Byalata staya (1968) - full transcript
The scientist Alexandrov is seriously ill. In his white hospital room he recalls his experience tries to put his confused thoughts in order. His memory takes him back to an evening spent in the company of his friends Bubi and Rina. He can hear her cynical confession: man cannot live by fine ideals alone. His colleague Vasil,who has come to visit him in hospital, interrupts his thoughts with a gossip about office intrigues. Alexandrov remembers the unpleasant conversations he has had with a dogmatist Stoev about his book on the psychology of the emotions. He recalls Stoev's misrepresentation of the work of Freud. He has had to choose between steering clear of controversy or fighting the dogmatists. Stoev fades out of Alexandrov's memory and gives way to recollections of Sashka. She was his student, sweetheart, wife and mother of his two daughters. ButSashka is dead, only his memory of her live on. Vasil's visit breaks the stream of visions: Alexandrov's book has been turned, down after Stoev's intervention; they want to break his will. He lapses back into his hallucinations: all the people in the street wear hospital garb, Stoev appears to him with many faces. The doctor tries to help him out of the depression. Vasil manages to secure the go-ahead for the publication of his book, but Alexandrov's energy is spent. The window of his room remains desperately empty.
Feature Film Studios
THE WHITE ROOM
Screenplay
BOGOMIL RAINOV
Script supervisor
PAVEL VEZHINOV
Production director
VALCHO DRAGANOV
Production designer
PETKO BONCHEV
Costume designer
KONSTANTIN RADEV
Composer
DIMITAR VULCHEV
Sound
EMIL PAVLOV
Editor
ELENA DIMITROVA
2st assistant director
IVANKA GRABCHEVA
Assistant directors
DORA TODOROVA
LILI DIUSTABANOVA
Assistant cameramen
RADOSLAV SPASOV
KONSTANTIN CHERNEV
Make up NINI PETROVICH
Photographer GEORGI RUSINOV
Starring
ELENA RAYNOVA
DOROTEYA TONCHEVA
KONSTANTIN KOTSEV
GEORGI CHERKELOV
STOYANKA MUTAFOVA
ILKA ZAFIROVA
NEYCHO POPOV
GEORGI KALOYANCHEV
GRIGOR VACHKOV
GEORGI POPOV
NIKOLA ANASTASOV
BOJIDAR LECHEV
VASILKA CHILIKOVA
ANI DAMIANOVA
LILI ENEVA
MILENA ANDONOVA
NEVENA ANDONOVA
APOSTOL KARAMITEV
as Alexandrov
Director of photography
DIMO KOLAROV
Director
METODI ANDONOV
That's why I took the liberty of
coming to you,
because things have
gone so far that...
Yes, I should first tell you
what these things are,
I should present them because...
Yes, it's high time for me
to explain to you...
...explain to you...
We're marching on the spot
like that.
I have to switch the light on.
Right... glucose,
Cortancyl, three times a day...
He made it over the hill.
Alexandrov!
You need to isolate yourself!
Stand in the corner!
So...
...there won't be an end to suffering.
"Latin is dead... a dead language."
Alexandrov,
I didn't leave you there to sleep!
Tell me, what is this?
Are you deaf?
What is this, I'm asking you!
Ablativus absolutus.
Ablativus absolutus.
So you continue to be silent?
I am dreaming, you know!
How are we today?
So-so, I...
Did I wake you up?
I didn't think you were still asleep.
Very cheerful, all smiles -
the optimism of the profession!
Let's see, now!
D'you feel any pain?
Not much.
Don't go looking for pains!
Unless you feel them,
don't look for them!
You haven't even shaved yet.
Why so apathetic?
You're the doctor, you tell me!
Come on, pull yourself together!
You're still a young man.
You shouldn't neglect yourself!
Well, not that young,
between 40 and 50...
You are young!
But the way you've neglected yourself,
you don't look young at all.
How long will you keep me here?
Let's not start haggling now...
The moment we fix you,
we'll let you out.
Look out the window!
- Daddy, how are you?
- Daddy, are you going to get well soon?
Very soon!
Daddy, we bought you some lemons!
Thanks, but...
...don't buy any more!
I've got everything here.
Come on, run along now!
And, Yoanche, you be good!
- I am good!
- Daddy, we'll come again tomorrow.
- Off you go! Goodbye!
- Goodbye!
Hey, you have to pull through.
You nearly let this life escape you.
Now you're granted a delay...
...let's hope it's long enough,
because...
...everything's terribly messed up.
Tomato soup, boiled meat, compote -
all the things I hate most!
And yet...
Good night.
Truly idiotic tricks...
These oldies,
where did they dig them up from?
Rina was the girlfriend
of a childhood friend of yours,
Bubie.
- Please!
- Thanks!
Cheers!
And you, aren't you going
to ask me to dance?
I have the feeling that you don't much
fancy my company.
Everyone's looking at us!
I mean, looking at you.
Well, you look at me too
instead of looking at them!
You won't feel embarrassed then.
I feel more embarrassed like that.
You'll get used to it.
- Well, good night!
- Good night!
Thank you.
Good night!
Won't either one of you
take the plunge and ask me to dance?
While those gossips, the Savovs,
are here, I'm in quarantine.
- Dance with Peter!
- I'm no good at these fast dances.
I'll get them to play a tango for you.
You just ask her to dance!
We've got to put
one over on those Savovs.
Dance, have fun,
pretend you're in love!
Altogether, save me, please!
- Good night!
- Good night!
Good night!
They had taken you for a cover.
Bubie was saving face
as a respectable husband,
while you were passed off as Rina's lover.
Although, each night, it was not you,
but he, that made off with her.
Until, one day, you met her on her own.
- Where's Bubie?
- Away in Vienna, for ten days.
And why are you asking?
I thought you might have fallen out!
And what if we had fallen out?
Nothing.
Nothing?
Too bad.
So I was only imagining things.
The hint was clear enough,
even for a blockhead like you.
- Really nothing?
- But you fell silent...
...because you thought
she was playing with you,
and you didn't know what to say.
You won't even take me dancing?
She suggested you both go somewhere...
...and then, in a totally foolish way,
you blurted out:
I've only got 5 lev on me.
I've got some more.
Where are you going to take me?
How should I know?
To the race track!
The race track? In this wind...
Well, why not?
The orchestra usually played
"I Dreamt You Were Beside Me,"
because the song was in vogue.
And, for you,
this foolish thing made it...
...your song, the two of you.
And your hand was embracing Rina,
not lightly, but sincerely!
You left only after
they said "Good night!"
You left in each other's arms
in the autumn wind...
...and, walking in the dark,
you tried to express
what you felt in your loneliness,
while Rina just repeated:
"I know, I know..."
That made your love
a long one...
...a love with a history,
a love from the very first night.
- I live here.
- What, in this palace?
Actually, in the attic of the palace.
I'm just a poor relative
of a rich uncle.
Come on in.
- How are we?
- Better.
We'll get you into shape,
provided you help us a little.
The first condition for recovery
is to want to recover.
Spring is on its way.
This morning,
the wind was really warm.
The weather affects patients awfully...
Actually, it affects me as well.
And you?
A-ah... the weather?
It seems I've been failing to notice it
for ages,
except when it's really cold.
How can you stop noticing
such things as spring, fall, winter?
Anyway...
By the way, the weather may
affect you even if you don't notice it.
Well, it could be that my mood
affects the weather.
How is that?
Whatever your mood,
such is the weather.
It may be the fall, a storm,
night, or wind...
...and still seem wonderful to you.
Altogether, on these issues,
one could write an entire book.
She doesn't even know that
you have already written that book...
Daddy!
How did you get in?
