"A GEORGIA-FILM Studio Production" "THE STEP" "Screenplay by" "Aleqsandre REKHVIASHVILI David CHUBINISHVILI" "Come in, Alexi." "This way, please." "This is the room, but it has only half a door." "I like it." "You can put the bed wherever you like." "Follow me." "This is a cupboard." "This is a shower." "This door leads to the street." "The water is now on, now off." "The chest is empty." "The refrigerator is working." "Here you can hang your clothes." "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." "Come on, look." "What's the matter?" "The wolf's fur." "You like it?" "Raise your hand." "Raise the other one." "Good." "They say Alexi moved to another apartment again." "Have you heard of it?" "No, I haven't." "So what?" "What do you mean, so what?" "For how long is your son going to live in lofts and basements?" "What's so bad about it?" "Let him live as he likes." "After all, he's my son, not yours." "What is it to you?" "It's not you who people will condemn for your son not living with us." "Whatever you do, they'll condemn you anyway." "They won't be condemning me." "May I come in?" "Come in, come in." "Hello." "I need your signature." "Of course." "Try not leaving town these days." "Oh, come on, come on." "Come in, come in." "Authorize your report for the institute's anniversary." "We expect the order any day now." "We haven't been given any openings for classical botanic for a long time." "You have nothing to worry about." "Your competitors are just a few girls." "And this is a man's profession." "So you have an advantage." "To say nothing about your contest work, which is the talk of the town." "We must preserve the traditions, though recently we've yielded some of our positions." " There you go." " Thank you." "Goodbye." "Not bad." "And where will you sleep?" "On the table?" "There's one more room over there." "Splendid accommodations." "What else do you need?" "A fine apartment." "I like it too." "Mito." "Mito." "Mito!" "A pretty good basement." "I got to go." "I'll drop by later." "Where have you been for so long?" "I don't know." "Well, come on in." "Hello." "Hello." "What do you think, which is the larger of the two?" "The larger is the one that is smaller." "It's my new address." "Goodbye." "All the best to you." " May I come in?" " Come in, come in." "Hello." "I need your signature again." "Here." "Try not leaving town these days." "We expect the order any day now." "We haven't been given openings for classical botanic for a long time." "You have nothing to worry about." "Your competitors are just a few girls." "And this is a man's profession, so you have an advantage." " There you go." " Thank you." "Goodbye." "Look." "A cat?" "What did you bring it for?" "Not to have mice around." "How are things going in the sphere of botanic?" "Did you go there yesterday?" "Yes, I did." "The same talk, competitions, questionnaires, signatures, orders." "You may add:" "Candidates, directors, the smell of moth balls, and so on." "Yesterday, it was cold, today hot, you can't understand what's going on." "Hello." "Hello." "My name is Mito." "Hello." "This is my friend." "I'm sorry, I must have disturbed you." "Can you help me?" "Help me find some papers." " Newspaper clippings?" " No." "Photographs?" "No." " Documents?" " No." " Letters?" " No." " Bonds?" " No." " Powers of attorney?" " Yes, that's it." "Sorry for having bothered you." "Thank you very much." "Who is that woman?" "The apartment's owner." "Hello." "I need apartment rent bills." "What house do you live in?" "Number 15." "And who are you?" "I live there temporarily." "You must get a temporary registration." "How long are you going to live there?" "I don't know yet." "But soon it will be clear." "The list of tenants changes all the time." "Some move out, others change their names, apartments." "And this goes on forever." "I guess people get bored with living in the same place." "Here's a bill for one month." "Thank you." " Goodbye." " Goodbye." "Hello." "Hello." "Who are you?" "Excuse me." "Hello." "I'm Mito." "Excuse me." " Who is she?" " I don't know." "I must finish some business now." "Dear Mikhail." "Are you home?" "Where have you been all this time?" "You've absolutely forgotten me." "Some things kept me busy." "Here, I'm returning your book." "How are you, dear Mikhail?" "I'm going to treat you." "At young age you should eat rice more often, so that sodium excess wouldn't trouble you at your old age." "Thank you, I'm not hungry." "I just came to see you." "Then just sit with me." "How are things with you?" "I don't know." "Did anything