One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1970) - full transcript

[ Narrator: Ivan Denisovich: ]

"Ivan Denisovich always got
up at the clanging of the rain."

"But this day he didn't."

"He'd been feeling rotten
since the previous evening."

"Feverish with pains all over his body."

"He hadn't been able
to keep warm all night."

"Even in his sleep he felt at one
moment that he was really ill."

"At another that he was getting better."

"He didn't want the morning to come."

"But the morning came,
as it always does."

C-854.



Three days in the cells. With work.

But why, Citizen Guard?

For not getting up on time.

Come with me.

Detention with work.

That's not so bad.

Well, at least you get hot
food and no time to think.

It could have been worse.

C-854.

I'm letting you off. Scrub the floor.

Thank you, Citizen Guard.

Late again.

Well?

Do we work or do we not work?



Don't breathe on it for God's sake.

We don't want you to warm it.
- Warm it?

Bread wouldn't warm anything.
- We'll work.

It's nowhere near forty below.
Come down.

Twenty-seven and a half below.

Not a bit more.

Damn.

It always lies.

You think they'd hang one up
that gives the real temperature?

Hey! You .. skunk!

What are you doing?

How much water are you
going to use, swine?

I've never seen anyone
wash a floor like that.

It is the only way to get
it clean, Citizen Guard.

The dirt is ingrained.

Didn't you ever see a
woman scrubbing floors, pig?

I was take away from my
wife in '41, Citizen Guard.

I can't remember what she looks like.

That's the way they scrub.

The swine don't know how to do
anything and doesn't want to.

We ought to feed them on dung.

Bread is much too good for them.

No point in washing the floor every day.

It only gets damp.

Hey, you!

Just wipe it over and then get out.

Fast.

I got a parcel yesterday.

If you want to buy some tobacco,
you'd better come now.

Same price.

I can't.

I'm going to the infirmary. I'm sick.

I'll come later.

I may not have any left then.

I kept your breakfast for
you, Ivan Denisovich.

It's cold. I was just going to eat it.

I thought you were in the cells.

"The soup was the same every day."

"Fish."

"And whatever vegetable
provided that winter."

"The year before it had
been salted carrots."

"This year it was cabbage."

"When they ran out of that."

"They'd give them stewed nettles."

"Rumour had it that it was the Chinese
who had given the authorities .."

"The idea of serving boiled
grass instead .. of porridge."

"A bowl full of it weighed
more than half a pound."

"But when you'd eaten
it you were still hungry."

"The good thing about it
was that it had no taste."

"Hot or cold."

You should have thought
about that earlier.

You know as well as I do.

That in the morning I am allowed
to exempt from work two men only.

And I've already exempted them.

I've written their names down. See?

Yes, Kolya, but ..

Last night when it should
have ached, it didn't.

Yes.

So.

Where does it ache?

Well, if I think about it.

Nowhere.

I just feel bad all over.

I've already drawn a
line across the page.

See?

Come on. Take this.

You should know better.

Reporting sick just before parade.

"Ivan Denisovich's fate was
poised in the balance."

"At this moment his team leader
was fighting with the authorities .."

"To save the men."

"They'd been ordered to
go to work on a new site."

"Which was to become the Socialist
Centre for Cultural Activities."

"But which was as yet, nothing
but a huge, barren waste."

"Covered with snow drifts."

"There would be nowhere to shelter."

"Nowhere to get warm."

"And so he was dreaming of being ill."

"Not dangerously ill of course, but bad
enough to lie in bed for 3 weeks or so."

Neither one thing nor the other - 99.2.

If it had been a hundred,
there would be no problem.

No .. I can't exempt you.

You may stay behind at
your own risk if you want.

The doctor will examine you. If he
thinks you're ill .. he'll exempt you.

If not ..

You'll be put in the cells.

You'd .. do better to go to work.

"How can you expect
somebody who is warm .."

"To understand somebody who is cold?"

So you're not in the
cells, Ivan Denisovich?

You're still alive?

Thank you, Deputy Team Leader.

Have you heard, Ivan Denisovich?

You're not going to the Socialist Centre
for Cultural Activities after all.

The team leader stopped it.

We're in luck.

None of you should
ever deserve to suffer.

For being a murderer ..

