Original subtitles

Mosfilm Studios prepared for re-release one of the most famous Soviet films.

This one - is a historic and revolutionary picture about the first difficult years of our Revolution.

It tells of people personifying all the passion and heroism of the epoch

and the boundless dedication to the Revolution without which Russia wouldn't had been illuminated with the light of Lenin.

Mosfilm Studios

THE COMMUNIST

Written by Evgeny Gabrilovich

Directed by Yuly Raizman

Camera A. Shelenkov, Chen-Yu-Lan

Art Directors M. Bogdanov, G. Myasnikov

Assistant Director E. Naroditskaya

Music by R. Shchedrin

Sound by S.Minervin

Edited by K. Moskvina

Production Manager Yu. Rogozovsky

Evgeny Urbansky as Vasily Gubanov

Sophia Pavlova as Anyuta Fokina

Cast:

Lenin � B. Smirnov Fedor Fokin � E. Shutov

Denis Ivanovich � S. Yakovlev

Stepan � V. Zubkov Defrocked priest � V. Kolpakov

Zimny � V. Adlerov

Production of the Order of Lenin "Mosfilm" Studios, 1957

Hey, guys! It's Zagora! We've arrived.

Pass me the tools!

Comrades! Who is making for Zagora, get down!

Come on. Throw me the bags!

A story I'm going to tell you

I heard from my mother.

She told it to me a few times,

but many details have been effaced from my memory.

I will narrate it as I remember.

It was the year 1918.

All the world with bated breath

listened to the bellow of the cannons of our young Revolution.

There was a struggle for life and death.

That very year

when all the county, it seemed, thought only of war

Lenin decided to begin construction of several power plants.

One of them was being built near the village

that I would name Zagora.

People were arriving here from everywhere.

They were fathers, wives and brothers of them

who desperately fought with the enemy at the front.

They were half-starved, barefooted, and they came here

to give the country electricity.

There were no places to live in,

so they settled in dugouts and found lodgings in nearby villages.

- Mother, let me in. - I have seven lodgers already.

No place.

- Hey, would you let me in? - What you pay with?

- Money, of course. - No way. Money won't do.

Money won't do.

It was from these days

my mother usually started her story.

What are you banging?

Look, would you let me in?

- My house is full already. - I'll pay with sugar.

You're lying, eh?

Here it is.

Well, come in.

Come in.

You settle in here.

- Hi. - Hello!

Anyuta�

- Look. - Jesus!

Hey, soldier�

Well, join.

Since you'll live here, you'll give me all your ration.

If you're hungry, sit down to table.

Anyuta, give him a spoon.

Well, no.

Cheers!

God save us!

Hey, lame leg, where are you from? The front?

Yes.

Is it true that generals forced Kharkov?

- I haven't heard of it. - They did. Really!

- Now they march to Moscow. - Why are you so glad?

You wanted to sign up with the Communists, eh.

Maybe I'll do it yet. Not all at once!

Am I right, Anyuta?

- Keep your grabbers to yourself! - Why? They'll hang you anyway.

- What for? - You know not?

- Did you sack manor-houses? - He did.

- Everybody did. - They will hang everybody too.

- There's no lack of trees. - That's true.

Am I right, soldier?

- Do you have money? Have a drink. - No, I don't want.

- As you like. - Pour me some.

To keep your company!

- Strong wine! Where did you take it? - God sent it.

God sent him against Devil, and swapped Him for moonshine.

Hold you tongue or I'll cut it off.

Oh, what a people!

The war is on, and you are filling your bellies.

- The shameless ones! - What do you want?

Wait! Who has no conscience?

Do I have no conscience? Do they have it?

They closed churches � no burial services, no baptisms.

No place for a man to pray, people live with no thread on.

You'll plunder everything in no time.

Who are you? Who are you by the way?

So much used to carry on agitation! Get him out!

Hey, you! What is your� Denis.

That's no way to offend people.

Come on! Give him a good licking.

- Don't meddle, Fedor. - Why does he offend people?

Well, be quiet. There's not much time left for them.

- God sees everything. Goddamn it! - It's true.

To hell with them! Tell them we are full.

- We are full. - Are there Communists there?

- Who? - Are there Communists?

- Communists� - What Communists? No Communists!

- No, no! None of them! - Wait!

- I am a Communist. - Come to the meeting.

- Your name? - Gubanov.

What are you by profession?

I am a metalworker, and can work as a carpenter,

- digger. I can do all. - Do you know scales?

- What scales? - Can you weigh on the scales?

Why should I? I am a worker, not a weigher.

