The Invisible City (2014) - full transcript

People decided
to build a city on the lakeside,

for the place was singularly beautiful,

and on the other side
there was an oak-wood.

And people started burrowing, digging…

Closed… wait a sec… I lost track…

...burrowing, digging
so as to fortify the place.

So you live over there,
in grandad’s house?

No, I live further on, by the quagmire.

Where’s that?

In the direction of Kovel,
close to the centre.

So you have to cross
the wooden bridge on the way?



Right, that’s just past the bridge.

And… you go along the road,
then to the left.

- And the house is to the right?
- Well, the Red pass.

By the shop?

Farther on, where you turn to the pass…

To the left? - To the right.

To the right, into the quagmire.

To the right, straight into the quagmire.

Do you know Kukurina? - I do.

So, my house is next to hers.

All the houses around are empty.

You may come in.

It’s clean here.

Where people live in Chernobyl,
radiation levels are higher.



20, but with us they are 12, 9, 8, 7.

But the panel shows 7.

Sure, in Kiev it’s higher!

Good afternoon!

Oh, my sonny, my sonny.

Oh, my sonny. I… I… God save us…

I've been thinking where's my Igorek lost.

And what about Natasha?

She’s all right, alive.

Drinking? - As usual. Smoking? - Yeah.

What do you want?
He follows me all the time.

No doggies here.

He hopes you’ll bring him some fish.

See, how joyful. He’s had a good meal.

Oh, sonny...

Oh, look at them oaks…

Rustling? Oh, there’s no…

He’s sated, he is full.

And mommy?

Didn’t mommy bring you into life?

Don’t take offence, sonny,
mommy bore you in her belly, suckled you.

Don’t, sonny, don’t!
There’s only one mommy.

Only one, don’t.

I’m mad at you –

you don’t keep in touch
with your mother and father.

It’s wrong, wrong.

You will also be a father someday.

Maybe not.

So that’s our street.
Named after Shchors.

That’s my house.

Nice, right?

That’s it. Do you like it?

So… fellas, come in.

I’m with my granddaughter here.
The granddad had died.

And that’s my daughter.

And that’s me.

That's how I live.

Almost like in Paradise.
With foxes and wolves.

In the forest.
Almost like in Paradise.

Yes. One pension, right?

I haven’t seen it for ages.

A pension. And liquidation allowance.

Never mind, I can walk myself.

Sour cream.

How much? - Twelve.

Twelve and thirty… Can I have five eggs?

Even ten if you wish.

I came all the way from Kiev on foot.

Went for two days and a half
across the Chernobyl zone.

I was just strolling, in no hurry.
Just walking and thinking where to stop.

Was looking for a cozy place,
with no people around, anything…

Then I saw a strange pass, grassed over.

Hardly discernible.

I strolled along and came across a well.
Well, I thought, only a house missing.

Here you go – a house.
And an even better well.

The chimney, the stove are good,
one can live here.

An evil force took over our land,

ousting the people into the woods.

One of the captives told the enemies
about the secret paths to the city.

The enemies pursued the people
and soon reached the city.

To their surprise,
the city had no defenses.

The inhabitants did not even intend
to defend themselves,

on seeing the enemies, they just prayed.

The imps attacked the city,
but were stopped in their tracks.

Fountains of water burst out suddenly

and started flooding the invaders.

The attackers were forced to retreat,

and they could just watch the city
going underwater.

The last thing they saw was the cross
on the cathedral dome.

And soon only waves covered the area.

It’s because of my parents that I’m here.

They wanted to bugger me, I guess.

So that I wouldn’t study,
or work, or do whatever.

Were afraid to be on their own, probably.

Afraid of me being the best,
walking fast, being quick on the uptake.

Had to nip everything in the bud.

No good memories from there.
The best that happened to me was here.

On the other hand –
my father suffered because of Chernobyl.

God knows how exactly, he worked here.

It’s a family issue.
I don’t want to discuss it.

Everything could’ve
turned out differently.

If it not for the concussion,

maybe I’d be working now,

I’d have some position.

I’d wanted to be a minister,
and all had been… prepared.

Connections… the post was waiting for me.

But all this vanished into air, that’s it.

It’s ok, ok.

Goos morning.

I’m coming.

Oh my God! My God!

