"A Mosfilm Studios production" "The Moscow District Court has studied Civil Case No.2. 688/6:" "Lidia Miroshnikova vs." "Fyodor Miroshnikov." "The aforesaid parties were married in 1967 and have one child, Ivan born in 1969." "The plaintiff requests the Court to dissolve the marriage on the grounds that" "her husband loves another woman." "The defendant does not contend the suit." " Give me a hankie." " I don't have one." "That's very kind of you." "I have one." "I'll be waiting for you at the bus stop." "We'll go to the Zoo and the Planetarium." "Okay, Mama." "Good-bye." "Your mother is an angel." "I'm sorry it turned out this way, old boy." "Relax, Dad." "I hope we'll be seeing a lot of each other." "She's got class." "D' you really like her?" "Natasha!" "Come over here." "This is my son, Ivan." "This is Natasha." "Pleased to meet you." "Congratulations." "Your dad's told me a lot about you." "I can just imagine." "Nothing bad, old boy." "Take care of him." "He has an ulcer." "My mom brews herbal tea." "I can copy the recipe for you on the q.t." "Thanks." "That'll be great." "I have to go." " Come visit us, Ivan." " Sure." "My dad, a construction engineer, soon went off to work in Africa." "I finished school and began my adult life." "THE MESSENGER" "Based on a story by K. Schakhnazarov" "Starring" "Fyodor Dunayevsky" "Anastasiya Nemolyayeva" "Oleg Basilashvili" "Inna Churicova" "Featuring" "Svetlana Kriuchkova Alexander Pankratov-Chorny" "Vladimir Menshov Alevtina Evdokimova" "Evdokia Urusova Vladimir Smirnov" "Tell us, young man, when did Kiev Russ adopt Christianity?" "Kiev Russ?" "You don't know that, either." "I've never been good at dates." "Why'd you decide to become a teacher?" "My mother teaches history at a technical school." "She said: "Apply to a teacher's college." ""So few boys do." "You'll have a chance."" "We're short of boys, but not that hard up." "I see." "I just didn't want to argue with her." " Six clubs." " Whist." "You don't have a single trick." " I pass." " What?" "Play!" "That's stupid, Mikheyich." "Shut up, Ivan." "We're playing for stakes." "I want to get a job at the vegetable store, Bazin." "Your dad works there, doesn't he?" "Yeah, he's a loader." "Could he put in a word for me?" "I'll ask him." "Why there?" "D'you like carrots?" "It's close to home." "I'll be called up soon anyway." "Why'd you lie to your father?" ""Congratulations on being accepted." ""What a surprise." ""Awaiting great discoveries." "(Singed) Papa"" "I wanted to make him feel good." "Feel good!" "You dunce!" "Darwin wasn't much at first, either." "But he didn't hang out with bums all day." "It's time you got a job." "I'm going to work at the vegetable store." "Bazin said he'd help." "Your friend Bazin is an idiot." "It's easy to call a person names." "Listen to his history paper:" ""The peasant serfs" ""were angry when they found out" ""about the Tartar invasion."" "Were they supposed to be happy?" "You just said that to hurt me." "You're always trying to hurt me, just like your father." "You enjoy tormenting me." "You're cruel and heartless!" "If I were Dad, I'd have left you, too." "Why d'you hate me, Ivan?" "Stop crying!" "Stop, or I'll burn the house down!" "I found you a job." " Nothing less than a Minister?" " Practically." "As a messenger for "Cognition" magazine." "I always dreamed of being an errand boy." "You're really lucky, then." "Fill out the application and write your autobiography." "Including your family, schooling" " Can I sit here?" " Yes." "All done?" "Let's see it." ""I was born in Languedoc Province in 1668, the son" ""of an impoverished, though ancient, "noble family." ""My father, le duc de- "" "De Brissac." ""- fought in M Laval's regiment and was wounded" ""by a spear during the siege of Montfer... ferrat," ""while hoisting the king's standard." ""I resided in the family castle until the age of 17." ""Thanks to my mother, Baroness de Monjou," ""I received a decent education." ""Now, desirous of serving my country