"Committee on Cinematography of the Russian Federation" "Russian Television Nicola Film present" "Produced by Igor KALYONOV a Kira MURATOVA film" "A VOCATIONS" "Starring" "Svetlana KOLENDA Renata LITVINOVA" "Mikhail DEMIDOV Vassily RYBAKIN" "Alexei SHEVCHENKO Gennady TKACHENKO" "Victor PAVLOV Umirzak SHMANOV" "Sergey POPOV Nikolai SHATOKHIN" "Yevgheny RAKHMANIN Yekaterina LOBANOVA" "Violetta IGNATOVA-DELVARI" "A VOCATIONS" "Look, they're up!" "Over there, by the white dog." "It just started running." "You see now?" "Right there!" "See?" "Over there." "Sasha!" "Milashevsky!" "Fantastic!" "Where's Milashevsky?" "Ah, he's in hospital!" "You're really something, Sasha!" "How interesting!" "You fool!" "Come on, come on!" "She'll be pissed off." "Let's go back!" "Just like kids." "Who can tell me exactly, were wild stallions..." "Wild horses, not stallions." "Were wild stallions faster than the present, trained ones?" "It's the same as comparing Schwarzenegger to Ilya Muromets." "Can you compare racers with circus horses?" "You can, to the disadvantage of the circus." "Meet my fellow-sufferer, Violetta." "Sasha, your friend doesn't understand." "You just don't know, you can't even imagine what it takes to prepare an equestrian acrobatic turn." "A great deal depends on the horse and the trainer here..." "Our stud-farms sell only poor horses to the circus." "The ones that exhibit no talent in their main calling." "Violetta is a circus performer!" "And what is the horse's principal calling?" "Their principal calling is racing!" "No one has any pity for circus horses." "Let them get crippled." "What is the horse's principal calling in life?" "Mysticism!" "No one has any pity for horses that exhibit no talent in racing, let them get crippled." "What is the principal..." "What did you come here for?" "Yuri Nikulin wasn't admitted to theatre and turned a clown." "Whatverse do you like most, Violetta?" "Fet, Tyutchev, Maykov." "Well..." "Lermontov." "Hi!" "I've come to give you a manicure." "Hi!" "Are they taking him to the morgue?" "I'll fix your fingernails." "Do you like Aivazovsky?" "Their morgue is around the corner." "That small windowthere, is that the morgue?" "Violetta, do you like Aivazovsky?" "He painted the sea." "The morgue is fine:" "so cool in there." "Ours is a rather old morgue." "I went there today in connection with our patient." "A young man." "I'm so fed up with this business, so during the dissection I watched his face." "When they cut him, his face was wrinkled as though he couldn't bear it." "But after they stitched him up, his face turned smooth as though he was relieved." "Actually, the pathologist woman was very good." "She does her job masterfully." "She's stronger than any man." "And she does it so adroitly." "Oddly enough, such a beauty does that job." "Everyone loves watching her." "Sasha, you're as dumb about this as a horse cloth." "Sasha, rein back a bit, you're very dense in this matter." "Yes, I saw it:" "the horses were all decorated, they jumped over fire for some reason." "Our steeplechase includes ten "dead" hurdles." "The ditch is very deep." "It's called an "open ditch"." "An open ditch?" "An earthen mound is called "a bank"." "It's called a bank." " What?" "Picnic?" "Briquette?" " Bank." "There were three of us, friends, when I was studying." "Three girlfriends." "Myself, Rita Gothier, and my present colleague." "Rita Gothier..." "We adored her, but she vanished from our life." "And my colleague and I got jobs here." "Rita reappeared in our life when she got into my hospital ward." "Her health kept deteriorating and she'd been seeing dreadful dreams, as though her relatives urged her to lie down in a coffin." "I visited her during my shift." "I would take her hand and listen to her complaining:" ""My fever wouldn't subside..."" "I anticipated something bad but not that soon." "Once at a briefing, I heard it said:" ""Lilya's friend, Margarita Gothier, died last night."" "And all turned to face me, making a lot of noise." "Indeed, Rita had a beautiful surname, Gothier." "I dashed out and ran into my work mate." "She likes to hit the bottle and go around in that condition." "That night she was tossed out of a car going at full speed." "When I met her, she was all ragged but gay." "She said to me: "Don't go!" "I wouldn't go if I were you."" "But I went there anyway." "They had already begun the dissection." "I stood by the wall, at a safe distance." "Now and then I could see her head, with the hair thrown back." "I had a side view of the face." "A young fellow operated on that day." "He always looked repulsive to me, with his greasy strands of hair." "I think he was aware of my dislike." "At the end of the dissection, he lit up a cigarette and, inhaling two or three times, for appearance's sake... he dropped the smoldering butt right into Rita Gothier's belly." "And his assistants were quick to sowthe body up." "For a few moments, he relished his folly." "And nobody said anything." "Miss, a little louder, please." "Nobody said anything." "Me included." "I didn't say anything." "Then I walked out." "I saw him at a bus stop, and he turned away." "He was in low spirits amidst living humans." "Later that day, my work mate and myself were looking for a white dress for Rita." "Because if the girl is a virgin, she's supposed to be buried in white." "And we couldn't find that dress for her." "For some reason, though, we bought that day... a red carp in a plastic bag." " What did you buy?" " A red carp." " What?" " A fish." "Do you remember Vronsky in "Anna Karenina"?" "You, Sasha, are a poorly educated person." "Can you somersault from a partner's shoulders at full speed?" "What for?" "How about standing upside down as the horse clears an obstacle?" "Or a "triple curee"?" "That's when three riders jump onto horseback." "Am I any worse than your trickriders?" "I'm a sportsman, a riding competitor." "I'm a concourse man, a jockey." "He's a top-class jockey." "He's not bad." "I'm as good as them!" "I can do all that!" "Big deal, getting under a horse's belly!" "Just hook on a longe..." "A surcingle with a loop." " I'll hook on it..." " And get a kicking