Original subtitles

MOSFILM Studios

THE STONE FLOWER A tale from the Urals

Written by P. BAZHOV, I. KELLER

Directed by A. PTUSHKO

Camera by F. PROVOROV

Production Designers: M. BOGDANOV, G. MYASNIKOV

Costume Designer O. KRUCHININA

Music by L. SCHWARZ

Danila the Carver by V. DRUZHNIKOV

Mistress of the Copper Mountain by Tamara MAKAROVA

Prokopich by M. TROYANOVSKY

Katya by Ye. DEREVSCHIKOVA

Grandfather Slyshko by A. KELBERER

Severyan by M. YANSHIN

Barin by M. TEMYAKOV

Barin's wife by A. PETUKHOVA

Old Master by N. ORLOV

Vikorikha by L. DEIKUN Efim by S. ZAITSEV

Danila as a boy by V. KRAVCHENKO

Who is there?

Who is gadding about about the territory

at an untimely hour?

By what right?

- We're the local kids. - Tut, tut.

- What do you want? - Sorry, old man.

We came for fairy tales.

Oh, really?

Fairy tales!

Fairy tales is when it's about a magic hen

and her golden egg:

such tales old women tell to tots. You aren't a tot.

Also I forgot fairytales.

But I do remember tales of the hoary past

But it's not fairy tales but truth.

Something not to be told to every other listener.

You should be cautious here.

Gee, you fledglings...

Who have been frolicking and running about:

now you want something fascinating for your ears?

Very well then.

I will tell you about Danila the Carver,

about his bride Katya

and about Mistress of the Copper Mountain.

- Is it some new fairytale? - But don't interrupt me:

if your heed with an attentive ear,

you will as good as see

all this with your own eyes.

Now, listen...

There once lived here a craftsman Prokopich:

he was the best in making jewelry from malachite.

He felt the very soul of that stone.

But Prokopich was growing old

and would suffer from ailments.

You understand in stone,

and I know herbs: I know which one brings strength,

which relieves rheumatism, which - coughing.

And this one is for fever.

Gee!

There is a guest come to you,

Severyan himself!

Stop it, you, fierce man!

Your day of retribution will come!

Zip your lip, you old witch!

Mistress of the Copper Mountain will take you!

I will send you to Siberia for your sorcery!

When will you finish the candlestick?

I'll finish it when I have strength.

Barin is no fellow: he won't listen to excuses.

He must get what he wants.

You are getting old, Prokopich:

any day you may die and we'll have to bury you.

Who will carve gems in your stead then?

I will order Efim

to bring the brightest lads to you.

Teach them your craft.

Initiate them into all intricacies.

But Prokopich...

Maybe he begrudged his professional secrets,

maybe something else - but he was a bad teacher.

He was very impatient and quick tempered.

A stone, like any human, has soul.

Not everyone can understand it.

They've brought you roguish boys:

it's beyond you to understand stone.

What are you gazing at me?

You blockhead, you should be gazing at the stone,

you should try to understand it!

Whom am I to teach now, Severyan?

No one.

Nothing will come of you, Danila!

It will be spoiled life for you

and lashing for my back.

You know what Severyan is like.

If something happens... he'll have no mercy.

What's on your mind, eh?

I'm not sure, grandfather.

Just fancying.

I was admiring a flower,

a bug crawling up a blade:

a blue bug, and from under its wings

you can see yellow marks.

You, oaf!

To admire bugs? You should know better!

You should tend cows so that they won't

go astray and be eaten by wolves.

Pah! Bugs!

Drive the cows together:

I will have a wink of a sleep.

And don't get distracted by foolish things.

Hey!

Play something for me, Danila.

Play something for me on your pipe.

Can it be Mistress of the Copper Mountain?

Take any local boy - Prokopich has dismissed all of them.

They'll only raise bumps from his lessons.

And he keeps saying: 'They are wothless.'

I wish I could flay the old devil alive!