happen?" "Something's happening to me." "I don't know what it is and where it's leading me." "Repeat it." "What did you say?" "Nothing special." "Something's happening to me." "I don't know what it is and where it's leading me." "What could be better than this?" "There's a saying:" "One who doesn't know where he goes will get the farthest." "Come here." "I'll show you something." "I began as a teacher in a village school." "I was your age then." "These are my first pupils." "A botanic lesson." "Look how attentively they listen." "That's when I realized that you must be needed by others in order to reconcile yourself to your situation." "Alexi, where are you?" "You have nothing to worry about." "Your competitors are just a few girls." "And this is a man's profession." "So you have an advantage." "To say nothing of your contest work, which is the talk of the town." "We must preserve the traditions, though recently we've given up some of our positions." "I found something interesting." "Come here and look." "Doesn't make much sense." "It would be better if there was a man instead of a woman." "And two men would be just perfect." " When is Alexi coming?" " How long do we have to wait?" "If he knew we were here, he would've been here before us." "Excuse me, does Alexi live here?" "I didn't get the wrong address, did I?" "No, you didn't." "He lives here." "But he's out now." "We're waiting for him." "Come in." "Look what a curious thing." "How do you like it?" "I'm a poor judge of that." "When will Alexi come?" "We're waiting for him, too." "Excuse me." "I'd better not distract you." "I'll drop by later." "Excuse me." " I think it's no use waiting for him." " I think so, too." "Let's go, then." "Hello." "I'm Mito." "Don't you recognize me?" "Mito, a friend of Alexi." "Hello." "Is Alexi home?" " Alexi isn't home." " Excuse me." "Hello." "Hello." "The smaller one is larger." "And the larger one is smaller." "Goodbye." "All the best to you." "Is he crazy?" "That's possible." "Hello." "Why don't you lock the door?" "Hello." " Is your mother home?" " No." " When will she be back?" " I don't know." "So you don't know?" "In which room does that young man live?" "In the room over there." "Soon they're going to replace the radiators and the water supply will be stopped." "So in which room does that young man live?" "The room over there." "By the way, brush number six." "May I take it?" "Take any one." "Tell your mother that I came and warned you." "And don't forget that the doorwas invented so that it was locked." " May I come in?" " Come in." "Come on in." "You know how busy I am." "We have auditors all the time." "They come, they go." "It's the end of the quarter." "It's always the same story." "How many quarters do you have in a year?" "Work is work, and family is family." "You want it to be the otherway round." "Don't you know any people who could help Alexi?" "But I'll have to ask." "Don't you know that?" "So ask them." "What's wrong about it?" "Other people are asking you, too." "I don't know what Alexi wants." "I'll ask someone, and he'll say we're meddling in his life." "I know it." "You always do only what's convenient to you." "You know it." "No win." "This one, too." "No win." "Does Alexi have no one who could help him?" "I don't know." "I pity him, he's running about town in such hot weather." "When everything could have been done differently." "He's a strange man, our Alexi." "Very strange." "I think he's got something on his mind, but keeps it from us." "Fifty kopecks." "What date is today?" "I don't know." "Do you also think that Alexi has something on his mind?" "Yes, I think so too." "Hello." " Join us." " With pleasure." "Fifty kopecks." "Please, put it here." "Come in." "Come in." " May I come in?" " Come on in." "Hello." "I hope I'm not disturbing you?" "No, not at all." "On the contrary." "I'm glad you dropped by." "Your contest work has already gained you authority." "As they say, first you work for authority, then authority works for you." "We expect the order any day now." "We haven't been given classical botany openings for a long time." "So you have nothing to worry about." "Your competitors are just a few girls." "And this is a man's profession." "So you've got an advantage." "To say nothing of your competition work, which is the talk of the town." "We must preserve the traditions, though recently we have given up some of our positions." "You've got a remarkable memory." "It's exactly the memory one needs for classical botanic." " I need your last signature." " There you go." "Thank you." "Goodbye." "What paper