on your head." "When I was an intern here, they found in the mountains an 18-year-old boy who hanged himself." "That was because of unrequited love." "He didn't get rotten in the sun, he just got mummified, hanging for so long." "That's because he wasn't fat." "To investigate it, the boy wasn't taken out of the noose, but removed together with the branch." "He's now exhibited in a glass box at our pathology department." "It's odd to see such an ironic finale of love." "Some love birds tried to steal and bury him." "In theory, though." "Only in theory, only in theory." "Have you ever seen Caucasian volting?" "It's quite spectacular!" "That super galloping, risky tricks." "Not to mention elegant and confident showmanship." "You know something?" "For all your Anna Karenina's gasping in the stands," "Vronsky couldn't have performed the most elementary, the most simple thing which any budding circus rider can do:" "I mean riding two horses at a time, with your feet on the saddles and without holding onto the reins." "No, Vronsky would never do a thing like that." "Can you at least take a running jump onto the saddle?" "I'm used to being helped onto a horse." "My!" "Your eye pupils resemble a cat's!" "Well, I was not right." "Not altogether right, not one hundred percent right." "I remember your Titanic." "He was quite a mean colt." "How can I forget him!" "A swell horse, but not for the circus - bad temper." "Sasha, you've already got smarter." "Once he reared at the start." "That is our jargon, meaning stood on his hind legs." "So he reared, and I - bang!" " lashed him with a chamberier!" "A chamberier means a whip." "We talked a lot about the circus with Sasha." "Why don't you join the circus, Sasha?" "Why don't you work with us?" "Say, as an orderly?" "Fine job." "You carry all sort of loads, you know." "Morning and night you'll be issued jars with human organs." "One jar atop another." "Bucketful of them." "As a matter of fact, you can hardly see them if you don't look too close." "I got it." "The circus is bad." "The racecourse is good." "Where are you heading?" "What happened on the 28th?" "His horse brought him, and he believed he did it." " Who?" " Oleg Nikolayev." "Frum's a fast pick-up." "He took after his father, lvory Tower." "You could have raced no worse with him." "Like on May 2nd." "I watched the race closely." "You couldn't, you raced second." "We raced along all the way, we could even talk if we wished." "He comes each Sunday and says:" ""Won't mount a horse before fall."" "He is all right, no doubt about that." "He won the start." "He has a fine sense of timing." "Afterwards, he had to be taken off the saddle." "He slumped down and had cramps." "Sasha, you're still pale, though much time has elapsed." " Still pale." " Want to know why?" "Multiple injuries, intestine hemorrhage, ribs..." "What happened anyway?" "The trainer said:" ""Try to make grace"." "I knowthis sad story." "But she got her hoof into a mole's hole." "I fell down and forgot it all: whether it was day, night, spring, fall..." "Perhaps, I'll take a job at the circus, as a riding-master." "You have to move around there too." "No, don't." "Do not react." "I had quite a few mishaps in my life, but I hate a chance and believe in my lucky star." "Do not react." "Seeking reasons of defeats in something external amounts to indulging in false illusions." "Simply, it's not my day." "I don't give a darn for these aphorisms of yours." "I've got my own life to live, not someone else's." "Do not react." "What's the matter with you?" "We'll be soon at the racecourse." "May I come there too?" "I'm drawn to the racecourse by some major plans, but I haven't yet made up my mind." "When I get out I'll teach you a jockey seat." " When will you sign off?" " Tomorrow." " As for me, I don't know yet." " I'll visit you." "Ouch!" "What's the matter?" "Sorry!" "Merci, Madame." "Pardon, not merci." "He's measuring something." "Volodya!" "Weird, isn't he?" "I can distinguish between an old camera and a new one by the smell." "Photography is a form of possession." "What is it?" "I don't get it." "Volodya, why don't you mount a horse?" "Everything's dreadful!" "Dreadful!" "Why don't you..." "It's dreadful to mount a horse." "Why, Volodya?" "You wanted to say or ask something?" "Volodya, why don't you mount a horse?" "I'm fearful." "He's fearful!" "Give it to me." "Volodya, is she your photo model?" "Do you make her pictures?" "I snap only horses, and occasionally - a beautiful woman." "Who is he?" "The stallion isn't to blame for your mediocrity." "Who is he?" "The great Amirov." "A local trainer." " And who are you?" " I'm Violetta." "What right do you have to decide his destiny?" "Kasyanov never even raised a whip, but you..." "You took an unjustifiably fast start, thereby confusing the horse." "Do you know what pace is?" "What are you doing?" "Yield the girth." "Yield by touch." "With one hand." "First with one." "Then with the other." "I told you to warm up first, but you ride at full tilt." "Get away!" "Forever!" "See that eagle?" "Did he soar high?" "I'm Lilya." "A lily, a flower under and above water." "What is pace?" "One of the mysteries of the jockey's art." "A smashing beauty." "So how's Berlin?" "Tough ground." "She's got some oomph." "She swallowed a nail." "She's stunningly beautiful." "She happens to be my friend." "Very nice." "You got a pep, too." "I know she's your friend..." "Valya's brought a good jacket, Italian, your size." "So what is pace?" "Take your hands off, let me have a word." "Volodya, tell us please:" "what is pace?" "Good color." "Volodya, what is pace?" "Take my advice, buy it." "...holding a stop-watch together with the reins, a jockey determines the race pace visually every second." "What is pace?" "A very good Italian suit." "Please, tell us: what is pace?" "Come on, take it." "What is pace?" "Volodya, repeat it and explain it to the girl." "As distinct from riders holding a stop-watch together with the reins, a jockey determines the race pace visually every second." "Frankly, it's a mess in here." "I wonder how you can live and work here." "This even results in pimples." "I