MOSFILM studio
and the Creative Association of TV Films present
a film made to the order of the state television and radio committee
AN ORDINARY MIRACLE Part Two
Based on a play by Eugene Schwarz
There comes a day, there comes an hour
There comes a blink, there comes a time -
and something snaps.
The granite boils, flames come from ice,
Light dust motes knock me over -
What madness!
The wild grass blooms,
And the old owl sings Like a nightingale,
And even the thinnest of threads...
Can not be cut in two
By a steel blade!
Absurd, funny, mindless and stupid -
Magic!
No use, no purpose, ad-lib, ad-hoc -
Completely!
There comes a time, And with it brings
Fever and fear, and a secret heat -
Wonder and power! Both pain and laughter,
dark and light -
Into one flame, into one fire -
What madness!
And out of a mirage, Out of nothing...
Out of my own wild fantasies
Someone's face suddenly appears
And acquires shape and color,
And flesh and passion,
Flesh and passion!
Absurd, funny, mindless and stupid...
And magic!
No use, no purpose, ad-lib, ad-hoc -
Completely!
Were you talking to someone?
I don't know.
It may be.
I know I'm not well.
Can I help at all? I doubt it.
Unlock the door, I'm leaving. That is impossible. I'm not afraid of the hurricane.
Do you hear how quiet it is?
I tried to go out, but I could not.
We are buried under the snow.
I can't leave here, then? No.
Then lock me in. Why? I can't meet with her.
I love her.
The Princess?
How did you know? I merely asked.
She is in my tavern?
Yes, she's dressed as a man.
Now I begin to understand how she insulted me. It is not so.
Did you hear what she said to me? No, I did not. But it is irrelevant.
I have lived such a long life that I understand everything.
Enough. I will not say another word.
I thought I was talking to a young man who looked like her, but she...
She behaved so treacherously. I loved her!
That's it. It's all over now.
Lock me up. Here's a key.
I'm not going to lock you up.
There's a brand new lock in the door, it would be a pity if you broke it.
A peaceful night to you. Peaceful night.
But where is it - peace?
You won't find any.
If you lock yourself in a monastery - the solitude will remind you of her.
Open a tavern by the roadside -
Every knock at the door will remind you of her.
The damn candle in my room keeps going out.
That is unsurprising.
For I was thinking of you.
Emilia...
Devil damn me!
Do you recognize me?
Emil?
Yes.
That was the name of a youth that a cruel woman
made run a thousand miles away.
Don't look at me... like that.
My face has weathered.
I see you as you were twenty years ago.
I have forgotten how to cry. I have become callous.
I've started to smoke. Sailor's tobacco. The devil's own mixture.
This is what I've become.
You were always like that. I?
You've always had a stubborn and proud nature.
Now it's showing in a new way.
That's all the difference.
Damn!
At the most crowded of masquerades...
I would recognize you under any mask.
You remember?
I remember.
My lady, would you not agree
That the weather is better than ever?
My lord, I will say this...
I do indeed find...
That the weather is not the usual sort.
My lady, tell me, why...
Is this evening so extraordinary?
My lord, perhaps...
It is so not easy to explain,
But it is perhaps because you are with me.
Oh, my lady, when you and I are together,
All the flowers blossom in the meadows,
I will say this, my lord...
It is time for me to go,
But I can't hurt the feelings of the flowers.
How pleasing and amusing it is
That I am liked this much by you
And I like you even more.
Isn't that nice? Tram-pam-pam!
What is a mask that mere time has put on you to me?
Why? Oh, why?
Why were you mad at him back then?
Why? You kissed him on the balcony.
He passed away a long time ago.
But why did you kiss him?
To have my revenge on you.
You danced with the general's daughter.
It is polite to dance. No.
You were whispering something in her ear.
I was whispering to her: one, two, three...
She couldn't follow the rhythm.
How funny. So much I want to cry.
Will you forgive my wretched self for kissing him?
I am happy to see you.
More fool you.
I have forgotten how to cry.
Let's talk about something else.
We do have one important matter to discuss. Yes?
There are two lovesick children in my house
Who are fated to die... - Die? ...if we do not intercede.