No, you can't. He is a unique talent.

And you really mean it - to flay him?

At one lash?

I am not sure about one lash,

but ten lashes would end him for sure.

Prokopich wants to die with his professional secret.

Have mercy!..

- It's all my blame! - What happened?

We were careless.

Wolves have eaten your cattle.

What?

Efim!

Flagellate him!

Don't touch him! It was my blame.

You'll have your portion of lashes too.

Have mercy for him: it was my carelessness!

Gee, interceder, my foot!

I'll teach you to take care of your lord's property!

Efim, take the lad!

That devil!

He'll beat him to death.

You, silent one!

Moan!

You will moan!

Shall I go on?

Is he alive?

Nothing will happen to him!

Gee, an enduring one!

I know what job to give him,

should he survive.

Who permitted you to touch it?

What are you poking about?

It seems to me,

you have chiseled it from the wrong side.

Because now the stone's pattern will be gone.

Who are you? A craftsman?

You can't judge what your hands don't know.

I know that you have spoiled this block.

Spoiled?

You dare challenge me, the best carver in the Urals?

I'll kill you!

'Spoiled it', eh? I will show you!

Get out of my sight!

Hey, you, orphan!

Hey...

Come downstairs. Are you deaf or what?

No, you threatened to kill me.

- Not to fear, I'll not touch you. - You're not lying?

Of course.

Hey, you, self-master, show me how to work by your pattern.

Here you should make it thinner.

Thinner, eh?

- Yes, thinner. - Stop yakking.

I can see it without you.

Pah, you, blabber!

Your tongue works, your hands idle.

- Along this rim... - Enough is enough.

It's late already.

Make your bed on the bench.

There's an orphan for you!

He gave me an old master

a piece of his mind.

What an eye!

He will make a nice carver.

See nice dreams, you, perusing one.

Sleep.

Prokopich was bereaved of wife and children.

So he took to Danila.

He loved him as his own son:

but he won't let him approach his craft.

Because he took pity on the lad.

It's understandable.

To carve malachite was an unhealthy business.

It's stone dust getting into your lungs.

Time was lapsing away.

Once the barin came to the factory with an inspection.

Did you have a nice sleep, darling?

I had an awful night. I miss Petersburg.

When are we going there?

First one commission is to be fulfilled.

Tell those muzhiks to do it quickly.

Honey, you can't urge our furnaces to be quick!

Shall we be marooned here because of some furnaces!

Give them more fuel, let them not be lazy.

Honey, factory furnaces were constructed

so as to produce this much.

So, they are foolishly constructed then.

Those muzhiks take little care of their lords.

Prokop,

come hither.

Well, Prokop,

to put the matter of things in an easy way...

In Paris I visited a certain marquise.

He showed me a most exquisite casket.

I told him I had an even more beautiful casket here in Russia.

Marquise was fretful and he bet half a million francs

that nothing can hold a candle to his casket.

I swore I would bring mine by autumn.

So, Prokop,

I need a casket better than the marquise's.

Something to feast your eyes on.

If you make one - I will reward you.

If not - you'll have to answer.

- You got it? - Yes, sir.

Prokopich had been working day and night.

Without sleep and food, thinking of nothing else.

He was possessed with this work: to make a casket for the barin.

But his work won't prosper.

Maybe it was his age and an unseeing eye,

but an intricate pattern was beyond him.

He has spoiled many a block of malachite,

but nothing would come of it.

Barin is coming on Sunday.

- Will you finish by that time? - Yes.

Do it, or else you'll be in trouble.

- Who is this lad? - He lives here.

Can it be Danila the orphan?

- Where have you been? - In the forest.

- What for? - Catching goldfinches.

This is how you master the craft, you rascal.

It was me who sent him for goldfinches.

It makes life in the house happier.

You're giving him too much rope.

I'll show you goldfinches!

- You got it? - Yes, Severyan.

On Sunday the barin is coming.