Well, they wouldn't let us in over there,
but this gate here was open...
...so we snuck in.
Daddy, is it true
that you'll stay here the whole month?
No, that's nonsense!
They may let me out much earlier.
Why have you brought lemons again?
We don't have that much money!
Didn't I tell you
not to bring them anymore?
The teacher said that
the more lemons you eat,
the sooner you'd be well again.
Come on, go on home!
Don't stay out in the cold!
And only come when it's warm!
It is very warm, Daddy,
even though there's a wind.
- And you, be good!
- I am good.
Good. Come on, go on home!
Come on then! Run along, now!
Be good, but how?
As if that's the most important thing...
You have to go, darling!
Wake up! You have to go.
When can I call you?
Phone me about 3:00!
My folks won't be around then.
Where are you going?
Aren't you going to kiss me?
Hi! May I?
Excuse me, is Rina at home?
But she'd told me to call her!
Excuse me, may I make a phone call?
Miss Rina is not at home!
Good afternoon!
Are you the one who's been pestering us
with phone calls these past three days?
Miss Rina had told me to call.
Rina has no phone!
The phone is mine!
So, please, stop pestering me!
Stop chasing this woman!
She's not for you.
You haven't got the necessary means
to fit the bill.
All the best!
A-ah!
You're the last person I expected.
Have you gone out of your mind,
or what?
Yes, I'm out of my mind!
But, before that,
I want to have a word with you!
Bubie can wait.
There's no Bubie.
Auntie has invited her friends over
for a vermouth.
- I have to wait on them.
- Let's go upstairs to the attic!
I told you, I have to wait on them!
The vermouth is lovely!
Rina, stop acting so spoiled
and playing drunk!
I want to speak to you for two minutes!
Poor thing...
...you're making me choose
between Bacchus and Venus!
So let it be Venus!
I've come to the conclusion that
I have only two options -
either to pass my exams,
or to get married.
- Bubie's been married long since.
- Yes, but to a moneybags.
And, because the bag's half-empty...
If you ask me, choose the exams!
Yes, that's the most sensible,
but the most boring thing.
I can find a friend
to tutor you for the exams.
Pardon? Thank you !
Kiss me!
Last night, before I came here,
I met Bubie.
So what?
- He's found out.
- I know.
Look, why don't you stop
messing around with me?
- I've never messed around with you!
- And the lies over the phone?
There were never any lies,
I was just busy with Bubie.
I can't share you with Bubie!
And who gives either of you
the right to share me?
Sorry, I had imagined that
you loved me at least a little!
If I hadn't loved you, why would I
let you be with me? For money?
Ah, yes!
I forgot that Bubie has money.
Well, don't forget it!
And, don't forget that, actually,
that first night at the race track,
I paid with Bubie's money!
- Don't get so mean!
- The truth is mean!
You can't live only off grand feelings.
That's not a reason for you
to sell yourself!
You know what? You're starting
to get somewhat burdensome -
like a cupboard, too big and solemn
for my little room.
Don't get excited!
I'll move myself out right away!
Come on, Ma, that's enough!
It's high time you went to bed!
And you?
Why haven't you gone to sleep?
A couple of minutes,
just to finish the page.
I know that page of yours
which is never-ending.
- Don't! Just a minute!
- You're going too far!
I won't be able
to wake you up tomorrow!
"Forgive my rudeness.
I had a terrible headache.
"I'm waiting for you to call. R."
"And the earth was without form,
and void;
"and darkness was upon
the face of the deep.
"And the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters."
You're becoming quite disobedient!
If you keep catching a cold
and pressing your lungs for hours...
...against the window, we'll be
treating you here for ages!
Lie down for me to see how you are!
- Do you take the Cortancyl regularly?
- Like clockwork.
- Do you sleep?
- I do.
But I have my old dreams.
The important thing is to sleep.
Yes, that's the most important thing.
And, please, don't hang about
in the window!
- Show yourself at the window!
- The kids?
No, a friend of yours.
He brought you this.
Vasil!
Just don't stand in the draft!
Hi, Peter! You look great!
You're getting through this hepatitis
more lightly than the sniffles!
- Well, I feel rotten...
- Did you get the typescript?
Yes, thank you. What's new?
Loads of things, but nothing special.
Stoev is still running amok,
but in a quiet way, of course.
- They've done the dirty on me again.
- What for?
They can always find reasons.
Yet, he's looking a bit worn out,
poor man, actually quite a lot...
Well, I, oh... nonsense...
Even though he's controlling himself and
even... pretending to be in good spirits.
But, he doesn't actually control himself
all the time.
"I rarely explode," as he likes to say.
"I explode only when I shouldn't."
To cut a long story short,
loads of "pleasant" stuff,
so "pleasant" that they shouldn't
be said in front of a sick person.
Don't spare me,
I'm not on my deathbed yet.
They didn't even believe it
about your illness, either!
They sent someone to check
whether you're really ill...
...or whether you're lying.
But they "forgot" to visit you!
Well, never mind, enough! Go back inside
so that you don't catch a cold!
Eh? Bye!
The friend who always
reminds you of the foe.
Why is it that whenever you see Vasil,
you always think of Stoev?
- Hello!
- Hello!
How's it going?
Are you getting used to us?
Work... same as anywhere.
Oh!
If you have a couple of minutes, come in -
I want to give you that material!
Good! I was just about
to call on you.
I hear you're writing something.
Yes, for a while now, I've been preparing
a paper: "Psychology of Feeling".
Psychology of feeling?
Isn't "Psychology of Reason" better?
Feelings, that's the
favorite issue for subjectivists.
Write about reason, Alexandrov!
Those are the books we need!
Here are the resources!
Thank you.
But I wanted to examine some of
Freud's actual works.
Why waste your time?
No, not that I am against
any thorough research,
but everything of substance
has been said here.
I was thinking that the greater
knowledge we had about a doctrine,
the more precise and convincing
we would be in our criticism.
Theoretically, that is true.
In practice, however, there is no point
in counting the teeth of the snake
to decide whether to crush it.
So, leave feelings aside, Alexandrov,
and write about reason!
- Congratulations on your article!
- Ah, thank you!
Especially on the way
you have distorted Freud.
I couldn't find his works.
Never mind! It's easier that way.
You seem to be irritated that...
...the article was
a commission for me by Stoev?
No, I am irritated that
it was written in Stoev's style.
I too am not an adherent of Freud,
but neither am I
an adherent of falsifications!
We are waging a war and have no time
to deal with particular cases.
Our task is to rout the schools
that are antagonistic to our ideology.
But, in order to rout them,
we have to know them!
The truth, Comrade Stoev,
is achieved through thinking.
And you deny the people
the right to think!
No, not to think, to fantasize!
Well, yes! To you,
everything that differs...
...from the conventional, is fantasizing!
Not from the conventional,
from Marxism!
Don't forget that Lenin developed Marx.
But he didn't distort him,
while you are distorting him!
You're distorting him!
You're caricaturing him!
You're turning the living,
revolutionary creative method...
...into Moses's tablets,
into religious dogma!
- It's not us, it's you distorting him!
- You are distorting him!
- You are distorting him!
- You are distorting him!
- You are!
- You are!
- You are!
- You are!
You had no intention of joining
either the one, or the other group.
Your group was the Party.
And everything else
seemed to you to be...
...fighting for prestige.
This terrible power-loving man
has made a career...
...out of his baby face
and timid voice!
- He's also got principles.
- Just one - to grow, to succeed,
to climb, not to move forward,
but upwards!
And what is your principle -
death to Stoev, or something similar?
Can't you see that this enmity...
...is consuming all your energy,
it's ruining you !
Maybe.
You're preoccupied with Stoev
to such an extent...
