Original subtitles

SUPPORTED BY THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

RUSSIA 1

He took the seal, wanting to look at the tamga.

- Janer Pasha, an Ottoman ambassador. - Right.

He saw it and winced, and nearly cried.

Ladies and gentlemen, do you know what tamga is?

It's a family emblem.

For the Turks, it's like the last name.

Have you ever seen a Damascus saber with two blades?

He leapt and hit me right here.

An upside down swish it was.

And what about you, Grigory Grigoryevich?

My skull bone is firm, bless my parents.

I swept my sword and his head rolled down.

And his Turkish soul flew up looking for its heavens.

This is how it all happened.

Who would be your new prey, Sofya Stepanovna?

Lieutenant Potemkin.

Methinks he's too good for you. Vain pursuit.

Why vain? I can feel his interest towards me.

And how did he manifest his interest?

When the ribbons were tried on, he was nervous.

I touched him, and he was all aflutter.

The first touch is the main thing between man and woman.

But I don't see him. Where is he?

He is looking at me.

Because he can't resist it.

I know what all men are like.

He is overwhelmed with desire.

I entered my name in the dance card.

If he only lets me take him by the hand, he'll lose himself.

You're vibrating with emotion, too, as I can see.

No.

But I sense the beginning of something.

Has he come alone or with a lady?

He is alone. I asked around: he is not courting anyone.

What else did you learn about him?

He is not rich, living on his earnings.

Renting cheap lodgings on Vasilyevsky Island.

You will come to his place, won't you?

No.

I will take him to my chambers.

What a fleet-footed lieutenant.

Dancing in spite of his wound.

I wondered who he was after.

So, it's Sofya Stepanovna.

An easy catch.

Your Majesty, you are heavenly beautiful.

Allow me to admire you during the cotillion.

Wait here. I'll call for you to undo my dress.

Grigory Alexandrovich!

Sofya Stepanovna, let me explain myself.

No, I won't let you, Grigory Alexandrovich.

Our happiness is two steps away.

You are sensual and tender, but I won't dare to.

You are so timid?

I am so sorry, but my heart belongs to someone else.

Who is that lucky woman?

Will you excuse me.

You can't leave without telling me.

Or else God knows what I will think about you.

She is magically enchanting, the incarnate perfection.

She is intelligent.

I fell for her at first sight.

But exchanged only a couple of words with her.

She will never know about my feelings.

She is beyond my reach.

I won't dare to declare my love.

Is she married?

Though I doubt it would be a hindrance.

Oh, really?

What's wrong with you?

What happened?

Your Majesty...

Anna Petrovna...

I beg of you, help me.

Please, protect me.

You were crying? What happened?

No, I didn't cry. I keep calm.

There will be no wedding.

But I have already granted my permission to Nikita Ivanovich

and dismissed you as my lady-in-waiting.

No, there will be no wedding.

I love someone else.

We both don't seek fortune.

We only want to be quietly happy.

Who is he? Is he here?

It's Semyon Andreevich Poroshin, Pavel Petrovich's tutor.

Former tutor. There is nothing I can do for you.

You must decide your fate on your own.

Anna Petrovna! Get up!

What's going on?

Call for Rodgerson. She is clearly unwell.

Anna Petrovna, allow me to give you these flowers.

Don't you ever approach me again.

Never ever.

Your Majesty, a most extraordinary thing has happened.

Grigory Alexandrovich rejected me.

You can't win them all.

I am not surprised.

Yes, it turned out that he is in love.

He is in love with you.

He told you that plainly?

No, he was utterly delicate, but I guessed.

How?

I want to hear the details.

My Lady, Mr. Rodgerson is asking you to come out.

He said it was very urgent.

Tell him to come here.

He insists.

Let him come here even if he is not properly attired.

Your Majesty.

It is not about his attire.

Please take this...

What happened to her?

Ladies and gentlemen, please go away.

- Anna Petrovna... - Go away, now!

The main thing is to avoid mass agitation.

You're the only one who is agitated, and we don't know why.

I hired the carriers to take countess Sheremeteva home.

She will be put up in some separate building.

Some pavilion maybe, with lots of sun.

With all her belongings moved there as well.

Mr. Sheshkovsky will take care of all security measures.

Take her away, together with the divan!

- Excuse me... - Nikita Ivanovich,

stay away from her.

- But she is my bride... - Step away!

George. What's going on?

How close was she standing to you?

Did she touch you?

You didn't answer my question.

What's going on, George?

She is afflicted with smallpox, the most dangerous type.

And not a word more.

I must ask you again: did she touch you?

We talked. No, she didn't touch me.

Go away, ladies and gentlemen. You must leave.

Your Majesty.

I placed the guards.