Sonny, I’ll give you some dough.

Nope, don’t.

So that they don’t come... - Alright.

So that flies don’t come.

That's it, sonny, that's it. - Thank you.

Sonny, give me your hand, my darling.

You saved me.

Oh, God save you.

May you be strong and healthy, sonny!

May you live to my age
and stay in good health. Sonny!

And now to mommy, to mommy…

Your brother, he has no kids? Nope. No?

The helicopter came from over there.

I made a fire and stood by it.

It flew from over there, in the evening,
the woman chose just the right time.

So, it flew…

Reached this place and saw the smoke…

But smoke was forbidden then.

I stood still.
It came close and lowered.

Dropped lower, it’d been there,
then lowered.

I stood still.
It flew there and over there.

Then farther on and turned back,
and went lower still.

To the level of my house, its height.

It reached me.
The propellers, winged props spinning,

my hem floated…

They stopped.
The plane came lower and hovered.

And the pilots opened the window

and shook their fists at me.

But I raised my hayfork
and said: “Oh! Oh!”

They turned round and flew away.

It had a meal.
Caught a duck in the barn.

I ran there,
saw it choking another one.

And I started hitting it, but didn’t kill.

It snatched me by the finger, here.

So I screamed as if it were eating me.

And then caught I it by the back,
like that.

It started biting my fingers.

And I snatched it by the tail

and hit it against the wall.
And killed it.

Killed it. Long ago. Filthy thing.

That’s it, son. I’ll show the son today
– two ducks and two hens choked.

So that’s how we live here.

I’ve survived the Germans…
And the flood.

And also the atomic plant.

I’ll survive somehow.

Vika. - Yes. Or Dasha, someone…

Girls, where are you?

You’ve brought the fish, right?

It’s still breathing.

300 grams.

Here are all the elements we found.

Here’s Caesium-137. Caesium-137.

And this is the channel
where it was found.

In Chernobyl the air contains
1.8 milliroentgens per hour.

But on the ground there’s much more…

After winter radioactivity background
rose suddenly to hundreds.

Nature itself did it.

Also many in Russia, though being
draftees, were afraid of Chernobyl.

We don’t see it, so where is it?
Is it white, or black, or green?

They’d said: radiation, but where is it?
On the hill, or beneath? God knows!

Why would you come here at all?
There’s radiation here! Aren’t you scared?

When they were taking my picture,
I put my hand on the chest and said:

“The Ukrainian nation
is invulnerable to radiation!”

How they grinned then,
you can’t imagine.

And they showed me on the TV.

Now everyone knows

that the Ukrainian nation
is invulnerable to radiation.

I was also advised to move to Kiev,
but so far I’m not moving anywhere.

There was the war, famine,
then this accident.

Many people perished,
died of that trouble.

But we’re alive and kicking.
I don’t know.

One can always catch fish here
if you want to.

Crucians – anytime. But they are small,
as compared to these.

It's the local one.

In spring – fish, in autumn – meat,
in summer – berries.

But in winter – preserves.
Whichever, either fish, or meat.

I’m a samosel, I live here unofficially.

Some people come and go,
they are considered to be visitors.

But those living here are samosely.

And all of a sudden
the city became invisible;

some say that the city
is still in place,

but nobody sees it,

but some say
that the city with all its people

had sunk to the lake bed,

and people are still living in it,

and at times
the sound of city bells is heard…

Now, this is bullshit!
...from underneath.

So.

It hadn’t sunk into the ground,
it’s in place.

A legend.

True or not…
There’s a lake nearby.

They were building a church here,
in Parishivo.

So this lake is called
“Bottomless Lake”.

And it turned out that the name is true.

The newly built church sank down,
and it’s down there to the present day.

That’s the kind of church we had.

With such domes, and all.
No more church.

In this fashion.
With such a shiny roof.

That’s that.

Mind the debris on the ground.

By German laws
icons were hung in the church.

The Soviet dragons came
and took the icons off.

That’s it.

My dears!
D’you see that beech over there?

They took a big thick rope,

climbed up to the shiny crosses,

hooked the rope on the crosses
and fastened it to the large tree.

And then men, all stout,
back from the war, our men…

Like this…

They lay on the rope,
others lay on it up there,

and so they pulled down the crosses.