...that it's just impossible for you
to be engaged in anything else.
Yes, and that's exactly why
we have to go the whole way,
in order to prevent them
from grinding down...
...those who will come next.
Someone's got to move forward!
I think you're blowing up
the danger of Stoev too much.
- You're just afraid of him.
- I'm not afraid, you are!
That's why you stay aloof
and keep silent!
But silence is also
a sign of participation!
What's more, it is complicity, Peter!
Check, please!
To shine as a discoverer -
that sounds enticing, doesn't it?
Actually, that is simply egoism -
to outshine others,
to stand head and shoulders above them,
above the little people.
And, isn't it more heroic...
...to content yourself with
the role of an anonymous private...
...in the grand march
towards the great objective...
...for which people
have sacrificed their lives?
They have sacrificed themselves quietly,
modestly, without grandstanding or glamor,
without even thinking that someone,
somewhere, would remember them.
- Name?
- Peter Alexandrov.
- Profession?
- Student.
- You mean to say a conspirator?
- Student.
Some people want, at any cost...
Some people want, at any cost,
to shine as original thinkers.
But, the most original are the heretics.
The truth, alas, always sounds banal.
And precisely in this lies the feat -
denying the enticing blaze of glory,
and, if needed, laying down your life...
...for the cause
you have devoted yourself to.
How long have you known
the person Vasil Radev?
- Three years.
- How did you meet?
I don't remember exactly.
We were students in the same year.
What work have you done together?
None. We studied for exams together.
- And the mimeograph?
- What mimeograph?
Bring in Radev!
Alexandrov! Alexandrov!
Ah, there's a mimeograph
that was left at your place.
- There is.
- We have to start work again.
If required, we'll start.
- We sure will !
- Bye!
As you see, I've taken it down.
I've taken it down,
even though I don't like change.
Hang something else up!
That mark looks very ugly.
It's true that the mark looks ugly,
but if I hang something else up,
that would mean yet another change.
And I told you that I don't like change.
By the way, I wanted to have a word
with you about your review.
I think you need to withdraw it...
...and revise it a little.
I personally don't always like change...
You have to amend it.
That would be beneficial
for the competition, only beneficial...
In Velev's work,
there exist some disputable points,
and there are also
some totally wrong ones.
It's true that you have pointed out
both the first and the second,
but you have emphasized
its positive sides,
and your overall evaluation is positive.
Please, don't recite your review,
I've already read it!
Frankly speaking, Alexandrov,
of late...
...I cannot understand your principles.
What are those
personal principles of yours...
...that are obviously totally
alien to me?
What then? For example...
Yes! Speaking.
What? Forget that nonsense!
Stoev's words awfully resemble
that crooked, tiny bust,
which is supposed to be of Lenin.
It is bronzed with the unpleasant
color of a brass door lock...
...and is peeling a little
on the nose and chin.
But, that is not its greatest defect.
Its greatest defect is that
this slick face,
with its dead glazed eyes,
made by some jobbing artisan,
has nothing in common
with Lenin's face.
For some people,
Lenin has become a perfect disguise.
The fever of destruction
does not give them peace.
We took this down.
Why should we stop there?
Let's take down
the next thing and the next...
...let's turn everything upside down!
To whom are you actually referring -
me, or are you just speaking generally?
I'm speaking generally,
and you can draw your own conclusions!
You are continuing to speak generally.
You think about how this "generally" is
manifested in some individual cases!
What do you mean?
Tell me! What do you mean?
Don't rely on me saying anything...
...that you may use
against me tomorrow!
Don't worry! Whatever you say,
stays right here.
I am not worried, Alexandrov.
If there's anything that...
...is worrying me,
it's only your future.
As I recall, you were working on
some thesis or other?
Yes, "Psychology of Feeling".
You probably know that, in order
for people to read it, this thesis...
- ...needs to be published.
- Yes. And?
And, with this thesis,
you aim to become a professor?
So, instead, I may even cease to be
an assistant professor, right?
It's possible, but it's more significant
that you aim at becoming a professor.
And you have also turned into
a pupil of some dubious people.
- That's not true!
- All right, prove it!
- Amend your review!
- I can't amend it!
- Then you'll be sunk!
- Don't worry!
I can't, I am worrying, Alexandrov,
I am really worried about your future!
You, of course, neither withdrew
your thesis, nor did you amend it.
You read it out, with an emphatic
distinctness, before the committee.
Stoev opposed it;
a few people supported him;
Vasil and a couple of others objected;
then the vote was held;
and Velev failed.
After that victory,
Stoev took up your work...
...and its publication was postponed
for an indefinite period of time.
Why are you so focused on that Stoev?
What d'you mean,
why are we so focused on him?
Well, you have own views, your tasks -
so get on with your own work!
And stop bothering your head
with Stoev!
It's Stoev who's stopping me
from working !
Because you're in conflict! Bury the
hatchet and he won't stand in your way!
But he'll continue standing
in the way of the others!
And then, if I bury the hatchet,
that means having to accept...
...his views and ridicule my own!
Well, why, just because of
some sort of difference in views,
should you both prey like predators
and waste your lives in a futile fight?
Why should it be futile?
The Stoevs won't last for ever!
And you, how long are you going to last?
And how long is this...
...endless effort going to continue?
I resemble that maniac,
the clown from the circus,
who constantly overcomes something,
but there's always... always...
...something else to be overcome -
A constant effort
and permanent tension...
The entire history of man is the struggle
against desolation and disorder,
against hostile discomfort and chaos!
The entire history of man
is an aspiration to...
...transform chaos
into order and harmony!
Yes, the misanthropes trumpet that
this aspiration is futile,
for man himself is chaos,
man himself...
...is a particle of the common chaos!
But man has imposed
his own order on many spheres of life,
and this order will, one day,
establish itself everywhere.
Even God, whom man created
after his own image and likeness,
was created in the name of
this order and harmony!
Even the most dreadful moments of chaos
experienced by man...
...were only stages in his struggle
for order and harmony!
Excuse me for this digression!
- Comrade Alexandrov!
- Yes?
- I'd like to ask a favor of you !
- Go ahead!
It... it may sound cheeky,
but it's our last semester...
- ...and the matter is crucial for me.
- All right, spit it out!
I would like to ask you to ask...
this seems really silly...
...to ask Comrade Vasil Peev
to sign my student book?
It's true I've been absent, but if they
don't validate the semester for me...
Give me the book!
Done!
Would I ruin your reputation
if I walked with you a little?
- I'm going in the same direction.
- My reputation?
You have the reputation of
an awfully serious man.
Lonely people are always awfully serious -
what else is there for them to do?
What else? Not to be so lonely!
That needs a lot of free time
and a bit of good luck.
Don't you have any luck?
I may have had some, but
it's always been in the wrong direction.
A beautiful song!
Depends...
Maybe it reminds you of
something unpleasant?
Old songs always remind
old people of something.
But, you're not old, you're...
...to me, you're the most
handsome person in the world...
- Peter, how unexpected!
- Yes, I was just coming out of lectures.
- Have you become a professor?
- Not yet, but...
As for me, I completely
gave up on my philology.
So, it was the second option.
Yes, I married an awfully good and
awfully boring man.
We're leaving for London in a week.
D'you realize
that you're indebted to me?
In what sense?
In the sense that,
five years ago, a girl...
...sent you a note,
and you never called her.
That girl is now a married woman.
I haven't forgotten anything.
I thought I had gotten over you,
but now I see that I didn't succeed...
Let's talk about something else!
- I also loved you.
- Yes, yes, I know.
Let's talk about something else!
To me, you're the most
handsome person in the world.