With whom else did countess Sheremeteva have a contact?

Her Majesty and me.

She was fainting and I supported her.

I wanted to give her flowers, but she refused.

She must have had a contact with the servants.

The kellermeister, the chasseurs, too.

If only we knew, we wouldn't have let her approach Her Majesty.

Gather all the servants and take everyone away to Pulkovo, now!

Should we use messengers or pigeon post for reports?

Forget about reports!

George, can you use inoculation?

I was inoculated in England.

Though for grown-ups, it's quite dangerous.

Every fifth person gets ill.

But I'm safe as you can see.

What do you need for your manipulations?

Countess Sheremeteva is dying.

Her puss can't be used - the infection is too strong.

Come a new ill person.

We can take the infection from the first blister appearing and make an urgent inoculation.

It should better be a child or an old person.

Go to the Sheremetevs and find out whether someone else has fallen ill.

Your Excellency, for Christ's sake - give us some water!

Is there any hope?

Enough. Go back into the house, Your Excellency.

- Do you have any blisters? - No.

- Show them to me. - I'm not ill.

Do you wish to see the Empress?

I saw her last Christmas.

Let me in, I'm Poroshin, her fiance.

No one can enter, Semyon Andreevich!

Your Excellency.

Stepan Ivanovich.!

Anna Petrovna has got blind and can't talk. It's the end.

Let me in. Let me see her.

No, you must understand that it's very dangerous.

Look, I promised to love her in joy and in grief.

Go away! Go away!

Stepan Ivanovich. Your Excellency!..

Do you want some tea?

Show me your blister.

What is your name?

Sasha Markov.

You're not a serf anymore, you belong with gentility.

With a family coat of arms of your own.

You're Markov-Smallpoxov now, eh.

You'll have everything: a house, horses, dogs of your own. What else?

A gun for duck-hunting.

You'll have the best gun.

Show me your blister.

I will come in.

Don't be afraid.

Pyotr Borisovich!

Let him in.

Let's go, Semyon Andreevich.

Anna Petrovna, I love you...

Vlas, take him away from here.

- Forgive me, dear Anna. - Let's go.

- Away from here. - Let go of me!

Don't you dare!

- Leave him alone, Nikita Ivanovich.

Take your hands off me.

She is dying, I should be near her! Let me in!

I wanted to marry you off to a man you didn't love.

You can marry anyone you want, be it even a plebe,

only, do you hear me, Anna, just live, my dear daughter.

- I can't help you. - Calm down.

Can't you see that your presence aggrieves her father?

Pyotr Borisovich.

Go away, Nikita Ivanovich.

You have no business to be here.

Let go of me!

How dare you!

I should be near her!

- You're asking for a scandal? - You scoundrel!

Vlas, make him shut up!

You scoundrel. A piece of dirt.

Very, very nice.

Your Excellency, I will see him out.

Let's go.

Very nice.

Let go!

Tell me where you live, sir.

You want to see me home or what?

What? Don't you dare!

Answer my question, sir.

Why should you care?

His Excellency needs the address where to send his second.

Burn down her belongings and her clothes.

I can make an incision just anywhere.

Better - on a spot hidden by clothes.

The abscess will leave a scar.

I want all unbelievers to see that I was inoculated and didn't die.

So that everyone would follow my example.

Here.

- More wine. - Yes, Your Majesty.

Not bad for the Empress.

You are a good flatterer, George.

You scored one more victory, my Empress.

Nevermore will black smallpox endanger your subjects.

Every year, millions of Europeans had been dying from smallpox,

it spared neither peasants nor sovereigns - the French king Louis XV,

the Habsburgers from Austria, heir to the Russian throne Peter II.

Risking her life,

Ekaterina was the first in the Russian empire to undergo inoculation,

posing a personal example to aristocrats at the court,

to all citizens, military men and the clergy.

The Empress signed an ukase on obligatory vaccination.

Smallpox houses were opened all around Russia.

On the Empress's request, count Sheremetyev headed the campaign

investing his own money.

With whom am I to discuss the details?

I have no second, Mr. Teplov.

You had enough time to find one, Mr. Poroshin.

You want to obstruct the duel?

No one agreed to be my second.

They are afraid of an exile, on hearing Count Panin's name.

Do you trust me?

I have no reason to mistrust you, but...

Don't waste time. Yes or no?

- I trust you.

The obstacle done away with then.

I want to say that I regret my deed.

Let us be spared unnecessary words.

Nikita Ivanovich forbade to agree about a compromise.

Make your choice.

Come on, do it.

Ten steps from the barrier.

Nikita Ivanovich.

It was the first time I hit someone.

I committed a shameful deed.

I was stressed. Later I shuddered at what I did.

It was silly to blame you.

