Original subtitles

On an old wagon, an old man was riding along.

The dun pacer Gyulsary was old as well.

Very old.

What is it, Gyulsary, eh?

What is it with you?

We weren't going too fast.

PROSHSCHAY, GYULSARY!

Based on Chingiz Aitmatov's novel "Goodbye, Gulsary!"

Well.

What's the matter with you?

Feeling bad, old chap?

None too well.

Are we going to stand here like this?

Here.

Eat, Gyulsary.

Eat.

Shall we move on, eh?

Easy does it.

Perhaps we'll make it.

It's night already.

Come on, let's go.

Come on, go.

Never before had Gyulsary moved to the finish so slowly.

And rapidly as never before

he was approaching it.

The finish line

was just a step away.

Advance, Gyulsary.

Go on!

Go on!

You are completely worn out, nag.

How old are you? 20?

Or maybe more.

Must be more.

Oh, time.

In the long years of war

Tanabai Bakasov went round the west and the east

And wholly embraced the soldier's lot.

And now at last he was going home victorious.

The war hadn't cooled down yet.

Life in the farms was still hard.

Tanabai was drowning all the worries and concerns

in the clanging of the smithery.

"We won. That's what counts"

"We won. That's what counts. "

"We won. That's what counts. "

I feel shame.

In wartime we sent our old men into the mountains to tend the horses.

They've been there ever since.

That's not appropriate work for them.

And veterans turn up their noses at such work.

They saw too much culture abroad

and don't want to be herders any more. Why roam about the mountains, they say.

I am not single.

We have a son running to school.

Soon it will be time for our daughter to go studying.

We will place your son in boarding school.

It will be even better for him. On full social security.

And then we will see.

We'll think over.

I'll talk to my wife and seek her advice.

And the days began to crawl

in the bleak life of a horse-herder.

Father returned.

Drink your tea.

Have a rest.

It's late.

The horses are freezing.

A snowstorm is coming.

And where is the herd?

Downwind.

Under the bald peak.

Hear that?

Wolves.

Where are the barns for the herds?

Where is the fodder, the oats?

We are fed by the wind alone.

Look how we're dressed.

Look at our tents.

How do we live? Without enough bread.

And you look at me as if I strangled these horses myself.

We're sitting here, debating, talking...

We should be making it happen!

Build barns for the herds.

Tanabai remembered the words he spoke to his friend,

the dreadful silence of the chairman.

He remembered everything.

This frost Tanabai could not forget.

Those nights of the wolves.

Bleak, hard days.

Fodderlessness.

Tanabai remembered. Remembered it all.

Have you seen my wayward Gyulsary?

There he is! Ambling in the mountains.

Again!

Tanabai didn't know then

that their destinies had intertwined forever,

that before them

lay the same path in life.

Yes, Gyulsary, like this.

Take no offense, my friend!

You can't be at a loose end forever.

You'll get used to working.

As for suffering, one cannot avoid it.

Life is like that.

It puts horseshoes on your 4 legs.

But in return, you won't have...

to bow before every stone on the road.

She came.

She left.

Like a dream.

Hey, look, it's Gyulsary!

Ai, Gyulsary! What a horse.

Hey, horse-herder, stop!

We are in the fields from dawn till dusk

and you are prancing around on the pacer.

Who holds you back? Join horse-herders...

But then you can tell your husbands to start searching for new wives,

as you'll freeze in the mountains like icicles.

Easy, easy, Gyulsary.

Gyulsary liked their encounters with that woman.

He sensed the instant changes in the mood of his master.

His voice becoming more kind.

The reins in his hands becoming more relaxed.

He liked the woman for the flutter

that she planted in his master.

Let's go, Gyulsary. Let's go.

What is it, eh?

Please take no offense. I should have guessed right away.

To hell with this cart

and this harness.

If I can only bring you home.

God! What have you become, Gyulsary.

Come on.

