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Mosfilm Studios

In collaboration with the Cinematography Service Ministry of Culture, Russia

Inrestroy Investment & Construction Company

Kurier Studio

Madam.

I must see His Excellency.

His Excellency

only receives visitors on appointment.

I have urgent business with him.

My brother is gravely ill in prison.

I'd like to ask for permission to bring him food from home.

I hoped to petition the Minister personally. He's such a kind man.

I'm sure he'll give me permission.

How do you wish to be announced?

Princess Beloselskaya-Belozerskaya.

I beg your pardon, gentlemen. Please, sit down.

I know how kind Leonid Arkadievich is.

He'll give me permission.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

Please sit down, madam.

What's going on?

- He's been killed. - What do you mean killed?

We'll have to send for the doctor.

The conspirator at the Secret Police Department

testified that she was a member

of the militant organisation

of the Socialist Revolutionary Party.

They hoped to realise their aims using terror

against senior Imperial officials.

She gave her name as Rogoznikova, a member of the gentry.

She refused to testify any further

or to answer any further questions.

Andrei PANIN

in a Karen Shakhnazarov film

A RIDER NAMED DEATH

AFTER THE STORY BY BORIS SAVINKOV

THE PALE HORSE

6th August, 1906, following the service

for the opening of the Nizhny Novgorod trade fair,

as General Governor Baron Unterberger came out of the church,

one of the destitute beggars in the church doorway

shot at him twice.

The terrorist was killed by the crowd.

No documents were found on him.

To establish the man's identity,

his head was cut off, preserved

and displayed in public.

Two months later in Tambov,

Vice-Governor Preobrazhensky was killed.

The perpetrator, Anna Solovyova,

declared that she had killed him

because of his brutal suppression of peasant unrest.

I hate listening to nonsense.

I have complete faith in our success.

The Grand Duke will die.

And I should throw the first bomb.

It should have been me in Kharkov.

But they let a worker

called Kachura do it.

And now there's the Grand Duke.

The first bomb should be mine. I have a right to this.

What made you turn to terrorism?

For me, revolution is terror.

I believe in terror. There aren't many of us now,

but there soon will be.

I might be dead by then, but I'll be proud and happy

because I'll be the one who'll kill the Grand Duke.

Vanya, go and wait for me by the door, please.

Didn't you like him?

He's an odd fellow.

- Do you know him well? - Yes.

He was at school with my younger brother.

He'll be a good worker.

I hear he is a poet.

- Does that interfere with terror? - Everything does.

Blind faith,

lofty romanticism, fanaticism.

Very well. If you trust him, I can't object to his joining us.

Now to business.

Two of our men will pose as cabbies and spy on the Duke.

If the police can use such methods, why not militants?

- He didn't like me, George. - He did. It's all right.

We'll kill the Duke, we will.

Do you believe in Jesus Christ?

I do.

But Vanya, Christ said, 'Thou shalt not kill.'

George, people should love one another.

God should be with them and within them,

but they've become brutalised.

They take to the sword through weakness, not strength.

What are you laughing at?

- You sound like a priest! - I don't care!

- Life's impossible without love. - Of course it's possible.

- How? - I'll tell you how...

By not giving a damn!

You're joking, aren't you?

No. I'm not.

That'll do for now, Vanya.

I'll leave you here. We'll be in touch.

Make way!

Get ready!

Want a ride, Your Honour?

He's gone to the Kremlin again. Fyodor followed.

I went yesterday. We'll definitely kill him.

Let's go.

How much longer are we going to work as cabbies?

We have to work out his route, what time he goes out.

We already have. I can rattle it off like the Lord's Prayer:

left, then on round the corner.

What made you get involved in our cause?

I had a wife, a soul mate.

- And? - They killed her.

She went to a demonstration and was trampled down by Cossacks.

Why do we just kill the Duke? Why not the Czar?

The Central Committee decision.

Then why are they so stupid?

A fool can see it's better to kill the Czar than a duke.

At the border, a customs official

asked me to open the suitcase.

I opened it and he said, 'What's that you have there?'

I didn't panic at all.