want to go." "I really do." "Then go." "All right, I'll go." "It's odd..." "What is it..." "Well, yes..." "There's nothing like a dancing girl, a sailing frigate, and a galloping horse." "Volodya, ask me!" "Hi, Garnet!" "What do we call it - calculation?" "We call it the sense of pace." "Oleg, buy the jacket." "When I wear dust-repellent glasses," "I lose my sense of pace." "You can't look sideways or lose a second by turning around." "But you fuss about, like a monkey on the fence." "You mean a dog on the fence, not a monkey." "Ninety percent of riding pros have no sense of pace." "But Oleg has it." "You put him on a goat and he'll finish first." "Oleg, get the jacket and a T-shirt as a bonus." " He's an amateur rider." " A rising star?" "An accomplished star." "He's worthy of your attention." "I recommend you to handle him." "Am I interfering?" "No, not at all." "A beauty cannot interfere." "Especially a reticent one." "A beauty adorns and enlivens any interior or landscape." "It's a mess in here, boys." "Are you a sanitation inspector or something?" "I'm a medical nurse." "You've got huge black roaches in your hospital." "Well, I've got to be going." "I'm saying goodbye." "No handshakes, you may soil your hand." "I'll go all the same!" "Take care!" "I'm going." " Who told you to stake?" " You did!" "It's so filthy in here." "You think I didn't look?" "You should've looked better." "When you're staking, correct it in the process." "Goodbye." "It's real filthy here." "You're in the way." "If you go, go." "Let's say goodbye." "Goodbye, goodbye." "See you." "But I'll go, all the same." "They don't say goodbye." "How odd." "I want to go and I'll go." "Why?" "See the way he looks at you!" "At me?" "Go, go!" "Too many people." "Lots, lots of people!" "Musket is okay, but I can't find him a rider." "Their hearts are so shy, shivering till the finish." "How about you?" "I'm here just to see Garnet." "I never mount others' horses." "Anyway, is Musket any good?" "I'm out of it until fall." "Then I'll go to Czechia." "I swear you'll be alone." "No." "Eat hay, Grisha." " I've recognized you." " Hello!" "But you, I could hardly recognize you." "Why are you hiding your girl from us?" "I thought Narsik is only interested in horses." "Not horses alone." "My name is Violetta." "Volodya, why don't you take Violetta's photo." "Ah, such a dazzling contrast of fluffy, snow-white hair and dark eye lashes!" "And perfect harmony of all features!" "Alas, I've run out of film." "No film anymore." "Where are you going?" "Nikolayev, look at Musket!" "A regular flame!" "Should the violet girl desire to..." "Thanks, but..." "The public, as you can see, is no longer interested in me." "But I do desire!" "All right, sign me in." "Be quick and tell the jury to enter a replacement." " Do you like it?" " I like everything." "Why did you crop your flocks?" "Don't allow being pushed around." "And, Oleg, do me a favor:" "don't drop the whip." "You'd better buy a new one." "New or old - be sure not to drop it." "Musket can outrun all by ten lengths - with a stick." "He takes after his father - goes only with a stick." "All right, that's all fiction." "I trust Musket as much as I do Altai, or Harold." "He was invited for the Europe Prize Race." "I agreed, he's been entered." "Please don't ruin the career of this top-class horse." "If he loses, his uniqueness won't be proven." "Remember what happened to Aniline?" "You know it all." "Bairamov is a roguish rider." "He may cheat at the start." "Stay away from him." "Pretend you have no desire to win." "Even if you win the start, don't take the border at first." "They can push off." "They are tough guys." "Nars, what are doing here?" "Jump onto Glyba, dash off and take the lead." "Enter Glyba and Narkisov." "Glyba is a fast mare." "Oleg, keep Musket slightly behind Glyba." "You let Persten, Odolen and others ahead." "Glyba will make short work of them, then she'll be beat and lag behind." "This can't be helped, Nars." "Art calls for sacrifice." "Mount Esposito, not Glyba." "I won't be watching you." "Nikolayev!" "She's so clammy." "There go the losers." "Salute!" "Hey, hurry up!" "Do you remember Kasyanov?" "He was in the hospital." "He is nice, but a little too simple-minded." "Nikolayev is more aristocratic." "Otradny from the Kabarda stud farm." "Master jockey Alexander Kasyanov." "Forsyte from the Stavropol stud farm." "Master jockey Alexei Pozdnyakov." "Musket from the Beslansk stud farm with rider Oleg Nikolayev." "Brass from the Labinsk stud farm." "Master jockey Sergey Kharchenko." "Esposito from the Beslansk stud farm." "Master jockey Nars Narkisov." "A leading group is breaking away from the rest." "At the head is Musket with Oleg Nikolayev in the saddle." "Dancing and Otradny run neck to neck." "Musket's leading." "Racing second is Otradny." "Third is Dancing." "Kasyanov is forging ahead at the turn to the home stretch." "Forsyte emerges second." "Musket is third, Dancing is fourth." "Musket is picking up, covers 500 meters in 29, 5 seconds." "Kasyanov's Otradny is leading." "Musket is second." "Forsyte is third, Dancing is fourth." "Racing neck to neck are Oleg Nikolayev's Musket and Alexander Kasyanov's Otradny." "A tough fight!" "Otradny!" "Musket!" "Again Otradny!" "No!" "It's Oleg Nikolayev's Musket!" "Home stretch." "I'm not pretty." "I'm pretty." "I am not." "I am pretty." "Am I pretty?" "You are pretty." "Unharness your horses, lads." "That bastard kept pressing you to the border?" "Should I kill him?" "The final results will be fixed by photo-finish." "I missed it again on the third." " Did you see who came first?" " No, I didn't." "Damn it!" "Kasyanov!" "I'll walk him for half an hour." "Did you see who came first?" "Nobody wants to." "So you came first?" "I always come first." "I reckon Nikolayevwas first." "What do you mean, Nikolayev?" "..." "He was a good half-head ahead." "Lady, wash your eyes mornings." "You know, because you wanted to be first..." "That guy burned his jacket with an iron." "Player doesn't stand the singed smell." "I whipped him and he made a surge." "That was a sight!" "Good for him!" "Besides, my spur fell