Original subtitles

MOSFILM

It was the first postwar spring...

Dad! Look at the car!

- Hi there! Good morning, friend. - Good morning to you.

Go ahead, son, shake hands with the man.

Well, old man, why is your hand so cold?

I'm not an old man. I'm a boy.

And my hands are cold because I was throwing stones.

This partner of mine is a real nuisance.

If I take a long stride, he breaks into a trot.

So we have to hobble together like a horse and a turtle.

- Are you waiting for your boss? - That's right!

- What time is the ferry on? - In a couple of hours.

Well, we'll sit here and wait for it. I'm in no hurry.

When I saw you I knew right away you were a driver, too.

So I figured I'd stop and have a smoke with you.

Smoking alone is about as bad as dying alone.

- My cigarettes are a bit wet. - Wet tobacco is no good.

Try this. It's old army rough-cut.

It's pretty good stuff too.

- Were you driving in the war too? - Right from the start.

- At the front, I guess? - Yes.

Well, I had my share of grief out there too, friend,

right up to my nostrils.

Go on, dear, go and play by the water.

But be careful you don't get your feet wet!

Sometimes I can't sleep at night.

I just lie there staring into the darkness, thinking,

what wrecked my life the way it did?

Why was it such a torture?

DESTINY OF A MAN

Based on the short story by Mikhail Sholokhov

Screenplay by Yu.LUKIN, F.SHAKHMAGONOV

Directed by Sergey BONDARCHUK

Director of Photography Vladimir MONAKHOV

Production Designers I.NOVODEREZHKIN, S.VORONKOV

Music by V. BASNER Sound by Yu. MIKHAILOV

English Subtitles by T. Kameneva

Starring

S. BONDARCHUK as Sokolov Pavlik BORISKIN as Vanyushka

Z. KIRIENKO as Irina P. VOLKOV as Ivan Timofeyevich

Yu. AVERIN as Mueller K. ALEXEYEV as German Major

A Mosfilm Studio Production

My early life was pretty much run of the mill.

I was originally from Voronezh Province, born there in 1900.

During the Civil War, I went with the Red Army.

When the famine of '22 came, I slaved for the Kulaks in the Kuban,

or I wouldn't be alive today.

When I came back from the Kuban,

all my folks were dead.

Have you come to inspect our work?

Maybe we're building this mansion for you, princess?

I'm not used to mansions. I was brought up in an orphanage.

My whole family, lrina, father, mother and little sister,

all of them starved to death.

That's our foreman playing. He's a good old chap.

So you see I'm all alone too. Not a single relative in the whole world.

I always see you two together. You make a fine couple.

Will you see me to my door Across the field unharrowed.

You're my love for evermore, Let's go and get married.

Oh, my dearest sweetheart, I never had it so hard.

I'm lovesick, that is true, I'm crazy about you!

If you hadn't walked up to that house, we'd never have met.

- What do you need me for? - For everything in life.

Looking at her from the side, perhaps she wasn't so striking,

but you see, I was looking at her straight in the face.

The sea storm is strong and fierce, Waves are surging in a whirl.

I was courting her two years And had gotten the best girl...

And so we got married.

He won't take it. I don't know how to do it.

Don't worry.

Go on, give it to him. They always flinch at first.

Tolyushka, darling, come on.

Come on, sweetheart, keep walking.

That's it, come on now.

Well, sonny, come to Daddy.

Daddy's home!

Go to sleep now, honey.

You'd better sleep against the wall. You might roll off the bed.

Here, it'll make you feel better.

But, please, don't do it again, dear.

How could a man let someone down who put so much trust in him?

For me, there was no woman in the world more beautiful and desirable,

and there never will be!

- What's going on here? - Daddy's home!

And so we lived for 17 years.

They flit by like in a dream.

But what is seventeen years...

Ask any old man if he's noticed how he spent his life.

You'll find he hasn't noticed a darn thing.

- Good morning, neighbors! - Good morning, Grandpa!

Come down here, you hero.

What's it about?

It's about our Tolya!

By public recognition...

On the subject of infinity...

My, my! What does he mean by that?

Thanks for bringing us this news, Ivan Timofeyevich.

I think we have to celebrate today.

Your son has a great gift for mathematics.

And a few months later the war began...

Don't worry, my darling.

Say something to me before I go away.

