Original subtitles

DomFilm Cinema Company

With the assistance of cinema studio Eurofilm-Service PRESENTS

STARRING Pavel Derevyanko

THE NINE LIVES OF NESTOR MAKHNO

ALSO STARRING Ada Rogovtseva Kirill Pletnev Daniil Byelih

SCREENPLAY Igor Bolgarin Victor Smirnov

DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY Oleg Maslov-Lisichkin Igor Primiskiy

ART DIRECTOR Pyotr Koryagin

COMPOSERS Igor Myelnichuk Pavel Krahmalyov

SOUND DIRECTOR Yuri Chyeh

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Felix Kleyman Victor Prihodko

PRODUCER Vladimir Dostal

DIRECTOR OF CINEMATOGRAPHY Nikolai Kaptan

TRANSLATION AND SUBTITLES Dmitriy Ostrovskiy Thanks to Karetelnik of libcom.org for help with the Bolshevik debate scene.

[EPISODE FOUR]

Learned people. We know everything about

[GULYAIUPOLYE, 1918] free anarchist societies. No-one's ever suffered from it.

The main thing is, they want me to be

both the judge and the boss.

So why do these people want freedom, if they need a boss?

I'm going into this blind anyway,

just feeling my way along,

with no idea of what's ahead for me.

Nestor Ivanovich! Nestor Ivanovich!

Nestor Ivanovich, come back to Gulyaipolye. -What's going on?

They've come. Bolsheviks or whatever.

They look like bandits. -What do they want?

They say they want to install their own government.

Let's go.

Quiet! I grew up here.

I left for war from here and now I returned

to you in the name of the Bolshevik Party,

which has revolted all across Russia,

gave the workers freedom and equality. Secured peace and

now turned to the redistribution of pans' lands.

Imagine that! They just "turned to,"

and we have already redistributed!

I know, comrades! But you don't have true leadership!

A force of direction and organising!

Quiet! This is why my advice to you is to recognise

the leadership of the revolutionary committee

made up of three comrades:

what's-their-names... Schuka and Ghuzenko! Worker comrades, true proletarians...

We know them, we know! -Excellent!

Second. To co-opt into your soviet

myself, as a Bolshevik and a communist,

while upholding, so to speak, the principle of

the dictatorship of the proletariat.

What is "co-opting"?

Like a horseshoe to the ass or what?

Comrades, I also like to laugh.

But this is not the time for laughter.

Enemies surround us.

We must stick together, comrades!

Under the leadership of the proletariat!

Who is going to arm you?

Give you bullets, kerosene, paraffin, all that?

Who will give bread to the proletariat?

Milk, butter, eggs? Well?

Send him to [indistinct].

Listen, Nestor, send him back to Kharkiv!

Or to [indistinct]. Let him make his dictatorship there, huh?

Wait. This is a serious matter.

I respect you, comrade Makhno,

as a fighter against czarism.

But as a former political prisoner who has endured so much,

it seems you have still not yet fully grasped

what the proletariat is.

It is... how do you say?

Like a big brother and a mentor to the peasant...

organised and intelligent!

A proletarian

is always a proletarian.

But peasants may be

poor, middling, or even well-to-do, exploiters!

The peasantry, let’s admit it,

strives for wealth, giving birth to the bourgeoisie...

But the proletarian is a hegemon!

Wait! Do tell us, who among the proletariat is the hegemon?

Who makes up the dictatorship?

Outstanding people. Proletarian chiefs, comrades...

Lenin, Trotsky, Antonov-Ovseyenko...

Not just them! Lots of others as well...

Take, for example, Lenin.

From the nobility, the pans.

Trotsky. Again, one of our own from Khersonsk.

Son of a wealthy landlord.

Antonov-Ovseyenko. Son of a colonel

and himself an officer. By the way, also from Ukraine.

How did they end up in the proletariat?

Origins are irrelevant here, comrade Makhno!