Come on.

Hello, Bjubjushan.

Hello.

- Walking to fetch your girl? - Yes.

- Travelling from the office, again? - From the office.

Where else?

The committee assembled today. Only shortages and deficits.

Makes you want to run away where your nose points.

So go and run.

Where to?

I won't run without you.

No one else in the world had such tender hands

as this woman.

Those were wonderful hands.

Tender and sensitive,

like the lips of that little chestnut mare with a star on her forehead.

Take note, Bjubjushan, of how much he likes you.

Palm him again.

There. Spread his ears like a calf.

And when in the herd there's no life there thanks to him.

Gnawing other stallions like a dog.

Because of that I keep him under saddle.

I'm afraid they'll cripple him. He's still green.

He likes me alright.

- Are you saying that others don't? - No.

That's not what I meant.

We are through with romances.

- I feel sorry for you. - Now, why is that?

You are not that kind of man.

It will be hard for you afterwards.

And what about you?

I am a widow of a soldier.

- And you... - And I am...

a member of the committee.

I've just come to discuss the facts with you.

You've been coming to discuss the facts quite often, haven't you?

Is that my fault? You are walking. I am walking.

I am walking my way. Our paths are not the same. Goodbye.

Look, Bjubjushan!

What? Don't say it, Tanabai.

What for?

Don't look for me, Tanabai.

It's best you stay away.

It's no good.

Don't disturb things.

It's better this way.

Don't.

No, don't.

Don't do it, Tanabai.

What for?

It will be hard for you afterwards.

Don't.

Everything has it's time.

We are through with romances.

Don't do it, Tanabai.

What for?

Everything has it's time.

We are through with romances.

It will be hard for you afterwards.

Don't do it, Tanabai.

Don't.

So... It's not destined to happen.

What is it, old bones? Is that your abandoned cart?

We saw a cart falling to pieces on the road.

And nobody around.

We wanted to take the harness.

But that's no good either.

And what exactly happened?

The horse couldn't pull it.

He is old and ill.

Where are you going now?

Home to Sarygousy Gorge.

To the mountains?

It's out of our way.

But... get in the back anyway.

I'll take you up to the state farm. Tomorrow you can move on.

Thank you.

- I am with a horse. - That nag?

Leave it to the dogs.

Dump him in the ravine and the job's done.

We can help if you want.

Go.

Well, your choice.

Cast off!

What's with you today?

All day long from one side to another.

Isn't it all the same? Hay here, hay there.

That's right. Hay here and hay there.

Wherever you turn, everywhere is hay.

Load on.

Can't seem to understand you.

What's hay got to do with anything?

For me you are

like mowed hay.

So there it is. And what if...

I was grass with roots? Then what?

I'd see.

I will come to you tonight.

Don't even think of it!

Don't even think of it!

Why did you run from him?

Enough from him! He belongs to his herd.

We insulted her, Gyulsary.

- Heading home, Tanabai? - Yes, home.

Shall we go, then?

Oh, it is you chairman.

He's good, your Gyulsary. Steady as a rock.

And I used to think that you were inseparable from your hammer.

And now I'm bound to this horse.

We've got a new car.

Really? I thought it was from the state farm.

Soon we'll get another.

Now cars will go to collectives.

It's about time.

Listen, we need to talk.

I'm out of touch with life. Always in the mountains or in the heath.

You know more than me.

No matter how hard it will be...we shall rise.

We'll live as we dreamt.

I always believed you, Choro.

If it were not for war...

Good woman.

You know what?

When I look at a woman like her

it turns my soul upside down.

Everything can be regained,

everything that is broken

will be restored again.

But them... there's nothing you can do to help.

One cannot repair what is broken in them.

"Don't even think of it. "

"You are like mowed hay for me. "

"Don't even think of it. "

"Don't even think of it. "

You were at the war-front, and I was here with them living in misery.

We, the men, don't know their value.