off." "Take care of your spurs on the 28th." "The winner is Musket of the Beslansk stud farm." "Under Oleg Nikolayev's saddle he "won the nose" from Otradny of the Kabarda stud farm, with master jockey Alexander Kasyanov." "The race winner, Musket..." "I couldn't care less." "How dusty it is!" "Oho, see who's coming!" "I came here because one's got to have friends." "I keep thinking about coffin-bearers." " Whose coffin?" " Mine." "Sasha, come here for a minute." "I have no one capable of bearing such a load." "Should this happen, will you do it?" "Whose coffin?" "Mine." "I have no one to take care of that load." "Just in case, will you do it?" "Whence such horrendous ideas?" "I have no ideas, nor facts." "Simply, I want to be on the safe side." "It's like somebody nudges me and whispers:" ""Ask them - will they bear it?" "Be on the safe side, after all they call themselves your friends."" "I can't help sounding weird." "Although I know howto shape my destiny." "A friend of mine figured that out." "I'm fond of her and her queer ideas." "She lives in the East." "She feels that one's life-line should be drawn on the palm, not necessarily in reality." "For instance, nature gave it to you short and undeveloped." "You take something thin and sharp, and followthis line, make it bold and prominent, thereby changing your destiny." "Simple." "This girl would carry something sharp in her hand, or scratch her palm with her fingernail." "See you!" "So long." "I'm Kasyanov." "Remember?" " How is your leg?" " Completely healed." "How did it happen anyway?" ""She was a tightrope walker?"" "The Fakir cut it." "There's a trick:" "A girl is sawn in half." "Mom's cats scratched it." "I fell down from a tricycle." "That was my routine." "I'm even glad you have fallen." "I mean, I met you." "My leg's okay." "No pain." "We owe it to your friend." "His was a fantastic fall-down." "Today it's you, tomorrow it's me." "Want me to give you a riding course?" " Sure." " See you tomorrowthen." "What reason do you have to tap me on the shoulder?" "It's nice to take a morning ride in Bois de Boulogne." "You have a cat's eyes, narrow and vertical." "Kasyanov!" "At school I wrote an essay on Maykovsky." "You said: "Jack London, love, money, passion"." "But I knew:" "You're Mona Lisa and I need to abduct you." "Did you come to see me or Nikolayev?" "They are said to have asymmetric facial muscles." "What are you thinking about?" "Howto topple Harold riding Player." "You mean it?" "I too can talk and think at the same time about standing a circus turn with horses." "That's why I came here, I need a partner." "Why do you think they let me go first onto the arena?" "It's because you're beautiful." "You think so?" "Because mine is the worst turn on the program." "Perhaps, I'm not that dull." "Simply, I don't like those bicycles, nor partners." "That's how it is." "A pretty girl - fine teeth, eyes." "But she has problems, too." "They walked the rope, but then changed the genre." "And I'm only starting out as circus artist." "True, they keep telling me that my turn has great prospects." "One way or the other, this won't be my last job." "No gratification." "You see what I mean?" "No, not really." "Why do you say this to me, not Milashevsky?" "Wouldn't he go to circus?" "You know, I had a dream of you as a fish." "Normally, circus partners are husband and wife." "You know, I can take you as a jockey, buddy." "I work with Ivan Ivanovich Onkin." "Why did you decide to work with Nikolayev?" "Don't you like my wares?" "You've got good horses and many riders." "Why do you need me?" "I've got good horses, but no decent jockeys." "You'll get Harold." "You know Harold?" "I don't know where I come from." "I can't say if I'm Russian, Tartar or Azerbaijani." "But I'm held in high esteem and mean something in this world." "If I were a horse, I would be a nobody." "A horse without a breed is not a horse." "You sound paradoxical, but not untrue." "But, frankly speaking, Nikolai Amirovich..." "Sure!" "That's why I want you." "You're kind of treacherous." "I'm objective." "What is Narkisov, after all?" "Give him a horse - he'll ride." "He'd grip tight and race like hell from start to finish." "He's working for Amirov himself!" "Who has one of the best stables." "Anyone would take prizes there." "And you mount stray dogs." "Your horses have no style, nor speed or strength." "You're kind of... treacherous." "If you decline, Narkisovwill be number one." "He will go abroad." "But that's only if you decline." "No offence meant, but I'll have to decline." "Ivan Ivanovich treats me as his equal." "This is quite another life." "Hello, Ivan Ivanovich!" "What are you debating?" "You." "And dried mushrooms." "A jockey can't switch over to other trainers' horses." "The more so without his trainer's permission." "You told me this when I first came to you." "Unequal conditions." "Amirov's are top-class horses." "But the credit here goes not to him, but the stud farmer." "But who can convince the bosses?" "You see my point?" "Do I make myself clear?" "Amirov now seems intent on grabbing all the trophies." "Not he alone." "Last month, my Persten won all three races." "Don't get excited, you've known only one breed, but switching from an Akhaltekin to a thoroughbred is like switching from a tractor to a Volga car." "I don't want even to hear it." "Don't you agree that Harold is the strongest now?" "I agree, but my Persten will win out." "He might, if our horses smother Harold." "He's a demon of a stallion." "At the start two or three horses should make Harold race at a faster pace than necessary." "Harold gets spent midway." "And one in the know will relax to drive forward at the finish." "And who is assigned to win at the finish?" "Let's throw lots." "This doesn't suit me." "Who do you think we are - crooks?" "Of course not." "Yet I don't want to throw lots." "Suppose I lose?" "You plan to press Narkisov at the start or the border?" "You think we don't see through you?" "You think you can win over" "Nikolayev riding Harold?" "Who will ride Harold makes no difference." "Okay, think twice." "You have an option." "Don't blab it out to Amirov." "What