As you are a worker, you will be in charge of the warehouse.

Right!

No, no way!

I shed my blood not for weighing out herring!

Are you kidding?

Your Party-membership card.

How do you like it! He shed blood! We should bow down to him now.

And we are just idling here, aren't we?

Give him back his card, if he doesn't want to.

Take it.

- How long are you waiting? - Two hours.

- Wait! Carry it back. - Why?

I say, carry it back.

Put it down.

Go out.

Hey, dear citizen, why do you order about here?

Yakov Ivanovich!

You, dear citizen, go out please.

Oh, flatmate! How do you do?

What do you want?

Listen to me, comrade!

I'm talking to you. It's no admittance here.

Do you have the keys?

- What's the matter? - Hand me the keys.

Unbolt the door and call for people!

Wait! Step aside from the door.

There's my credentials.

I see.

Wait.

Why do you offend me? You have no fear of God.

It's all the lie. Stepan said a pack of lies of me. Saint icon!

Saint icon?

- And what is these? - It's samples.

Well, be off!

And take care that I will not see or hear of you anymore!

Who knows? Maybe we'll run across each other some day?

- Well, who came for what? - Windowpanes!..

Wait, comrades!

Order for nails.

Nails? Wait.

Hurry up! We can't stand here all the day.

- Hey, guys, still waiting? - We are.

It is the third day we came after nails.

You won't get your nails this way! You'd better go from the back yard,

- with moonshine. - Indeed!

Lenin is sending building materials here

and they carry it over to the market. Profiteers!

Why are you banging?

Look at him!

- No nails, comrades. - And where are they?

We put life in out work, and you...

- Bring nails! - I said no nails.

No nails? An how did they get lost?

- What are you looking? Thief! - Be quiet there!

Why should I be quiet? I fear you not!

You are a thief and that mug of yours is that of a bandit!

I spit upon you!

Hey, guys, take it easy!

This storekeeper is just appointed.

Why do you keep silent, you fool?

It won't do. It's bad.

- Who is here for drying oil? - It's me.

And I wait for whiting.

O, Jesus.

Anyuta,

did you hear what the black-bearded one said?

Lenin flew from Petrograd�

- Maybe he's telling lies� - Well, if it's true�

then it's bad news.

I'd better take out that cotton fabric and bury it in the shed.

It'll make my mind easy.

What do you think?

I don't know, Fedor. You know better.

Oh, Mother of God, my brains are splitting.

We got ourselves into this mess, the world revolution�

Well, I'd better bury the fabric in the shed.

Is he asleep?

- He's reading. - Damn him!

Well, you get up and have an eye on him.

- Is the spade in the shed? - Yes.

You know, dear comrade, you should pay me for burning oil.

- The oil is not cheep nowadays. - I'll give you money for oil.

Why don't you sleep, mistress?

I need something to do.

What are you reading?

This book

is �The Communist Manifesto�.

- And are you not afraid? - Afraid of what?

That you are a Communist. The Whites will come and kill you.

If you're afraid of death you can change nothing in your life.

It's queer.

- Where are you going? - Why?

I want to take my tobacco. What's wrong?

Don't you feel bored here?

You might work at the construction. It's quite near.

They are in need of people.

Why should I go away from my house?

- There's our farm. - Your farm!

You get rusty, but look what a big thing people are doing!

- Many women are working too. - Women?

We know of it. It's all fooling about.

And what do you busy yourself with?

Myself?

Well, different activities. Tomorrow I go to Moscow

to provide the construction with supplies.

And Denis will accompany me. I have much business in hand.

Well, all right. Put out the light and go to sleep.

Much time spent Vasily and Denis in Moscow.

They visited many warehouses and organizations.

They procured bar iron, spades, wire, axes,

only there were no nails.

Hey, friend, let us walk in.

- Do you have a pass? - If we had, there'd be no problem.

- No pass, no passage. - Wait. Hold it.

Listen to me. We came from Zagora. Surely, you heard about it.

- Well� - We're building a power station.

We need supplies. That's what we're here for.

- Our chief is here in session. - We have got all but nails.

- So we came here for nails. - For nails?

It's the Kremlin, it's the government.

Them come here to solve affairs of state.

- And what's that of yours? - What's that of ours?

- People do need nails! - It's no use talking about it.

Produce your pass.

Listen. These nails, we seek after them from dawn,

no rest, no eating - but still no nails!

- Well� - And you standing here like a fool.

- Produce your pass. - Wait, Denis.

You consider it carefully, friend.

Time is wasting. The project can end stopped,

and you're standing here like a stuffed dummy.