Afterwards they made it a club.
It was a club here.

And they would drive us, kids,
in by force, to watch movies.

Would drive us in by force,
so that we’d go and wonder, and all.

A sick pig died.
I dug out this pit,

and put a cross on the grave.

I put underneath cast iron –
here, at the bottom.

Put some on its belly. Put some weight.

On his belly, on the ground.

I planted the stick and put this atop.

And then I saw – they left cast iron,
but got it out with teeth.

And they’ve eaten it.

Who – the wolves, who else.

They dug it out.

It was deep in the ground,
but they got it.

This is our graveyard, sonny.

These are our homes.

Ah… Good afternoon, my darling…

Fallen sticks are scattered.

This is my sonny.

And that’s my three months’ sonny.

The small one. Died at three months.

And that’s the dad.

And I’m on my own.

Some cookies for them
in the after world.

Here you are, sonny.

Now we’ll leave candies.

Oh! Someone left a smoke.

Here you are.

Birds will eat it.

Ah! Here.

Here we go.

The cross has fallen.

So? How d’you like it here?

It seems to me that you should get
in touch with your mother and father.

Bad as they might be,
they are distressed for you.

But are they in touch?
Do they know where you are?

- What’s the good of it?
- Good or not…

Had they hurt you that much?
Maybe they have.

They got their due.

I’m taking pictures and trying to draw.

To reproduce what I see and feel.

It’s here.

The pass between Brukh and Braginka.

That’s the place in winter.

This is the spirits’ field.

It’s here. In autumn.

That’s next to the wintering,
the lake there.

This helps to load the phone so far.

An hour and a half,
and the phone fully loaded.

White-stone houses...

...trees growing...bell-to…

...church bell-towers...

...log huts... People walking alive;

but not everyone can see this,

not everyone will find this city.

That’s it.

That’s the end of our inhabitants.

The atomic station has devoured them all.

Devoured, the atomic. Let them come here.

If we are such a nuisance,
us, the miserable samosely,

let them have another Babi Yar,
shove us in there and bury alive.

They need to set up here…
as he said…

...a reserve!

They will have a reserve here.

Are we in the way?
You’re welcome.

Set up a reserve.

I’d come to my land, my house.

I’ve lived a long life,
in cold and hunger.

Where they’d removed us,
I wasn’t idle.

So should I be adrift now?

I’m 85 years’ old already,
in my 86th year,

I’m no longer afraid of any bombing.

The most difficult part is over…

The wolf, or what has remained of it.

The wolf lived, lived,
and then died of cold and hunger.

I’d come here just because I…

I simply couldn’t study
due to triple concussion.

A violent blow.

They wanted to be ok themselves.

Didn’t notice that they
killed the children…

by what they were doing.

He wasn’t a drunkard.
A former army officer, been to Chernobyl.

I’m here, you might say, out of spite.

Because he’d thought
Chernobyl would kill him.

I live quietly, I do everything –
and all is ok.

Illness has nothing to do with it.

While in the past he was a lazybones,
now he’s exaggerating his illness.

A sick man cannot hit others,
swear and shout.

He’s had part of his lungs cut out,
but, I’d say, one can live with that.

Not the worst thing that can happpen.
He could have gone on working.

It’s just unwillingness,
disrespect and…

Maybe he resented his fate…

No one made him come here.

When talking to some girl, I told her:
you want to live like other people?

Well, I’m no longer like other people.

As to girls, I’m trying not to…
I avoid them.

Since I know I’ll come back here,
I’ll not get acquainted.

Some people just don’t care at all.
All they need is a one-night-stand.

I’m not that kind of guy.

I’ll not deceive a girl,
telling tall tales.

I told her right away:
I live here, and I will.

And this is the end of the relationship.

Sometimes in calm weather

the chime of bells can be heard...

...and people...

...singing from the deep are heard.

Only those pure in soul
and heart… oh yes…

...will find the way...

...to the invisible city.

Will enter the invisible city.

Yes.

That's true!

I’m fine. I’m moving to my girl’s place,
very far away.

The summer was lonely, chill and quiet.

The spring was hard,
the water rose and reached the house.

Two days ago I hacked a hog,
had a meal and hit the road.

Igor, Chernobyl quagmire.