Well, there's a declaration of love...
and here's the outcome.
- What name did you give her?
- Katya.
Why Katya?
Hadn't we decided on Katerina?
- Why Katerina?
- My grandmother was Katerina.
Your grandmother must have been
beautiful... and young!
Every grandmother has been young...
Well, when you met her, I mean.
Baw! Hey...
Good afternoon!
Here you are! Congratulations!
Hey, Katya! Well, well, congratulations!
Congratulations!
What have you done, you!
Wait, put them on the table!
Quiet! Quiet!
Pop! Hey!
The baby!
Vasil is a wonderful man, but he is
dragging you into his row with Stoev.
Now, don't you forget that, back then,
Vasil signed your student book!
Come to think of it,
why did you bring the book to me,
instead of turning to Vasil directly?
- I was afraid he might refuse.
- Hah, nonsense!
He has never refused to
give his signature.
I was the victim of an obsession.
What obsession?
I wanted to acquire a surname
that was the same as my name.
Alexandra Alexandrova.
Admit it, it doesn't sound bad!
That's the way I've always
been snared by women!
- Always?
- Well, yes.
They thrust themselves into your hands,
but create the illusion...
- ...that it was you who kidnapped them.
- You ungrateful...
You had never imagined
your future wife like that.
A woman!
She looked more like a mischievous girl.
When you saw her for the first time
with the child in her arms...
...you thought she had
stolen it from somewhere.
I give in, I give in....
"When Vasilisa the Wise
came home,
"she started searching, but
her frog skin was nowhere to be found.
"She searched and searched,
but couldn't find it.
"So she said to Ivan the Tsar's son:
"Ah, Prince Ivan, you have no idea
what you did!
"If you had waited just three more days,
I would have been yours forever.
"But now, adieu! Look for me beyond nine
seas and beyond nine countries,
"in the tenth, in the kingdom of
Koshchei the Eternal !
"When you wear out three pairs of iron
shoes and finish eating three iron loaves,
"that's when you'll find me!"
"Saying these words, Vasilisa the Wise...
"...turned into a white swan and
flew out of the window."
Daddy's little ballerina!
I'll be like Vasilisa the Wise.
I will disappear and you'll have to...
...look for me beyond nine countries,
in the tenth!
Yes, and you'll have to wear out
the iron shoes! It will be...
- ...very sad when I am gone...
- What are you talking about?
When I fly out of the window,
you're going to cry and cry,
and it will all be very sad then.
Sad, so sad...
In fact, you truly found out
what Sashka meant to you...
...only when she was gone.
You came back from the cemetery,
back into the empty house,
completely deserted because the kids
had been sent off to relatives.
Everything here belonged to Sashka.
But Sashka was not here
and she was never going to be...
Winter seems to be back again.
Never mind, this will be
for the last time.
For the last time this season.
It's just strange when you
think about the winters and...
...the springs that will come and go
after we are gone.
Are you overcome by such thoughts now?
Enough of that! This way,
you'll start running a temperature!
Think about pleasant things,
then you'll recover faster!
Alexandrov! Alexandrov!
A friend of yours is calling you.
I wonder how he got in -
they're not letting anyone in today!
- How are you?
- Well, a bit better.
Didn't I tell you? You'll get through
this hepatitis more lightly than sniffles!
- Well, what's new?
- Nothing much.
- No, you're hiding something !
- They've rejected your book.
Again, Stoev and his people.
And the motives?
The motives - Stoev's! Disputable
treatment, ideological obscurity...
He even alluded to
idealism and metaphysics.
Hum, Jesuit!
A fat lot he cares about principles,
about the primacy of the emotional
over the rational.
What do they actually want?
Well, what? They want you to withdraw,
give up, stop working...
It's not that. They want you to bow down,
become one of his people.
It's the same thing.
In that case, the book that you write...
...won't be yours.
Still, if you want to write it,
that's your only alternative.
Ah, come on, close the window!
Now, don't you worry!
I'll go to some other people,
we'll fix things! Of course!
Come on, close it! Bye!
So, Stoev won again this time.
Again this time!
You're still weak in the art of living.
The art of living! To me, that's
the art of enduring blows.
Nonsense! It's the art of avoiding blows.
Avoidance is usually achieved
through compromise.
Yes, but when you constantly put yourself
up for blows, you get crushed in the end.
Yes, but when you constantly put yourself
up for blows, you get crushed in the end.
The trouble with you is that
you're not strong enough...
...to achieve your goal,
nor are you weak enough to step back.
Maybe.
Maybe I am not strong,
but I haven't stepped back either.
I fought...
I am fighting chaos.
Your face looks awful.
And this helpless expression
is awful, too.
Yet, the beard is growing.
Daddy! Daddy!
There he is!
Daddy, are you shaving?
You look like Santa!
I was shaving for you...
...to be clean-shaven when you came,
but you beat me to it.
Why have you bought lemons again?
Didn't I tell you not to buy them anymore?
The teacher said that
the more lemons you eat,
the sooner you'd get well again.
Ah, a fat lot she knows
about these things, your teacher!
Daddy, will you allow Katya
to take me to the movies?
- Of course I will!
- And Katya says that you wouldn't.
No...
Daddy, we came yesterday,
but they wouldn't let us in.
They examined me in Bulgarian language,
and I got an "A"!
Daddy, the radio's not working anymore!
Yesterday, it was on,
then it suddenly stopped!
Don't worry! The moment I come home,
we'll fix it.
- You just be good!
- I am good.
Come on! Go on home,
the wind is very cold!
And don't come when it's so cold!
There's no one to shave for
any longer.
Come!
Come!
- It's late.
- Come with me!
- It's late.
- Come!
- It's late.
- Come!
It's late! It's late!
Late...
The bomb exploded
right above your house.
Your mother was still sewing,
she didn't even come down
to the shelter.
She probably didn't feel... death.
That's the only thing that remained...
You are walking along the street,
pacing with a thrill of impatience,
as if you're late getting somewhere.
You say to yourself: "Where am
I rushing?" and then you slow down.
But, in a little while,
you quicken your pace again,
squeezing your way through the
passers-by.
Hurrying along, hurrying...
Hurrying, damn it!
You keep thinking that
things will start coming right...
...either this year, or some other year...
...and that, altogether, there are
lots of years ahead of you.
Until, one day, it turns out
that this thing about the years...
...is not all that certain.
We must get you to a hospital !
- Ah, no chance! No hospital!
- I can't leave you here.
It's dangerous for the kids.
Come on, get dressed,
while I call an ambulance!
Yes.
Don't dress up so smart,
you're not going to a wedding!
Yes, all right.
I'm waiting.
Katya,
there's money in my desk drawer.
Your aunt will be here any moment now.
And I'll probably be back soon.
- Are you asleep?
- I had dozed off.
Why? Shouldn't I?
No reason! It's just that your face
seemed somewhat tense to me.
Aha... I must have been flying again.
Flying again?
Yes. You know, when the fever
takes me over, it seems to me...
...that I'm flying headlong
through some forest, past some...
...hills, past a dark river...
And I keep waiting to get somewhere,
but I get nowhere...
I just keep on flying farther
into the grayness and the darkness.
Until... well...
Until...
"Vasilisa the Wise came out
to meet him and said:
"Well, you succeeded, Prince Ivan,
in finding me, so now I am yours."
"Ivan, the Tsar's son, chose
the best stallion...
"...from the stables of Koshchei,
leaped into the saddle,
"and with Vasilisa the Wise,
returned to their kingdom...
"And they lived together in peace,
love and harmony."
Come!
Glucose... replace with cortisone,
three times a day.
Glucose, cortisone, three times a day.
Glucose, nonsense...