But are a Red Guard, proletarian blood!

Now we're here and tomorrow we may shed blood together.

- Produce your pass. - You and your harping about the pass!

Are you going to enter the world revolution with a pass too?

Where's your class consciousness? Let's go!

- Stop! Or I shall shoot! - Well, shoot, you bastard!

Why do you stare at me? Shoot!

- What's the matter? - They want to trespass.

We're from Zagora, carrying out a pressing mission.

- And this one! - Wait. So, you're from Zagora?

- And your chief is Zimny, isn't he? - He is.

Well, go with me. Let them in.

Listen,

keep watch over my bag.

Especially because you've got a rifle.

Is Comrade Zimny at the committee meeting?

- Zimny? Yes, he is. - These comrades came from Zagora�

Sit down, please. I'll call you when there's a break.

We are to create a net of power stations

and according to plan they should cover all country -

the European part, Siberia, Urals and Turkestan�

Using it as a support

we can build up all the industry.

Let's take the Donbas, for example.

Shterovskaya is project number one.

Comrade Zimny, they came to you.

What're you doing here?

We're looking for you, Comrade Zimny. No nails still.

You go. I'll come soon.

- What's matter here? - Sorry, Vladimir Ilyich.

They came from Zagora.

From Zagora? Excuse me, Gleb Maximilyanovich!

And what happened there?

The supply has come short, Vladimir Ilyich.

- There's something we can't get. - And what in particular?

We're short of nails, Vladimir Ilyich.

There's always tumult at my warehouse. They demand nails.

- You must go to Metal Sales Depot. - I've been everywhere. No nails.

- Have you tried Sokolovsky? - That's idea!

- Why, I haven't. - And you said you tried everywhere!

Sorry.

Wait, Comrade!

First we'll know whether he has got nails.

You see I've got everything but nails!

Hello, Comrade Sokolovsky! Lenin speaking.

We need nails for Zagora.

No nails?

We need them very desperately!

Not a single nail?

You think Vareitis has it?

All right, we'll call Vareitis.

4-36-77

Comrade Vareitis? Lenin speaking.

Do you have nails?

Yes, nails.

Vladimir Ilyich, you tell them that we can barter it

for drying oil.

We can barter it for drying oil.

Zagora is one of the most important state projects as well.

So you do have it after all? You see? You push and you get!

Vladimir Ilyich, if we could have get a little of screws�

There is a Comrade� What is your name?

- Gubanov. - Vasily Gubanov.

Gubanov will visit you and you please get on with it.

And as for screws � you push him yourself!

- He's yielding. - I'll push.

Thank you, Vladimir Ilyich.

What number is the Zagora project on your list?

No.16, Vladimir Ilyich.

No. 1, 2, 3 are still in our dreams,

but No. 16 is becoming a reality. They' re asking for nails.

What about food in Zagora, comrades?

Not good, I presume.

Sorry. Did I snore?

No, no.

Got tired during the war, mistress.

Am always sleepy.

Denis, cheer, brother! We've found nails. Lenin has helped.

Comrades! Be quiet.

Sorry. They are sending you to provide food.

Wait. They must write out an order first.

- Is it a long journey? - To Ukraine.

- What? - Ukraine.

Holy Mother!

How do you do?

And where is everybody?

Nobody is here.

- My husband is away. - Why so? For how long?

He went to buy flour and maybe some lard.

Great!

But where are all the rest?

- He told them to move. - Why?

They shouldn't spend the nights here in his absence.

I see.

You seemed to have moved too, but your things are still here.

I was making a business trip.

I've just driven a goods train from Moscow.

We have unloaded it and I came here. Did you think about me?

Well, you think no small beer of yourself!

Well, and I did think about you.

I've got presents for you.

It's some tobacco for Fedor

and a kerchief for you.

Try it on.

Beautiful.

Anyuta, where are my things?

Under the bench.

- Wanna anything to eat? - Nope. I've got bread.

What are you looking?

- Your wife? - No.

- Fiancee? - A kind of.

Does she love you?

We just only kissed once when life was smooth.

Then I went to the front and she stopped writing.

Love can't be like this.

Maybe you were worth little in her eyes.

Maybe.

Love is such a thing.

A powerful thing.

Anyuta, what's up with you?

Go away! Do you hear?

Fedor ordered that nobody could stay here. Go away!

Well... As you say.

My salute to Communists!

- What do you want? - I forgot my towel.

What towel? Where is it?

There is no towel of yours here.

Well, never mind. Let us just sit and talk.

- So you came back? - I did.

Where are you going to live?