I said, 'My father owns a perfume factory in Kiev.

'He asked me to bring him this mulberry oil from Paris.

'He wants to use it for a new recipe in the production of cosmetics.'

He took a stick of dynamite, made a wry face and said,

'If only my wife knew what nasty stuff her cream is made of.'

I've missed you so much.

George, my love.

I feel that I have lived to meet you.

You're in my dreams,

you're in my prayers.

Who's this?

Mama.

When you're with me, I feel like a little girl again.

I know there's nothing I can give you.

But I do love you.

- Are you going already? - Yes, I must.

Will you come tomorrow?

I don't know.

I am used to the life of an outlaw, used to being alone.

I don't want to know the future and I try to forget the past.

I have no roots, no family, no name.

Even from here, miles away,

I can see the palace perfectly clearly.

It's as if I were right there next to him.

Signing papers with him, walking around the palace with him,

praying with him, going to bed with him.

I harbour neither hatred nor resentment towards him.

I am indifferent to him.

But I want him dead.

We need two bombs ready by nine o'clock tomorrow.

- George. - What?

Won't you stay?

I'll come for the bombs tomorrow at nine.

Erna!

George, I want...

Can I come with you? I want you to give me a bomb, too.

- But... - Don't say anything.

It's what I want. I have to die. I've decided.

George...

What is this nonsense?

I'll be with you by evening.

All right.

I must go.

Open the gates!

Make way!

We were extremely depressed.

Fyodor suggested that the Grand Duke changed his route

because of a premonition of danger.

But the reason was more prosaic.

That day the Duke went to the station

to catch a train to Petersburg

to celebrate the Empress' name-day.

Hello. Mr Brian?

- Brien. - Oh, Brien.

- May I come in? - Of course. Please do.

I've come from Vilno too.

You came from Vilno, didn't you?

Oh, yes.

I noticed the entry in the book. May I sit down?

Yes, of course.

- What can I do for you? - My name is Gashkes.

I'm the editor of the industrial, trade and financial newspaper.

I thought you might like to work with me.

I'm not a writer. I work for a trade company.

What do you mean 'not a writer'?

Which company do you represent, anyway?

I'm afraid I can't be of any assistance to you.

I should be going.

So are you English?

It can't be helped.

- Where to, Your Honour? - Straight on, and fast.

I hurtled around Moscow for more than two hours,

from cab to tram to cab again,

with Gashkes constantly on my tail.

- I was thinking of leaving. - They're after me.

Who?

Filthy cur!

- What do you want to do? - Have you got a gun?

Eight bullets.

Let's go.

I'm going outside.

If you come out, I'll kill you, filthy cur!

- Look, George. - He arrived in this cab.

He came in it, we'll go in it.

I'm engaged, gentlemen.

I said I'm engaged.

Go!

Look! He didn't do as I told him.

We should turn back and shoot him.

All right, we'll let him live a bit longer.

I forgot my cap.

Whoa!

Off you go!

- How'd they track you down? - I don't know.

You must leave town.

- I'll be leaving too. - And the Duke?

I wanted to throw a bomb at the Duke.

It's alright.

We'll get him for sure.

- Good bye for now. - Good bye.

Fyodor went to his parents in Poltava,

Vanya to his brother in Yaroslavl. I went abroad.

A month later I was back in Moscow.

With furnished rooms and a motor car,

I act the part of a rich foreigner.

The chauffeur, supplied by Valentin Kuzmich, is called Henrich.

Where shall I serve the coffee?

In the study.

Our clandestine lives

have been worked out to the smallest detail.

Erna, my mistress, is a former Opera Buffa singer.

Fyodor is a servant and Vanya a street vendor.

One day, when I was out, our landlady asked Erna

how much money I had put in her account.

She was surprised not to see any jewelry

and said Erna should leave me.

Erna said she lived with me for love, not money.

There's no need for her to act the part.

I know you don't love me.

But I still love you.

I'll keep on loving you until the day I die.

I sleep with Erna but my thoughts are of Elena.

I met her on my second day back in Moscow.

What a long time it's been!