Marx and Engels weren’t workers either, right? -Right.

No! But they were infused with the essence of the proletariat!

What sort of essence is this? For example,

if you work in a cowshed, you get infused with the essence of manure.

That's clear. If you stand in the steppe in a breeze,

then there is no essence.

Your anarchist chiefs, who are they?

Take Bakunin. Son of a big capitalist.

And this Kropotkin?

What, a prince? -Yes.

Rich men? Yes. But they didn’t define themselves as hegemons!

They didn’t try to build a dictatorship! What did they say?

They said: "We are all equal!" Didn’t seek power.

What do your Bolsheviks say?

"We are the government! Obey us!" Right?

They are right. Because here is the situation:

the proletariat empowers the leadership. The leaders are on top.

This is the unconditionally correct position, comrades!

The unconditionally correct position for you, comrade,

is when you are perched on the toilet.

As for the peasant position, we understand it well.

It’s been passed on to us from our

grandfathers and great-grandfathers.

So if you want to be

with us, try to grasp our problems,

support us. Instead of a dictatorship, we would prefer

you give us manufactureship.

You’re taunting me, comrade Makhno!

Meanwhile in Petrograd people are starving to death!

You won’t get away with this perverse self-will so easily.

Don't try and scare me with prison, comrade.

We have nothing against the proletariat.

As a sign of friendship. Lads!

As a sign of friendship, we will send for the starving Petrograd proletariat...

two wagons of wheat!

I'll bring you a sack! -Good!

And me! I will give two loads!

And me! Me too!

We will give, to the extent we are able!

What say you, Glyba! Will you take the wheat to Petrograd?

Sounds good. I have no objections!

So it is decided.

Nestor, why are you carrying them?

Plenty of strong lads right there. Let them carry. -It's all good.

Why are you falling out, Glyba?

Where is your worker's spirit, eh?

Enough! Let's take a break.

You are so stubborn, you anarchists.

Look what's going on around you. Germans coming from the west.

Colonists from the south. Squad-sized elements getting taken out.

At the centre, the Central Council

is readying forces. Right under your nose here,

[Alexey] Kaledin is recruiting officers for himself.

He will move on Moscow, it is a straight shot through your lands.

Oh, where's Kaledin? On the Don?

Yesterday on the Kichkaz bridge I saw 150 officers.

Watch out. You'll see what happens to your

anarchist republic when they come here

from the Don. [indistinct] are suffering too.

They won't stay long. They will come here, to the rich regions.

We will block off the Dniepr.

We won't allow officers here. And you have a commanding presence too.

You talk big, hard to beat.

You couldn't beat me at work either, Glyba!

Come on, let's load a couple more. Come on, Glyba, don't fall out!

Here's what's up, Fyedos.

Take fifty lads with you

and follow the right shore to the Kichkaz bridge.

What are you talking about. The water is frozen!

I'm telling you, go by Grandpa Khodus. He knows how to get across.

Cross there and then follow the shore. Be by the bridge by noon. Got it?

Got it.

I'll come in wet from our shore.

Alright, so our task is to scare them off?

Whoever gets shook gets to live. Shoot all the rest.

Especially the officers.

Nestor, we have few bullets.

If we had lots of bullets, I would send

someone else. You understand? -Yes, I understand.

Let's go.

Fyedos, are you in position?

Fyedos?

Why are you yelling, I'm sitting in ambush, I'm right here! What?

See any officers over there?

Someone's coming!

How many? -Maybe twenty, they're still a ways out.

Alright, hide, be quiet!

Where you headed, gentlemen?

South. Back home.

Home to whom? You or General Kaledin?

Quit messing around, your highness!

Why are you all popping off?

Fyedosiy! -Aye!

These gentlemen here don't believe you have a bad attitude.

Maybe you've got a few words for them?

Look here! I'm not even angry yet.

Maybe we can come to an agreement, yes? Cossacks.

We will give the order to retreat. -To retreat? Sure.