are you talking about?" "I'm like Caesar's wife, I'm above suspicion." "Oh, cut out this crap!" "A beauty's heart is liable to treachery..." "So that means..." "That my Dancing is scapegoat?" "We can't do it with Dancing alone." "Harold must be pressed on all sides." "Are your riders reliable?" "Quite." "Zyablik won't disobey." "I'll ride my own horse." "But your Kasyanov may let us down." "He may think it's foul play." "Sasha is a nut." "But I'm not gonna tell him the whole story." "I'll give him a totally confusing strategy." "I'm telling you, Ivan Ivanovich, you aren't entirely right treating Amirovthis way." "Each fall, Amirov selects promising youngsters and does a good job with them." "He brings out all their assets." "You'd talk differently with the winning lot." "Would you bet that you'd get as many favorites if last fall you'd got the horses Amirov had." "He takes no chances, after all." "So, will you bet?" "You're at it again!" "Come on, tell me!" "There's no doing business with you." "C'mon, speak out!" " Is it Garnet?" " Yes." "And that's Otradny?" "Yeah." "Don't you walk Harold?" "No." "We unnerve each other." "I prefer to come near him before the race." "Each riding horse needs a special approach." "Are you going to ride Harold on 23rd?" "I've made a pledge not to ride until fall." "Could you tell me who's gonna win on 23rd?" "I'll tell you if you come after dinner on the 23rd." "I think Harold stands chance." "What's your informed opinion?" "Yeah, Harold has a big chance." " Will he win?" " He may." "What do you think of Odolen?" "He seems to be pretty good." "Nothing wrong with him." "Do you know what horse is Harold's rival?" "Yeah, I know itvery well." "Nine horses, considering that he's the tenth." "Yeah, it's hard to get something out of you." "You won't be fooled." "You wanted to fool me?" "And I held you for a decent man." "If you change your mind, you're welcome." "Thanks." "I'll keep that in mind." "You're really like Nasibov." "I'm really like Nikolayev." "Where did you shoot all those beasts?" "In Askania-Nova, a wild life preserve." "Isn't it collage?" "Of course, not." "You don't believe there were centaurs once?" "Don't you trust Greek sources?" "They've been corroborated by time." "Come to my studio and see the negatives." "You'll be most welcome." "As large as life." "Stop!" "Hold it!" "Someone's been knocked down!" "Ivan Ivanovich, it's a corpse." "Call Mikhalych!" "Go away!" "Come here!" "Get the stretcher!" "Don't!" "Onkin'll handle it." "Go fetch Mikhalych!" "She alive?" "White face and no blood." "It's the nurse!" "One from the sanitary service!" "Miss!" "Don't touch her." "Her spine might be..." "She's pooped!" "Good morning!" "I had a dream." "A shining black piano surface and my pills are scattered on it, white and small." "Says she: "Your stables are a pigsty."" "And I say to her: "A tractor driver's hands are cleaner than the medico's." "Fuel oil has no germs."" " Props, huh?" " Why, it's real!" "Even the most ticklish horse permits patting on the neck." "A horse should learn caress starting with the neck." "Do it boldly and firmly, so it feels it." "Shy patting will make it feel ticklish." "A horse is like a baby." "You must never punish a horse when you're angry." "It will not understand, it will only remember the pain and the situation in which it experienced it." "It may associate its movement with the blow it received, nothing more." "Who wins a race - the horse or the jockey?" "I don't believe those who say that a man's look can impress a horse." "It doesn't matter if you have an angry or kind look." "Whenever I cast an angry look at my horse or smiled, this didn't impress him in the least." "You may put out your tongue, it won't notice it." "Only your voice, its sound, is what matters." "You can scare a horse by saying nice things angrily or leave it unimpressed scolding it in a softvoice." "But who wins the race - the horse or the jockey?" "It's like a game of cards:" "one can play well, and another's just lucky." "How can you train my friend's girl, taking advantage of his absence?" "You can have this privilege." "What privilege?" "The privilege of taking advantage of his absence." "The privilege?" "No, that's not for me." "The man wants to win a woman in a fair combat." "Spoiling for a fight, eh?" "Do you think I was given a fair judgement last time?" "You mean when I "hit the nose"?" "I just didn't want to tire Musket before the coming race." "I could've made a length." "The turf gonna be too small for the two of us next time." "Is it a threat?" "D'ye mean to push me beyond the flag?" "I'll see that you swallow dust." "You will, if your black boy becomes brown." " Want a bet?" " Whatever you want." "A wager on Violetta." "The loser loses her anyway." "As you like." "Answer me: is it a deal?" "It's a deal." "But why involve the horses?" "The horses are above it." "The horses are special." "Your friend who's in hospital now and whose girl she is, realizes this." "None of your Gypsy ways here." "Hold the reins in both hands." "You weren't sure you'd win and kept in the shadow." "You waved your hand in a theatrical manner, but you weren't sure." "I was sure I'd win, that's why I kept in the shadow." "I wanted to spare the horse, observe the situation and let them fight among themselves in adverse conditions." "What do you mean, adverse conditions?" "For instance, to overtake them before the hill." " It was a flat terrain." " That only seemed so." " You know my name?" " Yes." "It's Nikolayev." "I had a plan." "They'd try to overtake me on that hill and thus would exhaust themselves." "Then I'd let them overtake me and relax a little while." "And then I'd put on a spurt downhill and fly past the stands without using my whip." "And you'd be hailed and greeted rapturously, right?" "But it didn't work, did it?" "Kasyanov had outsmarted me." "It's the same as in the circus - and so different." "Because there's electricity there and the sun here." "No." "Here you begin everything from scratch every day." " Like in real life." " This is real life!" "Don't you think I am saddle fast?" "Yes, but arch your back, stretch