in battle," ""I wish to be enlisted in His Majesty's" ""Blackguard company."" "Rewrite it." " I was just joking." " So I see." "This is Ivan, our new messenger." "Hey, he's not bad." "I'm Zinaida Pavlovna." "I'm Stepan Afanasyevich, the editor." "I'm Ivan Panteleimonovich." "You mean your father's name really Panteleimon?" " What's wrong with that?" " Nothing." "I want to remind you that a messenger's duties are:" "sorting and delivering letters and running business-related errands." "He is not to be sent out for cigarettes or purchases." "Got it, old boy?" " What's so funny?" " That's what my dad calls me." "There's something of a father in each of us." "Of course, but he doesn't live with us now." " I'm sorry." " For him or for us?" "Here's your first assignment." "Take this article to Prof. Kuznetsov." "He's a big name in education." "Ever see "School Chums" on TV?" "Get going!" "He's waiting for it." "Bazin!" "Why aren't you at school?" "I'm excused from P.E. I'm going skate-boarding." " Come on." " I have to deliver this." "You can deliver it later." "Watch out!" "Faster!" "Head towards Mosfilm!" "PROF." "S. P. KUZNETSOV" " Who d'you want to see?" " You." "I've been in love with you since the 1st grade." "I started school in Leningrad." "It wasn't you, then." "Actually, I have a ms for Semyon Petrovich." "A crazy guy's brought you a manuscript, Papa." "Send the scoundrel in." "He's kept me waiting 3 hours!" "I'm not a scoundrel." "Take off your shoes." " My socks, too?" " You can leave them on." "Give me some slippers." " Who're you?" " A messenger." "I wasted 3 hours because of you." "Here's your manuscript." "Show him out, Katya." "I'm in no hurry." "I'd appreciate a cup of tea." " You're crazy." " What's so crazy?" "I'm hungry and asked for a cup of tea." " What's wrong with that?" " Actually " "Take him to the kitchen and pour him some tea." " You're all right." " What d'you mean?" " You've a good figure." "Nice legs." " I take after my mother." " I'd like to meet her." " She'll be in later." "I had this real cool teacher." "She was stacked." "One day she ran a science film for our physics class." "I was in the last row." "She sat down beside me." "It was dark." "I got excited " "And moved closer." "She acted like she didn't notice." "When I put my arm around her, she said:" ""See me after class, Miroshnikov."" "I did." "Her breasts were heaving." "She fell into my arms." "Imagine that." "I had a crush on a teacher, too." "He was very handsome." "What happened?" "I wrote him a letter, but he never answered it." "I'm a girl." "I couldn't throw myself at him." "Sure." "What d'you do?" "I'm a freshman at the University." "I could've been, too." "I scored 100 at the entrance exam, but decided I'd get some work experience first." "I didn't want to go to school, either, but my parents" "My parents never interfere." "I'll come for the manuscript tomorrow." "I won't say good - bye to your father." "You're right." "He's simmering." "Listen to this, Ivan" "Thy glass will show thee how thy beauties wear," "They dial how thy precious minutes waste;" "The vacant leaves thy mind's imprint will be" "And of this book this learning mayst thou taste." "The wrinkles which thy glass will truly show" "Of mouthed graves will give thee memory" " Did Pushkin write that?" " No, Shakespeare did." "Once, Prof. Rosenfeld said:" ""This is your third attempt to get into acting school." ""Each time you do tragedy, when" ""you've a real talent for comedy."" "Did you want to be an actress?" "Yes, but your father said:" ""Don't knock at a locked door."" "I was in love with him." "We had an office party today." "They asked me to recite." "I didn't want to, but I pulled myself together." "I recite "A Woman is Being Beaten"." "It's by Voznesensky." "At first, there was silence." "Then an ovation and flowers." "Everyone congratulated me." "Men offered to take me home." "A colonel even invited me out to dinner." "But I came home alone." "The Earth is visible below Through