did you give that boy for my signature?" "He's got all the papers signed." "What did he make me sign then?" "It's strange." "Find that paper." "The man, who decided to have all those competitions and commissions in such hot weather, must be a great joker." "Yes, it seems so." "But you played a good joke on him, too." "I could never do it." "He gave me a good answer, too." ""It's exactly the memory one needs for classical botanic. "" "I've never heard of a director to sign a paperwithout reading it." "Hello." "May I come in?" "Hello." "Will you have some tea?" "All right, pour me some." " Hello." " Hello." " You live in this room?" " No, in the other one." "Good room." "Do you need anything?" "Perhaps I could help?" "Alexi prefers helping others himself." "I got to go." "If you need something, let me know." "Did you want something?" "No." "I just wanted to see you." "I'm off." "Goodbye." "Goodbye." "Who was that?" "My father." "Why did you speak to him like to a stranger." "He's a stranger to me." "Yes, there're fathers like that." "They don't remember their own grand- children but take care of others'." "They must be seeking love for a close one through a distant one." "They say your stepmother is younger than you." "Is that true?" "I don't know." "He's left a letter." "That's money." "I'll give you the address." "Please return it." "It's you, Alexi?" "Where have you been?" "How are you doing?" "Fine, I think." "How about you?" "Do you like this necklace?" "No, I don't." "I don't, either." " Nino!" " What?" "Can you leave us alone?" "With pleasure." "Bye." "Hello." "This donkey from an institute needs a temporary shelter." "Your landlady gave her permission to put him up here." "Just for a few days." "He won't be in yourway, will he?" "No, of course not." "If you need some paper, please come." "Hello." "Hello." "And where's Alexi?" "Alexi is out on business." "Do mushrooms grow in the basement?" "I didn't know that." "They didn't, but they do now." "You gathered all this in the basement?" "Yes, there're more there." "And new ones will grow." "Is this the place where the ten-day courses are?" "Courses?" "Which courses?" "Which courses?" "German language courses." "No, you've got the wrong place." "And I thought you opened the courses on growing mushrooms." "Excuse me." "Come on, let me take another look." "It suits you perfectly." "I was against the basement." "Our generation looked at everything differently." "If you were like us, we would have been different." " So we'll always have mushrooms?" " Of course." "How is Alexi?" "Alexi?" "Fine." "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." "What's the matter?" "What is it with you?" "I don't know." "I must have caught cold." "I'm running a fever." "You must move to the big room." "There's more room and air there." "Come on, get up." "You'll get well faster there, believe me." " Perhaps he got sunstroke." " I think he caught cold." "This will cure our Alexi - the August fish." "The warmer he is, the sooner his fever goes." "Take this, too." "All right." "That'll be enough." "Put the astrakhan coat over him." "It won't let the warmth out." "You'll see that tomorrow he'll be even better than before his illness." "Here's cabbage with honey tincture, it will surely help." "The Sumer mythology says that the August fish cures everything." "What do you want?" "Nothing." "In accordance with custom, the sick one must eat a whole August fish." "He seems to have fallen asleep." "What do we do?" "It's all right, he'll wake up and eat it." "What if he sleeps for a long time?" "The fish might get rotten in this heat." "Then eat it yourself." "If he doesn't wake up soon, I'll have to eat it." "Hello." "I'd like to see Alexi." "Don't you see?" "He's asleep." " When will he wake up?" " I don't know." "What's wrong with him?" "He's ill, he's running a temperature." "He must have caught cold." "Caught cold in such hot weather?" "Wouldn't you like to try the August fish?" "No, thank you." "You got some business to Alexi?" "What did you want?" " I wanted to get a consultation." " What consultation?" "I'm interested in the plants depicted in this drawing." "Did they really exist, or it is just the imagination of the artist?" "Only Alexi can tell you that." "If it were fish, I would have answered you." "I'm sorry." "I'll come some other time." "Goodbye." "It's a book!" "Let's move the bed around." "It'll be better for him." "Yes, it's better this way." "I thought it was a table, but it's a book." "He'll feel better tomorrow." "Let's go, it's late." "There he is." "Come on, get