your shoulders!" "A jockey should feel to be part of the horse." " Want a pass to the circus?" " I never go to the circus!" "Where is the easy and graceful seat of the old-time riders?" "Teachers can no longer teach, and pupils acquire bad habits right away." "I never go to the circus." "I'd rather ride a horse on the merry-go-round." "Don't you want to see my newturn?" "Fat horses galloping indoors is a miserable sight." "The circus is an ancient art." "All nations like the circus." "None of your Gypsy ways!" "Hold the reins in both hands!" "You're forever picking at me!" "A teacher should be strict and short- tempered." "Then he can teach." "But I feel tempted to grab your hand and show you howto hold the reins." "You're keeping something back." "Out with it!" " You won't understand." " I'm clever." "The horse and the woman aren't compatible in the same space and time." "I'll never marry!" "Do you think I will?" "I've devoted myself to the circus and I use men as a mean to my ends." "A woman should be in the stands." "I took you for a grownup man." "And no merry-go-round." "Dismount!" "Go away!" "You are all philosophers here." "And what I need is just a partner." "Horses make us philosophers." "Nikolayevwill ride the favorite instead of you." "I'll talk him into it." "He's more experienced and reliable." "You may take comfort in the fact that the Prize of Federation and the Prize of Aragva will be yours." "Are you happy?" "If an eagle always eats its fill, it will cease to have fun, with life losing its meaning to it." "What is the meaning of life?" "Craving." "To crave and never have your fill!" "Be it fame, love or popularity." "And never nurse your grief." "Nars, could you spare me some time?" "I can't." "Amirovtold me to walk two horses." "Look at those legs!" " Where did you shoot it?" " In a wild-life preserve." "If you don't believe me, see the negatives in my lab." "I believe you." "Amirovtold you?" "Amirov used to be a jockey." "A winning one!" "Then he had his hip smashed." "And he didn't have the best horses!" "So you won't argue with him even when he's wrong?" "Amirov is my god." "Who would argue with a god?" "Why aren't you listening to me?" "You must walk." "The trouble is I'm in the grip of apathy." "If you were, you wouldn't have talked about it." "You must get up and flex your muscles." "You don't understand, I feel split." "I feel apathetic and indifferent." "The thought that nothing matters anymore is terrifying." "The same thing happened to me in Rostov." "As I put on a spurt to the winning post, a newspaper landed on the track." "The thing is horses do not distinguish colors and almost can't see stationary objects." "But if anything moves, they see it before we do." "Bye." "You look like Audrey Hepburn, the dead one." "And you look like..." "The actress?" "I don't know." "You should move about." "All of a sudden a paper landed on the track." "And horses do not distinguish colors and almost can't see stationary objects." "But if anything moves, they see it before us." "So my horse shied at the moving paper." "I fell out of the saddle, hanging on the reins." "He hit me in the head with his hoof." "So I didn't care if I were dead or alive." "Look, Sasha, I'm a perfectly healthy woman." "You want me to work in the circus?" "Yes, I do." "You want to leave me and never come back?" "There's no need to suffer." "You're insufferably high-flown." "You're all so high-flown." " What do you want?" " What do I want?" "I want a horse..." "I want a colt..." " That understands everything?" " That would be mine!" "A horse costs a lot." "I don't want to buy it." "A horse that knows only my hands!" "A horse is not a cat, a dog or a woman." "Man has to adapt to a horse." "A horse has integrity." "Some think that horses are second to dogs in intelligence." "Horses are the most intelligent of all." "You're not here anymore, and I have plenty of spare time." "I began to think a lot." "As I take the cup in my hands I think it's so fragile that I'll break it before I take it to my lips." "Did you?" "No." "I left it on the table without drinking from it." "You want to ride, don't you?" "Remember you said:" "I like to race before the roaring stands?" "Your ears are stuffed and you are agog as your horse, slowly but steadily, and noiselessly sort of, gallop to the winning post." "Behind you are the horses' dark sweating cruppers and the riders' excited faces." "They are not my words, but the photographer's." " Do you still go to the turf?" " Yes, I do." "You sure have many trainers?" "Kasyanov, Nikolayev." " Give my love to Nikolayev." " He send his love, too." "He was supposed to teach me today, but I came here." "Everyone sends their love." "You don't like Nikolayev, right?" "He's bad, I'm bad, all are bad." "Anyone who loves horses is good for me." "Whoever doesn't love them?" "Everybody loves horses." "Sasha!" "Go." "I knowthat the hippodrome is eternally better than the hospital." "What do the docs say?" "Say I'll be okay." "I'll be out soon." "See you at the hippodrome." "You just get up and walk!" "Take the stretcher away!" "We're friends, Sasha, aren't we?" "Sure." "I'm not mad at you for being healthy." "My sweetheart brought me a gun and said he'd take it back." "Then he brought three guns." "They were with me for a long time." "I waited for his phone call meaning to tell him:" ""Take them away, I have a presentiment."" "At last he phoned and I said what I had planned to say." "He came tearing along, which wasn't typical of him." "He took and unloaded them, and pulled out the charges." "As I went to bed that night I smiled picturing his concerned face as he shoved the charges under his belt." "Some time later, he brought me a loaded revolver with all seven bullets." "I looked at the black bag and wondered how he can trust me so unreservedly?" "After he brought a fifth gun, loaded too," "I realized that it wasn't love." "I didn't admit it like other girls would, in a frustrated voice and with "l-know-the-truth-of-life" look." "I felt like I was in a vast unsown field whose sight invited the thought:" ""There's no love here." "Worse still, there's nothing