the round porthole." "We miss it as a son Will miss his mother," "For it's our one And only one." "And all the same, The stars are cold," "Though they are near us." "And just as in The darkest hours," "We wait for light and dream Our Earthly dreams." "We dream not Of the launching pad," "Nor of this light-blue Stillness," "But of the grass Around our house." "Of all the green, Green grass." "Are you crying?" "No." "Go on back to bed." "What'd you do at Kuznetsov's?" "Why?" "He called this morning and said not to send you again." " I said there's nobody else." " What'd he say?" "He said, it was too bad we had such punks on the staff." " What'd you say?" " I said, "He's just a cog in the wheel."" "You look like a corpse." "What'd you do there?" "His daughter fell in love with me." "Now he's scared." "You're a fast operator." "And smart." "Kuznetsov's an important man." "Why're you sitting around?" "Go pick up the photographs." "Then get the ms from Kuznetsov." "It's stuffy in here." "Open the window, Ivan." "Buttertoes is the word." "Do I open it?" "Never mind." "Are you okay?" "What d'you think?" "The paper punch landed on my head." "Who put it up there?" "I've been looking for it for 3 weeks." "Being brained by this " "It could draw blood." "Yeah, if it fell from high up." " It could even kill you." " I doubt it." "If someone hit you full-force?" "Let me see it." "Sure, if it were full-force." "Hello, Oleg." "What crash?" "Our messenger fell off the windowsill." "Imagine, the paper punch landed on his head." "Yours is small." "Ours is an office-size." "Not a scratch." "Okay, I'll be right down." "Go for the ms, Ivan." "I've come for the manuscript." "Come in." "You're just in time." "We're having dinner." "I won't let you go without a meal." "Hello." "Pull up a chair." "Serve our guest, Katya." "This calls for wine." "Is today a holiday?" "You now have the honor of meeting a typical representative of today's youth." "A mix of nihilism and brazenness." "He's a fascinating specimen." " What's your name?" " Ivan." "You might've thought to ask that before." "Well, Ivan," "Well, you know me." "And Katya." "This is my mother, Agnes Ivanovna." "My wife, Maria Victorovna." "Everything becomes part of an act." "Clowning as a principle of life." "They know it all." " Why're you ribbing him?" " It's a matter of principle!" "Our generation wants to know what we lived and fought for." "Who will take over the edifice we erected?" "Why should that trouble you?" "I'd like to know by what principles you intend to exist in society?" "I'd like to have good pay, a car, an apartment in a good location, a dacha " "And a cushy job." "True, earthly possessions are necessary." "There's nothing wrong in that." "But you don't get them for nothing." "One must work hard, acquire knowledge " "Then you'll have earned that flashy car." "Sounds pretty grim." "I guess I'll do without the car." "Right." "It's the only way." "Not at all." "If I seduce your daughter and marry her," "I'll have it made." "You have connections and money." "You'll find me a cushy job and buy us a condo." "Right, Agnes..." "Ivanovna?" "A condo!" "Did you hear that?" "Out!" "Get out!" "Get out, you punk!" "Wait, Ivan!" "You were great." "He'll complain to the office." "No, he won't." "Here's the manuscript." " Where are you going now?" " To the office." "Give me your phone number." "I'll call you this evening." "All hell's broken loose." "I like you." " What's up?" " I'm going home." "How about a double date?" "The one on the left is yours." " What'll we do?" " Go to a movie." " Hey, Bazin!" " Wait a sec!" "By what principles d'you exist in society?" "Who will take over the edifice we erected?" " What edifice?" " Don't play dumb." "Answer me." "By what principles do you exist?" "My main principle - is to serve the humanistic ideals of mankind." "Good for you!" "You and the girls go to the movies." " May I please speak to Ivan?" " It's me, Katya." "How's your father?" "Okay." "He cooled off after a