The point is not the glucose,
it's the fact that...
...everything needs to be related
to an objective person...
I... that's why I took the liberty of
coming to you,
because things have gone so far...
I mean to say that you finally have to...
...be told those things
as they really are.
I just don't understand
why it took so long.
I read Alexandrov's typescript -
it is a valuable work.
You mean to say that
the book can be published?
- Of course!
- You mean to say...
Here you are!
Thank you!
Peter!
Peter!
Peter!
"So, here I am, moving ahead,
"not with the thrill of a victory march,
"not past a festive honor guard,
"nor under a shower of blooms...
"I am moving ahead, ahead!"
The end.
THE WHITE ROOM
Screenplay
BOGOMIL RAINOV
Script supervisor
PAVEL VEZHINOV
Production director
VALCHO DRAGANOV
Production designer
PETKO BONCHEV
Costume designer
KONSTANTIN RADEV
Composer
DIMITAR VULCHEV
Sound
EMIL PAVLOV
Editor
ELENA DIMITROVA
2st assistant director
IVANKA GRABCHEVA
Assistant directors
DORA TODOROVA
LILI DIUSTABANOVA
Assistant cameramen
RADOSLAV SPASOV
KONSTANTIN CHERNEV
Make up NINI PETROVICH
Photographer GEORGI RUSINOV
Starring
ELENA RAYNOVA
DOROTEYA TONCHEVA
KONSTANTIN KOTSEV
GEORGI CHERKELOV
STOYANKA MUTAFOVA
ILKA ZAFIROVA
NEYCHO POPOV
GEORGI KALOYANCHEV
GRIGOR VACHKOV
GEORGI POPOV
NIKOLA ANASTASOV
BOJIDAR LECHEV
VASILKA CHILIKOVA
ANI DAMIANOVA
LILI ENEVA
MILENA ANDONOVA
NEVENA ANDONOVA
APOSTOL KARAMITEV
as Alexandrov
Director of photography
DIMO KOLAROV
Director
METODI ANDONOV
That's why I took the liberty of
coming to you,
because things have
gone so far that...
Yes, I should first tell you
what these things are,
I should present them because...
Yes, it's high time for me
to explain to you...
...explain to you...
We're marching on the spot
like that.
I have to switch the light on.
Right... glucose,
Cortancyl, three times a day...
He made it over the hill.
Alexandrov!
You need to isolate yourself!
Stand in the corner!
So...
...there won't be an end to suffering.
"Latin is dead... a dead language."
Alexandrov,
I didn't leave you there to sleep!
Tell me, what is this?
Are you deaf?
What is this, I'm asking you!
Ablativus absolutus.
Ablativus absolutus.
So you continue to be silent?
I am dreaming, you know!
How are we today?
So-so, I...
Did I wake you up?
I didn't think you were still asleep.
Very cheerful, all smiles -
the optimism of the profession!
Let's see, now!
D'you feel any pain?
Not much.
Don't go looking for pains!
Unless you feel them,
don't look for them!
You haven't even shaved yet.
Why so apathetic?
You're the doctor, you tell me!
Come on, pull yourself together!
You're still a young man.
You shouldn't neglect yourself!
Well, not that young,
between 40 and 50...
You are young!
But the way you've neglected yourself,
you don't look young at all.
How long will you keep me here?
Let's not start haggling now...
The moment we fix you,
we'll let you out.
Look out the window!
- Daddy, how are you?
- Daddy, are you going to get well soon?
Very soon!
Daddy, we bought you some lemons!
Thanks, but...
...don't buy any more!
I've got everything here.
Come on, run along now!
And, Yoanche, you be good!
- I am good!
- Daddy, we'll come again tomorrow.
- Off you go! Goodbye!
- Goodbye!
Hey, you have to pull through.
You nearly let this life escape you.
Now you're granted a delay...
...let's hope it's long enough,
because...
...everything's terribly messed up.
Tomato soup, boiled meat, compote -
all the things I hate most!
And yet...
Good night.
Truly idiotic tricks...
These oldies,
where did they dig them up from?
Rina was the girlfriend
of a childhood friend of yours,
Bubie.
- Please!
- Thanks!
Cheers!
And you, aren't you going
to ask me to dance?
I have the feeling that you don't much
fancy my company.
Everyone's looking at us!
I mean, looking at you.
Well, you look at me too
instead of looking at them!
You won't feel embarrassed then.
I feel more embarrassed like that.
You'll get used to it.
- Well, good night!
- Good night!
Thank you.
Good night!
Won't either one of you
take the plunge and ask me to dance?
While those gossips, the Savovs,
are here, I'm in quarantine.
- Dance with Peter!
- I'm no good at these fast dances.
I'll get them to play a tango for you.
You just ask her to dance!
We've got to put
one over on those Savovs.
Dance, have fun,
pretend you're in love!
Altogether, save me, please!
- Good night!
- Good night!
Good night!
They had taken you for a cover.
Bubie was saving face
as a respectable husband,
while you were passed off as Rina's lover.
Although, each night, it was not you,
but he, that made off with her.
Until, one day, you met her on her own.
- Where's Bubie?
- Away in Vienna, for ten days.
And why are you asking?
I thought you might have fallen out!
And what if we had fallen out?
Nothing.
Nothing?
Too bad.
So I was only imagining things.
The hint was clear enough,
even for a blockhead like you.
- Really nothing?
- But you fell silent...
...because you thought
she was playing with you,
and you didn't know what to say.
You won't even take me dancing?
She suggested you both go somewhere...
...and then, in a totally foolish way,
you blurted out:
I've only got 5 lev on me.
I've got some more.
Where are you going to take me?
How should I know?
To the race track!
The race track? In this wind...
Well, why not?
The orchestra usually played
"I Dreamt You Were Beside Me,"
because the song was in vogue.
And, for you,
this foolish thing made it...
...your song, the two of you.
And your hand was embracing Rina,
not lightly, but sincerely!
You left only after
they said "Good night!"
You left in each other's arms
in the autumn wind...
...and, walking in the dark,
you tried to express
what you felt in your loneliness,
while Rina just repeated:
"I know, I know..."
That made your love
a long one...
...a love with a history,
a love from the very first night.
- I live here.
- What, in this palace?
Actually, in the attic of the palace.
I'm just a poor relative
of a rich uncle.
Come on in.
- How are we?
- Better.
We'll get you into shape,
provided you help us a little.
The first condition for recovery
is to want to recover.
Spring is on its way.
This morning,
the wind was really warm.
The weather affects patients awfully...
Actually, it affects me as well.
And you?
A-ah... the weather?
It seems I've been failing to notice it
for ages,
except when it's really cold.
How can you stop noticing
such things as spring, fall, winter?
Anyway...
By the way, the weather may
affect you even if you don't notice it.
Well, it could be that my mood
affects the weather.
How is that?
Whatever your mood,
such is the weather.
It may be the fall, a storm,
night, or wind...
...and still seem wonderful to you.
Altogether, on these issues,
one could write an entire book.
She doesn't even know that
you have already written that book...
Daddy!
How did you get in?
Well, they wouldn't let us in over there,
but this gate here was open...
...so we snuck in.
Daddy, is it true
that you'll stay here the whole month?
No, that's nonsense!
They may let me out much earlier.
Why have you brought lemons again?
We don't have that much money!
Didn't I tell you
not to bring them anymore?
The teacher said that
the more lemons you eat,
the sooner you'd be well again.
Come on, go on home!
Don't stay out in the cold!
And only come when it's warm!
It is very warm, Daddy,
even though there's a wind.
- And you, be good!
- I am good.
Good. Come on, go on home!
Come on then! Run along, now!
Be good, but how?
As if that's the most important thing...