I have only two days left!

Heaps of work!

Oh my Jesus.

Two days left...

But the casket...

Don't punish me, barin, take pity on me.

Grandfather, it's me, Danila.

I'm dying to have a look at that casket.

We're coming, honey.

Won't I get the better of Marquise d'Chamfot!

- What? - Run away! It's the barin!

He won't hurt you.

Where is the carver?

He is ill.

Ill? Why?

And the casket is not ready?

Barin, have mercy! I'm too weak for this work.

Too old.

How will I ever go to Paris now?

Marquise will make a laughing stock out of me!

- I'll flog you to death! - Barin...

The old man is simply forgetting things,

because the casket is ready.

- Ready? - It's over there.

What's wrong with you, old man?

It's not my work.

Some other carver made this.

Who can it be then?

There was no such lizard on my casket.

Shut up!

Do as you wish, but it's not my work.

Whose work is it then?

His.

Then I want him to make a vase: with an ornament

along the rim and with flowers at the foot.

I want the whole vase be like a flower.

Of course, honey.

He'll make one for you.

Did you hear?

Yes.

I'll make one.

And for this casket take this...

Buy something for you.

Now the marquise will pay me half a million!

Blow, blow, little wind,

Bring us tender spring

And tell to my love

About things I sing...

Danila dear!

Katya dear!

Give me a flower.

Take whichever you fancy.

Gee, you've chosen the prettiest one!

Where did you find it?

Near Lizard Hill. Don't lose my flower.

I won't.

They say you made a casket in Prokopich's stead?

Yes.

Now you are making a vase for the barin's wife?

- Yes. - And for me?

How can I ever forget about you.

- I won't forget. - Danila dear.

Katya dear.

Come to the dam on Sunday.

To listen to robins singing?

To watch the sun go down and then rise?

Keep the flower and bring it.

Of course.

Your mind is not at peace.

The vase gives me no peace.

Why being so zealous?

I wish to make a vase

so as to grasp the magic of stone and to show it to people.

Who will see it, in lords' chambers?

The lords themselves and their servants.

Stone is durable.

If not contemporaries - the posterity will see it.

You are looking beyond the future, lad.

It makes life interesting.

Man would flower and then wither...

But his thoughts will stay in his articles -

maybe for eternity.

You are trying to overreach yourself.

What if your bride will get married to someone else.

Katya? No, she won't.

She is very much like myself.

She loves robins singing,

and the sun rising...

My flower...

My intricate flower...

Gee, he hasn't blown out the candle.

This guy spares nothing in his work.

Nothing...

He is a real craftsman.

He is second to none -

he is the pride of our land!

Look what a wonder he has made.

It's a perfect piece of work!

I've been 40 years in this, I've made 100 odd vases,

but I haven't even got near the likes of it.

It's flawless.

An ingenious eye, an unfaltering hand.

If you go on like this, you'll be the best.

- What would you say, grandfather? - Well...

It's a lofty thing!

Please, take your seats, dear guests:

my pie is ready.

How did you manage, Danila,

to carve it with such finesse without making it crumble?

You have been hiding yourself for the whole summer.

Forgetting me.

Forgetting you?

Can't you see: I've carved out 'your' flower.

Truly so.

Does it mean you have been thinking about me?

But I thought you forgot me.

I was thinking about you.

But I fell short in making the flower.

Congratulations with the finished work!

God grant it, you'll make even better articles.

- Here is to Danila the carver! - We are the best!

We have not only roller men,

but carvers too.

- Something to be proud of. - It's like a real flower!

Alas, it is short of the living beauty of a flower.

Stone is dead matter: you can't make it breathe.

I want to make something as living as living can be.

I want to concentrate in stone

the beauty of a living flower,

the beauty which will never wither.

Don't you step onto this plank in your strivings:

you may end a servant of Mistress of the Copper Mountain!

- What servant? - Her worker.

They live and work in the Mountain.

