Original subtitles

CTB Film Company Production

The Film was created with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation

The Film was created With the support of Fond Kino

Mikhail Skryabin

Aida Tumutova

Aleksandr Mosin

Yuri Matveyev

Anna Korotayeva

Vyacheslav Pavlyut

Vyacheslav Telnov

Varvara Belokurova

Alina Politova

in the film

THE STOKER

Why are you coughing, Major?

The coal.

Still writing your drivel?

Hello, Sergeant. Still shooting?

Look, Major.

The first one, a businessman, put a contract out on his two friends.

They were killed, and the hit man got arrested,

but he bought his way out, the bastard.

How could I just let that go.

And the second one’s like your Khailak,

he knifes people for money.

Well, he used to knife people.

First he’d con suckers out of their money, then he’d knife them.

He’d bought off all the cops.

You’re doing a good thing, sniper.

As for me, for years I’ve been writing a book in a boiler-house

about these Khailaks you’ve been fighting against.

Come on, you did a lot of good in the war.

Here, I brought you some paper.

Thank you.

So, what have you got going on there today?

Khailak hid waiting in the bushes for Yevminia,

but she managed to run away.

She’s faster than Kostya, so he couldn’t catch up to her.

Wait, why’s she Yevminia? That’s not a Yakut name.

A priest christened her.

He gave her a new name, an Orthodox one.

And her husband became Vasily.

Really, she’s Kermes, and the husband’s Khabdzhii.

Got a lot more to write?

Yes, lots more.

Misha, time to go.

Well, Major, we’ll be off.

Remember how we got smashed on massandra in Kabul?

How we drained that spirit off the plane?

Not really.

Well, good luck to you.

Say hi to your daughter.

And you don’t remember how I wasted that khan in’86 either?

- Sasha!

- Can you hear me?

Don’t shout. I can hear you. What happened?

- Dad? He’s writing a book.

- The same one.

I’ve told you dozens of times,

before the Afghan War he read a book by Seroshevsky.

There was a story in it, "Khailak". It stunned him.

Аnd ever since his concussion he’s been writing that story.

He got some old typewriter,

throws coal in the furnace and types.

- Still.

He gave me a pair of shoes for my birthday.

They’re good, but out of fashion, even a bit silly.

Sasha, go and see him, please.

All right, I’ll go, just don’t go on at me, Mom.

And he lives there too?

Where else? Certainly not with me.

But he’s your father.

The weather’s bad, Mom. It’s easy to catch a cold.

How’s the weather in Detroit?

It’s good… Daughter, don’t abandon him. This is just how it is…

I won’t abandon him…

I’ve got a business now. And a new boyfriend.

Russian?

And how. He’s big and strong, but he never talks.

We love each other. We might get married soon.

Mr. Stoker, can Vera and I look at the fire?

Ah, Lena, hello.

Come in, please.

And you must be Vera.

Who’s your father?

Her father’s a colonel. A pilot.

Go ahead, look.

The stoker, is he nice?

Very good one, but a bit strange.

Mr. Stoker, tell us about bad people.

There are a lot of bad people, girls.

Lena, I told you about the Russian outlaw who treated the Yakuts badly.

I’m writing a book about him.

Not him, but the Yakuts he lived with.

Vera, Mr. Stoker’s a Yakut, a Major, and a Hero of the Soviet Union.

Before the Revolution,

murderers and bandits were settled with the Yakuts after hard labor.

The small indigenous nation had to feed and support the convicts.

They called them the Khailaks.

Hello. Yes. Who? Oh, hi there.

They despised the Yakuts, like all the Russians did.

He beat his host, abused his wife,

and despised the prince, who was afraid of him.

And then what?

And then… I haven’t written it yet.

When I have, I’ll tell you.

Mr. Stoker, who are they?

They’re…

They’re bad people. Run home, girls.

Bison, you’re a great guy, and screwing with you is great,

but why do you keep silent the whole time?

Father said that ever since the war you haven’t said a word.

Maybe he’s lying and you’re a mute, or shell-shocked like the stoker?

Although… you weren’t at war…

You sat it out on the home front, as a decoder.

And you didn’t have to speak there either, right?

Hello. Skryabin, Ivan Matveyevich.

- Profession? - Stoker.

Stokers are tomorrow.

But I haven’t been paid in two months

Mom called. She says hi.

She says it’s warm in Detroit.

Dad,

I’ve got a good boyfriend. I’ll probably marry him.

Russian?

Yes, but he’s great, only he’s silent all the time.

That’s good.