Leave your weapons. We'll need them. Take off your clothes.

What for? -What do you mean, what for?

What did you go to Dniepr for.

Time to go for a swim.

Strip down. Hurry up, undress!

What, you don't understand? -Men, surrender.

Hey!

I brought a few more over.

Bring them here with this bunch!

With white gloves! How handsome!

What's going on, lads?

You undressing them? Alright, OK.

So why did you undress, pal? Eh?

He doesn't want to swim.

If you want to shoot me, then shoot me.

I won't allow myself be drowned like a kitten.

You understand?

See how deep it is? "Allow?"

We're the ones who allow here, you understand? Take him, lads! Take him!

Stop!

Let him go. So, your highness, not going home after all?

Going instead to our sworn enemy, Ataman Kaledin.

In connection with this, we cannot allow you to use

these very weapons to fight

against us. So I offer you this: remove your epaulettes, leave all your

toys, and depart in all four directions.

What? We need to drown him. I'm telling you!

The decorations, the weapons, and the epaulettes are my honour.

My honour is more dear to me than life. But you wouldn't

understand that, right lads? They've given me crosses

for being unafraid of death, why should I take them off now?

You speak beautifully, your highness.

Had we offered you honour.

-Drown him, lads. That's what I was saying, must drown 'em!

What's up, you scum?

Anyone else holds their honour so dearly? Eh?

Take off your epaulettes. Tear them off, I tell you!

Don't make my lads get their hands dirty.

You know where to go. Let's go, lads!

Pan Danilevskiy. Pan Vladislav, you don't recognise me?

No.

Makhno. I used to work as a handyman on your estate.

Why should I remember every

handyman who'd served on my estate?

How did you recognise me? I have not been home for many years.

I saw your little portrait at the estate not long ago.

What happened to my father and sister, are they alive?

They're alive, don't you worry.

We sent them away with their horse and their carriage.

and your portrait. There's a commune at your estate now. An anarchist one.

I could care less about your commune, anarchy, or the estate.

If they're alive, that's good. If you're not lying of course.

I respect you for such brave talk.

Only I can't lie, never learned it as a child.

Although we are old friends, you will have to

abide by our laws. Surrender your weapons,

uniform, tear off those silly decorations, epaulettes, chevrons,

and go back to where you came from.

How can you ask this of a commissioned officer? This is impossible.

Quit mouthing off, boy. We're not asking, we are ordering.

Remove your epaulettes and go

in all four directions. If not, then you're going for a swim, understand?

Stop, lads!

You gonna listen? Let him go, lads, let him go!

Michail Petrovich! This doesn't apply to you.

You are a new recruit, haven't served for long.

You have no awards yet. Don't remove your coat or you'll freeze. Go!

Good, good. Well done.

Let's go for a swim.

What size are you? Come on. My pleasure.

You can take that off as well.

If he swims out, we'll shoot him.

What a tragedy, lads! There is no heir left to our estate now, huh?

Oh! But we're gonna have such great crawfish soon!

What's up? Come on, let's go. It's alright, let's go.

[NENASYTNOYE VILLAGE]

Where did you...? Why are you so wet...?

[Christian prayer in Ukrainian]

Lads! They're not going to go by night, right?

We'll get more of them tomorrow. If they dare.

Take it. Take it.

What's wrong?

It's just that...

You've killed your batko. And your pope.

Killed so many people, drowned so many. I can't be a part of it anymore.

It's a sin. A great sin.

And?

Where you going?

To god.

Ivan.

We gave a blood oath.

Ivan! You can't just

leave us like that.

Ivan!

Ivan, you can't walk away from us like this.

Let him go, let him go.

Sashko, don't.

That's your brother.

You don't have another.

[Christian prayer in Ukrainian]

Get dressed, pan officer.

We're about to eat.

Who are you?

Whom should I pray to?

They call me Maria.

An ordinary name.

You don't seem so ordinary.