What can I say, my dear Andriusha?

I'm afraid I'll never see you again.

Are you so anxious to put me in grave before my time?

Till the day I die, to my last hour,

I'll never be able to forgive myself

for how I pushed her away.

All aboard!

See you soon! We'll be back with victory!

Sokolov! The road is under fire. Will you try to get through?

- I have to do it. - Get going, then.

You must get through!

Bombers coming in! Hit the dirt!

Go back!

Well, here's my death coming after me.

I wonder how he's going to do it? In the head? Or in the chest?

This guy is not the kind that hesitates.

He will be good at working for us.

He's got fine boots. Take them off!

You dirty swine!

Stay on your feet. If you fall, they might shoot you.

Start singing!

I want a song!

A song!

Blossoming the apple trees of Russia,

The river bed is covered with the fog.

Out came on riverbank Katiusha,

On the bank overhanging a high rock.

A song she sang about her beloved...

Prepare for attack when I signal.

About the man she cherished and desired,

About the man whose letters she had saved.

He'll remember the girl that he had known,

He will hear her song brought by a dove...

O Lord, have mercy.

Please, God, protect me from my enemies...

He will guard the country of our own,

And Katiusha'll be guarding their love.

We'll have to cancel the plan.

All prisoners are warned that any man

attempting to leave the church during the night will be shot.

Any man attempting to leave the church

during the night will be shot.

Comrades! Is anyone here from the 3rd company?

Vanya Ukleikin! Are you here?

Make some room over here, men.

Let me have your overcoat.

- Are you wounded? - What difference would it make?

I'm a doctor. Maybe I can help you.

It's my shoulder. The pain is pretty bad.

Let me get this shirt off you.

You must be a horse doctor!

You're making it feel worse.

Just keep your mouth shut!

Steady now, this might hurt you.

What are you trying to do, you miserable fascist?

My arm's practically broken. Are you trying to finish the job?

I was afraid you might have hit me.

Your arm wasn't really broken. Merely out ofjoint.

I've put it back in the socket.

- Does it feel better now? - Easy. Thanks, doctor.

You see...

Any wounded here?

Comrades, is there anyone wounded?

- Are you wounded? In your belly? - No, but I've got to go out.

What's wrong with him? Is he crazy?

I've got to go out.

They won't let anybody out.

What am I going to do? This is a sacred place, and I'm a Christian.

Try it through the dome.

Pray to the angels. They'll carry you out on their wings.

I can't profane this sacred place!

I can't do it!

I'm a Christian!

- Just for a couple of minutes! - Stop him!

If tomorrow they start calling out

communists, commissars and Jews,

it won't do you any good to try and hide, Lieutenant.

I tell you it won't work.

You think that by getting rid of your uniform you'll pass for a ranker?

Well, you won't! I'll point you out right away.

You're a communist, aren't you? Are you ashamed to admit it?

I always knew you were a bastard.

Especially since you refused to join the party

saying you were illiterate.

But I didn't believe you could become a traitor.

- You finished seven grades. - So what?

Don't give me away, Comrade Kryzhnev.

Look, all your comrades are on the other side.

I'm no comrade of yours. I'm going to point you out!

I'd better worry about myself.

Are you a lieutenant?

Is that the guy who wants to betray you?

Grab him by the legs.

Come on, we better get away.

Communists, commissars, officers and Jews,

take two steps forward!

Communists, commissars, officers and Jews,

take two steps forward!

Are there no communists here?

Communists, commissars, officers and Jews,

take two steps forward!

Communist?

- Jew? - I'm a Russian.

Don't try to fool me! Out!

- You a Jew? - I'm a doctor.

Attention!

Aim!

Fire!

Right face! Column, forward march!

- Keep down! - We'll all be finished anyway.

Water! I'm burning up!

Water, please...

- Daddy, will you be back soon? - Oh yes, very soon.

Hurry back, Andrei. We miss you so much.

Here he is!

You bastard!

It's taken us four days to catch up with him.

If they hadn't fed them too good, he'd never have lasted this long.

Somehow I managed to keep alive.

Wait for me!

Attention! Stay calm and follow these instructions.

Russian war prisoners go through Gate Number One.

Persons of Jewish nationality, go through Gate Number Two.

The rest go through Gate Number Three.

They kicked me around a lot the two years that I was a prisoner.