A thief .. a criminal ..

Or an informer.

But if any one of you should suffer ..

Being a Christian ..

Then he is not to be ashamed of it.

He should thank God that
he has been called one.

Time for work, 24. Out.

Time is up, 104. Out you get.

Tiurin.

How long do we have to
wait for you and your men?

You are late again.

You've got one man sick and
twenty-three fit for work.

Is that it?
- Twenty-three.

Who is sick?
- Pantilliev.

The security people are back.

I don't understand.
- He'll be squealing again.

Is he an informer?

While we're at work they can
question him when they like.

They'll fix it through the infirmary.

Give us a drag, Tsetzar Makovich.

Take it.

Ivan Denisovich.

Keep moving .. keep moving.

They're taking off our undershirts.

Keep moving.

Keep moving.

This one has got two shirts.

Just take the names of
anyone wearing extra clothes.

A flannel vest, sir.
- Name and number?

I want a written explanation
by this evening.

Hand it in with the rest of the reports.

Keep moving.

A waistcoat, sir.

Name and number?

You have no rights to make
people undress in this cold.

You don't know Article
Nine of the criminal code.

You are not true soviets,
you are not true communists.

Ten days in the cells.

Starting from this evening.

It's always coldest at dawn.

It's the end of that cooling-off process
which happens during the night.

Come on .. come on!

Keep it moving .. keep it moving!

All fives.

Move .. move!

One.

Two.

"Each man is more precious than gold."

"If there is one head short
when they get past the wire .."

"One of the guards will have
to replace it with his own."

"No-one dared make a mistake."

"If you signed for one too many."

"You made it up with your own."

Close order on the march
will be strictly obeyed.

Keep to your ranks. No hurry.

Keep a steady pace. No talking.

You will look to the front at all times
and keep your hands behind your back.

As step to the right or a step to the
left is considered an attempt to escape.

And the escort has orders
to shoot without warning.

Leading ranks.

Quick march!

Fall back.

First five .. forward.

Second.

Third.

Fourth.

Fifth.

Fetiukov, come with me to the office.

The rest of you get to the repair shop.

Wait for me there until I know
where we have to work today.

Will you bring my lunch to
me please, Ivan Denisovich?

"Only when the towers were manned were
prisoners allowed into the worksite."

"Here, from sunrise to
sunset they worked."

"And then were marched back to camp
again after darkness had fallen."

Not so close! Get off.

What do you think you're
doing, picking up that filth?

You'll get a syphilitic lip.
Throw that stuff away.

When you've been here a
couple of years, Captain.

You'll be picking them up yourself.

I've seen it happen to
prouder men than you.

You shouldn't have showed your pride
so much Captain, when they searched you.

Get moving there, 38.

You know what. We haven't
had one blizzard yet.

Not one snow storm all winter.

What sort of a winter is this?

What's so special about a snowstorm?

They don't send you
out to work, of course.

You can escape in a snowstorm, Captain.

How far do you think you'd get?

In a blizzard?

Ha.

No good to anyone.

Who doesn't reach the camp ..

No bread, no hot meals.

It doesn't matter how long it takes ..

You have to make up the
difference by working Sundays.

Well, I love a good blizzard.

Whenever I hear the wind blow up,
I look up at the sky and I think:

Let's have some of the real stuff.
The more the merrier.

It will take us half a day to get this
mess right before we can start work.

It's exactly like the
Sixth left it last autumn.

We've got to do it.

Get the men to work.

Now, boys.

After we've eaten.

We'll be working on the
second storey, laying blocks.

We will use this place
for mixing mortar.

And for keeping warm.

Right.

If we are to live
through the next weeks.

We must keep out the cold.

So find something to
cover those windows.

Listen, friends.

You'd do better to light
little fires over these holes.

The ground would thaw out then.

We're not allowed to.

They won't give us any firewood.
- Scrounge some.

Now tell me, Ivan.

If the authorities had
any brains in their heads.

Do you think they'd make men hack at the
ground with pickaxes in frost like this?

It was lying about.

I put it here when the snow came.

It's still here.

But how are we going to carry it?

Yeah, they're sure to spot us.

Or if they don't they'll
see it in the windows ..

And they'll know where it came from.

What's that got to do with us?