Dad,

give me some money.

Dad, that’s not enough.

They didn’t give me my pay today. They said tomorrow.

Daughter, go.

- Who is it? - It’s me, Masha.

Come in.

I’ve got some cognac. It’s there, in the cupboard.

And I’ll put some logs on.

I’m the daughter of a stoker, after all.

Mom sent it.

Excellent.

I’ve got some good news. They’re bringing us a big batch of pelts.

But we have no money. We spent it all on fur, but sales are slow.

I’m already a month behind paying the sewing workshop.

My dad in the boiler-room gives me all the money he makes.

He bought me these shoes. Look.

I like Didyulya. Want to go to his concert?

He’s coming soon. I saw a poster.

Sure.

Someone to see you, Andrei Sergeyevich.

Show him in.

You’ve done a lot for me, Fyodor Alexeyevich,

but I have one more favor to ask.

It’s very simple, Fyodor. He has to disappear.

The story for the police is that he stole my money and ran.

That’s partly true. But really he’s my partner.

But I found out by chance that he wanted to go off on his own,

and open his own business using my ideas.

You’ll agree that’s not right.

He’s got two guards. Special forces guys, experienced.

One’s been through two wars, plus Africa.

You can’t get close to him, so it’ll have to be a sniper.

I know you’ve got them.

The client’s scared.

First the guard comes out of the main door,

then the second guard, the driver, pulls up.

Then the client quickly gets in the car.

It takes about four seconds, so it’s the sniper’s call.

Here’s the plan.

The guard comes out here, the car’s here.

There’s an apartment opposite. Here’s the key.

There won’t be anyone there.

Then you have to lock the apartment and throw away the key.

Here’s the address.

I wrote out the plan.

Give it to him, then burn it.

What?

Bison, there’s work. Get ready and come see me.

Vasya, do you love me?

Are we going to get married?

There’s a contract.

Go to Fyodor Alexeyevich. Remember where?

He’ll tell you everything.

Take a rifle with a scope. Memorize the address,

and burn it, as always.

Fyodor Alexeyevich, good day.

Hi, Mikhail.

Vasily is on his way to you. You remember him.

- The bonehead. - Yes, he’s a bit wacko,

so explain everything as clearly as you can.

Dad, you promised to buy me some new shoes.

For your birthday, daughter.

But, Dad…

Masha, all right, not now. I’ve got a lot to do.

I already know.

Go on, get the money from Gosha and say hi to the sniper from me.

We’ll play later, if you don’t chicken out…

So, then – straight blackjack?

Get Gosha.

Not scared of losing someone else’s money? Eh?

A hundred each, for starters.

Another.

I’m over.

Let’s play for everything? Eh?

Go on.

Not scared?

Achtung minen!

- It’s you, Sergeant. - Don’t sleep, Major, you’ll freeze.

How’s it going?

Fine, how are you? You’re still writing?

Ready.

Twenty.

Twenty-one.

What are you doing, idiot?

I gave him more…

He switched them…

What the hell are you doing?

I don’t get it.

Your Bison just won thirty grand from me.

But he won them…

What, are you an idiot? That’s my thirty grand!

You lost, it’s normal.

I’ll give you normal, you…

Help, Major.

You seen the boss?

No! We haven’t seen him.

Vasily, who’s there?

Hello.

Good day, Comrade Colonel.

Allow me to introduce myself, Colonel Minayev.

Major Skryabin, Ivan Matveyevich, retired.

I’m Vera’s father. She comes to see you with her friend Lena.

I wanted to find out who my daughter’s mixing with.

Ah, Vera! Sit down, please.

It’s hot in here.

Yes, it’s a boiler-room.

And you live here too?

My daughter’s already grown up. I don’t want to get in her way.

My wife left…

And the temperature has to be maintained round the clock.

What are you writing? Your memoirs?

No, a book about a Russian outlaw

who was settled with the Yakuts after hard labor.

That was the custom in Tsarist Russia.

He humiliates the Yakuts,

beats his host, rapes his wife.

And the Yakuts couldn’t do anything, that was the law.

Where did you serve?

First in Vitebsk, then in Afghanistan.

In 1988 I was discharged after a concussion.

I received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Really?

Well, I’m just sitting it out on the home front.

I fly to Africa, to the Middle East. I sell weapons to the enemy.

I wasn’t in Afghanistan, or Chechnya.

And what do the girls do here?

First they look at the fire, then I tell them about bad people,

about the Yakuts, about the war… About whatever they ask me.

Alright then, I’ll be off. Pleasure to meet you.