In Saxony I slaved in a silicate plant.

In the Ruhr I hauled coal out of a mine.

I sweated in Bavaria digging ditches.

The devil only knows what piece of German soil I didn't cross.

The way they shot us and kicked us around was the same all over.

They kicked me because I was Russian, because I was still alive,

because I was slaving for the bastards.

They'd beat a man just to kick the life out of him.

Evidently, they didn't have enough furnaces to take care of all of us.

I remember the camp "B-14".

The commandant was a man named Mueller.

Every day, he'd line us up and give us a "flu vaccination".

That's what he called it.

The skunk is right on time. Never misses a day.

Where did they teach him that kind of art?

Yeah, tomorrow it'll be our turn.

Get ready for work!

On your feet!

Carry some rocks up to the top of the pile! You too!

If you don't take a big enough load, they shoot you.

Get moving! Faster!

Hurry up, you swine!

Hey, look out!

What do you think this is? A rest home?

Come on, friend, keep moving.

Hats off!

I'm going to lie down and die.

If they don't feed us, how can they expect us to work?

How long will this last?

Damn them all to hell! Bastards! Parasites!

They make us dig four cubic meters a day,

when what we need is just one cubic meter for a grave.

Be quiet!

Let us drink to our victory at Stalingrad!

You're my pretty, you're my pretty little dove...

- They seem to be having good time. - Downing schnapps, bastards.

- I already forgot the taste of... - Shut up! I don't want to remember.

You're right.

Number 331 , report to the camp commandant at once.

Well, well...

It looks like the end of your misery, Prisoner Number 331 ,

once known as Andrei Sokolov.

Will you see me to my door Across the field unharrowed.

You're my love for evermore, Let's go and get married...

The sixth army is continuing

its successful offensive operations at Stalingrad.

Prisoner Sokolov reporting as ordered.

So four cubic meters is too much to quarry, eh?

It is, Commandant, far too much.

And you need only one cubic meter for your grave, right?

Yes, that's quite enough for a grave.

Even there'd be room to spare.

I'm going to do you a great honor:

I'll shoot you with my own pistol.

- Let's go into the yard. - Whatever you say.

Have a drink before you die, Russian Ivan.

To the triumphant armies of the fatherland.

I appreciate it, but I'm not much of a drinker.

You refuse to drink to our victory?

Very well then, I propose you drink to your death.

To my death and my release from this torment, I will drink!

I'm ready now, Herr Commandant, come on.

Have a bite to eat before you die.

I never feel like eating after only one glass.

Don't be shy, go ahead.

Sorry, Herr Commandant,

but I don't eat after two glasses either.

Bravo! It's incredible!

He's had a whole bottle without eating anything!

Listen here, Sokolov.

You're a good Russian soldier.

A brave soldier. I'm a soldier also.

And I respect a worthy enemy.

I'm not going to shoot you.

This morning our invincible armies reached the Volga

and have taken complete possession of Stalingrad!

And to this marvelous news

you owe your life which I generously give back to you.

Return to your barracks.

Take this with you, for your courage.

Once again death had passed me by,

only touching me with its cold breath.

Equal shares all around.

They're looking pretty glum today. Maybe Hitler popped off.

It's Stalingrad.

They got smashed up there. Pass it on to the boys.

It won't be long now.

By that time our army was knocking the stuffing out of the Nazis,

and they no longer looked down on us as contemptuously as before.

Allow me to hand over to you a letter from the headquarters.

I'd been assigned to a work battalion that was building

roads and defenses.

I was the chauffeur of a German engineer who was a major.

Sokolov!

You keep silent all the time. You Russians have a proverb:

"A barking dog never bites". Isn't that right?

That's right, sir.

In this case you'd do better not to agree.

Air raid alert! Take cover!

You'd better take your uniform off.

Herr Major! Where's he going?

He must be crazy! Stop!

Hello, damned Fritz, lost your way?

Oh, my dear! My dear boy!

I come from Voronezh, don't you see?

I was a prisoner of war, you understand?

Go unhitch that fat hog and get the briefcase he's carrying.

Hold the briefcase. Take that cord off his neck.

- Take me to your commander. - We know where to take you.

Private Sokolov reporting as ordered.

Thank you, soldier, for what you did.

From your major's briefcase, we've got a lot of top-secret information.

I'm going to recommend you for the hero's medal.