They have grasped the beauty of stone

because they saw the Stone Flower.

The Stone Flower?

What is it like?

Simple folk have never seen it.

Once you see it, you become aloof to earthly life.

I wish I could see it.

Are you tired of your earthly life?

Don't confuse the lad with your tall tales.

He is too much a philosopher as it is.

The Stone Flower doesn't exist!

It does exist!

I was looking for it when I was young:

but they cut my wings!

The old man is becoming senile!

Ignat, sing us a carol.

Your Katya is a nice singer, too.

Hens sing like cockerels, and I wonder:

Wives have their husbands knuckles under.

You are wonderful.

You made a vase for someone else, thinking about me.

This is what matters.

At first you didn't see this.

Because I was thinking about something else.

- But now I see. - After I told you.

It's your first work.

Then you'll be making progress to a higher step.

That would a high-most step.

And I won't reach it without the Stone Flower.

No! You believed the old man's words:

but he is out of his mind and not sober, too.

Also, you're exhausted with your work.

You have so cloudy looks.

My star-eyed one!

We'll get married and you'll be all right.

Your den is empty.

We shall buy us a cow.

I guess, the barin's wife will reward you for the vase.

A cow?

We'll buy one.

Katya, come on, let us sing songs!

You coming with me or you want to linger here?

After a drink you're dreaming about the Stone Flower.

You, staring at the lassie's beauty.

It will cost you a fortune.

Come hither. Let us talk.

Do not be afraid.

I'm not afraid.

Well, Danila the carver,

you are not satisfied with the vase?

Yes, I am not.

Come with me, Danila dear,

I will show you the Stone Flower.

Where is it?

Come snow, wait at the Lizard Hill.

What's going on?

You have funereal looks.

Oh, Katya.

My head is killing me.

No end of patterns swirling before my eyes.

Let's take a walk.

The draft will cool off your headache.

Me too, I began imagining things.

Must be because it's stuffy in the house.

Give him some enchanting potion.

He'll get married and stop daydreaming.

The carvers wonder: what else can he want?

He has made a perfect vase - what is pricking him?

Stop torturing the poor girl!

Wait.

I'm thinking about smashing the vase!

We've agreed with Katya that she will wait.

The vase is ready.

You can't ask for more.

Maybe it's my limit

and I'll never grasp the magic of stone.

Truly so, it's high time that we get married.

Katya is suffering.

So am I.

They are coming!

Welcome us, don't say no, welcome us with a bow.

Into the house we would pile: welcome us with a smile.

The business is done and sealed with bread and salt.

For ages upon ages. Amen.

Pray, tell, us, dear bride...

Pray, tell, us, dear bride:

Who is standing by your side?

It's your happy day tonight.

Have our potluck, oh dear matchmakers.

Fall to, dear guests.

Treat yourselves, in the love of God,

for their love to be for all times.

Pray, tell me, who's the head of the family?

Oh, rose, you're so fine! Oh, you velvety grapevine!

Can't you see? - Danila is the head of the family!

Oh, rose, you're so fine! Oh, you velvety grapevine!

Why the lassie loves the guy? Why?

From his tender glance to blush at once.

What you baked in the stove -

give to us with your love!

If not - cross yourself!

I was born on the holiday of the Protective Veil!

Oh, sweet berry - raspberry in the yonder dale.

A happy engagement.

On the Holiday of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain.

At midnight the Stone Flower will come into blossom.

Be sure and come to the Lizard Hill.

I will be waiting for you, Danila.

Father and Mother,

bless the young prince and his princess.

Danila!

Danila!

Come to the Lizard Hill.

I will show you the Stone Flower.

So, you have come.

Have you broken that vase?

Yes, I have.

Show me the Stone Flower.

You may wish later you hadn't seen it.

Because you won't let me go?

What made you think so?

You are free to go away, only you won't wish it.

Show it to me all the same!

What about your bride Catherine?