- "Don't you look for me, Tanabai" - Let's take your Dshaidar...

- "Better stay away. " - Without her...

"All this is no good"

"Don't disturb things. "

"It's better this way. "

"Don't"

"No. Don't"

The star of the pacer rose high that spring.

The nature of glory and what great power it holds;

that's what the pacer felt at this big festival.

Look, it's Gyulsary!

Horsemen, gather in a circle!

Ask for a blessing from the people.

And now for Alaman-Baiga.

Now, Gyulsary, stand out. Don't let us down.

Alaman!

Blessed be the ancestors

who left to us these games of the brave.

Feel tired, yes?

I'm damn tired too.

Cut it out.

Cut it out, Gyulsary, don't skew!

We'll go to the herds now and have a rest.

Who is there?

It's me, Bjubjushan.

Open up.

Do you hear? It's me.

Beg your pardon.

We are late from Alaman.

I'm tired.

And the horse is totally exhausted.

He needs a rest.

And the herds are far away, as you know.

It's cold.

Don't stand there.

Come on in.

In a minute.

I'll just place the horse.

Place him there, in the corner, by the hearth.

I'll be in a minute.

I've grown exhausted

while you were hovering outside the house like a boy on your horse.

Hurry. Look how bright it is around.

What? It's got worse?

Feeling cold, Gyulsary?

You never used to.

Here you go.

I'll cover you.

Here.

In a moment.

In a moment you'll get warm.

It was not the first night that Gyulsary spent here yearning for the herd.

Patiently waiting for his master.

Stop!

Stop!

Keep off!

Stop!

Stop!

Loosen it, quickly!

Stop!

My whip! Get my whip!

Stop! Stop or I'll beat you!

There he is! He's coming!

And we were searching for you, Tanabek!

Ooh! It was something!

Dshaidar already started to worry.

Are the horses safe?

Safe! I'll bring them at once.

Tanabek, let's go home!

Yurts are smashed by wind.

Let's go!

Stay here awhile.

I'll bring you something to put on.

How are you going to show yourself in front of people?

"Send the pacer Gyulsary to the stable for equitation"

I'm not giving Gyulsary away!

I'm not!

The stable ran out of horses, or what?

I said I'm not giving him away and I won't!

Dshaidar, your mare's milk is excellent.

So good that my sight has improved!

I'll tell you what! Pass a message to your new chairman!

I won't give away Gyulsary! He is my studhorse!

He's covering the mares!

We'll give you stallions. No mare will be left unwed.

I don't need your stallions.

You chairman has nothing to ride on or what?

Why Gyulsary?

Come now! The chairman is our executive.

Therefore, we must respect him.

He visits the district centre.

Word gets around.

Everybody know that we have this pacer.

The chairman is in the public eye.

A man of the people, so to speak.

So to speak what?

On another horse they won't acknowledge him?

Or because he's the chairman

it's necessary for him to ride a pacer?

Necessarily or not, it seems to be so.

You, Tanabai, were a soldier.

Were you taking a motor-car

while your general took the truck?

Of course not.

To a General a General's things, to a soldier a soldier's.

This matter is...

not the same.

I won't!

If I am unwanted,

take the herd.

I'll go to the forge.

You won't take anything from me there.

Why are you acting like this, Tanabek?

We respect you, we value you.

Dshaidar, you judge.

What could one horse mean?

Just a pacer.

You can choose any horse in the herd.

And why are you making so much trouble?

Why else? It's discipline.

I was instructed. I am a humble man.

It's not for me. I don't care if it's a donkey.

Ask Abalack's son.

I was sent to deliver a pacer.

It will look bad if the chairman is our guest

and we can't offer him a decent horse.

If people find out, what will they say? It's unprecedented among the Kirghiz.

Good. Let all the village know.

I'll go to Choro.

Let him be the judge.

You think Charo will agree with you?

You will only disappoint him.