We can say it was already at the
power station when we got there.

What are we supposed
to do? Pull it down?

We can't carry it lengthwise.

But upright?

You fools!

Idiots!

Team Leader.

We've got some roofing
felt for the windows.

Good.

Now we start again.

What the hell are you doing?

Hey, don't know those down.
We'll need them to hold on to.

Senka!

Senka, I said don't
knock down the rails.

We'll need them to hold on to.

Alright. You want to freeze to death?

Gopchik!

Get me some wire.

Make a good job of it, Gopchik.

We're fixing this for ourselves.

Here you are.

Get on with the job or I'll
warm your asses for you.

Team Leader, look at this.

They bring the buckets of water
but they freeze up on the way.

Wouldn't it be quicker to melt snow?
- No.

Keep them at it.

I am going to hand in the work report.

"More depended on the work
rates, than on the work itself."

"A clever team leader
concentrated on the work rate."

"For on the work rates,
depended the rations."

"If something hadn't been done, the team
leader made it look as though it had."

"He turned jobs that were rated
low into jobs that were rated high."

"But who in the end profited
from these work rates?"

"Let's be clear about it: the camp."

"The camp made a profit of thousands
of roubles out of the prisoners' work."

"And their profit was shared
out among the officers."

"So why, you might ask, should
the prisoners labour so hard?"

"Day in, day out. Ten
long years for the camp."

"You'd think they'd say, no
thank you, and that's that."

"We'll do nothing."

"But they'd thought of that."

"The authorities had
invented the teams."

"So that the guards shouldn't
have to drive the prisoners."

"But they should drive one another."

"It worked like this."

"Either they all got something to eat."

"Or they all had to starve."

Deputy Team Leader.

I've finished. It's ready.

Make stronger ones of these.

Hods? What for?

For carrying mortar up
to the second storey.

No, no! Not coal .. use wood.

Yeah, it would get warm
quicker with wood.

Put the coal on, idiot. We want flames.

Good luck.

You're not pulling your
weight, you little rat.

Do you think I'm going to
go hungry because of you?

Put your guts into it and shift sand.

You louse!

It's noon already.

Yes, the sun won't get any higher.
- The sun is at its peak.

It's one o'clock, not noon.

What do you mean?

Any man can tell the sun is at
its highest when it's time to eat.

Yes. Any old man perhaps.

But since their day, a new
decree has been passed.

That the sun is at its
highest at one o'clock.

Who issued the decree?

The Soviet government.

You mean to say the government
can even tell the sun what to do?

Watch out. It will scorch you.

You'll have a hole in
it until the spring.

What does Ivan Denisovich care?
He's got one foot home already.

Yes. It's the one without the boot.

Ivan Denisovich's
sentence is almost over.

Now don't start counting all
the time you've got to do.

Anyway, you don't know if you'll
be here for your full 25 years.

And who knows they will let
me out when my time is up?

They didn't let the team leader out.

He's serving his second.

Well, all I know is I've
done eight years out of ten.

And that's for sure.

I gave evidence against myself.

Who didn't?
- Right.

They said I'd surrendered to the enemy
with the intention to betray my country.

That I'd come back with
instructions from the Germans.

What instructions?
- They never said.

If I didn't sign, they'd shoot me.

If I did sign, well at least
I'd go on living for a while.

I signed.

'42 it was. February.

The whole army was cut off.

We cut hooves off dead horses, soaked
them in water to soften, and ate them.

Yeah.

No ammunition, either.

The Germans tracked us down and
locked us up for a couple of days.

Then five of us managed to escape
and we got back to our own lines.

Our lads thought we were Germans.

They opened fire with machineguns.

The two next to me
were killed on the spot.

Another one .. died of wounds.

Two of us were left alive.

Of course we could have said we got lost
in the forest, but we told the truth.

So they said.

Escaped from the Germans?
No, you bastards.

You put your heads together with the
enemy and cooked up the whole story.

Ten years.

Three times I escaped.

Three times they caught me.

Okay, Ivan Denisovich.
You've been in for eight years.

But what camps?

Not specials like this for
you "enemies of the state".

You had women to sleep with.

Didn't have to wear numbers.

Try and spend the whole
eight years in a special.

No-one comes out of special alive.