I can't live without the Stone Flower.

Very well, let's go.

Look, this is all my realm.

Let's go further.

This is my most precious place.

Let's sit down and talk.

Now you have seen my dowry.

Will you take me for wife?

No, I came only that you show me the Stone Flower.

- Will you love me then? - I love someone else.

Well, let's go then, Danila the carver.

Now I will make a vase

no one has ever cast his eyes upon!

So Katya was left alone.

Not a wife yet, but a widow already.

So Danila hasn't died!

Maybe he's in the Copper Mountain?

There is no finding him now!

Is there any word from Danila?

I have a foreboding.

Something bad has happened.

A drowned man has been washed ashore.

The raftsmen buried him.

They say it was our Danila.

It's all empty talk.

I was asking around: nobody saw this happen.

I will move to your place and take care of you.

What about your father and mother?

You are not a stranger to me:

you are Danila's stepfather!

Thank you, Katya,

for not forgetting me, an old man.

My eyes can't see patterns any longer.

You could teach me to some elementary things.

It's not for a girl to carve malachite.

It's a thing unheard-of!

They've come again.

Enticing you with their songs.

You could go and take a walk.

Why should I?

You're still waiting for him?

Of course I am!

Waiting for someone who is dead long ago!

No one has seen him dead.

And he lives in my heart.

This work doesn't make me happy.

People won't see this flower.

It's ready!

Aren't you smart.

Polish another brooch

and I will lie down and have some rest.

I wish Danila saw

he has a craftswoman in his house now!

She is working in Danila's and Prokopich's stead.

Get up, father, I've baked some corncakes.

Father!

I have no strength in me.

I'll go to Vikorikha and bring some potion.

- I'm dying. - No, you are not!

How will you live then?

Now you'll have...

to get married all the same.

Danila will be back.

No, he won't.

Only you can appreciate the beauty of my stones.

Your work fills me with happiness.

I have finished the vase.

Let me go! I beg of you!

You thought about Katya again?

I keep dreaming about her!

You will never see your Katya! Never!

Do you need malachite brooches?

Can't you see I have plenty?

Are you trying to master man's craft?

All right, show it to me.

Whom did you steal it from?

How dare you calumniate people

without knowing them?

You are not blind: how can you steal

this many brooches with identical patterns?

It's a whimsical pattern, too.

Take the money, beauty.

If you make more, be sure and bring them:

I will buy them there and then.

Gee, how much I was paid!

He said, he will buy brooches from me now.

This is just the right block I want.

I will make many a brooch from it.

Can it be Danila is helping me?

Blow, blow, little wind,

Bring me strength, oh bring,

And tell to my Danila

About things I sing...

What are you prying for in my forest?

Looking for some cute block of stone?

Take any - and go away.

I have no need in that dead stone of yours!

I need my Danila!

You, stealing other girls' bridegrooms!

Do you know whom you are speaking to?

Of course I do!

But I'm not afraid of you, you wretched woman!

No matter what, Danila is still attached to me!

Try and find your Danila!

You will remain my worker forever!

Yes, you have power and possess magic,

but my love is stronger than you.

I'll go away all the same!

Try and do this!

Why haven't you left, eh?

I will not marry you, ever.

I feel for you, Danila.

Don't you feel for me?

I won't diminish your beauty.

But I have Katya in my heart.

Katya has forgotten you long ago!

I will never believe this!

Very well then...

Danila!

Danila!

Danila dear!

Katya dear!

Great for you, Danila.

You haven't betrayed Katya because of some stone lady:

nor have you coveted my wealth.

I was testing you.

You may have your craftsman, Katya.

And here is my gift for your faithfulness.

My favorite casket.

Danila, for you staunchness,

all you saw here will not be erased from your memory.

Forgive me for judging you rashly.

You can't hurt the feelings of stone.

Keep mum, Danila, about where you lived

and about my wealth, too.

Let it be discovered a long time hereafter.

Now - go.