- None of your busyness. - It's my business

because you can't stay here. Is it clear?

- Fedor is giving no permit. - And what are you doing here?

Me? I'm looking for my towel.

All right. I agree to draw lots.

Let the cards say.

Come on, draw your card.

- What is it? - You just draw.

Mind! I stake it on red.

Well, get out of here!

But why? Draw.

- Do you hear what I said? - Enough playing commissar here!

- Small potatoes you are here! - Go out!

Now I see.

That's why the world revolution was needed for.

That's where your Karl Marx is hiding now!

Well, you go first then. I am not proud. I can be second.

What are you doing?

Bastard!

You look so tough in your military uniform!

Some day I'll talk tough too.

Goodbye, Anyuta.

Close the door after me.

Cotton fabric from Sarepta!

Cotton fabric! Only a remnant left.

Come and buy!

- What is it? - It's like calico, only better.

- I printed it myself. - It's a rag.

Dear citizen, how can it be a rag?

God forbid! It's very durable. Look!

- Two ponds. - Five.

- Two. - Five.

Brothers! The Whites on the Sadovaya street!

Whip up! Whip up!

- Four and a half. - Two pounds.

- Three. - Four.

- Three. - Add a half more.

Our village has burnt down.

Wait! Take it!

Take it. I am ruined now.

Now I'll have to starve. What a cheater!

Comrades!

Great trials befell the working class.

The Whites were advancing from all sides.

All cannons of the world, it seemed, were aimed at Moscow.

But thousands of workers

went to defend their Republic.

There were so many fronts that it was hard to count them all.

But those who rose to fight the enemy

were countless.

Zagora men went to war too.

You, married woman! Who you're looking for?

Vasily?

It's she. Look at her!

Such a whore! Every night pleasing the storekeeper.

- Look at her! - What? Have you no fear of God?

God is with me. Who is with you, storekeeper's catch?

Running away, eh?

Boys! Go after her just to change front!

- She will turn nobody down! - Stop clowning about!

- What is there to you? - Enough, I said.

That very day Anyuta left her village.

She had neither kinsfolk nor relatives.

She had look for a job and she came to the construction plant.

There Vasily and Anyuta were brought together again.

Saving nails is not a jest

You are a host here, not a guest

- Is it you who wrote it? - It's not bad, is it?

- When will the bricks arrive? - At the end of the month.

Are we going to stop the project then?

- I don't know. - Comrade Gubanov!

Order for spades.

Vasily, I came for nails.

Nails? I can give you only half as much.

- But it is half as much! - Then it should be a 1/4 as much!

- Did you see that? - It's all poetry.

Here is the invoice.

Come with me.

- What about slaked lime here? - Lime?

- Over there. - Wait.

- What about slaked lime here? - Ask him.

Anyuta! Why are you here?

- Me? I'm working now. - Where?

At the construction.

Here is the invoice for lame.

Are you going to supply it or not?

One minute.

- Do we have lime? - We do.

Take it up.

- Where do you live? - In a barrack.

- In what barrack? - In an ordinary one.

- Is it far from here? - Why?

Well, we're sort of acquainted.

Acquainted? There's nothing between us.

Wait, Anyuta!

Sign your name.

I am uneducated.

Put down a cross.

You should go to school. Really.

Can I get my lime?

Yes.

Even many years later Denis liked to recollect

how he carried food products for Zagora. He starved

but was firmly resolved to deliver the precious load safe and sound.

The state property, brothers! I can't let you in.

Help me with my bags!

Hey, you, help!

Can someone help me? Jesus!

Fedor!

- Oh, my God! Denis? - Where're you from?

I went to barter my cotton fabric for food.

- Give me a leg up! - Come on.

It's the fifth change already. What are you doing here?

I convoy goods cars to Zagora.

It's more than a month I'm travelling by rail.

Starved like a hell. I even swapped my tunic for bread.

- Yes. That's bad. - Can't be worse.

It looks, the train's starting off.

They say things look very bad. The Whites are quite near.

I saw them with my eyes! Generals are close on the heels.

That's real bad.

What you've got there?

I've got everything now.

These supplies will last us for a whole winter.

There's flour, cereals, sugar.

And lard too.

I haven't eaten lard for ages.

- What about a piece of bread too? - It's possible.

But how can you pay off?

- Pay off? - It costs some money by the way.

- I haven't a penny. - Not a penny?

But I cannot give food for nothing, you must understand.

I've been buying the lard under the bullets.

It was a hell of a shooting.

Aren't your shoes worn out, eh?

Why should they be? I wear them but for a year.