It's a kind of sabotage.

"We don't accept the new chairman, we'll go and complain to the old one... "

And Choro is a man of poor health, just returned from hospital.

Why spoil his relations with the chairman?

Give it away!

Don't deny the people.

Now this is reasonable. I wish you'd responded like this.

Thank you, Dshaidar!

Stop!

Don't you dare! Stop!

Why did you say to give him away?

Taking revenge on me?

Taking revenge on the pacer? Revenge for those nights?

Give it a rest. Take your hands off me.

Is Gyulsary yours?

Everything we have is the farm's.

And so is the pacer.

And the chairman is the master of the farm.

If he says so, it will be so.

If you think that it's because of her...it's not.

You can leave right now.

Go on.

I could have been a widow too.

But you returned.

How long have I waited for you?

Suppose I'm cast aside.

But you've got 3 children.

What will you tell them?

Hello!

Hello! Hello, Gyulsary!

Hello!

It's not a man but a wimp who tried to ride him.

Torn your head rope and escaped! Good boy!

Good boy, Gyulsary!

Keep it up! Run about!

Gyulsary ran

and the spirit of the herd made him giddy.

The smell of mare's milk,

the smell of foals,

the smell of wormwood.

Gyulsary ran, not knowing that the chase already ran after him.

Tanabai! Wake up! Hear me?

Stallions are fighting! Gyulsary must have returned!

Damn you, Gyulsary!

Never any rest...

What did they do to you?

Whose idea was it to put fetters on you?

Why did you come here? You fool...

You'd better stop all this.

You'll end up in a bad way.

Silly you!

Look, Dshaidar, his legs rubbed raw.

Just think! Such a distance! In fetters!

Like a bushranger!

Whoa! Hold it!

Must be Ibraim who found them

in one of the elders' houses.

His job!

Stand still, silly!

It's ok. I'll deal with him!

Don't assume if you don't know.

Don't know what?

Repeating like a parrot! "don't know... don't know... "

Very well, I am a dark herder living in the mountains.

And them? Those "Ibraims"...

They know everything, you say?

Pass me the grease.

Stand still!

He calls himself chairman! No matter!

I will not let this rest.

At the next...

meeting I'll stand up.

They'll laugh at you.

What will you say?

He took a horse from you...

- ... and you at once... - That's not the point!

He is an evil man! Such a man should not be chairman.

If he is like this, he won't last in the collective.

People won't stand for it.

- Sooner or later... - "Sooner or later"!

We all think like this!

Evil mustn't be given time.

"Sooner or later".

Take him!

Get out of here!

Take this fetter to the chairman

and tell him

that if he dares to put fetters on the pacer again

I'll smash his head with this fetter!

Tell him that!

That was the wrong thing to say.

Unwise.

He always ended up paying the price

for his hot temper and stubbornness.

Ahead, Gyulsary! Advance! That's my Gyulsary!

Faster, Gyulsary! Ahead!

Shall I bring him out?

Bring him out.

Hold on! Hold on!

- Bring him down. - Hold him.

Steady! Hold on!

Shall we begin?

Well, do it!

You'd better step aside.

One never knows, he might kick out.

Begin!

Put on the noose.

Pull! Pull!

Bring down!

Finally!

Look, boys! Look what they're doing!

They are cleaning his hooves.

That shows how much you know. Nothing!

They'll castrate him.

What are you doing here? Go and play!

Wait.

I'll be right there, Dshaidar.

You go.

I need to return to the forge. I forgot to bring horseshoes.

Go on, go.

I'll catch up with you.

I knew it.

I knew it.

You were afraid to find out?

What's so shocking?

You're not a child.

Is it the first and last time they emasculate a horse?

It's always been this way, and it will be so forevermore.

It's known to everyone.

What's so strange?

It's the done thing.

Farewell, Gyulsary.

You were a great horse.

You were my friend, Gyulsary.

THE END