- Be good to them. - Of course.

It’s really hot in here.

In Afghanistan we used to drain the massandra from your planes!

Dad, why’s the stoker a Hero of the USSR and you’re not?

During the war I was a sniper,

and he was a combat engineer.

He commanded a battalion of engineers.

One night by himself, to save his guys,

he cleared a path through a minefield.

They got in behind the mujahedeen and did the job.

Think about it – isn’t that a hero?

A few months later, a soldier of his was clearing an anti-tank mine.

The Major was working next to him.

The soldier made a mistake and was blown to bits.

The Major took the blast so bad he was in the hospital three months.

Then he was discharged with a concussion.

He’s been a bit funny ever since.

How do you know him?

We met in Kabul.

We drank massandra.

It’s an industrial alcohol. You can drain it off the planes.

He drank hard.

Yakuts generally drink a lot.

Then we served not far from each other and we’d meet.

What about the Benz?

They won’t find it.

Take a look.

- Hello. - Hello.

- Hello. - Hello.

Which pins did you use for the stretching?

Medium.

Did you do the seams with the Strobel?

No, just the regular fur machine.

Nail this piece up on the stretching board.

Hello, Masha.

Sell a lot today?

- Hello. - Any clients?

Yes, we sold several furs and mittens.

Are you going to start coming to work on time?

I’m sorry, Masha,

I dropped in on my father and then the workshop.

Did they send new ones?

Yes, a new batch came this morning.

I took them to the workshop. But there aren’t that many.

And I didn’t ask…

Tell me, Dad, is it fair that Sasha gets 50% of the profits?

I think so. It was her idea to open a shop.

She made the deal on the fur supplies from Yakutia.

She decided which hats and fur coats to sew.

But Dad, she hasn’t been doing anything for ages.

She doesn’t sew any hats,

she just stands behind the counter and steals money.

How do you know she’s stealing?

I’m guessing.

And another thing, you gave all the money for the shop.

She stopped going to Yakutia long ago. Our people buy all the skins.

It would be cheaper to hire another Yakut to work behind the counter.

Then I wouldn’t have to share the profits.

Dad, make her go away…

Forever.

You are your papa’s daughter.

But the idea’s the main thing.

But, Dad!

All right, what’s our main course?

Bison!

You know the stoker’s daughter?

Resolve that issue.

Hello, Vasily.

It’s a mess in here.

A very bad person.

A thief, a prostitute,

her dad’s a deputy, so they won’t get in any trouble!

Anyway, what happens next?

Next?

Then Khailak beats Khabdzhii and rapes Kermes.

Hang on, you said that she’s Yevminia.

Kermes is her Yakut name.

I’m sorry, Mikhail, I told you. I’ve got to work.

All right, let’s go, guys. And you keep working, Major.

Yasha, you keep watch for me. I’ll go and see my daughter.

- Hello. - Hello.

Is Sasha here?

No she hasn’t been in today.

She’s gone away!

With some beau.

She took her share and left.

Long ago?

I don’t know.

Alright.

Major?

Well, hello! Come in…

You’ve got skis?

Yes, I love coming down the slopes.

I just got back from the Alps.

Usually I go to Sochi with the City Prosecutor. We’re on the same side.

Want a drink?

They weren’t at war.

Shooting from afar isn’t war.

Mister Stoker, tell me more about the bad people.

You know, Vera, I knew a good man,

but he burnt people in the furnace.

I thought he was a good man. But he turned out to be bad.

I killed two people today.

War is different.

There it’s us and the enemy.

But here, it’s just us.

How did the book end?

Khabdzhii left a mine for Khailak,

and Khailak blew his legs off.

Go home, and say hi to your Dad.

Mr. Stoker, can I take your picture?

Mr. Stoker, you’re bleeding.

Mr. Stoker…

Ivan Scriabin's story.

Kermes was making when Khabdzhii came.

“You won’t like it here”, Khabdzhii said.

“The roof is leaking"

“Go to the prince. He’ll find you a good family”.

Khailak looked at Kermes. “Well, I like it here”, he said.

“Kostya”, he said, looking at Kermes.

Then he lay in the bushes and watched Kermes carrying water.

She saw him, dropped the bucket and ran away.

Kostya ran after her,

but she was too quick.

He couldn’t catch her.

“Get undressed”, said Khailak

Kostya beat Khabdzhii.

Then he raped Kermes.

Khabdzhii beat Kermes.

“Beat me, but not too hard”, she asked.

Mr. Stoker didn’t write any more.