The Princess, and the youth whose fault it is she ran away.
They've met. Yes, and already had a fight.
Drum the drums! What?
Sound the bugle! What bugle?
Ignore me, it's just a court habit.
Swords ready! Prepare for battle!
To arms! To arms!
I see.
Emily was married to the palace commandant.
Drum the drums!
To arms! To arms!
He couldn't have known who he was marrying, the poor sod.
May his soul rest in peace.
- Did you see her? - Yes.
She must be pale and weak?
She's tanned, eating well and running around like a boy.
Is he here? He is.
Still in love? Very much so.
That's my girl. He suffering? Terribly.
He deserves it, the bastard!
Medicine, fast!
My apprentice is not feeling well.
Get me that medicine! Quick! What? What medicine? Any!
My apprentice, he isn't feeling well. What, this one?
As if! He wouldn't notice if I died.
The new one! He won't eat, won't drink and won't answer questions. Daughter!
That's my daughter!
Oh my god!
What? Who, who is your daughter? Your newbie.
It's a cross-dressed princess. Well I'll be damned!
I almost hit her, too.
Twit! Can't you tell a boy from a girl?
You couldn't either! What, me what now?
Enough, you've no time to trifle about.
Where's the Princess?
Hey you! Don't shout at me!
My profession is a delicate, stressful one.
I don't like being shouted at.
If you want to point out a mistake, compliment me first.
Scoundrel!
He's a king.
Then please pardon me, your Majesty.
I'll pardon you later.
Where's the princess?
Her Highness is sitting by the fireplace in our room, staring at the coals, if you please, sir.
Take me to her.
I am always thinking of your pronouncements on hunting, your Majesty.
Please be careful! The steps are steep!
You have to take care of yourself for our sake!
We love you so much, as you know, your Majesty!
We'll be hearing gunshots again any moment. What gunshots?
The Princess gave her word that she would shoot anyone who follows her.
She wouldn't shoot her own father.
Tosh, I know what people are like.
They'd sell their grandmother if they thought it was good for a laugh.
Now he's going to hand out death sentences again.
Good lord, but my throat is sore!
There's no job more dangerous than a courtier's.
True. Indeed.
I am terribly depressed.
I'm warning you all right now.
She is sitting by the fire, in silent misery.
I have absolutely no way to help her.
That's how it is.
Who will dare to approach her, talk to her,
console and comfort her?
Who?
She will open fire, your Majesty. She will, of course she will. So what?
You've been sentenced to death anyway. Right?
Who will go first? Allow me to speak to the Princess.
Well done that man!
No, I forbid it!
My daughter needs someone who is close to her.
When in love, it is those closest that seem the most distant.
The world has changed, but they are still the same.
You are quite correct. I did not think of that.
But I will not cancel my order. Why not? I am a stubborn tyrant.
I feel my aunt's genes waking in me.
She was a hopeless cretin.
Fetch me paper and a hat.
We shall draw lots.
Ready.
First one to draw a piece with a cross goes to the princess.
She is armed.
Let me talk to the Princess, your Majesty, don't bother with the crosses.
I know what to tell her. My answer is "no". But why?!
I'm having a fit of pig-headedness.
Am I King or not?
Draw. First Minister, you first.
Alas! Thank god!
There's no cross here.
Then why shout "alas", idiot?
Shut up!
My lady. Where are you? Your turn. Draw!
I am to go, your Majesty! My heartfelt congratulations!
May your soul rest in peace.
Hey. Show me that paper.
Liar! What a liar!
Stubborn, stubborn people!
All they want is to cheat their poor monarch.
Next! Next!
What are you shouting for?
Draw! The lot, draw it.
As you please. What are you doing? Have you gone quite mad?
What the hell are you doing? Open your eyes, the hat is right here.
What's "ha-ha-ha"? That is to say, alas, no cross. What a pity!
Next! Come on, show me that.
Show what? That scrap of paper. Give!
No cross? Nope.
What's that then? You call that a cross?
Nonsense! That's a cross? Heh. Looks like the letter "X" to me.
No, this is not "X", it is your lot.
Go.
Your Majesty!