You have to go, darling!
Wake up! You have to go.
When can I call you?
Phone me about 3:00!
My folks won't be around then.
Where are you going?
Aren't you going to kiss me?
Hi! May I?
Excuse me, is Rina at home?
But she'd told me to call her!
Excuse me, may I make a phone call?
Miss Rina is not at home!
Good afternoon!
Are you the one who's been pestering us
with phone calls these past three days?
Miss Rina had told me to call.
Rina has no phone!
The phone is mine!
So, please, stop pestering me!
Stop chasing this woman!
She's not for you.
You haven't got the necessary means
to fit the bill.
All the best!
A-ah!
You're the last person I expected.
Have you gone out of your mind,
or what?
Yes, I'm out of my mind!
But, before that,
I want to have a word with you!
Bubie can wait.
There's no Bubie.
Auntie has invited her friends over
for a vermouth.
- I have to wait on them.
- Let's go upstairs to the attic!
I told you, I have to wait on them!
The vermouth is lovely!
Rina, stop acting so spoiled
and playing drunk!
I want to speak to you for two minutes!
Poor thing...
...you're making me choose
between Bacchus and Venus!
So let it be Venus!
I've come to the conclusion that
I have only two options -
either to pass my exams,
or to get married.
- Bubie's been married long since.
- Yes, but to a moneybags.
And, because the bag's half-empty...
If you ask me, choose the exams!
Yes, that's the most sensible,
but the most boring thing.
I can find a friend
to tutor you for the exams.
Pardon? Thank you !
Kiss me!
Last night, before I came here,
I met Bubie.
So what?
- He's found out.
- I know.
Look, why don't you stop
messing around with me?
- I've never messed around with you!
- And the lies over the phone?
There were never any lies,
I was just busy with Bubie.
I can't share you with Bubie!
And who gives either of you
the right to share me?
Sorry, I had imagined that
you loved me at least a little!
If I hadn't loved you, why would I
let you be with me? For money?
Ah, yes!
I forgot that Bubie has money.
Well, don't forget it!
And, don't forget that, actually,
that first night at the race track,
I paid with Bubie's money!
- Don't get so mean!
- The truth is mean!
You can't live only off grand feelings.
That's not a reason for you
to sell yourself!
You know what? You're starting
to get somewhat burdensome -
like a cupboard, too big and solemn
for my little room.
Don't get excited!
I'll move myself out right away!
Come on, Ma, that's enough!
It's high time you went to bed!
And you?
Why haven't you gone to sleep?
A couple of minutes,
just to finish the page.
I know that page of yours
which is never-ending.
- Don't! Just a minute!
- You're going too far!
I won't be able
to wake you up tomorrow!
"Forgive my rudeness.
I had a terrible headache.
"I'm waiting for you to call. R."
"And the earth was without form,
and void;
"and darkness was upon
the face of the deep.
"And the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters."
You're becoming quite disobedient!
If you keep catching a cold
and pressing your lungs for hours...
...against the window, we'll be
treating you here for ages!
Lie down for me to see how you are!
- Do you take the Cortancyl regularly?
- Like clockwork.
- Do you sleep?
- I do.
But I have my old dreams.
The important thing is to sleep.
Yes, that's the most important thing.
And, please, don't hang about
in the window!
- Show yourself at the window!
- The kids?
No, a friend of yours.
He brought you this.
Vasil!
Just don't stand in the draft!
Hi, Peter! You look great!
You're getting through this hepatitis
more lightly than the sniffles!
- Well, I feel rotten...
- Did you get the typescript?
Yes, thank you. What's new?
Loads of things, but nothing special.
Stoev is still running amok,
but in a quiet way, of course.
- They've done the dirty on me again.
- What for?
They can always find reasons.
Yet, he's looking a bit worn out,
poor man, actually quite a lot...
Well, I, oh... nonsense...
Even though he's controlling himself and
even... pretending to be in good spirits.
But, he doesn't actually control himself
all the time.
"I rarely explode," as he likes to say.
"I explode only when I shouldn't."
To cut a long story short,
loads of "pleasant" stuff,
so "pleasant" that they shouldn't
be said in front of a sick person.
Don't spare me,
I'm not on my deathbed yet.
They didn't even believe it
about your illness, either!
They sent someone to check
whether you're really ill...
...or whether you're lying.
But they "forgot" to visit you!
Well, never mind, enough! Go back inside
so that you don't catch a cold!
Eh? Bye!
The friend who always
reminds you of the foe.
Why is it that whenever you see Vasil,
you always think of Stoev?
- Hello!
- Hello!
How's it going?
Are you getting used to us?
Work... same as anywhere.
Oh!
If you have a couple of minutes, come in -
I want to give you that material!
Good! I was just about
to call on you.
I hear you're writing something.
Yes, for a while now, I've been preparing
a paper: "Psychology of Feeling".
Psychology of feeling?
Isn't "Psychology of Reason" better?
Feelings, that's the
favorite issue for subjectivists.
Write about reason, Alexandrov!
Those are the books we need!
Here are the resources!
Thank you.
But I wanted to examine some of
Freud's actual works.
Why waste your time?
No, not that I am against
any thorough research,
but everything of substance
has been said here.
I was thinking that the greater
knowledge we had about a doctrine,
the more precise and convincing
we would be in our criticism.
Theoretically, that is true.
In practice, however, there is no point
in counting the teeth of the snake
to decide whether to crush it.
So, leave feelings aside, Alexandrov,
and write about reason!
- Congratulations on your article!
- Ah, thank you!
Especially on the way
you have distorted Freud.
I couldn't find his works.
Never mind! It's easier that way.
You seem to be irritated that...
...the article was
a commission for me by Stoev?
No, I am irritated that
it was written in Stoev's style.
I too am not an adherent of Freud,
but neither am I
an adherent of falsifications!
We are waging a war and have no time
to deal with particular cases.
Our task is to rout the schools
that are antagonistic to our ideology.
But, in order to rout them,
we have to know them!
The truth, Comrade Stoev,
is achieved through thinking.
And you deny the people
the right to think!
No, not to think, to fantasize!
Well, yes! To you,
everything that differs...
...from the conventional, is fantasizing!
Not from the conventional,
from Marxism!
Don't forget that Lenin developed Marx.
But he didn't distort him,
while you are distorting him!
You're distorting him!
You're caricaturing him!
You're turning the living,
revolutionary creative method...
...into Moses's tablets,
into religious dogma!
- It's not us, it's you distorting him!
- You are distorting him!
- You are distorting him!
- You are distorting him!
- You are!
- You are!
- You are!
- You are!
You had no intention of joining
either the one, or the other group.
Your group was the Party.
And everything else
seemed to you to be...
...fighting for prestige.
This terrible power-loving man
has made a career...
...out of his baby face
and timid voice!
- He's also got principles.
- Just one - to grow, to succeed,
to climb, not to move forward,
but upwards!
And what is your principle -
death to Stoev, or something similar?
Can't you see that this enmity...
...is consuming all your energy,
it's ruining you !
Maybe.
You're preoccupied with Stoev
to such an extent...
...that it's just impossible for you
to be engaged in anything else.
Yes, and that's exactly why
we have to go the whole way,
in order to prevent them
from grinding down...
...those who will come next.
Someone's got to move forward!
I think you're blowing up
the danger of Stoev too much.
- You're just afraid of him.
- I'm not afraid, you are!
That's why you stay aloof
and keep silent!
But silence is also
a sign of participation!
What's more, it is complicity, Peter!
Check, please!
To shine as a discoverer -
that sounds enticing, doesn't it?
Actually, that is simply egoism -
to outshine others,
to stand head and shoulders above them,
above the little people.