It looks like longer than a year.

Well, agreed! I change them for lard.

It was quite often that my mother told me

how these people lived.

Everyone had his own thoughts, sorrows and joys,

dreams and fates.

But together they were one country -

Russia which overturned the old world.

I would listen to this story and I would see

that all that great progress going on around us

was achieved by their labor,

by their sacrifice.

We are not slaves.

No boyars we are.

- Is Zimny here? - No.

What are you doing here?

It's campaign against illiteracy.

Oh, that's a good thing.

Well, dear students, the point is that

there is a trainload of brick. 40 trucks.

- It must be unloaded. - Another subbotnik?

- You've guessed right! - At night?

- It's not our concern. - How can it be?

Quite simple. Because it's not ours.

I am a carpenter. A skilled craftsman.

You should engage unskilled laborers to unload trucks, not me.

Here's a learned person. Look at him!

Not his concern. Do you think Lenin is less learned than you?

I haven't measured myself against him.

I'll tell you without any measuring. He's not as silly as you.

Lenin says that people have to do with everything -

to fight generals and build a power station.

Equally we'll have to buy this woman a new blouse.

Everything is our concern now. Am I right?

- It seems so. - Well, if so

go to your barracks and call people for subbotnik

in the name of the Revolution!

Girls.

Wake up.

There's brick brought. They're calling for subbotnik.

Well, subbotnik, girls. They're calling all hands to help.

Who's calling? Every day all the same.

They say it's in the name of the Revolution.

Hey, aboard the trucks!

Stand in pairs along all the chain!

- Where should we go? - One minute.

Comrade Gubanov, nobody is unloading the first truck.

- There will be ones. - Anyuta? Are you here too?

- Good for you. - Where should we stand?

Go to the third truck.

Let's go.

If you want to really cheer people up

- call for an accordionist. - That's right!

Hey, play the accordion!

Come on!

How are you? Can I help you?

We aren't behindhand, are we.

Hey, master of ceremonies, why are you idling? Start working!

- Stand here. - Take it.

Anyuta, why are you dropping your eyes?

- Are you angry with me? - Don't I just!

Am I to be so glad because you disgraced me?

Who disgraced you?

- Who disgraced you? - You know better.

I left my home because of you.

What? Why? I don't understand a thing.

Have you fallen asleep or what?

Well, we'll talk later.

Stepan? You just wait, son of a bitch!

And you? How could you believe that I could say such a thing?

I don't know whom I can believe now!

Look me in the face if you don't know!

- Let go! - Do you want to know the truth?

All you just waiting to try it on!

It looks like Stepan has no right to, but you do.

Don't touch me! I'm married.

Well, I understand

that you are married and that there's the Revolution�

but I can't myself.

I'm not like myself.

I am not just for going with you, silly woman!

I love you!

- Don't touch me! - I love you.

It's a sin.

Wait! I'll be waiting here tomorrow night when the moon is out.

When the moon is out!

Where're you going?

- To my village. - At night? What for?

Fedor may have come back.

Come in.

Why are you so early?

I need to talk.

Well, talk.

Tell me, please,

how are we going to deal with love under Communism?

- Will it exist or not? - What a question!

That's why you get up at dawn?

Go and get some more sleep. Love will exist.

But supposing...

...a woman is married, and you fall in love with her,

and you want to lure her away to live with her�

Does it accord with Communism or not?

It's a problem.

The Marxist theory provides no answer to it.

But since you bring up this topic I'd say thus -

it's no good to have an affair with a married woman.

- You must restrain yourself. - But what if I can't?!

if it's burning inside me day and night?!

Well, what communists are we then

if we can't hold our whims in check?

- Go and fall in love with any girl! - I don't need any girl.

Love does not care whether she is married or not.

It's burning inside me!

Grey is the theory which says nothing of it.

- Wait. - I think of her constantly -

where is she? why didn't she come?

Tell me, Marxist, what is all this?

Frosya,

tell them that I quit our gang.

Why?

I go to work at the peatery.

Are you crazy?

No, I should go.

And if he�

that storekeeper

asks about me

you tell him you know nothing.

You know nothing at all.

You know I'm not against love.

But you're a Communist. An example to other people.

You're a touchstone showing whether it's truth or filth

that we bring into this world.

And if we start luring wives away from their husbands

will it be good?

What will people tell about us?

That the Party went crazy?

Is it time to fall for it?

The working class is fighting a historical battle,

and what a fighter you are if you keep riving your heart?

Worthless you are as a fighter!

All right! Enough!

I shall tear this fantasy out of my heart!