out." "He seems to like it here." "He doesn't want to leave." "C'mon, go, go." "Push him from behind." "Alexi returned the money again." "So what if he returned it?" "I think you're wrong about some things." "Hello." "May I?" "Please, come in." "This bottle has been empty for 90 years, but the smell is still there." "Splendid." "Splendid." "And this one, too." "Wonderful." "Splendid." "This is the paper of that young man." "Read it." "Please relieve me of participation in the competition for enrollment in the staff of your institute." "Others are dreaming of getting in our competition." "And this one refuses himself." " What shall we do?" " I don't know." "All right." "Leave that paper." "Alexi." "Alexi." "Alexi." "Alexi." "Excuse me, is Alexi home?" "No, dear, he's out." "I just can't catch him:" "Now he is ill, then he's out." "Is he ever at home?" "What shall I tell you?" "Now he is, now he isn't." "Thank you." "Excuse me." "It's you?" "Hello." "I live in the other room." "I didn't expect to see you at home." "How are you doing?" "How are things?" "So-so." "You've changed." "I heard you were ill." "Yes, I caught cold when it was hot." "Who was that girl?" "Either the daughter or granddaughter of my landlady." "I'm not sure." "And how are you doing?" "How are things with you?" "I guess I'm fine." "How is your mother, father, girlfriends, boyfriends?" "They're fine, too." "I didn't expect you to come." "And I expected you to come." "We're mistaken more often than we expect." "Where are you going tonight?" "I don't know." " And on Saturday?" " I don't know." "Mikhail!" "Are you home?" "What do you want?" "What's the matter?" "Doesn't Mikhail live here any longer?" "There's no Mikhail." "It's been a month since he died." "We're his relatives." "What did you want?" "Where was he buried?" "In some mountain village." "That was his wish." " We don't know which village." " We don't know." "Maybe they meant some other Alexi?" "At first I thought so too, but it turned out that it's our Alexi." "Who told the one who told you that?" "He himself wanted to find it out from me." "He thought I knew better." "What does he want there?" "What's he going to do there?" "What is he going to do there?" "How do I know?" "Hello." "Is Alexi not at home again?" "No, we're waiting for him, too." "What's the matter?" "Did something happen?" "They say our Alexi is going to the mountains." "He wants to live there." "I don't believe it." "He's not that crazy." "They say Alexi got a letter." "When?" "From whom?" "Alexi has a photo of that guy." "The letter, they say, was from him." "Alexi is going away." "Why?" "He didn't like it here?" "He did." "He's leaving for the mountains for good." "One can run away from such friends even farther than the mountains." "By the way, Alexi received some kind of notice." "This is the photo of that guy." "They say Alexi received a letter from him." "Let me see it." "Never seen him before." "Maybe it's all only rumors about Alexi?" "Why rumors?" "No one says that we're leaving." "Alexi has a friend." "I think he's a teacher." "He tells him about everything." "That man should know." "Why not go and ask him?" "Do you know where he lives?" "I only heard about him, but I don't know either his name or address." "I don't know him." "But who is that guy?" "Maybe, a shepherd or a doctor." "You can't tell by his clothes." "If he's a doctor, then a veterinarian." "People are healthy in the mountains." "They don't need doctors there." "Excuse me." "I'll bother you no longer." "Goodbye." "Alexi." "Here's a letter for Alexi." "It's all clear now." "Alexi has got a job." "Why are we sitting here then?" "Let's go." "Let's get back to our business." " We've done all we could." " Even more." "I've brought you good news." "People say you're leaving." "Yes, I decided to go away." "Why?" "Go away?" "Where?" "To the mountains." "I'll be living there." "Too bad you're leaving." "No, I don't know." "They say Alexi is leaving for the mountains." "What's so bad about it?" "I like the way Alexi lives." "He lives as he wishes." "What is it you don't like?" "What do you want?" "It's not you but me they'll condemn because he ran away to the mountains." "Whatever you do not to be condemned, they will condemn you anyway." "Alexi has left, early this morning." "Is this the road to the village of Zemo-Khevi?" "Is this the road to the village of Zemo-Khevi?" "Yes, this is the road." "Directed by Aleqsandre REKHVIASHVILI" "Director of Photography Archil FILLIPASHVILI" "Production Designers:" "Noshrevan NIKOLADZE Gia LAPERADZE" "Merab NINIDZE as Alexi"