Be reasonable. Is this worth dying for?
For a whim, for a moment's stubborness? For nothing of worth?
For love!
Where is it - love? Have you ever seen it?
Don't keep us waiting. Don't be selfish.
Your Majesty! When a smuggler crosses a canyon over a tightrope,
or a merchant braves the great ocean in a flimsy boat -
That is comprehensible. That is noble.
People are making money.
In the name of what, though, am I to lose my head here if I may ask?
That thing you call love, my lady -
it's a little impolite, sometimes funny and can be a great deal of pleasure. A great deal.
But to risk my life for it, your Majesty! Be silent, you abhorrent oik!
Do tell her to stop swearing.
Don't. Just don't, my lady.
Don't stare at me as if you believe your own words.
I've seen enough of these noble sufferers, busking musicians, singing beggars,
bloody minstrels, those torturers of human souls.
Deceived fools are driven to a sure death.
It is them who invented "love"!
Love does not exist, Your Majesty. There is no such thing!
Trust a solid man of experience.
Fine. Fine, the condemned has had his last words.
Now go. Don't expect me to pardon you.
Go, or I'll shoot you myself.
Why did I listen to him?
He's woken up another aunt.
The one that anyone could convince of anything.
The poor thing was married eighteen times,
not counting one night stands.
Maybe love doesn't exist after all?
Pehaps the Princess just has angina. What am I suffering for?
Your Majesty. Shut up, Lady!
You are a devout woman of standing.
Let us listen to the young.
You, for instance...
Piss off.
Go. For good.
That's that. May his soul rest in peace.
Maybe she missed! How rude! She's my student!
Quiet! Don't carry on so. Personally, I'm happy.
My daughter behaves like all normal people.
She has issues, so she goes and shoots someone.
She missed. She missed!
Why are you still alive, you bastard? I fired that shot, your Majesty.
You?! Yes. If you can imagine it, yes.
At whom? Who do you think? The princess.
Oh, she's alive, don't you worry.
Hey you! An executioner, a block and a shot of vodka.
The vodka for me, the rest for him! Move it!
Not so fast, my good man.
Not so fast. Daddy.
The princess is my fiancee.
He's lost his mind.
Oh, as if!
Explain yourself clearly, or die!
With pleasure.
I enjoy telling people about successful transactions.
I go to the girl, I open the door. I'm thinking she's about to kill me.
I don't want to die, any more than anyone else here.
So I go to the girl,
I go and I think,
I think something like: This is the end.
But I want to live, I so want to live,
I want to live, Just as much as each of you does.
The girl turns around, She jumps up, the honey,
So I grab my gun,
And I fire a shot at her. I fire at the darling.
What choice is there?
I shot at the girl, I shot at the lovely,
'twas nothing personal, Not out of spite.
She didn't blink, She didn't notice,
Instead in a quiet voice She spoke:
I, she said, will marry the next person I see.
I don't really care who.
So you were the first to turn up. That's what she said.
The girl said it. She said that, the sweetie.
You're the next person I saw. I'm yours forever.
And so in that smoke-filled room
I gave her a smooch right on her blossoming lips.
If you don't shut up right now, I might kill you.
Sure, that's all right. They've killed me once today already, or tried to.
And what came of that last time? A complete mess.
Boy! Servants! Get me something from the medicine cupboard.
I can't think any more. All I've got left is feelings.
Delicate, fragile feelings I can't identify.
I want music and flowers. Or maybe to stab someone, I just can't tell.
I can tell, something's wrong with me.
But I've got nothing I can use to face reality.
Daddy! Yes?
Good evening, daddy. Good evening.
I'm engaged.
Who to, love?
This one. Come here, you.
Give me your hand. With great pleasure.
If you dare giggle, I'll shoot you dead.
Oh, well done, daughter! That's our family's way!
The wedding is to take place immediately.
Great plan! A wedding is always...
...a happy occasion, at least, full of joy. Why postpone it?
Watch this!
I ask for your hand. Be my wife.
I am young. Healthy. I will never hurt you.
Right. What's this?
Will you marry me? Don't answer him.
Is that so? You can and I can't?
I swore to marry the next man I saw. Me too!