It is mistimed for us to play guitars and kiss girls.

Will you have tea?

Get up! Lenin is killed!

Moscow!

Moscow!

Is he really killed?

Is it true?

Your run and ask! It's a Moscow train.

- Why standing like a stone image? - But my bags.

- Run by yourself. - I can't leave my wagons

- but I'll watch over your bags. - Like hell you will.

Hey, good man!

Listen, I can't leave my wagons,

please, come back and tell me about Lenin. Is it true?

- I'll go, only you look after them! - Run!

Citizens! Don't believe detractors! Lenin is alive!

He is only wounded. He's alive!

Comrades! Enemy wanted to kill the one

who is giving all his life to the working class!

They want to drown our freedom in blood!

They'll fail, Comrades! Lenin is only wounded, he is alive!

He's alive! Alive!

What a joy!

Jesus, I thought he was really killed.

He's such a man! And I got so frightened.

- Would you eat to celebrate it? - I'd rather.

Such a man.

Just think how much he did for people! It's hard to imagine.

Lard or what?

I don't even know what to take off. I only have my breeches left.

- Sort of shameful. - It's not a church fete today.

We'll be home soon, too. Come on.

Agreed.

Oh, my God...

- Stepan? - Ah, you came back?

Anyuta!

Tell me, where's my wife? Where's Anyuta?

- How do I know? - And what are you doing here?

Me?

First I went to the front.

Then nice people said

there's no point to hang your guts on a fence.

So I came back.

There's nowhere to live so I stay at your place.

I don't bother about you! I'm asking you where is my wife?

Ease off!

Your wife?

She's at the construction.

Why at the construction? I provided her with food.

He doesn't care a straw about your food.

She lives with a big boss now.

- What boss? - Well...

Remember that lodger, a Communist?

It's him she reads Karl Marx with by nights.

You're lying, dog!

Why should I? You ask people.

- Cross yourself! - See?

Good Lord! What do you punish me for?

Why is it so, Stepan? I loved her so dearly.

Look, what sufferings have I borne!

I was being shot at, I endured, but still I carried food.

- She's my be-all and end-all. - That is why she is like this!

Them girls need a good thrashing.

Well, wait you now, Anyuta.

I put the end to it.

I'll kill her.

Right! You speak reason.

Here.

Are you crazy?

I've got my own means.

Where are the reins?

You are a fool as I can see.

Can you restrain a woman just with reins?

Help me, Stepan.

- Help, Stepan. - Well, it's possible.

We'll go and take her away after dark.

And now you kindle the samovar!

Peter! Hey, chaps!

Semyon!

- Oh! They're girls, it seems! - A man!

- Catch him! - Wait!

- Take him! - What do you want?

Look, he has stripped down to his underwear already!

You, silly women! I thought it's a men's barrack!

- Oh, you lecher! - I didn't even think of it!

What're you doing here? You've got no shame!

I have brought food products here!

- What? - I've brought food for you.

Well, cover yourself with it.

- Thank you. - You just tell the truth!

I may cross myself, it's true!

I've brought sugar, millet and fruit-drops for your kids,

and smoked lard� Two wagons of the stuff at the station!

Girls! And we nearly killed him!

Oh, my darling!

What are you�

Toss the hero!

- Frosya, dance with me! - Go off!

- Have you seen Khromchenko? - No.

- Have you seen Khromchenko? - No.

- And Gubanov? - No.

- Vitya! Have you seen Gubanov? - He's distributing presents.

- Is Gubanov here? - He is.

- Come out for a minute! - Moment.

Girls came from the peatery

and said Anyuta was beaten by her husband.

- What? - He may beat her to death, you know.

- Where it happened? - At the peatery. Two men tied her up

and carted her home, to the Gordeevka village!

What are you telling me!

I was close enough to see them! I'm here and they're there!

Wait! But who they were? Our people or Frenchmen?

Dog knows! I ran away from there.

- Do they have cavalry? - Yes.

- And artillery? - But for it I would never run!

I've seen everything. I was bartering my fabric everywhere.

I've brought so much food�

Eat! Eat it all!

That's the end.

I'll kill her anyway!

Are you sleeping, Anyuta?

What have you done?

What can we do now?

All life came to nothing.

Anyuta, maybe they are lying?

Wicked tongues them are, you know.

Let me untie you now.

Anyuta, do you hear me?

Maybe it's all lies.

Maybe you've yielded to him but you don't love him?

Tell me that you don't love him. I pray.

I love him.

Come on. Have a drink!

Sit down! Drink!

Anyuta!

Anyuta!