People seek happiness according to their own dreams and opportunities.

Nikita Ivanovich, for a long time I served under your authority.

I hope... I will not shoot at you.

Have you finished?

Fine.

Advance, gentlemen.

I don't wish you evil.

Or to anyone else.

He is wounded. I will take care of him, thank you.

Where are his lodgings?

On Vasilyevsky Island.

Don't take him there, just drop him in some ravine.

And don't forget to extract the bullet.

- I will, Your Excellency. - Godspeed.

I bet one thousand.

Bravo, Nikita Ivanovich.

The winning card.

2 is the hock. Your card is beaten.

Thanks for the game.

What a beautiful view!

- I'm glad you like it. - A real invitation to study.

If only I had such a room when I was a child.

I only went a-fishing and a-hunting.

Do you think Alyosha will like it?

Are there enough toys?

Quite enough for a start.

Some of them will become his favas, some - not.

Yes, he is such a reserved boy.

Doesn't smile or talk for some unknown reason.

I hope Pavel will stir him up.

Though, there is a difference in age and interests.

If both of them equally become heirs to the throne, it would mean an imminent rivalry.

- And where is the globe? - It will arrive these days.

I hope so.

You'll answer with your head, just in case.

I've a premonition he'll be worse off there.

Hold your tongue. Of course he'll be better off there.

He will see his own mother oftentimes now.

Take the donkey.

It's your good sleep toy.

Alexei Grigoryevich, 'tis time to go.

Dear Grigory Alexandrovich.

It's a long time since we discussed the cut of daily uniforms, the choice of buttons.

They are not a trifling thing, for the soldiery knows not trifles.

My dear and esteemed friend!

I want to see you.

To be in your company is such a delight for me.

You are so unlike other people with whom I communicate usually.

None of them can continue a stanza from 'Ovid' except Monsieur Voltaire,

but he is such a distant pen friend...

Forgive my insistence, but I am grateful to that happy chance,

to those days when we could be together longer than now,

longer than tradition permits...

I want to remind you of those times

when you happened to lie in my feather bed,

to sleep under my blanket and wash yourself in my bath...

Tights as part of the field uniform should be done away with.

They look fanciful and cause the admiration of the fair sex,

but are not comfortable during war campaigns.

One can only put them on moistened.

The officers put on wet trousers and wait till they dry out?

- Yes. - And you, too?

The tights are like second skin,

with not a single wrinkle, the muscles prominent,

but if you make a sharp movement or sit down, they may tear at the seams.

That's why the officers prance about, not bending their knees.

It seems, not only women bear with inconveniences only to look effective.

You opened my understanding.

But it is nothing compared to the lacing of the bodice or the heavy crinoline.

Crinoline is our unenforced golden cage.

Wherefrom should we begin the changes?

The waistcoat.

The soldier should be protected from inclemency.

It's a mistake to follow European traditions.

The soldiers need warm bloomers, ample coats.

The hat - it doesn't protect you from frost.

We need something seasonable...

I'm sorry, but we are to be interrupted now.

Your Majesty, Prince Betskoy is seeking your audience.

Will you excuse me, I must go.

Thanks for the conversation.

Your Majesty...

- Your Excellency. - What were you doing in the park?

I was discussing the new uniforms with the Empress.

And where is Betskoy?

He will take care of the uniforms following the sketches

and the details of what kind of fabric, buttons, buttonhooks, threads.

And where are the sketches?

They are not ready yet.

What were you discussing then, with no sketches?

You must be in a bad mood.

Thank God, you're not my senior to spoil my mood.

Don't forget to whom you owe being here, walking around,

coveting the keys of the chamberlain.

I don't aspire to advance to a high post,

but the circumstances well known to you have changed my life.

Don't turn up your nose...

...lest you stumble.

Please come with me.

I don't have an arrangement. Go.

Let's go.

I know this clever-eyed boy on the portrait.

He is the future heir to the throne.

He should learn a lot, and he will have good tutors and a very good nanny.

Alexei Grigoryevich, can I have a look at your toy?

Ivan Ivanovich, pray tell me how I should approach him.

Don't be nervous and smile a lot.

I can't but be nervous.

I asked Grigory Grigoryevich to come and greet his son and not to be late.

But he is away God knows where.

Alexei Grigoryevich, for shame, Her Majesty is addressing you.

Alyosha, tell me, what are your favorite toys?

My child is aloof to everything.

I hoped it would pass, but with years it only worsened.

- Fekla, bring Rodgers. - No need to.

The child is tired after the journey, and the sight of a medicus will frighten him.

Such a clever child on the portrait and such a disappointment in life.

He wouldn't even smile or talk to me.

Well, hi to you, my dear son.