I... You know, I don't care.
Ladies! Follow me. You can help me put on my wedding dress. I'll help, darling.
Men, with me! You can help organise the wedding feast.
Think of any pretext, just make the princess come back.
I'll drag her by force, devil damn me!
I beg you, marry me. Be my wife!
Please, sir, which one of us are you proposing to? There are two of us.
I'm sorry, I didn't notice.
Coming too close to a lovers' quarrel...
can be lethally dangerous. Go! Run! Run, now!
Have you no pity for the poor girls? Does anyone have pity on me? So why should I?
You idiotic twit! I beg you, just a few reasonable, kind words,
and there you will both be - all happy! See?
Tell her you were wrong, then take her and kiss her.
No. Don't be stubborn. No!
No, no, no! Don't waste time!
Ah! I hear Emilia's footsteps. She's bringing the Princess.
Ladies and gentlemen!
Congratulations on this happy occasion!
In accordance with the Princess's order,
Her wedding with the Minister will take place immediately.
Emilia, come to your senses!
It was decreed. It was an order!
What's wrong with you, Emilia?
Don't touch me! I...
What's wrong with me?
What's wrong with you, Emilia?
Don't touch me! I'm on duty!
What's gotten into me?
Don't touch me. I'm only doing my job!
God damn me.
Everything is ready, Your Majesty.
As honorary Saint,
honorary Martyr,
and honorary Pope of our kingdom
I begin the sacred ritual.
Bride and groom.
Join hands.
No!
What do you mean, ''no''? Don't be shy, now, out with it.
Please go away, the lot of you. I must talk with the Princess.
How utterly impudent!
What an impudent young man!
What a boor!
Boor yourself!
I beg you, everyone. Leave.
Please. And leave us alone.
Really, your Majesty, let's go. It would be rude to stay. Come on.
I would leave, of course.
But you see, I'm dying to know what he'll say to her.
Your Majesty, I beg you, let's do what the young man asks.
All right, we'll do as he asks,
especially since I can listen through the keyhole.
Let's go, gentlemen! Let's go.
I will tell you the truth.
Our encounter bode ruin.
Our falling in love bode ruin.
Ruin...
We fell in love.
In love...
We fell in love with each other.
If you kiss me...
I will turn into a beast.
If I kiss you...
I will turn into a bear.
A bear? Yes. I do not want that.
It would be more than I could take.
I swore that I would sooner die than hurt you.
Forgive me.
The moment I kiss you? Yes.
You'll pace from corner to corner in silence,
as though trapped in a cage?
Yes.
We'll never have a real conversation again?
No.
Can everything really end so terribly?
Daddy!
Daddy! He, he... Yes, yes, I know.
I was eavesdropping, my daughter.
What a pity.
Let's go. Let's leave now, father.
Daughter, daughter! Something terrible is happening. Some kind of compassion has awoken in me.
It's frightening!
Have a think about it. Maybe we shouldn't send him away? Others manage just fine.
So he's a bear. Could be worse. Could be a ferret.
We could train him, brush his hair.
He could dance for us once in a while.
No! I love him too much for that. Oh, yes?
Goodbye forever.
Forever.
Let us quietly,
In a soft voice,
Let us say our goodbyes lightly.
A week, maybe two,
And we will get over it.
What's done is done. Finished.
Of course, it's terrible!
Senseless, meaningless!
Wouldn't it be nice to start over?
Starting over, though, is impossible, unthinkable,
Don't even dream of it, Forget it.
Let's make busy with dinner.
Let's make busy with dressing up.
Fill our days with little cares.
It's easier this way, right?
It's simpler. Isn't it?
Doesn't it hurt less that way?
Let's not try to be clever,
Not try to cheat fate,
Let's not. It's not worth the effort.
Yes, yes, gentlemen.
No more "what if", no more "some day".
We've had all we were going to get.
Wasn't it charming?
Wasn't it nice?
It was, and now it's all passed.
It was, and it is no more.
I brought them to this hotel.
I buried all the entrances and exits with snow.
I was so pleased with that idea.
And you didn't kiss her.
Sirs, the hotel is closing.
I'm leaving, sirs.