You are kind of extraordinary.

Or maybe it's the fever.

I'm a witch.

What witch?

The most ordinary type. From cows, I extract milk,

from men, I take away masculine power. I'm familiar with all the familiars.

I fly to the coven on my broom.

Aren't you scared?

I... Come here.

Oh, pan! To my misfortune have I opened my door for you.

Oh pan!

Look at all those people.

They'll be warring for many years.

I don't care.

Oh pan!

It seems I've given you a little too much medicine.

[DANILYEVSKIY ESTATE]

No matter, no matter.

Ignore the woman's cry.

Can't understand any of this, what devilry is this?

Want to read it? Here. You read it, that's what those glasses are on your nose for.

Here, Third Universal of the Central Council of Kiev recognises Ukraine as part of

Russia. Uh-huh, this is from Kharkiv. Ultimatum of the

first all-Ukrainian conference of the soviets

declares the Central Council to be illegal. Ha! You see this?

Keep reading! What else is there? -Ahhh...it says "the Central

"Council opens talks with"

"the German Kaiser about aid against the Bolsheviks."

"Donetsk Krivorizhye soviet"

"republic announces its independence"

"from everyone." -Alright.

Keep reading! There's women's business, here's ours. Come on!

Well, I just... "Odessa soviet

"republic announces its independence and"

"demands 2,000 recruits and money."

They get shit. "Money!" That's for sure.

Boys, we need to build our own army,

the kind that no-one's ever built before.

Anarchist. Invincible.

Nestor. What if the Germans advance on us?

They are powerful. -Yes.

You can't take a bull head-on. -Yeah?

So how does a wolf go against a bull?

He will not try to climb the horns.

He'll sneak up from below and eviscerate.

It's all good, we'll find a way.

Nestor Ivanovich! -What happened?

Congratulations, citizen Makhno.

It's a boy. A healthy one!

How are you?

Alright, Nestor Ivanovich, you've had a look and now it's time to go.

He's coming.

Congratulations on your first!

Nestor Ivanovich.

Let him grow up quickly.

So Nestor, maybe we should declare mobilisation, huh?

What damn mobilisation? That's what they do,

government, and we're against the government.

Understand, we are anti-authoritarians.

So how are we gonna fight, huh? Our army will be

voluntary, partisan, the kind you cannot

see nor hear, but you just whistle once, and

it's assembled. Whistle again, and it scatters. On horses.

A quick strike of the jaws to eviscerate. Huh? That's what up. Huh? Come on, pour me one.

Alright, to my son! To Vadimchik!

I was sitting alone, all but myself, and all of a sudden, look,

such good fortune. It was so nice and peaceful for him.

Now the first thing he will see is your cruel world.

Never mind.

We will rebuild this world for him. He will see

true happiness. Why should he suffer? Huh, Vadimka? My son.

[BOGODUHOVKA VILLAGE] My dear brothers!

We have given you land.

Cows. Horses.

What if the pans return? Or Germans?

Or maybe some other bastards. What then?

We will chase them out! Chew their throats apart, tear them up with our teeth!

Why use your teeth, lads?

No doubt, many of you have brought rifles back from the front, right?

Whoever didn't bring one, lads. Take one!

Alright then. Take one!

Let the experienced ones

teach the ones who aren't.

Our army will grow, lads, like ears of corn from the earth.

Free as the wind!

Don't doubt us, Nestor Ivanovich! We won't let you down.

Get your kids, the ones old enough,

to help out too.

Bring good horses. So our army could be like

a bird, like a plane even!

Correct!

[NOVO-KOVNO, JEWISH COLONY]

What's up, citizen Jews!

As a nation prosecuted under czarism, what

can you give to anarchism?

Maybe money.

Tell me, why is it that when it's Jews, it always has to be money.

I see that you're an anarchist.

We have many anarchists here. They all want freedom

but nobody wants to dig the soil.

Tell me, where should the money come from?