And, isn't it more heroic...
...to content yourself with
the role of an anonymous private...
...in the grand march
towards the great objective...
...for which people
have sacrificed their lives?
They have sacrificed themselves quietly,
modestly, without grandstanding or glamor,
without even thinking that someone,
somewhere, would remember them.
- Name?
- Peter Alexandrov.
- Profession?
- Student.
- You mean to say a conspirator?
- Student.
Some people want, at any cost...
Some people want, at any cost,
to shine as original thinkers.
But, the most original are the heretics.
The truth, alas, always sounds banal.
And precisely in this lies the feat -
denying the enticing blaze of glory,
and, if needed, laying down your life...
...for the cause
you have devoted yourself to.
How long have you known
the person Vasil Radev?
- Three years.
- How did you meet?
I don't remember exactly.
We were students in the same year.
What work have you done together?
None. We studied for exams together.
- And the mimeograph?
- What mimeograph?
Bring in Radev!
Alexandrov! Alexandrov!
Ah, there's a mimeograph
that was left at your place.
- There is.
- We have to start work again.
If required, we'll start.
- We sure will !
- Bye!
As you see, I've taken it down.
I've taken it down,
even though I don't like change.
Hang something else up!
That mark looks very ugly.
It's true that the mark looks ugly,
but if I hang something else up,
that would mean yet another change.
And I told you that I don't like change.
By the way, I wanted to have a word
with you about your review.
I think you need to withdraw it...
...and revise it a little.
I personally don't always like change...
You have to amend it.
That would be beneficial
for the competition, only beneficial...
In Velev's work,
there exist some disputable points,
and there are also
some totally wrong ones.
It's true that you have pointed out
both the first and the second,
but you have emphasized
its positive sides,
and your overall evaluation is positive.
Please, don't recite your review,
I've already read it!
Frankly speaking, Alexandrov,
of late...
...I cannot understand your principles.
What are those
personal principles of yours...
...that are obviously totally
alien to me?
What then? For example...
Yes! Speaking.
What? Forget that nonsense!
Stoev's words awfully resemble
that crooked, tiny bust,
which is supposed to be of Lenin.
It is bronzed with the unpleasant
color of a brass door lock...
...and is peeling a little
on the nose and chin.
But, that is not its greatest defect.
Its greatest defect is that
this slick face,
with its dead glazed eyes,
made by some jobbing artisan,
has nothing in common
with Lenin's face.
For some people,
Lenin has become a perfect disguise.
The fever of destruction
does not give them peace.
We took this down.
Why should we stop there?
Let's take down
the next thing and the next...
...let's turn everything upside down!
To whom are you actually referring -
me, or are you just speaking generally?
I'm speaking generally,
and you can draw your own conclusions!
You are continuing to speak generally.
You think about how this "generally" is
manifested in some individual cases!
What do you mean?
Tell me! What do you mean?
Don't rely on me saying anything...
...that you may use
against me tomorrow!
Don't worry! Whatever you say,
stays right here.
I am not worried, Alexandrov.
If there's anything that...
...is worrying me,
it's only your future.
As I recall, you were working on
some thesis or other?
Yes, "Psychology of Feeling".
You probably know that, in order
for people to read it, this thesis...
- ...needs to be published.
- Yes. And?
And, with this thesis,
you aim to become a professor?
So, instead, I may even cease to be
an assistant professor, right?
It's possible, but it's more significant
that you aim at becoming a professor.
And you have also turned into
a pupil of some dubious people.
- That's not true!
- All right, prove it!
- Amend your review!
- I can't amend it!
- Then you'll be sunk!
- Don't worry!
I can't, I am worrying, Alexandrov,
I am really worried about your future!
You, of course, neither withdrew
your thesis, nor did you amend it.
You read it out, with an emphatic
distinctness, before the committee.
Stoev opposed it;
a few people supported him;
Vasil and a couple of others objected;
then the vote was held;
and Velev failed.
After that victory,
Stoev took up your work...
...and its publication was postponed
for an indefinite period of time.
Why are you so focused on that Stoev?
What d'you mean,
why are we so focused on him?
Well, you have own views, your tasks -
so get on with your own work!
And stop bothering your head
with Stoev!
It's Stoev who's stopping me
from working !
Because you're in conflict! Bury the
hatchet and he won't stand in your way!
But he'll continue standing
in the way of the others!
And then, if I bury the hatchet,
that means having to accept...
...his views and ridicule my own!
Well, why, just because of
some sort of difference in views,
should you both prey like predators
and waste your lives in a futile fight?
Why should it be futile?
The Stoevs won't last for ever!
And you, how long are you going to last?
And how long is this...
...endless effort going to continue?
I resemble that maniac,
the clown from the circus,
who constantly overcomes something,
but there's always... always...
...something else to be overcome -
A constant effort
and permanent tension...
The entire history of man is the struggle
against desolation and disorder,
against hostile discomfort and chaos!
The entire history of man
is an aspiration to...
...transform chaos
into order and harmony!
Yes, the misanthropes trumpet that
this aspiration is futile,
for man himself is chaos,
man himself...
...is a particle of the common chaos!
But man has imposed
his own order on many spheres of life,
and this order will, one day,
establish itself everywhere.
Even God, whom man created
after his own image and likeness,
was created in the name of
this order and harmony!
Even the most dreadful moments of chaos
experienced by man...
...were only stages in his struggle
for order and harmony!
Excuse me for this digression!
- Comrade Alexandrov!
- Yes?
- I'd like to ask a favor of you !
- Go ahead!
It... it may sound cheeky,
but it's our last semester...
- ...and the matter is crucial for me.
- All right, spit it out!
I would like to ask you to ask...
this seems really silly...
...to ask Comrade Vasil Peev
to sign my student book?
It's true I've been absent, but if they
don't validate the semester for me...
Give me the book!
Done!
Would I ruin your reputation
if I walked with you a little?
- I'm going in the same direction.
- My reputation?
You have the reputation of
an awfully serious man.
Lonely people are always awfully serious -
what else is there for them to do?
What else? Not to be so lonely!
That needs a lot of free time
and a bit of good luck.
Don't you have any luck?
I may have had some, but
it's always been in the wrong direction.
A beautiful song!
Depends...
Maybe it reminds you of
something unpleasant?
Old songs always remind
old people of something.
But, you're not old, you're...
...to me, you're the most
handsome person in the world...
- Peter, how unexpected!
- Yes, I was just coming out of lectures.
- Have you become a professor?
- Not yet, but...
As for me, I completely
gave up on my philology.
So, it was the second option.
Yes, I married an awfully good and
awfully boring man.
We're leaving for London in a week.
D'you realize
that you're indebted to me?
In what sense?
In the sense that,
five years ago, a girl...
...sent you a note,
and you never called her.
That girl is now a married woman.
I haven't forgotten anything.
I thought I had gotten over you,
but now I see that I didn't succeed...
Let's talk about something else!
- I also loved you.
- Yes, yes, I know.
Let's talk about something else!
To me, you're the most
handsome person in the world.
Well, there's a declaration of love...
and here's the outcome.
- What name did you give her?
- Katya.
Why Katya?
Hadn't we decided on Katerina?
- Why Katerina?
- My grandmother was Katerina.
Your grandmother must have been
beautiful... and young!
Every grandmother has been young...
Well, when you met her, I mean.
Baw! Hey...
Good afternoon!
Here you are! Congratulations!
Hey, Katya! Well, well, congratulations!
Congratulations!
What have you done, you!
Wait, put them on the table!
Quiet! Quiet!
Pop! Hey!
The baby!
Vasil is a wonderful man, but he is
dragging you into his row with Stoev.
