crime has been committed, an investigation is held.

That's after the event.

But if no crime has happened yet,

but the enemy is already present, what then?

Then, according to Roman law, there's a presumption of innocence.

Then there's sabotage. Then what?

You can't sentence a person before a crime has been committed.

So what do you do? Wait till a crime's committed?

I understand your question...

Comrade Prosecutor,

Sasha,

we must be vigilant,

we mustn't drop

the punishing sword of Soviet law.

But we don't punish, we...

investigate.

And if there are grounds, the courts punish.

- So that's it, "we investigate". - Very fair.

To vigilance!

Come on, eat up!

Thank you.

Somebody wanted a guitar?

Thank you, dear host. Now this is something else!

But I need...

- Here. - Thank you.

Let's go.

Our song.

The morning greets us with coolness

The river greets us with a breeze

Curly-head, why aren't you pleased

With the merry song of the factory siren?

Don't sleep, wake up, Curly-head!

They're hammering in the workshops

The country rises in glory

To greet the new day

The brigade will meet us with tasks

And you will smile at your pals

With whom you share care and labor

And life and the expanded production plan

Beyond the Narva outpost

In thunder and in fire

The country rises in glory

To greet the new day

To greet the new day

Bam!

And to the land of triumph

Our youth will go

Until a second youthful band

Comes to meet you

And will crowd into life

To take their fathers' places

The country rises in glory

To greet the new day

To greet the new day

With these splendid words

Announce your truth

We go out to meet life

To encounter labor and love!

Is it a sin to love, Curly-head?

When with sounds of ringing

The country rises in glory

To greet the new day

Repeat!

The country rises in glory

To greet the new day

Wake up, Comrade lawyer! We'll be there in half an hour.

- Comrade Ivanov? - Yes.

Hello Comrade Ivanov.

Comrade Petrov?

- Are you from the management? - Exactly.

- Comrade... - Is he with you?

Comrade Kornyev.

Good day.

You're going by car?

Comrade, could you give me a lift?

Shall we take him, Vasya?

Let's go.

Thank you.

You've got girls in this town of yours, right?

- Obviously. - Good-looking ones?

Yes, some good-looking ones, too.

Do they give it away easily?

Give what away?

What do you mean "give what away?" Are you a blushing bride?

I'm unmarried.

Oh-ho, I see.

- And you've never tried it? Not even once? - What are you talking about?

No need to be shy. You're among friends here.

He won't tell anyone.

Come on, spit it out.

Are you still a virgin?

Wait, we've taken a wrong turn.

I'm not dropping you anywhere, until you tell all.

Come on, spit it out.

We're all dying to know, aren't we, Vasya?

Where are we going?

We're taking you...

to be investigated.

"If there are grounds".

Open the door.

Take it easy, Kornyev.

You're under arrest.