I never saw any women.

All I ever saw was logs.

You know .. you can live alright here.

We don't work nights.

We stop work at the same time every day.

If you finish your quota or not, you're
allowed back to the camp to sleep.

That's the law.

And bread.

The basic ration is six ounces more.

Okay, it's a special. So what?

Does it bother you to wear a number?

They don't weigh anything
you know, numbers.

No, I think we have a quieter life here.

At least we're not amongst murderers.

Quite a life.

Men having their throats
cut while in their bunks.

You call that quieter?

Not men.

Squealers.

We've left it too late.

We should have got our
places in the queue long ago.

Two.

Four.

Gopchik.
- Here.

Call the team.

Six.

Eight.

Come out of the way.

Clear off, you're finished.

Ten.

Two.

Would you mind moving, please.

Twelve.

Six.

Eight.

Ten.

Twelve.

Where is Gopchik with the team?

Bowls.

Fourteen.

Bowls. Bowls!

He wants to rest.

Fourteen.

What are you thinking of?
- It's alright. He's on our team.

What do you mean, "our" team?

You made me lose count.
- It was fourteen.

But I already counted fourteen.
- Yes.

You might have counted fourteen
but you didn't give them out.

Count them if you don't believe me.
They're all here, on the table.

Okay, show me.

It's a pleasure. Out of the way.

You are spoiling the view.

See, two rows of six, twelve.
Two on top. Fourteen. All nice and tidy.

Count them.

Where is your team?
- They are not all here yet.

Then why the hell are you taking bowls?

If you've finished eating,
clear out and let us in.

Here they are.

Sixteen.

Nineteen.

Twenty.

Twenty-two.

Twenty-three.

That's all. Next team.

Why are the four extra
bowls, Deputy Team Leader?

One if for the Team Leader.

One if for Tsetzar.

And the other two?

Ivan Denisovich, take
Tsetzar's bowl to him.

And there is an extra one for you.

Hey, Captain.

What?

Take it.

Take it.

You can't take food out of here.
- It's for somebody in the office.

Wait for it.

No, my dear old friend.

Objectively speaking, you'll admit that
Eisenstein was a genius of the cinema.

Ivan the Terrible.

Isn't that the film of a genius?

The dance of the Tsar's
bodyguards in those masks?

The scene in the cathedral.

Bad .. all claptrap.

Pepper and poppy seed
instead of bread and butter.

And the politics. Evil.

The justification of a one-man tyranny.

An insult to the memory of three
generations of Russian intelligentsia.

But what other interpretation of the
subject would have been permitted?

Permitted?

Don't speak of him as a genius.

Call him an opportunist.

Say that he carried
out orders like a dog.

A genius doesn't compromise his
work to suit the taste of tyrants.

Now look.

Art is not a question of "what".

It is a question of "how".

To hell with your genius.

If it doesn't touch me.

And the prisoners have been chopping
up expensive boards for firewood.

And the cement?
They unloaded in a strong wind.

Now the whole area around the
store is ankle deep in cement.

It's a complete waste.

You are not a peasant.

You are the son of a farmer.
A land-owning pig farmer.

You have betrayed soviet power. You've
been hiding in the army for years.

I was discharged the same day.

Vaino.

Lend me some tobacco until tomorrow.
You know I won't let you down.

It was in the middle of November.

They had given me nothing to
wear but my summer uniform.

I had no money.

No special travel documents.

All I had was a couple of loaves
of bread I bought under the counter.

So I got over the brick wall and climbed
into the lavatory behind the station.

Police, everywhere.

The Vladivostok - Moscow train was in.

There was a crowd with their kettles
around a hot water tap on the platform.

I noticed a girl in a blue jersey.

She was scared of pushing
through the crowd to the tap.

She didn't want her
little feet trodden on.

I said to her.

"Hang on to this loaf.
I'll fill your kettle for you."

And while I was doing it
the train began to move.

She was holding the bread.

And she burst into tears.

"Run", I shouted. "I'll follow you".

Off she went. Me after her.

I caught up with her and hoisted
her onto the train with one arm.

There was six of these girls.

Students going to Moscow.

We talked and talked ..

And drank together.

They asked where I was going.

"Girls", I said.

"Death" is my destination.