Now, don't you forget that, back then,
Vasil signed your student book!
Come to think of it,
why did you bring the book to me,
instead of turning to Vasil directly?
- I was afraid he might refuse.
- Hah, nonsense!
He has never refused to
give his signature.
I was the victim of an obsession.
What obsession?
I wanted to acquire a surname
that was the same as my name.
Alexandra Alexandrova.
Admit it, it doesn't sound bad!
That's the way I've always
been snared by women!
- Always?
- Well, yes.
They thrust themselves into your hands,
but create the illusion...
- ...that it was you who kidnapped them.
- You ungrateful...
You had never imagined
your future wife like that.
A woman!
She looked more like a mischievous girl.
When you saw her for the first time
with the child in her arms...
...you thought she had
stolen it from somewhere.
I give in, I give in....
"When Vasilisa the Wise
came home,
"she started searching, but
her frog skin was nowhere to be found.
"She searched and searched,
but couldn't find it.
"So she said to Ivan the Tsar's son:
"Ah, Prince Ivan, you have no idea
what you did!
"If you had waited just three more days,
I would have been yours forever.
"But now, adieu! Look for me beyond nine
seas and beyond nine countries,
"in the tenth, in the kingdom of
Koshchei the Eternal !
"When you wear out three pairs of iron
shoes and finish eating three iron loaves,
"that's when you'll find me!"
"Saying these words, Vasilisa the Wise...
"...turned into a white swan and
flew out of the window."
Daddy's little ballerina!
I'll be like Vasilisa the Wise.
I will disappear and you'll have to...
...look for me beyond nine countries,
in the tenth!
Yes, and you'll have to wear out
the iron shoes! It will be...
- ...very sad when I am gone...
- What are you talking about?
When I fly out of the window,
you're going to cry and cry,
and it will all be very sad then.
Sad, so sad...
In fact, you truly found out
what Sashka meant to you...
...only when she was gone.
You came back from the cemetery,
back into the empty house,
completely deserted because the kids
had been sent off to relatives.
Everything here belonged to Sashka.
But Sashka was not here
and she was never going to be...
Winter seems to be back again.
Never mind, this will be
for the last time.
For the last time this season.
It's just strange when you
think about the winters and...
...the springs that will come and go
after we are gone.
Are you overcome by such thoughts now?
Enough of that! This way,
you'll start running a temperature!
Think about pleasant things,
then you'll recover faster!
Alexandrov! Alexandrov!
A friend of yours is calling you.
I wonder how he got in -
they're not letting anyone in today!
- How are you?
- Well, a bit better.
Didn't I tell you? You'll get through
this hepatitis more lightly than sniffles!
- Well, what's new?
- Nothing much.
- No, you're hiding something !
- They've rejected your book.
Again, Stoev and his people.
And the motives?
The motives - Stoev's! Disputable
treatment, ideological obscurity...
He even alluded to
idealism and metaphysics.
Hum, Jesuit!
A fat lot he cares about principles,
about the primacy of the emotional
over the rational.
What do they actually want?
Well, what? They want you to withdraw,
give up, stop working...
It's not that. They want you to bow down,
become one of his people.
It's the same thing.
In that case, the book that you write...
...won't be yours.
Still, if you want to write it,
that's your only alternative.
Ah, come on, close the window!
Now, don't you worry!
I'll go to some other people,
we'll fix things! Of course!
Come on, close it! Bye!
So, Stoev won again this time.
Again this time!
You're still weak in the art of living.
The art of living! To me, that's
the art of enduring blows.
Nonsense! It's the art of avoiding blows.
Avoidance is usually achieved
through compromise.
Yes, but when you constantly put yourself
up for blows, you get crushed in the end.
Yes, but when you constantly put yourself
up for blows, you get crushed in the end.
The trouble with you is that
you're not strong enough...
...to achieve your goal,
nor are you weak enough to step back.
Maybe.
Maybe I am not strong,
but I haven't stepped back either.
I fought...
I am fighting chaos.
Your face looks awful.
And this helpless expression
is awful, too.
Yet, the beard is growing.
Daddy! Daddy!
There he is!
Daddy, are you shaving?
You look like Santa!
I was shaving for you...
...to be clean-shaven when you came,
but you beat me to it.
Why have you bought lemons again?
Didn't I tell you not to buy them anymore?
The teacher said that
the more lemons you eat,
the sooner you'd get well again.
Ah, a fat lot she knows
about these things, your teacher!
Daddy, will you allow Katya
to take me to the movies?
- Of course I will!
- And Katya says that you wouldn't.
No...
Daddy, we came yesterday,
but they wouldn't let us in.
They examined me in Bulgarian language,
and I got an "A"!
Daddy, the radio's not working anymore!
Yesterday, it was on,
then it suddenly stopped!
Don't worry! The moment I come home,
we'll fix it.
- You just be good!
- I am good.
Come on! Go on home,
the wind is very cold!
And don't come when it's so cold!
There's no one to shave for
any longer.
Come!
Come!
- It's late.
- Come with me!
- It's late.
- Come!
- It's late.
- Come!
It's late! It's late!
Late...
The bomb exploded
right above your house.
Your mother was still sewing,
she didn't even come down
to the shelter.
She probably didn't feel... death.
That's the only thing that remained...
You are walking along the street,
pacing with a thrill of impatience,
as if you're late getting somewhere.
You say to yourself: "Where am
I rushing?" and then you slow down.
But, in a little while,
you quicken your pace again,
squeezing your way through the
passers-by.
Hurrying along, hurrying...
Hurrying, damn it!
You keep thinking that
things will start coming right...
...either this year, or some other year...
...and that, altogether, there are
lots of years ahead of you.
Until, one day, it turns out
that this thing about the years...
...is not all that certain.
We must get you to a hospital !
- Ah, no chance! No hospital!
- I can't leave you here.
It's dangerous for the kids.
Come on, get dressed,
while I call an ambulance!
Yes.
Don't dress up so smart,
you're not going to a wedding!
Yes, all right.
I'm waiting.
Katya,
there's money in my desk drawer.
Your aunt will be here any moment now.
And I'll probably be back soon.
- Are you asleep?
- I had dozed off.
Why? Shouldn't I?
No reason! It's just that your face
seemed somewhat tense to me.
Aha... I must have been flying again.
Flying again?
Yes. You know, when the fever
takes me over, it seems to me...
...that I'm flying headlong
through some forest, past some...
...hills, past a dark river...
And I keep waiting to get somewhere,
but I get nowhere...
I just keep on flying farther
into the grayness and the darkness.
Until... well...
Until...
"Vasilisa the Wise came out
to meet him and said:
"Well, you succeeded, Prince Ivan,
in finding me, so now I am yours."
"Ivan, the Tsar's son, chose
the best stallion...
"...from the stables of Koshchei,
leaped into the saddle,
"and with Vasilisa the Wise,
returned to their kingdom...
"And they lived together in peace,
love and harmony."
Come!
Glucose... replace with cortisone,
three times a day.
Glucose, cortisone, three times a day.
Glucose, nonsense...
The point is not the glucose,
it's the fact that...
...everything needs to be related
to an objective person...
I... that's why I took the liberty of
coming to you,
because things have gone so far...
I mean to say that you finally have to...
...be told those things
as they really are.
I just don't understand
why it took so long.
I read Alexandrov's typescript -
it is a valuable work.
You mean to say that
the book can be published?
- Of course!
- You mean to say...
Here you are!
Thank you!
Peter!
Peter!
Peter!
"So, here I am, moving ahead,
"not with the thrill of a victory march,
"not past a festive honor guard,
"nor under a shower of blooms...
"I am moving ahead, ahead!"
The end.