here."" "Then there was the story with Tommy guns." "I got scared for my family." "They always need things I keep in my wardrobe." "So I decided to hide the Tommy guns in my aunt's room." "I put them under her bed." "But then I thought that her bed has a loose wire net which sags, and the metal may touch the guns." "I pictured my aunt tossing in bed and brushing against a trigger..." "And I rushed to her room at night to remove them." "At first she was shocked, but then I thought she warmed to the idea." "But I read in her eyes that she'd give me away if questions were asked about the guns." "Something in her eyes told me she would." "Still I left the guns in her wardrobe." "I bought her plenty of frozen chickens, eggs, bananas and sunflower seeds which she liked very much." "I spent long hours with her in our kitchen, having numerous cups of tea." "I brought her mail and papers, I gave her keys to my drawers." "I let her rip my golden dress apart." "I showed her my boyfriends' love letters and all letters I occasionally received." "She entered my life." "She'd come to me early in the morning and say: "Time to get up!"" "She was really happy then." "And when my sweetheart showed up and said those ugly words," "I gave his Tommy guns back to him." "So the guns are a separate theme." "And you say, "Horses, horses..."" "Mom, do you know who wins a race - the jockey or the horse?" "My husband was a jockey." "Why do you two say this to me?" "It's interesting." "The willpower of a draught horse is broken." "Ask your grandmother." "What has grandmother to do with it?" "What would she say if she had such a daughter?" "A racing horse should have a willpower and voluntarily join it with the rider's." "Get out of here!" "In a second." "My cousin was a jockey, too." "You'll say in the next breath that you were a jockey." "A racing horse should have a willpower and voluntarily join it with..." "Why are you saying this to me?" "Because it should have a willpower." "All daughters want to work with dogs in the circus." "No violence or coercion, complete independence." "Why do you say this?" "What are you driving at?" "No violence, but it does what the jockey tells it to do." "The horse must learn it right from the start." "You knowthat I never use a stick or a whip." "What is she trying to say?" "Do I beat you?" "Do I, my pet?" "Do you know what it means if a horse, or a colt, has a prominent forehead?" "It means it has a gentle and kind disposition." "It's brave and affectionate." "Oh, rubbish!" "All jockeys are crooks." "My poor girl." "They fix everything." "Once Zyablik, a jockey, agreed to hold his horse back, but he got carried away and won." "They beat him up." "He made the same deal another time and won again." "He was beaten." "He made a third deal, got carried away - and won." "They cut off his ear." "And you say "not interesting"." "One can live without an ear." "He has to do with just one ear now." "That is why we see both fire and meekness in the eyes of a thoroughbred." "Even if the mother works the air, her daughter must help her." "Hold on, Dick!" "You see, mother Let alone dogs Satanic pride and good nature at once, can you understand it?" "Satanic pride and good nature at once!" "Up!" "Off, off, Dick!" "Up!" "This is profanation." "Hold it!" "Do you want to trouble my soul?" "To belittle my efforts?" "This is our family turn." "Tell her, mother!" "Tell her, for God's sake!" "Dogs are prose, horses are poetry." "Why not crocodiles, stools or umbrellas?" "Where are the bicycles?" "Do you know why grooms are so robust?" "Because they drink the water left by their horses." "That's better than penicillin." "It's so odd." "They compete." "One wins the races today." "Tomorrowthey compete again." "Another wins." "Still another wins the day after." "Why don't they get together and decide who's the best." "Once and for all." "Racing, racing!" "But why?" "Do they know?" "They do." "We outsiders don't." "Herein lies the relish and meaning of life." "Mother!" ""As I walked I heard horses galloping on the easy track, and the clatter of the horses' hooves." "Then suddenly, "He's fallen!" - cried the boys sitting on the fence." "I climbed up a small stump and sawthe whole picture:" "Gaily-clad jockeys galloping toward the winning post and behind them, a horse without a rider." "And very close to me, the jockey, dressed in yellow, lay amid leafy birch-trees, his arms spread and his leg tucked under him." "People were running toward him." "The landau was rolling gently." "They lifted him..."" "Wait a sec." "What is it?" "After a while we'll do a turn - you and me." "Mother and daughter." "Horses and dogs." "First time on the arena." ""Come and see!"" "I'm fucking bored with this bullshit!" "Are they real pictures?" "I've showed the negatives." "It's a wild-life preserve." "What place is it?" "A huge ravine." "That's a relict species." "It's hard to snap them." "Especially this specimen." " You mean they run away?" " Yeah, and hide." "They came into existence millennia ago." "Men went hunting and women stayed in." "Where were these pictures taken?" "In a wild-life preserve, in a big ravine." "It's in the south, on the Crimean seaside." " Is it a girl?" " No, it's a boy." "Young boy." "Archeologists found a relict skull, and called it a sivocterium." "It has the brain ten times as heavy as the human one." "And the skull is larger than ours." "What do they eat?" "Do you call this a race?" "In olden times..." "To stake or not - there's no two ways about it." "Why do you stake if you never win?" "I stopped thinking about it." "The chain:" "horse - trainer -jockey, is very subtle and involved." "If a horse doesn't see a whip, it doesn't feel the rider." "It only has twenty-five percent of English blood." "A good twenty-five percent, not only!" "Last year it got a dislodged joint." "That was last year." "I like all kinds of horses - thoroughbred or not." "Salaam, the son of Caucasus!" "I'm so dull, have a poor memory and can't figure things out." "Why is that?" "With no conditions set, I propose that you start working for me on the 1st." "I collect rising stars." "Thanks, but I can't leave the