- Have you forgotten me? - No, I haven't.

Where have you been? What have you been doing?

Thinking about you.

- You shouldn't do that. - Why not?

Why shouldn't I think about you? Because you're married?

The tragedy of love and duty, the tragedy of marriage.

I look at you now and I see a different person,

although it's still a person I like very much.

Cigarettes! Writing paper! Pencils!

Don't just walk on by!

He came out today at 12 o'clock

and went down the same street.

Cigarettes! Writing paper!

- Who's that? - His children.

We have to do it soon.

Cigarettes! Writing paper! Pencils!

I got a message

that a courier from Geneva

had brought more dynamite.

I have to pick up a fireproof box at the bank

and put the suitcase of dynamite in it.

Ostozhenka Street.

So you've been living abroad this past year?

I know why you've come back.

I don't understand any of this but why do you do it?

Look how lovely it is here: the flowers are out,

the birds are singing. Yet what is constantly on your mind,

what do you live for? Death.

Listen.

You're only doing this because you believe you must.

No.

No?

I've told myself that it's what I want.

Is this what you want?

A man I know, a Belgian officer, served in the Congo.

He was alone there with just fifty black soldiers.

His cordon was in the forest on the bank of a big river.

On the other bank lived a tribe of Negroes

with their own chief and laws.

The days dragged by.

There was always the same turbid river, the same black bodies.

Sometimes, out of boredom, he would pick up his gun

and he'd try to hit...

one of the curly heads on the other bank.

Out of boredom!

When his soldiers caught somebody from the other bank,

they would tie him to a tree trunk and shoot him.

And likewise,

if one of his men fell into their hands,

they would chop off his arms and legs

and leave him.

In the morning, they would chop off his head.

- Why are you telling me this? - I just keep asking myself:

how do we, civilised people, differ from savages?

When it comes to 'thou shalt not kill',

we're just as egregious as they are.

And as for 'an eye for an eye'...

Why bother to justify ourselves?

I want to do something, I do it.

Elena...

Do you love your husband?

You don't love me.

The next days I try to put her out of my mind.

My entire will is focused on one thing: killing him.

Let's go, Henrich!

Fyodor!

Take it straight to the bedroom.

Fyodor!

- Have you got it? - Yes. Give him a hand.

To the bedroom?

Erna!

All right, Henrich...

You go out and find Vanya.

Tell him we've got to meet.

Ten o'clock at the Tivoli.

Fyodor, Henrich has got an officer's uniform down in the car.

Put it on and be at the Tivoli at ten, too.

That's all. See you tonight.

Do you want to check it?

There's something I want to tell you. It's Henrich...

What about him?

Last night he told me he loved me.

So?

I don't love him.

You're the only one I love. Aren't you jealous?

Me? Jealous?

I don't suppose you care.

You don't love me at all.

Come to me, Erna.

Tell me you love me. Do you?

Erna, we need three bombs by tomorrow morning.

- By tomorrow? - Yes.

I love you.

Tomorrow, after the attempt, we shall all leave Moscow.

I might never see Erna again.

Suddenly, I feel sorry for her.

I should have been a general.

Then I wouldn't have to salute that colonel.

We need to decide who's going first.

I go first.

- I definitely go first. - I've been waiting for ages.

I have a right to go first.

What about you, Fyodor?

I'm always ready.

How much do you think that dress cost?

I don't know.

- 200 roubles. - 200!

When I worked at the factory, I was getting one rouble a day.

How about doing it to all of them?

- Doing what? - Bombing them all.

- Why? - To let them know.

Know what?

That workers are dying.

We're not anarchists.

What?

That would be anarchy, and we're not anarchists.

Those are just words. I don't care what we call it.

They pay 200 roubles for clothes

while children are begging for kopecks.

Be quiet!

There's no justice in the world.

We work all day, our mothers are desperate & sisters go on the game.

You know what? I don't think it's easy.

You throw it but you can miss.

You just go up to the window, throw it through, and it's done.

- No, I won't have it. - What do you mean?

I won't have Vanya going out there first. He'll die.