Keys. I'll lock the place up myself. Thanks.
Could you tell the hunter to hurry? He's packing his diplomas.
How dare you not kiss the girl?
How dare you?
You know well how that would have ended.
No, I don't! You didn't love her.
That's not true!
You didn't love her.
Otherwise passion would have taken over!
Who dares even try to reason or think ahead
When the soul is ruled by noble emotions?
Poor unarmed people overthrow kings!
For love of their fellow man.
For love of their nation, soldiers defy death itself, and it runs away whimpering.
Men of wisdom rise to the heavens and plunge into the depths of hell
For the love of truth.
And you - what have you done for the love of a woman?
I gave her up.
Did you know? Those in love get just one day in a lifetime
When they succeed in everything they try.
You've missed your happiness.
Goodbye.
I will not help you any more.
I've lost interest in you.
Want to kill your hundredth bear?
Sooner or later I'm sure I'll come across the princess and kiss her
I'll turn into a bear, and then you -
I understand.
A bear. My hundredth. Novel.
Damn it, tempting tempting!
A little unexpected.
You know, I feel awkward abusing your kindness.
Don't worry, I'm freely volunteering.
And what will her royal highness think of this? She'll be happy!
Well, then. Art demands sacrifice.
Agreed! Thank you, my friend!
I'm starting to forget this music.
It's all right.
You wrote a bad fairytale.
Now it's time to forget it.
A time will come and you'll write another. A beautiful one.
A happy one.
No. I don't think I can.
This was the last tale.
Well? What did the doctor say? What could the doctor say?
He says the Princess might die.
We don't believe him. It would be too unjust.
You promised me you'd forget all this. So I did. I'll try harder.
Here, coffee. Thanks.
Talk of anything you like. Just don't keep mulling over things that can't be changed.
I promise, I won't.
When did he come back? He didn't, you imagined it.
It was the Hunter. No one knows where the bear is.
The Hunter is hunting? No, of course not!
He's writing a book on the theory of hunting.
When will it come out? No one knows.
He's only written a few excerpts so far.
He's in charge of the Royal Hunt. Who? The Hunter.
He's married, by the way. - Oh, yes? - Yeah. Amanda, the princess's maid.
They've had a daughter. They called her Bullet.
The apprentice married Orinthia. They have a boy.
They called him Target.
You invited her? Orinthia with her son? Yes.
Nah. They came by themselves. They do everything by themselves now.
They come as they please. Just like you.
Make themselves quite at home here. See?
He's very busy. And he doesn't feel well.
And anyway, he promised me he's done with this sort of thing.
You understand? I understand you.
But I can't do otherwise.
They can't do otherwise.
And I can't do without them, either.
Any story... needs to be ended.
It needs an end.
Sad, happy, funny, stupid.
But still, an end.
They will still all come back here. All but the Bear.
I don't want to see him.
I have crossed him out from my memory. Forever.
There! Amanda with her daughter!
Yes...
The princess is suffering, ill. But life carries on as always.
Yup! Oh, yes!
The fish here is cheaper than at home.
But beef is the same price.
What about vegetables?
The vegetables are quite unbelievable.
The pumpkins - they lease them to poor families.
They live inside and they feed on them.
They tried to rent watermelons too, but they're a little too damp.
Let's quietly, Let's softly
Let's say good-bye with a light heart.
A week or two, And we'll get over it,
What's past is past - Finished.
You know it.
You know what's going on. You could help us.
The Administrator became a Prince.
He won't let the Bear see the Princess.
It is not the Administrator. Who, then?
It's me! I don't believe you.
You libel yourself. Silence!
How dare you complain and hope for a happy ending
Where there is none and can be none? You're spoilt. Rotten.
So full of yourself with your conviction that everything must go smoothly and end well.
You want universal happiness. For everyone, in everything.
No such thing exists.
I will not take part in what is distasteful to me.
You could help just the bear.
I'm deliberately stopping him coming here. Why?
So that the princess can calmly, with dignity, meet her end.
We shall behave like adults.
Friends... Even tragic endings have a certain majesty.
What majesty?!
They give food for thought to those left alive.