They hid me all the way to Novosibirsk.

One of them I was able to meet later.

She was on her last
legs doing hard labour.

I got her fixed up in a tailoring shop.

When I got off the train I
went to our house, but ..

I left the same night.

I took my little brother with me and ..

Handed him over to
a gang of drifters and ..

Thieves and pickpockets.

"Teach him how to live", I said.

In '38 at the Deputation Centre
I met a former officer who told me ..

That both my Regimental Commander and
the Commissar who had accused me ..

Had been shot in '37.

So you do exist, I said to myself.

You are patient.

And when you strike .. strike hard.

You never saw your brother again?

Never again.

Well lads .. don't worry.

We'll live through it.

Even in this damned power station.

I fixed a good work report.

Good rates .. I need.

So don't let's sit about.

Get going, mortar-mixers.
Don't wait for a whistle.

Hey, hero of the Soviet Union.

Hurry up with that plumb line.

Never mind the plumb line.
What about the ice on your wall?

You hoping to use your
trowel before evening.

Hey boys, I will make the mortar myself.

We all work in pairs so that the
mortar doesn't freeze in the hods.

Ivan Denisovich.

You take Senka with you on your wall.

I'll work with Kilgas.

If you're going to lay blocks, I'll
mix the mortar for you myself.

We'll see which one of
us can work the faster.

Hey, where is the longest shovel?

Gopchik.

Come up here and stand
in for me for a moment.

Help Kilgas with the wall.

You bring the blocks to
me, Alyosha. Understand?

Put them there and there.

Hey! Anyone alive up there?

The mortar is coming.

Put it there.

Put it down there.

Mortar.

Mortar!

Coming!

Coming!

Keep moving.

Now lift it.

Ah .. what are you doing?

Come on!
- Relax.

Come on.

We could set some blocks, sir.

Well, give me a man to work with.

I'm not going on with this slacker.

The little rat.

Fetiukov.

Go down and help with the blocks.

I'm sending you Fetiukov.

See that he does as
much work as the others.

Right .. send him down.

Alyosha.

You will work with the Captain.

Now I feel better.

Right sailor, it's all hands on deck.

You see how fast they
are laying the blocks?

Then we'll have to keep
up with them, won't we.

Yes .. whatever you say.

Team Leader.

They've come to repair
the electrical hoist.

Two men. A civilian and a fitter.

That's right. Stick to the rules.

One man works. One man watches.

Look who's here.

Tiurin.

Tiurin!

Tiurin, you've gone too far.

You'll get more than a few
days in the cells for this.

It is a criminal offence.

Stolen goods.

Roofing felt from the windows
of the generator room.

You'll get a third sentence for this.

Your time .. passing sentences is over.

If you so much as say a word
about it, you bloodsucker.

This will be your last day on earth.

Oh now. Steady, lads. Now.

Steady.

But what should I tell
the Superintendent?

Tiurin?

Tell him .. it was like
that when we arrived.

Hey, that's not a good wall.

Why are you using such
a thin layer of mortar?

You might like to know, my dear sir.

That if I lay the mortar on
any thicker in frost like this ..

When the thaw comes, the
whole place will melt away.

I'm the foreman, you're the bricklayer.

Listen and do what I tell you.

You get that mechanical hoist fixed.

What do you think we are?

It is dangerous carrying bricks
up to the second storey by hand.

They'll give you double the
rate for bringing them up.

Yeah .. better rates.

Have you tried pushing
them by hand up here?

We want triple rates for
carrying them up by hand.

You don't think I'd mind, do you?

But the bookkeepers wouldn't pass it.

To hell with the bookkeepers.
I've got the whole team sweating.

To give four masons some work.

How much do you think we'll earn?

Mortar!

Mortar!

Team Leader. The fitter says
the hoist can't be repaired.

Damn the whole lot of you.

Pavlo wants to know how
you're getting on for mortar.

Make some more.
- We've got half a box ready.

Make another!

Chief ..?

You bastards!

Hey, look.

Team Leader.

Team Leader.

Team Leader.

The 82nd have gone off,
to hand in there tools.

Mind your own business, boy.
And bring up some more mortar.

We have to use up all the mortar, boys.

Hurry.

Don't let me down, brothers.

Mortar!

Mortar!