- I should go first. - Look here, Henrich...

Either you do it and stop all your talking

or keep on talking and go back to your university.

- So this is it, George. - Yes, Vanya.

I feel so happy, but I'm awfully tired.

My nerves are tired. You know...

Jesus said we would not be saved

by the sword, but by love.

I'll kill him, but I believe Jesus' words. That hurts.

Jesus said, 'Thou shalt not kill,'

yet his disciple, Peter, drew his sword to kill.

Jesus said, 'Love one another,' yet Judas betrayed him.

Jesus said, 'I did not come to judge the world, but to save it,'

yet he himself was judged, 2000 years ago.

He prayed sweating with blood and his disciples were sleeping.

2000 years ago, the people put on him a purple robe,

and said to Pilate, 'Take ye him and crucify him.'

Then Peter took a sword in his hand.

Then Annas and Caiaphas judged him.

Then Judas betrayed him.

He is not the vine.

And we are not his branches.

Look at you, George. You don't believe in God,

or in Socialism, or in love.

But without faith, what are we?

Just ordinary killers.

Then don't kill.

Walk away!

Walk away!

How can you say that?

Killing may be a grave sin,

but greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down

his life for his friends.

If the cross is heavy, bear it.

If the sin is great, accept it and the Lord will forgive you.

Good bye, George.

Good bye, Vanya.

Vanya!

Don't think about it.

It's all nonsense.

Nonsense.

Open the gates!

Get ready!

At a trot!

Back! I said back!

Step back!

Break up!

It hasn't gone off!

Get him!

Go on!

Don't shoot at the children!

I did right, didn't I, George?

I couldn't throw it with children there.

We want to kill the Duke. We don't want

to kill the children.

All is lost.

- All is lost. - Shut up!

What is this nonsense? Nothing is lost.

Fyodor is dead.

Fyodor is dead. So what?

How could you let the carriage pass?

I don't know.

I realised that the police had noticed me.

Off I went. That's probably when he drove by.

You don't believe me. You think I lost my nerve.

I believe you, Henrich.

I think you should go back

to your university

and put aside all thoughts of terror.

Not everyone has to throw bombs or shoot.

- Have a go at peaceful work. - You can't tell me what not to do.

Go away!

It's my fault that Fyodor is dead,

that the second bomb didn't go off.

Vanya...

- We'll kill him! - We? Vanya's alone now.

What about me? We'll kill him. Vanya and I.

How?

We'll blow him up in his house.

- How will we get in? - We'll shoot the guard.

But... his children are there.

So? We'll go into his house and blow him up.

- George... - What?

How dare you speak like that? Who gave you this right?

- Who? - I did.

- You? - Yes, me. Me!

Very well, then.

We'll do it outside.

Do you think this is because of the children? No.

It's a big palace.

We could shoot the guard and get inside, but it's a big place.

We might not find him.

There are lots of rooms.

Lots of rooms.

Lots.

Have you moved out of the flat?

I'm staying at a hotel now.

I've got the new passport you sent.

John Ribley, an Englishman.

They feel that your group should be dissolved.

- Who they? - The Central Committee.

And what do you think?

If that's what the Central Committee decides,

then you obey.

Do you think we should be dissolved?

If the Central Committee makes such a resolution, then...

That's the Committee. What about us?

That's not all.

They feel you should end terrorist practices.

- A Constitution was promised. - So? What of it?

George, there is an impression

that all you're interested in

is killing the Grand Duke.

- What made you take up terror? - I've already told you.

I told you when I joined the group.

You can't kill him. There are only two of you left.

It's not enough for a job like that.

You don't have a chance.

Have you been living here all the time?

I've been afraid for you.

You can't imagine how afraid.

It was terrible.

Elena...

I love you.

I love you too.

What about your husband?

What about him?

You're with him.

I'm with you now.

Stay with me for ever.

You're a strange one.

How can you love for ever?

I must go.

How can you kiss two men at once?

What business is it of yours who I kiss and when?

Do I know who you've been kissing?

Today, I love you.

Doesn't that make you happy?

There is no sin, no deception in happiness.