while." "Mama thinks you're eccentric." "Don't worry." "My dad won't complain." "Why should I worry?" "I wouldn't want you to get into trouble." "Thanks." "What're you doing tomorrow?" "I've classes in the morning." "How about a date?" "Okay." "When do we meet?" "Row over Mayakovsky Sq. by 5." "Okay." "So long." "Stepan Afanasyevich " "What's your most cherished wish?" "That the barometer not fall below 740 mm in Moscow Region." " Why?" " The fish bite better." "My wish would be to marry a Japanese." "Why a Japanese?" "They're first in technology." "Couldn't I interest you in a Georgian?" "There's this fella I know " "Why can't you be serious?" "How about you, Ivan?" "I wish Communism triumphs throughout the world." "By the way, we're to send one person to do a day's work at the vegetable warehouse." "You're elected, Ivan." " Not bad at all." " Merci." "What'll we do?" " How about a kiss?" " Anything else?" "Are you chicken?" "No, but I've got my principles." "So do I." " Why'd you ask for a date?" " So's we could kiss." "Are you mad?" "I was only joking." "Okay." "How about a movie or a cafe?" "I'm sick of them." "Want me to show you a leopard's den?" "Why'd you bring me here?" "It's the leopard's den." "This is a quarry." "How'd a leopard come to be here?" "It ran away from a travelling circus." " Did you see it?" " No." "What makes you think it's here?" "I heard it was killed here." "How could it live here?" "Look, see its tracks?" "Come on, let's go." "All together now!" "Everyone clap!" " Coffee or ice cream?" " I don't want anything." "I know a joke." "A plain crashed." "A monkey was the sole survivor." "The investigators questioned it:" ""What was the pilot doing when the plane crashed?"" ""Oh, Lucienne, Lucienne!"" ""What about the stewardess?" "Oh, Jean, Jean!"" ""What were you doing?"" " Is that your crowd?" " Yeah." " What do they do?" " Study, work " "I have to make a call." "The phone's over there." "Why d'you snort like a horse, Bazin?" "When'd I snort?" "All the time." "You say something stupid and snort." "My girlfriend's invited us over." " Don't you like it here?" " I do, but it's her birthday." "Okay, come on." "Are they all into karate?" "Igor studied in Japan when they lived there." "What kinky dresses." "That's not what they're wearing in Paris." "Were you in Paris?" "I spent the summer in Belgrade." "Nina's dad is posted in Yugoslavia." "But were you in Paris?" "No, I was not in Paris." "Are you at school, Ivan?" "Nobody'll have me." "I've served 5 years." " Where?" " In jail." "Five long years." "Got any pure alcohol?" " No." " Any toilet water?" "There's French perfume." "I don't like French perfume." "Okay, let's have it." "Open the door, Ivan!" "Are you okay?" "Why'd you do it?" "Were you mad on account of your friends?" "I'm going home." "So long." "Where were you?" " Don't you feel well?" " I'm nauseous." "It's probably food poisoning." " Should I call an ambulance?" " No, I'll be all right." " What'd you eat?" " Ice cream." "Why, you smell of perfume." " Were you out with a girl?" " I was out with Bazin." "Is "Madame Rochas" a good perfume?" "Excellent, but very expencive." " Want to give someone a gift?" " I already have." " Where'd you get the money?" " I won it at cards." "You mean you play for money?" "No." "Bazin's Uncle Rothschild died in America." "You and your jokes." "Go to sleep." "Good night." "How are you, old boy?" "I'm fine, Dad." "Why'd they go to the country?" "Papa's working on a book." "Everybody's writing." "They should try football." "I can just picture him playing football." "It's not a sight for the weak - hearted." "Sorry." "Remember what you told me about your teacher?" " The one you had an affair with." " Me?" "An affair?" "It was you who told me." "Yeah, I remember it now." "But bear this in mind," "sometimes I can say anything " "D'you play the piano?" " I used to take lessons." " Play something, and I'll sing." "What'll I play?" "Just anything." "That doesn't inspire me." "Why don't you