You?

You!

Where have you been?

Why haven't you been looking for me?

Why haven't you called me?

Or you don't love me anymore,

- do you? - I love you! I love you!

I long for you. I can't live without you.

My beloved!

Let them beat me!

Let him kill me! My dear!

So it sealed their fate.

They were my mother and father.

A year passed by.

I think it was the hardest times for our country.

The Whites were advancing towards Moscow.

Denikin's mounted patrols were scouring about near Tula.

Our armies were short of rifles and ammunition.

Population badly needed fuel and clothing.

Then there was no bread.

No bread

How are we going to solve these problems, Communists?

- We must find a solution. - Right.

What solution it can be?

No trains, no communication with Moscow!

There's no bread. There's nothing!

- And at the fronts? - At the fronts?

They are starving too.

What is more, they are shedding their blood!

Hunger and devastation are all over the country.

Ours is the only place where construction continues.

Here.

It's the only light in the darkness.

Can we let it die out?

Ivan Andreevich, it's typhus all around. They drop like flies.

Typhus is not we are afraid of. It's no big deal.

How do we live without bread? Where is flour?

- Why do you keep silent? - What can I say? I already told you.

A train with flour was sent from Moscow, but no one saw it yet.

- Where is it? - How do I know?

Got stuck somewhere.

A bridge is blown up or something else.

Sorry, Comrades, I am ill.

Well, then, Comrades!

There are 16 communists here.

The Party commissioned us to build this project

and we'll do everything we can for its realization.

First we need communication with Moscow.

It's your task, Comrade Andreev.

Kashin, Soloviev and Vikentiev, you'll go around the villages

and look where we can get some grain.

- We got it. - Any amount of it,

if only it suffices to last one day.

And remember: it's your Party mission.

Vasily, you

have to set out in search of the train.

You must drive it here at all costs!

- I see. Can I go? - Go!

Why? Don't you recognize me?

We haven't seen each other for a year.

It seems so.

Still building it?

Still.

In spite of typhus and hunger?

- And for how long yet? - Until it's ready.

It's queer.

Take it.

No need.

It's not for you. It's for somebody.

I said no.

Well, we'll have got more then.

Listen!

You tell your bosses to be careful there,

- otherwise� - What otherwise?

- Who should be careful? - You, Communists.

- I heard the rumors... - Enough.

Enough of your cackling here.

And be off with you!

Well, do as you think fit.

They say she gave birth, didn't she?

Yes.

The day before yesterday.

We have a son.

Mitya! Call Denis!

Anyuta!

My dear!

Take care of yourself

and know

that if affairs are in a bad way

I, too,

can't live without you.

People are building

a new life,

and so we are as well.

Don't cry. I've brought you a gift from Vasily.

Is anybody in? Who is the engine driver?

What's your station of destination? Zagora?

- Is it Zagora, I'm asking you? - Well, Zagora.

What's the problem? Are you committing sabotage here?

- Why has the train stopped? - There's no firewood.

And the bridge was blown up.

No firewood? It's all forest around!

We do not need forest, we need firewood.

- Only then we'll go on. - Why, couldn't you chop it?

People in Zagora are starving to death,

and you're sleeping here, bastards! Get up!

- Are you a local? - Say, yes.

Go and fetch axes and saws in no time.

- Where can I get them? - Wherever you like!

There's an axe and a saw under the bed. Take it if you want.

You must be shot, sons of a bitch!

A contused one.

Hey, you, dear man!

Do you know how much wood we need to get to Zagora?

- You've to fell trees for five days! - I'll do it for five days.

Go and get more sleep, you sponger!

Well, do it, do it!

- Is he cutting it down by himself? - Yes.

Stop making a fool of yourself! You can't handle it all alone.

Have a rest and eat something.

- Where can we get more axes? - Dog knows!

Maybe we can ask in the nearby hamlets?

- Boys, run and ask. - Come on, Peter!

Let me, odd fellow!

That'll do! End of work, boys!

Hey! We'll finish it tomorrow morning.

I won't go!

Are you going to work all the night?

- I shall! - You'll die.

People need bread. Can you understand it?

Bread! Or there'll be no Zagora anymore!

That obstinate devil.

There's a forest over there.

There's the power station over there.

Your Mum is working there and your Dad too.

Look, what a big girl! You shall be as big soon.

Look, what a doggie!

And there's a smoke�

Smoke! Look, girls, it's a smoke!

- Where? - Fire!

Hey, chap, it looks like it's a fire over there.

It's Zagora! Zagora is on fire!

Lead the horse here!