Mortar!

Alyosha.
- What?

Follow after me.

We've left it a bit late.
Don't worry about all that.

Get downstairs and empty out the mixer.

Take the mortar and put it in the hole
and cover it in snow so nobody can see.

Pavlo.

Take a couple of the lads,
collect all the tools and turn them in.

I'll send the last things with Gopchik.

We'll finish off the two
hods that are here.

That's ..

Not bad, eh.

Done half a day and without the hoist.

Can I finish off the mortar, boys?

My trowel is not on the list so
there is no need to hand it in.

You can all give yourselves to Gopchik.

I'll keep going.

What are you going to do when
they let you out, Ivan Denisovich?

What are we going to do without you?

Come on! You'll be late.

To hell with the mortar.
Sling it over the wall.

You should go where
you're needed over there.

Why these rats make
the work day so short.

We were just getting going
when they called it off.

Leave it, Ivan Denisovich.

Come on .. hurry.

Finish, for God's sake.

I want to avoid days in the cells.

Come on .. come on!

If you are late for the
count they will beat you.

You run. I'll catch up with you.

Twenty-one.

Twenty-two.

Twenty-three.

Twenty-four.

Twenty-five.

Twenty-six.

Is there another one of you?

Yes.

Team Leader, 104.

Yeah?

Did you leave anyone behind
in the power station? Think.

No.

Think again. I I'll kick your ..
- I said no!

Form up in teams.

104th.

65th .. 45th .. over here .. over here.

This way, thirteen.

Tiurin.

How are things?

How are things?

Worked like a horse.

And I've hurt my back.

Twenty-three.

104 .. all here.

Do you remember that
shot on the Potemkin?

When the person they were
hanging from the ship's rigging ..

Yes.

Or the scene where the pram
went bumping .. slowly ..

Slowly down the steps.

But the life on board
seemed a bit artificial.

Well, the trouble is ..

You've been spoiled by
modern cinema techniques.

Big close-ups.
- Those maggots.

Crawling all over the meat.
They were as big as earthworms.

They couldn't really have
been that size, could they?

No.

What do you expect for the screen?

Show them any smaller
and you'd never see them.

Okay boss, that meat was rotten.

I miss you 32nd.

K-460.
- K-460?

That's the spy.

Oh yeah, the real one.

For the Romanians.

God help him.

Are we going through
all this for that rat?

For that snivelling snake?

That stinking pig.

K460 - where were you?

The little rat was up on the scaffold.

He went up there to get away from me.

He was warned. The thief.

Back on the gate.

Form up .. three counts.

Let's march now.

Back to the camp.

You want us to sit down here?

Right. That can be arranged.

I'll keep you here until morning.

Get back from the gate.

Recount.

Four - five.

Four - five.

Come on.

Tell me, Captain.

You know all about astronomy.

Where does the old
moon go after it sets?

Where does it go?

Don't show your ignorance.

It's simply that you can't see it.

If you can't see it, how
do you know it's there?

What are you suggesting?

With every month there
is a regular new moon.

People are born every day.
Why not a new moon every four weeks?

I've never met a man as
stupid as you in all my life.

Where do you think the old moon goes?

That's what I'm asking you. Where?

Now you tell us.

Well, in our village back home.

People say ..

God breaks the old moon up in stars.

Savages. I've never
heard of anything like it.

You believe in God, do you?

Why not?

Hearing thunder, and try
not to believe in him.

Why does God do it?
- Do what?

Break the old moon up into stars.

Why?

Can't you work it out?

The stars fall down now and then.

The gaps have to be filled somehow.

Open the gate.

Forward march!

Oh no, they're very strict
about such things.

If you're in command of a
ship but of a lower rank ..

They call you Captain
only as a courtesy.

Is that so?

How come you know
British Navy life so well?

Eh?

I spent nearly a month
aboard a British cruiser.

I was sent to an Arctic
convoy as liaison officer.

I had my own cabin.

Then if you please, after the war ..

The British Admiral sent me a gift
with an inscription which read:

"A token of our gratitude."

Damn him.

It came as a thunderbolt.

One day I'm in command of my own ship.

The next day I'm sent here as a spy.

What about you, then?

How many films have you made?

Oh they arrested me while
I was still shooting my first one.