What's so majestic about that?
It is shameful to kill off characters just to warm the coldhearted and move the indifferent.
You should be ashamed.
My lady... don't snap at him.
It was all my fault in the first place.
A Minister's duty is to report the truth to the King.
But I was afraid to grieve his Majesty.
The King's eyes must be opened.
Hello!
What a beautiful morning!
How is everything? How is the Princess?
Although, don't bother to answer.
I already know everything's well.
There, look!
Your Majesty... Don't!
Goodbye. Goodbye!
Your Majesty, hear me out! No. I want to sleep.
If you won't save your only daughter,
then who will?
Look at what's going on.
A swindler, an impudent man without reason or compassion
has seized power in the Kingdom.
Everything and everyone now serve his parasitic purse.
His flunkies are everywhere you look,
carrying bales with goods from place to place.
You must order the Prince-Administrator to be exiled.
Then the Princess will find it easier to breathe,
and this terrible wedding will no longer loom over the poor girl.
Your Majesty! No.
I can't do anything. But why?
Why?
Why? Because I'm degenerating!
You are a fool, I say. A fool.
Go read some books
instead of asking of a king that which he has no power to do.
The Princess will die.
Fine. Let her die.
If I start to feel that something like that really is likely,
I'll just kill myself.
I've got poison ready.
I tested it on my partner just the other day.
We were playing a game of cards.
The stuff worked wonders! He died without noticing it.
So why shout so?
You needn't worry about me. It's not you we're worrying about. It's the Princess.
You're not worrying about your King?
No, Your Excellency!
Oi. What did you just call me? Your Excellency.
Me, the greatest of all kings, you address by a general's title?
That's rebellion! Yes. I am rebelling.
I'm rebelling!
And you are not the greatest of all kings at all!
Merely an outstanding one, and that's it.
Got that?
Outstanding, but not more!
And you're not worthy of the title ''honorary Saint''.
You may be a hermit, but you're not a saint. Not a saint. Nope!
Call the executioner! He won't come.
He writes poems for the Administrator's newspaper.
You're not coming? Nope.
The Minister. Call the Administrating Minister! Here! They're taunting me!
But - why?
What for?
Who dares mistreat our fine, our likely lad -
- our little Kingy, as I like to call him?
They're telling me off. They want me to get rid of you.
What treacherous intrigue, as I like to call it.
They're trying to scare me. How?
They say the Princess will die. Of what? Of love.
Utter tosh, I'd say. Ravings, as I like to call it.
Our family doctor,
mine and Kingy's,
examined the Princess just yesterday and reported to me on her condition.
No diseases caused by love were discovered.
That's for one. And secondly...
Love making people feel ill is a trivial thing,
the sort of thing you'd joke about, as I call it.
Entirely curable.
If not neglected, of course.
What does death have to do with anything? That's what I said to them.
The doctor knows best whether the princess is in danger or not.
The doctor swore on his own head the Princess will get better very soon now.
Must be the wedding fever. As you call it.
As I call it.
Here! What is it?
The doctor ran away! That's impossible!
The doctor ran away! I went to see him about something to calm me down,
and suddenly I see - the rooms unlocked, yes, the drawers open and the wardrobe empty.
And this note on the table.
Don't show it to me. I - I'm too scared.
How do you like that?! They've taken away my executioner, they've taken away my gendarmes, they try to scare me.
Swine is what you are, not loyal subjects!
Don't follow me around! I'm not listening to you!
I am not listening to you!
Here, Hunter, show me that note. If you would, Hunter, please read it to all of us aloud. Very well.
''Only a miracle can save the princess.''
''You're killing her, but I will be the one to blame.''
''A doctor is a human being too, with his own weaknesses; namely, he wants to live. Goodbye; - the doctor.''
Damn! The traitor! How inopportune!
Contact the doctor!
Call him, place all the blame on him. Get to it!
No, please, don't stand up, my friends.
Today is such an extraordinary day!
Everything seems to just work.
Things that I thought were long lost somehow appear again by themselves.
And when I start to remember the past,
only the happiest memories come to mind.
Life is smiling its farewells to me.
Have they told you I will die today?
But... Princess...