old man." "I'm not an old man!" "I am sorry." "Who'd believe that Kasyanov declined Amirov's invitation twice!" "You're a sucker!" "No, I'm not." "I've a right to marry and be elected to government bodies." "Okay, get married!" "Get elected!" "Stinker!" "Can you stake your life on it?" " I'm no god." " I know you aren't." "So you won't teach him a lesson?" "I'm just wondering..." "I'm just wondering if you'd vouch for it." "Are you sure you can make Amirov's colts into Amirov's racers?" "Okay, let Bairamov's Persten win." "I don't mind." "Bairamov's stallion is not in good form." "You know it." "I don't mean that." "Let anybody win, but not Amirov." "What do you say?" "You decline?" "Yes." "What shall be will be." "Let the events take their own course." "His popularity is faked and inflated." "If a horse is agile and good-natured, and responsive to everything that's going on, and if it easily forgets about good and bad things, such a horse is sanguine." "If some sorrow or joy dwells in the horse's heart for a long time, and so profoundly that it's oblivious of everything else... it has a melancholic temperament." "May I do your hair?" "Some people are shocked when asked such questions." "The reactions of others are beautiful." "By the way, in 1887, the US Congress adjourned its session for the congressmen to be able to attend the competitions held in Baltimore between the Eastern Coast's champ Parole, the Western prize racer Tan Break and the pride of the South Ochiltry." "The horse is an odd-toed animal." "The salient feature of this order is the feet." "They have only one fairly developed toe with a hoof." "Its skull is elongated, 1/3 of it is the cerebral bone and 2/3 - the facial bones." "There are three incisors with smooth surface, five or six long masticatory teeth and one small curved conic fang in each part of the lower and upper jaw." "Mention should be made of the narrow gullet with a valve opening into the stomach." "The stomach is an elongated bag with no divisions." "There's no gall bladder." "The womb is two-horned." "The brain is relatively small." "The cerebral hemispheres do not cover the cerebellum." "Still horses can be regarded as fairly intelligent." "The most developed senses are hearing, sight and smell." "Have you read Prince Urusov?" "Yes, I have and made an abstract." "You can call me Volodya." "Will you turn please?" "He raced fantastically." "Fantastically!" "Fantastically!" "Horse breeding was fantastically developed in Greece and Macedonia." "The horse created by Neptune had human forelegs and could speak." "A thoroughbred's heart weighs six kilos and more." "Other breeds have a heart weighing no more than five kilos." "Next time I'll tell you about Rita Gothier." "Oh, they left a cigarette butt in her belly." "Attention!" "The booking office is closing!" "Attention!" "The booking office is closing!" "Attention please!" "Put the horses in the boxes." "Come on, let's go." "Go in." "Send her in." "Send her in." "Send her in." "Close the doors, quick!" "Someone take the reins." "What about our deal?" "Does it stand?" "What's the matter with you?" "If your horse gets out of control and bolts, lift your hands and pull the reins at both sides." "It's about the wager." "Kasyanov, I'm always in luck, and I know a thing or two about the pace." "My hands, feet and spine are made of steel." "To say nothing of my willpower." "And my horse is classy." "Sure, you're the very best!" "The girl is yours and no wager." "I don't want her that way." "That's your problem." "I've said it." "Violetta is not the main concern now." "Right." "I'm interested in the theme of beauty and drive." "Every person, even if not good-looking, reaches the peak of beauty once in a lifetime." "Man is beautiful even for a few moments, usually when a person is very young." "I saw it." "Sasha Milashevsky reached his peak of beauty in hospital." "I took him to the beach and left his wheel-chair by the shrubs." "The sun lit his face up." "He was in pain, but his face was beautiful." "This lasted until the sunset." "It was gone next day." "His face was again gray and kind of... commonplace..." "commonplace." "The peak is over, I thought." "The peak is over." "The peak is over." "His face was commonplace and quite ordinary." "The peak is over, I thought." "Some are given minutes, and others fleeting moments." "Still others can be beautiful for months." "The peak of beauty seems to last, but then the beauty is gone." "Some people are beautiful for years." "Why is that?" "Beauty always strives for self-destruction." "I'm concerned with this theme, too." "How can this be explained?" "I don't know." "I do not dread death, I rather dread immortality." "The thought gives me the creeps." "Just gives me the creeps." "A friend of mine called me up and said:" ""Beware of beautiful omens." "If you find yourself in a dangerous situation attended by fine circumstances, you'll readily accept death."" ""How is that?"" " I say." "And she answers:" ""Beware of fine dangerous situations." "It's your predestination!"" ""lf..." - she says..." "I don't understand it..." "I'm the only Lilya I've met in my whole life." "Or take this song..." "That song." "Diamonds are the girl's best friends." "Diamonds." "Another round." "Thirty." "Thirty six." "They are coveting my laurels." "I have a program for each horse." "I amuse them by allotting oats to my horses myself and adding treacle to it." "I only trust the grooms to stir it." "Maybe I'm not that refined, but the mere sight of my grooms makes me sick." "They are loafers and sots!" "Yes!" "I make no secret that I was a groom once." "I keep an eye on the smiths too." "And the vet can't come near a horse without my permission." "They're gonna make me the chief trainer." "That's been decided." "I'll be the chief trainer soon." "That's it." "Good." "Written by Kira MURATOVA with the participation of Yevgheny GOLUBENKO" "Based upon stories by Boris DEDIKHIN" "The nurse's monologues by Renata LITVINOVA" "Directed by Kira MURATOVA" "Director of Photography Gennady KARYUK" "Production Designer Yevgheny GOLUBENKO" "Music by Beethoven played in the film." "The End"