What's the hurry?

Move you dogs, move!

Come on, move!

What the hell are we running for?

It's the column from the machine works.

We must get back first or we'll
never get anything to eat.

Come on you scum, move!

Come on, move!

Come on!

Run.

Run ..

Come on, you scum.

Come on.

Next five, forward.

Move along there next five.

Come on. Open your case.

Oh Lord, save me.

Don't let them put me in the cells.

Last three, forward.

Bring up the machine works column.

I'll run straight to parcels office to
keep the place in the queue for you.

Why should you do that, Ivan Denisovich?

Maybe they won't be a parcel.

It doesn't matter.
I'll wait ten minutes anyway.

If you don't turn up,
I'll go to the hut.

Alright, Ivan Denisovich.

You run ahead and keep a place for me.

K460.

Hands behind backs.

You will be charged with
attempting to escape.

"Long ago, Ivan Denisovich had written
to his wife not to send parcels."

"Back home it had been easier for
him to feed his whole family .."

"Than it was to feed himself now."

"But he knew what the parcels cost."

"He knew too, that his family wouldn't
be able to keep it up for ten years."

"Better do without them."

"But when anybody he
knew received a parcel."

"His heart ached because
there wasn't one for him."

"And even though he'd forbidden
his wife to send anything."

"Every now and then he longed
for someone to run up and say .."

"Ivan Denisovich."

"There is a parcel for you."

Have you heard?
There will be no Sunday again.

Ah .. Piotr Michalowicz.

Look what I've got.
Straight from the printing press.

Last week's evening paper.

They sent it by airmail from Moscow.

Here is an extremely
interesting review ..

Of a Zabatsky first night.

Moscow.

They can smell each other a mile away.

Yeah. They sniff and sniff like dogs.

I can never understand them.

So I can ..

Tsetzar Makovich?

I'll be off now.
- Yes. Of course, of course.

Just tell me who is in
front and behind you.

F127 in front, D301 behind.

Shall I bring you your supper?

No, no. You eat it
yourself Ivan Denisovich.

Okay, twenty-seven.

Go ahead.

Here, back up.

Get back!

You worthless scum!

Got back you pigs.

Don't you ever learn, you scum?

Get back there.

Stop, you scum.

Get back or I'll smash your faces in.

How many times have I told you.

I'll let you in when I'm ready.

Come on, stop it at the back there.

104 - 405.

Listen, friends.

Let me through. That's my team.

Out of the way! Let me get to my team.

Right, send in two more teams.

106th.

And where do you think
you're creeping, louse?

Ivan Denisovich.

Ivan Denisovich.

Over here.

Over here!

Mind yourselves.

Out of the way.

Come on. Let me through.

Steady.

Ivan Denisovich.

This is for Makovich's ration.

Evening.

Had a good day?

Not bad.

Yes.

God.

Got any tobacco left?

Yes.

Not the same as before.

Of course it's the same.

We never get any other kind.

Alright.

Press it down.

Press it down.

I know .. I know.

There.

Alright, then.

You've packed it too loose.

There you are.

I've scolded my fingers.

Ivan Denisovich.

Will you lend me your .. knife?

If you want to buy a knife I'll make
you one. I found this today.

No thanks.

That was short, Captain.

You're late back.

Try some of this spud soup.

More sausage?
- Thank you. Yes, I will.

How is that bread?

Real Moscow bread, that.

It's almost impossible to believe
that real bread is made any more.

It reminds me of the
time I was in Archangel.

Oh, but this is delicious.

104.
- Here.

Well?

Have your people written those reports
concerning the unauthorised clothing?

They are writing them.

It's not good enough.

The trouble is my men
haven't had much education.

It is not easy for them.

And there is no pens, no ink.

They should have them.

They have been taken away.

Watch it, Team Leader.

Talk like that and I'll
put you in the cells.

See those reports are handed
in tomorrow before parade.

Any unauthorised garments are to
be surrendered to the clothes store.

Get it?

I get it.

Let's see now.

S311

He's one of yours.
- Is he?

Yes, yes. 311 is one of ours.

I'll have to check my list.

You don't expect me to remember
all those damn numbers, do you.

Bernovski .. is he here?

Here I am.

S311.

Right. Come on.