Alright. Come on, gather your Qahal,

and decide, will you help anarchism? Or not?

What Qahal? These are different times now.

Watch the hand.

Please come in.

So... here. This is our self-defence squad.

Who is the commander? -We are all commanders.

What, all at once?

How should I... with your permission...

Qahal self-governance. -Why is he not the commander?

That's my son. Where have you seen a son commanding his father?

They are all our children.

Have you served?

Yes, Yakub has served, in the Yekaterinoslav dragoon regiment.

Wounded twice, one medal.

He should command.

He can be appointed. But the deference still goes to

us, the elders. -Fine, you're alright. If there are battles,

there will be commanders too.

So then, I enlist

your squad into the volunteer anarchist army of Gulyaipolye,

but you will guard not only your colony,

agreed? So it will be.

He's agreed a long time ago already.

We have an agreement.

What's the count, accountant?

2,000 bayonets and 300 sabres, but no ammunition.

They brought a batch of weapons back from the front,

but just enough ammunition for one clip.

We must ask the Bolsheviks. -Maybe.

They have the Tula factory,

the czar's arsenals. -Yes.

We have more than enough people, Timosh.

Eh? -Yes.

[DANILYEVSKIY ESTATE]

Listen, Nestor. The lads have asked me to come to you.

Where else should I go?

Central Council? They asked about the

Germans, that we should get something from the Bolsheviks

to help fight back. They are already in Kiev.

Any day now and they will be here.

Are you stupid, Fyedos?

How many times must I tell you? We'll deal with the Germans tomorrow.

Alright.

Bad news, boys.

After the Central Council,

the Bolsheviks made peace with the Germans.

Here, look.

The Kaiser gets all the Baltic states,

Belarus, the Caspian lands.

and also six billion marks

in ransom. -What about Ukraine?

What about Ukraine? Moscow has rejected

Ukraine, and the Central Council, in

defence against the Bolsheviks, has invited

the Germans. They're already in Kiev, and any day now

they will be here too.

Nestor doesn't care at all.

He's laying about, cuddling with his Nastya.

Lads, we need Nestor.

Without him, the commune falls apart.

So what? We can't afford to wait. We must solve the issue.

The Nastya issue. -How do you mean?

Like so.

Let's put it to a vote.

When?

Tomorrow morning, Nestor goes to the Bolsheviks

to get ammunition. You and you are coming with me.

We will ride together.

You stay quiet as a grave.

Is it decided? -Seems like it.

[GULYAIPOLYE STATION]

How do you like our beast?

A real stallion.

Why are you running off to Rostov? Eh?

It's a manoeuvre. Military secret.

A secret? Why don't you give us some ammunition,

you are leaving anyway. -Comrade Glyba!

What's up. Will we give ammunition to the little anarchists?

Even if they are without a proletarian

understanding, in this moment they're our

allies, huh? We must give. We must.

Come on then. Give us plenty.

How much do we have?

Are we intruding? -No.

Nastya. Hurry up and get ready.

Take all you need for yourself

and the child. We are leaving now.

Where to?

Nestor Ivanovich asked to take you to Fyodorovka.

He says it will be safer there, because

the Germans are coming. You can go there and

wait for him. -Why didn't he tell me himself?

He... you know, he...

left somewhere on the armoured train, and you

will come and he'll return, and you're already... get ready, get ready.

Alright, we will go.

Fyedos, where are you going?

Fyodorovka is down the road.

No, there are probably Germans that way

sitting in ambush at the roadside.

Where are we going, boys? It's a swamp over there.

Yes, but also... no one will see.

Finally!

Can you hear me? Nastya!

I don't understand.

Where is Nastya?

I was away with you, Nestor Ivanovich.

Vashkey! -Yes.

Where is Nastya and the kid? -We don't know, we

haven't even been around. I've been, um, unloading ammunition.

Alright. Schus! Where is Schus? -He... left for the German colony with the boys.