Can't you send me to an infantry unit right away?

You won't be able to do any fighting for a while.

Have this man report to the hospital.

- Where is your home? - In Voronezh.

After the hospital, you'd better go home for about a month.

And when you're back, we'll find a good place for you.

Goodbye now!

- Sashka, let's go to the river! - Let's wait for Vovka!

Vovka, hurry up!

We'd better have a smoke. Whenever I think about it, it chokes me up.

- Then what happened? - What happened?

It was in June of forty-two.

Practically every night, they came over and bombed us.

Every house in the neighborhood was wiped out.

Your lrina was at home, with the girls.

Anatoly was at the factory.

When he came home that evening, all he found was...

Before he left, he told me he was going to volunteer.

It's got to be that this life of mine is nothing but a nightmare.

Now, Andrei, don't talk like that. We all have to bear our grief.

Some of us more than others.

But you've got to go on living.

You have to find Anatoly.

When the war is over, your son will get married.

You will live with them.

You will take up your carpentry again, play with your grandkids.

Every night... when I was a prisoner,

I talked with them.

Now it turns out that for two years

I was talking with the dead?

Wait, you never know about these things...

Why, my nephew, we heard he was dead,

and one day he came back.

He had been wounded, and he came on furlough.

He brought this back as a souvenir.

And then unexpectedly, I've got a gleam of sunlight.

I got a letter from my son, Anatoly.

"I was enrolled in an artillery school,

and before the year was up, I finished it with the top honors.

I'm a captain now,

commanding a battery. I've been decorated with six orders."

- How many? - Six orders and medals.

He's sure passing you up, isn't he?

"I'm a captain now, commanding a battery."

My own son, a captain in command of a battery!

That's really something!

As soon as the war is over,

Anatoly and I are going home. Then he'll get married.

We'll live as one family.

I could watch the kids... I could set up a carpenter shop...

Anatoly is a mathematician!

I wonder how he ever developed such a remarkable talent.

It's really strange.

To arms!

Victory!

Sokolov, the commander wants you.

Private Sokolov reporting as ordered...

Some news for you.

I'm afraid it's bad news.

Your son, Captain Sokolov...

Far from home, in that foreign soil,

I buried my lastjoy, my last hope.

Something seemed to snap inside me.

Where was I to go now? Back to Voronezh? No, never!

Hey, Vanyushka! How's the world treating you today?

How did you know my name was Vanya?

I'm a wise man. I know a lot.

Hop in the truck. I'll give you a ride to the elevator.

And then we'll come back and have a snack.

- Where's your father? - He died at the front.

And your mommy?

Mommy was killed when they bombed the train we were on.

- Where are you from? - I don't know.

- Do you have any relatives here? - No one.

- Where do you sleep at night? - Different places.

Do you know who I am?

- Who? - I'm your daddy.

Daddy! I knew it!

I just knew you'd find me some day!

I waited for so long for you to find me!

Oh, I love you, daddy!

Well, my dear hosts, I found my Vanyushka at last!

- Oh, my good heavens... - Yes, I found my little son.

What do you think of your new boarder?

He found his son.

Auntie, why are you crying?

My dad just found me.

Everyone ought to feel glad, so why would you want to cry?

Dad, what did you do with your leather coat?

I left it in Voronezh.

But why were you so long looking for me?

Well, sonny, I was looking for you in Germany, in Poland,

all over Byelorussia,

and then I found you in Uryupinsk.

Which is closer, Uryupinsk or Germany?

Uryupinsk is much closer.

Go to sleep, dear.

Is everything you told me, the truth?

We'll get along all right. There's only one thing wrong.

I'm afraid my old ticker is going to give out.

Sometimes I feel a stab of pain

and everything begins to look kind of dim and fuzzy.

I'm really worried that I might die in my sleep,

and that would frighten my little son.

Dad, let's go now.

- Am I going to be as big as you? - Of course, you will.

- In how long? - How would you like it right now?

- Well? - This way doesn't count.

Well, it's the only way for the time being.

- Well, goodbye, friend. - The best of luck to you.

Keep strong, little fellow.

"...And I do hope that this Russian,

this man of unbreakable will, will stick it out.

And that the boy will grow up at his father's side

into a man who could stand up to anything

if he should ever be called upon by his motherland to do so."

M. Sholokhov

The End