Your whole life is dedicated to death.

You're made of iron.

The sun is not for you.

But why think about death?

For a Gypsy girl, trust me

Good looks don't count.

All she craves is a fiery passion.

And to him who is handsome With an ice-cold heart

I will say, Get the hell out, Pard.

I'm looking at you, You are, O, so awkward...

The image of Elena fades. I am alone again.

I've been alone all my life. I have no way of getting close to people.

There is no love, no peace, no life, no death.

Death is a crown.

A crown of thorns, Vanya thinks.

Let him think that. I read in the paper

about a Red Cross charity show at the Bolshoi Theatre

under the patronage of the Grand Duchess.

He will definitely be there.

Blissful hour has stack.

I am burning like fire. My darling, my love,

I'm consumed with desire.

Come on, have no fear, Caress me, my dear

I'm your... And the devil has to pay.

We're only going to have one bomb.

What do you mean?

Some of the dynamite has gone bad.

It's not my fault, George. Dynamite doesn't keep for long.

You don't love me at all.

What are you talking about? Failure after failure,

and here you are,

talking about love.

George, darling...

Go away.

Make sure you have it ready tomorrow at eight.

Ready?

Vanya, we've only got one bomb.

You can't go. You're the leader.

If something happens to you, all is lost.

If I die, you can plan the whole thing again and carry it through.

You think I won't do it if the kids are there. I will.

If it's the Lord's will, I'll do it.

I'm glad it's not the palace.

- I'll go. - No!

Good bye!

It'll be crowded in front of the theatre. I'll meet him

where the carriages drive up to the theatre.

Very well.

Clear the road!

Make way!

Move on!

Clear the road!

Where are you going?

I look at the people around me and wonder what the point is.

If Vanya's God exists, why did He create them?

Suddenly I wonder

why they're drinking and having fun. If he is dead,

shouldn't they be in mourning? Haven't they heard the news yet?

Then I read in the paper that he's still alive.

Vanya was blown to pieces.

The coachman lost his head.

The policeman who tried to stop Vanya is dead.

There are more casualties.

Only he is alive.

Alive and unscathed.

Poor Vanya.

Go pack your things, Erna.

You have to go right now.

Where?

- Anywhere. They're after us. - And you?

I'll be going too.

- George, let's go together. - No.

No, Erna.

So we are parting?

- Not for ever. - Yes, for ever.

You're tired.

You need to rest and forget.

I won't forget. George, my love, don't leave me.

My darling, don't go.

Don't cry.

George, you'll come back, won't you?

Good bye.

In the days that will follow I will live

with the sole desire to kill him. I know he knows about me.

He knows I'm here.

He doesn't leave the palace and has a triple guard for protection.

But I'll kill him anyway. I just don't know how.

At the end of the week I will know how I'm going to kill him.

I am sure he'll want to hear the opera

he missed because of Vanya's bomb.

He is sure that I feel defeated,

destroyed by my failure to kill him,

and that I will not be trying again. For him, I simply do not exist.

You said you would never be my wife.

Is it true?

Yes, it is true.

And what if you didn't have a husband?

I don't know.

Don't think about that. And don't ask me.

No!

It's either me or him. You choose.

I can't.

I said choose!

George, I love you. You know that.

But I've already told you, I'll never be your wife.

I don't have a plan.

I shall simply go into his box during the show and shoot.

I'll almost certainly be shot first.

That doesn't matter.

I'm still going to do it.

What's your nationality?

I asked you about your nationality.

I'm English.

English!

The most despicable nation of all!

They used Japanese torpedo boats to destroy our ships at Tsushima.

They took Port Arthur!

And now visiting Russia, if you please! Well, I won't have it!

- You could be a spy. - Shut up!

Shut up? No, sir, let's settle

the matter outside...

For the last time, shut up!

I've been waiting for you.

You know why we're here.

I want you to go away. Do you understand?

Are you mad?

Do you want a duel?

I demand that you leave!

You're mad!

Let's duel then.

One...

Two... Three...

Fire!

Vanya lived and died.

Fyodor lived and died.