Where am I going?

You know where.

How many days?

Ten.

Come on.

Come on, get a move on.

Evening count.

All out for the evening count!

Well, brothers.

Goodbye, good luck.

Don't let them get you down, Captain.
- See you soon.

Come on now everyone.

Out you get now.

Out before I count three.

Anyone who isn't out will
have his number taken.

And I'll report him.

Tsetzar Makovich .. look.

Wait until everybody's
gone and then steal the lot.

Then when the guard comes, say
you're not feeling very well.

I'll go out first and I'll be
back first. That's the way.

What you frightened of?

Never seen frost before.

Come outside.

By the moon.

Come on, get out!

Move, you scum!

If you'd come out sooner,
we'd be finished by now.

Get into line there, you at the back.

Get out.

Come on by, you bastards.

Come on.

You!

Hey you, you'll get
that boot in your teeth.

Put your boots up there if you want
but don't touch anybody else's.

Thank you, Ivan Denisovich.

Thirty.

Forty.

Fifty.

Thank you, God.

That's another day gone.

And thank you, I'm not
sleeping in the cells tonight.

You see, Ivan Denisovich.

God is crying out to pray.

Why don't you listen to
him and set it free?

I'll tell you why, Alyosha.

Prayers are like the complaints
we make to the authorities.

Either they don't get there ..

Or they come back marked "rejected".

That's because you don't
pray often enough.

And when you do pray, you
don't give your whole heart.

That's why your prayers
don't get answered.

You must pray without end.

If you had real faith ..

You can tell a mountain to move.

And it will move.
- Come off it, Alyosha.

You know the old Baptists when you were
down there in the Caucasus praying.

How many mountains did you move?

We didn't pray for that.

Of all earthly and mortal things ..

Our Lord commanded us to
pray only for our daily bread.

"Give us this day our daily bread."
- Our bread ration, you mean.

Ivan Denisovich, you
mustn't pray to get a parcel.

Or for an extra helping of porridge.

Things that men set store by.

They are an abomination
in the eyes of the Lord.

Pray for things of the spirit.

Pray that Jesus Christ will scourge
the wickedness from our hearts.

Alyosha.

I'm not against God. Understand that.

I believe in God alright.

But I don't believe in heaven and hell.

Do you think that we're fools?
Why do you give us all this ..

Heaven and hell stuff.
That's what bothers me.

You can pray as much as you like, but it
won't take anything off your sentence.

You'll have to sit it out
from beginning to end.

But you mustn't pray for that either.

Why do you want freedom?

If you were free ..

What little faith you had left
would be lost in the turmoil.

Rejoice that you're in captivity.

Here you're free to examine your soul.

Paul, the Apostle said ..

"I am ready not to be bound only .."

"But to die .. for the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ."

Alyosha, it's alright for you.

Jesus Christ ordered you to be here,
and so you're here for his sake.

But why am I here?

Because we weren't ready for war in '41?

Is that it?

Am I to blame for that?

Hey.

Looks like there is
going to be no recount.

Yeah.

Why do you think coal
is inside the chimney?

No second count.

Time for sleep.

Come on, out!

Come on, there! All out to
the other side of the hut.

Bastards.

Everyone out!

Thank you, Tsetzar Makovich.

Hand me your bag.

I'll hide it under my pillow.

Nobody will think of looking in my bed.

Get away there, scum.

Come on!

Get in there!

Gangway!

Move on!

Forty-five.

Forty-six.

Forty-seven.

Forty-eight.

Here you are, Alyosha.

Thank you.

You sure you have enough for yourself?
- Take it.

Thank you.

"Ivan Denisovich went to sleep content."

"He'd been fortunate
in many ways today."

"He hadn't been put in the cells."

"The team hadn't been sent to .."

"The Socialist Centre
for Cultural Activities."

"He finished a bowl
of porridge at dinner."

"The team leader had
fixed the rates well."

"He'd been happy building the wall."

"He hadn't been caught
with the hacksaw blade."

"He'd earned something from Tsetzar.
He'd bought some tobacco."

"And he hadn't fallen ill."

"He got over it."

"There were 3,653 days
like this in his sentence."

"From the moment he woke
until the moment he slept."

"The three extra days
were for leap-years."

-(sd)-