We were working on something,

setting a schedule. -But that's enrichment, Nestor, bourgeoisie.

Yurko! Do you know where Nastya

and the kid have gone? -I've heard she's gone

somewhere, like to a birth or as a guest...

What are you talking about, what guest?

Nestor, where are you going? What a wild child.

Nestor, welcome.

Did something happen to Nastya?

Hi Grandma Dusya, maybe you know something? Where's Nastya?

What do you mean? What did you do with her? Where is she, Nestor, tell me!

Tell me, what have you done with my child?

Fyedos! Where's Nastya!

I said, where is Nastya?

What are you mad about? Your Nastya left.

All these anarchistic ideas to her are like a drum to a goat.

You are all lying.

You know where she is.

Tell me, bastard.

I'm telling you, and everyone else will tell you,

she left. Calm down, what are you angry for?

What are you...? Schus, get him.

Nestor. You're with us, right? Nestor!

Nestor, the Germans are coming!

Pans, the bourgeoisie! Nestor, talk to the people!

Come on!

Boys!

He's coming out, he's coming!

Hold him!

Did you see that? Did you see? Did everyone see?

Nestor Ivanovich suffers for all of us!

From human sorrow!

He's overcome by it, suffering for each of you!

Let him rest for a bit.

Nestor, let's do this:

the Germans are already in Alexandrovsk,

and the people don't like it. Not at all.

Get off, Sashko.

Nestor, I... -I said get off.

Nobody follows me.

I don't believe you.

I don't believe any of you.

That's it. Nestor is gone.

CAST Pavel Derevyanko as Nestor Makhno Ada Rogovtseva as Evdokiya Makhno

Daniil Byelih as Fedor Schus Kirill Pletnev as Vladislav Danilevskiy Natalya Soldatova as Vincenta Danilevskaya Sergei Romanyuk as Pan Danilevskiy

Lesya Samayeva as Maria Igor Gnezdilov as Timofei Lashkevich Andrey Zhurba as Sashko Lepetchenko Vladislav Mamchur as Ivan Lepetchenko

Vladimir Bashkirov as Semyon Karetnikov Constantine Kostyshin as Grigoriy Makhno

Vyacheslav Vasilyuk as Savva Makhno Lidiya Obolenskaya as Nastya Maxim Bramatkin as Mandolin Boris Georgievskiy as Semyonov-Toorskiy

Denis Maslyaev as Halabudov Sergei Boiko as Pavel Glyba Nikolai Boklan as Damian Zaharovich Michail Boychuk as Kotsyuba

Oleg Primagenov as Lyeva Zadov Vladimir Zadniprovskiy as Leyba

Episode also starring:

Andrey Vasilenko, Sergei Dubina, Yaroslav Klin, Sergei Kovalchuk, Igor Krikunov, Vitaliy Lazorenko, Liliya Maiboroda,

Vladimir Movchan, Andrei Polikashkin, Anna Rastalnya, Victor Oostinov, Pyotr Tsegelniy Writers: Igor Bolgarin and Victor Smirnov

DIRECTORS OF CINEMATOGRAPHY Nikolai Kaptan

Directors of Photography: Oleg Maslov-Lisichkin and Igor Primiskiy ART DIRECTORPyotr Koryagin

COMPOSERS Pavel Krahmalyov and Igor Myelnichuk Sound Director: Yuri Chyeh

DIRECOTRS Yuri Homenko and Natalia Kaptan

OPERATOR Alexander Boiko EDITORS Anna Terenyeva, Alexander Timenko, Alexander Antonchenko

Costume designer: Alla Shesterenko Makeup artist: Vasiliy Gorkaviy

Visual effects and titles: DomVideo Company

Consultants: Lt. Gen. Vladimir Sytnik and Lt. Gen. Gregory Dyachuk Director of Picture: Igor Yegorov

Executive Producers: Felix Kleyman and Victor Prihodko END OF EPISODE FOUR