Yes, it's much scarier than I thought.
Death, it turns out, is coarse and dirty.
She comes with her sack full of loathsome instruments.
How do you know all this, Princess?
Death came so close that I could see everything.
Enough of that!
Talk to me as though nothing is amiss.
Joke, smile, tell me stories.
Anything to keep my mind off what is about to happen to me.
Who's there?
Who?!
Who is it?
Who is it?!
Can you hear that?
Can you hear? Yes.
Sorry. I was scared I'd be too late.
Leave, all of you, except the Princess.
How did you manage to get in here?
I did everything to prevent you.
Leave. Please.
Or I will want to kill you again.
Only this time I'll succeed.
He'll do it.
If you please. This way. Quickly, now, quickly.
Why are you crying?
Happiness.
I...
I now have a secret I couldn't trust even to those closest to me;
only to you.
I love you.
Truly!
Really, I love you so much - I will forgive you anything.
You want to turn into a bear? All right, do that.
Just... don't leave.
I... can't bear to waste away here alone any more!
Why did you not come for so long?
No, no, don't answer.
I'm not asking, so don't.
If you didn't come, that's because you couldn't.
I'm not reproaching you.
You see how patient I've become? Just - don't leave me.
Death came for me today. No...
It's the truth.
I'm not afraid of it.
I am so happy that I no longer believe in death or grief.
Especially now that you have come so close.
No-one's ever come this close to me before.
No one ever came this close to me,
or ever held me.
You are holding me as though you have the right to.
And I like that. Very much.
Come. Let's go to my room.
I'll show you the room where I spent so long crying.
The balcony from which I would look to see if you were coming,
A hundred books about bears.
Bears were all I read about.
I am at fault.
What can one do about it now?
Yes, it is your fault.
Why did you set all this in motion?
Didn't I warn you?
This is my nature.
I wanted to talk to you about love.
But in the end I am a magician.
Remember, you used to say that?
Remember? I remember.
So I went and gathered all these people and reshuffled them.
And they all started to live so that you would laugh and cry.
I'm crying.
Some of them worked harder, Some slacked off,
but I grew used to them.
I can't just cross them out.
They're not words - they're people.
Sometimes I even started to let them argue with me...
and disobey me.
Sleep, my darling.
I am, to my sorrow, immortal.
I will be forced to outlive you,
and forever miss you.
But for now you are with me.
Glory to the brave
who dare to love
while knowing that all this must end.
Glory to the madmen
who live as though they are immortal.
Why aren't you asleep? Hush! You'll scare the bear away!
Let's go back. No.
Let's go to your place. I'm scared.
Wait. Don't.
No, please, don't be offended.
Let it be the way you want it.
God, I'm so happy that I've decided this is how everything is to be!
I, the idiot, didn't realise how wonderful it would be.
Let it be the way you want it.
Well?
Excuse me please.
I don't mean to interfere in your business,
But I think just now a miracle occurred.
Yes, perhaps.
What's surprising about that?
But wait, how can this be? I was promised...
that he would turn into a bear.
You, incidentally, kept insisting it. So I did.
So where's the bear?
I insisted, because I am, it seems, a foolish man.
But I don't regret it now.
Your final fairytale turned out to be amusing.
Good, at any rate.
Perhaps your best.
Let us quietly
Let us softly
Let's say goodbye lightly.
A week, maybe two,
And we will calm down,
What's done is done - past.
Of course, it's tragic,
Senseless and meaningless.
Oh, would that things could start over!
But to start over is impossible, unthinkable.
Don't even dream about it. Forget it.
It was so charming, very fun.
It was - and now it's gone. It is not there any more.
Cast:
Oleg Yankovsky
Irina Kupchenko
Yevgenyi Leonov
Yevgenia Simonova
Alexander Abdulov
Ekaterina Vasilyeva
Yuri Solomin
Andrei Mironov
Ervant Arzumanyan
Vsevolod Larionov
and others
Scriptwriter and director Mark Zakharov
D.O.P. Nikolai Nemolyaev
Production Designer Lyudmila Kusakova
Music by Gennadyi Gladkov
Lyrics by Y. Mikhailov