Why are you so lifeless, eh?

Wake up! Do you like to fight?

As a boy I was very pungent.

Nothing has changed since then.

Fistfight, eh?

Fekla, introduce Alexei Grigoryevich to Pavel Petrovich.

Let's go, Alexei Grigoryevich.

You have grown up.

Who is this woman?

I am his nanny, Your Highness.

You need a nanny, Alexei Grigoryevich?

You see, Your Highness?

He keeps silent.

You shouldn't say 'you see', 'you hear' is more correct.

One can't hear silence.

Russian language is not quite perfect.

Can you keep silent in French?

Can you keep silent in French?

Oh, Gosh.

See? You don't need a nanny.

Silence means consent.

You keep silent, you don't object - means you agree with me.

Your Highness, the Empress hired me to be his nanny.

Alexei Grigoryevich is silent because he can't talk. Things happen.

In my home village, a mother left her baby in a cradle and went to do the chores.

A pig came and munched his feet.

Nearly ate him up. So the child kept silent till he turned ten.

And then he began talking, grew up and got married.

Alexei Grigoryevich wasn't abandoned at the pigs' mercy.

His hands and feet not munched.

He is silent for another reason.

You may go, Fekla.

Tell the Empress Alexei Grigoryevich is a big person

and shouldn't be doted over, undressed and put to bed.

He will need a chamberlain.

Is something unclear to you?

As you wish, Your Highness.

I heard you were an idiot.

And I believed them at first.

But now I can see it's all a lie.

I can write and read.

You keep silent on purpose.

I'm not an idiot. I hate talking.

I am so clever on the portrait, but still Mommy won't love me.

So I won't love her either.

Do you love Mommy, Pavel Petrovich?

Rather no than yes.

I loved my father, but he died.

My father is alive, but I only saw him once.

Today.

It's the same as if he were dead.

Or even worse.

I'm glad to have a brother, Alexei Grigoryevich.

I'm offering you my friendship.

I want to be friends with you, Pavel Petrovich.

But with your kind permission, I will keep silent.

Very well. Let's go.

Come in, Alexei Grigoryevich.

It used to be my room, but there is enough space in the palace.

The view from this window is my favorite.

I would stand here near the window imagining:

I am the great emperor ruling over Russia.

My twenty million subjects love me and pray for my good health every day.

Would you like to be the emperor, Alexei Grigoryevich?

The globe! I didn't have anything of the kind.

Russia stretching far and wide on the globe.

But you can grasp this only with your mind.

Sometimes I look through the window and feel like my soul is growing wings.

What an exhilaration! What a victory!

The Empress bought exquisite toys for you

and arranged everything here.

But let things rest for the time being, for otherwise she will be unpleased.

I know that she attains everything according to her will,

and you'd better not argue with her.

The nail plates hard, the skin between his fingers healthy.

The soles of his feet not flat.

The chest is a little bit protruding, but no signs of chicken chest,

the spine is straight, no goose flesh on his elbows.

Close your eyes, Alexei Grigoryevich.

I'm at a loss what illness there is to cure.

Repeat after me.

Mole-rat,

scale,

strawberry,

Woop Woop.

You don't need to repeat, but if you heard me

and know the meaning of these words, raise your hand.

Mole-rat, scale, strawberry, Woop Woop.

I can see no deviations.

He is not deaf, but in a neglected state.

- His mental health is questionable. - What is your verdict?

We also need to know whether he can be fertile or not.

For this, examination will be needed when he turns 12.

Then we can take a test of his seminal fluid.

- Let's check it right now! - Grigory Grigoryevich!

- Why waiting? Do it. - Very well.

But at such an age, no medicus can state for sure.

Is that normal?

We can't operate the term 'norm' as for now,

but the organ seems to be healthy.

I see...

It won't prevent him from sitting on the throne?

Grigory Grigoryevich.

Alexei Grigoryevich.

Your forgiveness, on my own behalf,

and on behalf of your unceremonious father.

Your Majesty, Pavel Petrovich is feeling unwell.

Again?

Unfortunately, he won't be able to be present.

Let us begin.

Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov.

Born on April 11, 1762,

the son of His Excellency Count Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov

and Her Majesty the Empress Ekaterina Alexeyevna.

Alexei Grigoryevich, you smiled!

Alyosha...

Let us go to Tsarskoye Selo?

We shall walk on the grass barefooted or swim in the pond.

It's beautiful there in summer.

Or let us fly the kite together.

Can you fly the kite?

I will show you how to do it.

We'll show you everything. Grigory Grigoryevich.

Finish the ceremony.

Smile to me again.

From now on Alexei Grigoryevich is entered into the Imperial House of the Romanovs

with all the rights pertaining to an equal marriage...