The Grand Duke lived and died.

Elena's husband lived and died.

People live, die and are born.

I do not repent. I have no desire for Elena.

It's as if that shot of mine extinguished my love for her.

I do not know where she is or what she is doing.

Each day here brings more risk,

yet I can't leave. I have killed a man.

Until now, I've had an excuse.

I killed for an idea, for a principle.

This time, it was for myself.

- I wanted to and I killed. - George!

Congratulations. You have won.

How did you do it?

Following your success, the Committee wants...

What?

The constitution has been a failure,

so the Committee needs to be strengthened.

Fine. Let them be strengthened.

You're on the Committee now.

You'll head the militant group after I shift to party work.

It's a difficult work of great scope.

- Why what? - What do you mean why?

Why kill more people?

George, you need a rest.

You're tired.

We all are.

Waiter!

Bring me some decent vodka.

Nizhny Novgorod Venice and Smirnoff honey vodka.

I'll have Venice vodka and Astrakhan sturgeon.

You should get out. The city is full of police.

You're looking quite conspicuous.

- Is it fresh? - Very.

Are you sure?

I was having lunch at the Bazaar

and they said the black caviar was very fresh.

It didn't agree with me.

Do you know why I turned to terror?

Freedom, universal equality, social justice...

That's all nonsense. You don't believe in it, either.

You don't believe in anything, George.

Terrorism is the triumph of the individual over the state.

You killed the Grand Duke and nothing could stop you,

a single individual with a bomb or a gun:

not the police, not the army, not the courts. Isn't that marvellous?

You and I have almost toppled a powerful empire.

Us. You and me.

Good bye.

Erna blew herself up in St. Petersburg's Hotel Bristol

on 24th December, 1906, while making a bomb

to blow up General von der Launitz.

They identified her from her hand which was found 200m away.

Henrich, whose real name was Tadeusz Sikorsky,

shot the Governor of Chernigov on 16th September, 1907.

He was shot on the same day by the verdict of a court martial.

Valentin Kuzmich was exposed as a police agent.

He fled to Germany.

During World War I, he was interned.

He died on 20th May, 1918, in a camp for displaced persons.

I withdrew from the Socialist Revolutionary Party.

When the Communists came to power, I fought against them.

After the Civil War, I organised

a series of terror attacks in the USSR.

In 1925, I was arrested.

During an interrogation in Lubyanka I threw myself out a window.

Thirteen years earlier, in 1912,

poet Maximilian Voloshin

recited his poetry in a St. Petersburg cafe.

The cold mouth, The crease of an impassive cheek,

The glance from beneath the weary lids;

Thus has an iron century beaten you out,

With impassioned flames and feverish delirium.

But beyond the grey parchment of the face

I see the distant northern snows;

And in the starry gloom There stands a mighty elk,

A cross between its antlers.

He sent that poem to me.

I wrote to him, 'I like your poem

and I like the elk... But why me?'

And when he had opened the fourth seal,

I heard the voice of the fourth beast

say, 'Come and see.'

And I looked, and behold a pale horse;

And his name that sat on him was Death,

and Hell followed with him.

The Revelation of St. John the Divine, Chapter 6

Cast

George - Andrei Panin Erna - Xenia Rappoport

Vanya - Artyom Semakin Fyodor - Rostislav Bershauer Elena - Anastasia Makeyeva

Henrih - Alexei Kazakov Valentin Kuzmich - Dmitry Dyuzhev Elena's husband - Valery Storozhik

Gashkes - Dmitry Gusev Grand Duke - Vasily Zotov Rogoznikova - Anna Gorshkova

Written by Alexander Borodyansky with the participation of Karen Shakhnazarov

Directed by Karen Shakhnazarov

Director of Photography Vladimir Klimov R.G.C.

Production Designer Ludmila Kusakova

Music by Anatoly Kroll

Producer - Karen Shakhnazarov Executive Producer - Galina Shadur

Sound Engineer - Gulsara Mukataeva Editor - Lidia Milioti

Costume Designer - Svetlana Titova Make-up Artist - Marina Firsova