begin?" "There once was a goat, Not a snake, not a stoat," "But a real billy goat With a long, shaggy coat " "What's going on?" "Come, Mamma." " What's the body count?" " It's pretty awful." "Actually, we didn't do anything wrong." "Not actually." "I'll be going " "Could you spare a few minutes of your valuable time?" "I have come to the conclusion that your company is extremely detrimental to my daughter." "Man-to-men, I request you to cease all social contact with Katya." "That's impossible, sir." "How's that... sir?" "Your daughter and I love each other." "I admit it wasn't right of me to conceal the truth from you for so long." "Now that you know, I ask you to give us your blessing." "Wait." "Have you decided to get married?" "Our relations have gone too far." "As a decent man, I request your daughter's hand in marriage." "You what?" "Katerina is expecting." " What?" " It's true." "When'd you have time to?" " What do you expect to live on?" " Hardship doesn't faze us." "I understand..." "but you're so young." "Do you plan on going to college?" "That's not an end in itself." "I trust you don't intend to always be a messenger." " I write poetry." " Ever publish anything?" "Not yet." " Are your poems any good?" " I can recite one for you." ""A monument I've raised not built with hands," ""And common folk shall keep the path well trodden" ""To where it unsubdued and towering stands " "Not bad, though it does remind me of something." "Perhaps it's the old-fashioned style." " Care to hear another one?" " No, thanks." " I'll be going, then." " Yes." "Drop by any time." " Why not invite your parents over?" " By all means." "And may I call you Papa?" "Well?" "No problem." "We had a nice chat." "Don't worry." "I'll call you this evening." "Is Ivan there?" "How could you?" "Why'd you do it?" " Who was that?" " Nobody special." "Could you tell me where the Language Department is?" "It's in the Humanities building." "French 7 is already out." "Hi, Katya." "I decided to take a walk." "It's such a nice day." "Then, what, Ilya?" "I'm dying to know." "Well, Mitya and I went in." "They were sitting around, all of them sober " "Why's this bird standing here?" " Want us to get rid of him?" " No, he's my cousin." "He arrived from Vitebsk yesterday." "Yeah?" "He looks weird." "I know." "He fell off a thresher." "So long." "I'll show him the University." " Why'd you come here?" " To apologize for yesterday." "Okay, I forgive you." "There's something else I want to say." " I'll be good." "Honest." " Don't act like a baby." "You messed things up so." "I had a terrible time with my parents." " I'll apologize to them." " By no means." "I told them I was expecting your child." " Are you nuts?" " What else could I say?" "What'll we do now?" " Have a baby." " How?" "You're a man." "You should know." "Are you chicken?" "No, I'm with you." "You mean right now?" "Why wait?" "I've a lecture at 2 o'clock." "Right here?" "With people passing all the time?" " Where, then?" " Where we can be alone." "Let's go over there." "This isn't bad." "What d'you say?" "Rats!" "Now what?" "Are you a man, or a piece of shit?" "Think of something!" "I need a pad, Bazin." " What for?" " I just do." "My aunt's here from Tallinn with her kids." " They're driving me nuts." " Are Serge's parents at work?" "His dad broke a leg." "He's at home." "How about the basement?" "I've got the keys." "What a rat hole." "D'you think I'm a loose woman?" "Of course not." "Well, I am." "Did you ever?" "You know, with a woman " "No." "Did you?" " No." "Just petted." " Me, too." " D'you like me?" " Yes, a lot." "I like you, too." "Sometimes I can't understand you, though." "This beats everything!" "Making out in public!" "You bitch!" " Wait, Katya!" " I hate you!" "There's a letter and gifts from your father." "It looks good on you." ""I was in the savannah" ""and saw the Masai hunting." ""The chieftain gave me a spear." ""He's really powerful." "And smart." ""I'll be home on vacation soon." ""Regards to