Why are you so slow! Come here!

Take your stand here! Knock down padlocks!

- Quicker, boys! - You go down!

Tie him!

Load the carts with sacks!

Yakov Ivanovich!

- We've caught him! - Hello, gentle dove.

I promised you that we'll meet one day.

What fools we were! We should have shot you long ago!

Shut up, you infidel! Look in that direction!

- Hold him tight! - Do you like it?

- Where is your chief? - Look at the power station!

- Where is your chief? - Bring up the cart here!

Where is your chief?

- Where's your chief? - What is it?

- They're robbing the train! - What train?

Wait! What train?

What train? No trains are running now.

Sure it cannot be the goods train with grain!

Girls! My Vasily should be there.

Stop him! He'll escape!

Go aside! I am shooting!

You bandit! I'll kill you!

Come here all! Check him! He'll escape!

Put it down!

Wait, boys! Let me!

Let me do it! Step aside! Let me speak with the bastard!

Step aside!

Hold him! Hold him!

- How many barracks survived? � Nos. 15, 16, partially�

We'll have to live in dugouts again.

Alexander Vasilievich, Moscow on the line.

Moscow?

Hello!

Vladimir Ilyich is going to speak with you.

Hello, Comrade Zimny.

What happened over there? Fire?

Yes, there was a fire.

It looks like it was an arson, Vladimir Ilyich.

Well, it's nothing really. Only a few barrack burnt down

and a part of stored peat.

Well, I see. You are going to set me at rest.

Don't do it and tell me all the truth.

Itemize what you have lost.

I see...

And what about people? Do they quit you?

No, Vladimir Ilyich, they keep staying. They all are here!

That's good. That is very important!

What about victims?

Not much, no severe accidents, burns and wounds mostly.

But one man was killed.

Gubanov.

He was a Communist. Do you remember him?

Gubanov?

Gubanov!

I don't know him.

Once you helped him to procure nails.

A young man he was. Do you remember?

Yes.

Well, we're losing people.

Good people.

Well, so it is

that economy is a front too.

Capitalists know too well

that every technological success of ours

is an offensive on them!

It is a struggle! It is a struggle!

And victims are inevitable. But the price we are paying,

it clearly shows people's determination

to reach the goal! At any cost!

And it means that they have believed in the goal.

They have faith in the Party. That's why we are winning.

If Comrade Gubanov is married

you take care of his family, Alexander Vasilievich!

Dear friends!

Today we are making our farewells to Vasily Gubanov,

our dear and loved friend.

Where does he come from, this man?

He comes of a worker's family.

He was twelve when he went to work at a factory.

Then there were the Revolution and the Civil War�

- What about the murderers? - A tribunal is coming from Moscow.

I'd not judge them but skin them alive!

They say he left a wife with a baby.

There she is.

Neither ranks nor rations he was waiting from the Party.

He was seeking only truth in it,

and this truth he was fighting for.

He was so strong

and so full of life

that, it seemed, no death could break him.

Now we swear, dear Comrade,

that we shall obtain this truth

so as to achieve your beautiful dream.

Let me speak!

I'm an outsider here.

I'm the engine driver from that goods train�

I do not know anybody of you

and I did not know this man here.

But I saw how he chopped wood

how he thought of people�

What if we all were like him

and always like him!..

Farewell, brother!

- Oh, take the baby! - Give it to me!

- Well, where is the band? - It's a pity

but all the instruments have perished in the fire.

Denis Ivanovich, how can it be without Vasily?

What can I say to you, my dear?

There are many words in the world

but no word can console you.

Let's go, Anyuta. It's time to feed the baby.

You go, girls, thank you.

May I stay here alone for a while?

You may, dove!

Anyuta!

What do you want?

Well, and what now?

What shall we do now?

That's what how it all turned out.

Wait, Anyuta! What I am driving at�

Where will you live now? It' all burnt down over there.

But we've got our own place,

and potatoes and millet to last the winter.

And the kid won't grow fatherless. I'll become his father.

Let him live. I do love you, Anyuta.

No, Fedor, it's of no use.

Winter is coming soon! How will you live

in the cold and homeless as you are!

We'll survive. As people live, so will I.

You'd better go to the construction. Look, they start it anew.

They need extra hands badly.

Construction?

I have much to do at the farm.

It's time to repair the roof and to lift potatoes.

Many years passed by from that day.

But I forever keep the bright image of my father

and I tenderly think of my mother

which didn't waver in her time of stress.

She didn't lose heart and unhesitatingly went there

where a new and hitherto unknown world

was being born on the site of fire and ruins.