Mother." "Write me." "Papa."" "I take it this is the spear in question." "He always liked toys." "They sparked his imagination." "Why'd you do that?" "Ivan?" "I thought it was Stepanov." "Hello, hero." "We weren't expecting you." "I want to apologize for what I said." "Relax..." "Katya told us all about it." "Let bygones be bygones." "Here's a man for you, too, Katya." "I'd like you to meet Ivan." "He's the most unique of all of my daughter's friends." "He recently said he wrote poetry and recited a poem by Pushkin." "Imagine, I nearly fell for it." "That was stupid of me." "Young people today are an enigma." "We must communicate with them." "The day's fast approaching when we'll cease understanding our own children." "You're complicating things." "They're just spoiled." "Their life has been too easy." "It's trite, but true." "My father whipped me until I was 17." "For all the good it did." "Take my son, for instance." "He's a good boy, a sportsman." "It's hard to find fault with him." "But he loves to drink milk out of the can!" "It's those yellow cans of evaporated milk." "I ask him why he drinks it undiluted." "He says, "I like it."" "It's the same old song:" "we had it hard, so why shouldn't they?" "Today's youth is heroic." "I watch TV and know our youth." "But he goes on drinking it from the can!" "Why does it rile you so?" "To hell with the milk!" "I want to understand him!" "Why does a big, burly fellow punch a hole in a can and " "When I talk to him, he won't answer." "He listens, says nothing and starts sucking that can!" "He doesn't want to study, he's sloppy about his job." "I thought he wanted to become the judo champ." "But no." ""Why spend so much time working out, then?" I said." ""What for?"" "So he picked up the empty can and... scrunch." ""You can't do that," he said." "Calm down." "You're exaggerating." "I want to understand him!" "I want to know what I fathered!" "If he said: "I don't want to live your way -"" "I'd understand." "But he accepts the good things and is silent!" "He's at a difficult age." "He'll outgrow it." "Isn't that so, Ivan?" "Yes." "We'll sow our wild oats and be just like you." "Perhaps even better than us." "You must press on." "We'll press on." "I hope you'll excuse my paternal egoism if I ask my daughter to sing for us." "Lovely!" "Sing "The Nightingale" for us, Katya." "I don't feel like singing." " Why not?" " I just don't!" "I'll sing it." "Can you sing?" "I was in the school glee club." "Nightingale, My nightingale," "Sweet-voiced nightingale." "Whither are you winging?" "Where shall you Sing the night away?" "Nightingale, My nightingale," "Sweet-voiced nightingale." "Fly away, My nightingale," "Far, far away " "Can you tell me what you want out of life?" "What you wish for?" " Let him answer me." " I'll tell you what I wish for." "I want to be irresistible." "I want to drive a fast sports car, wearing a long red scarf, to drive men wild." " Why, Katya " " I will sing for you, after all." " Some other time, perhaps?" " You wanted me to." "There once was a goat, Not a snake, not a stoat " "Stop it!" "Don't come to see me." "And don't call." "It's all right, Katya." "Company's gone." "Let's go home." "I can't, Papa." "I just can't." "Everything will be all right." "It'll be all right." "Come, it's late." "Why're you wearing a coat?" "Are you cold?" "D'you have a wish, Bazin?" "What d'you wish for?" " I wish I had a coat." " Is that all?" "Winter's around the corner, and I don't have a coat." "I wore a jacket last year and always caught cold." "Can't your folks buy you a coat?" "My dad's playing alimony." "Ma won't give me a kopeck." "She says I don't need money." "She's sick in the head." "Stand up." "It's all yours." "I'll be called up soon anyway." "Wear it and wish for something great." "Written by Alexander Borodyansky" "Directed by Karen Shakhnazarov" "Director of Photography Nikolai Nemolyayev" "Production Designer Konstantin Forostenko" "Music by Eduard Artemyev" "Sound Recordist Vitaly Shemelkin"