Aleksandr Dovzhenko Film Studio
The First Creative Association
[song] Oh the storks have flown
[song] And landed on the field's fringe
[song] They landed on the field's fringe
[song] and started to sing trai-lai-lai-lee
Be blessed Thine field and let it yield good crops
so those slaves of Thine could eat bread from it.
I see that you have sown a lot even without a blessing
Oh, dear father, we have sown, but what will be the crops?
A good tree yields good fruits and good seeds.
Oh, it's not up to us to know what soil these seeds will end up in.
The 1st seed will go on the stone, the 2nd one under the stone,
the 3rd one in the water, the 4th one the bird from the heavens will eat
Only the 7th or the 8th will grow and even that one
can be barren
THE WHITE BIRD MARKED WITH BLACK
Have you heard how my rooster sings for the two states?
To hell with the states!
You better leave me and guard your border
otherwise they'll steal everything from your state in their sacks!
Vivdia, Vivdia!
Hey, you're on guard, aren't you?
Have you brought it?
Freeloaders!
They gave very little for your alarm clocks today,
6 pounds of tobacco
and next to nothing for me, some corn, for one bite.
Wake up! Enough sleeping!
Wake up! Wake up!
Well, old man, take care! If you come empty handed
one more time, I'll find someone else!
Oh, sure you will!
Do you see, dear God, how many of them I have?
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Hey!
I'll sell them all, I swear to God, I will sell them!
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
for ever and ever.
[song] Wake up, brothers,
[song] Because it's a bright day already
[song] Let's bring joyful times to all the good people.
Oh you the beautiful, fine and fair!
If you are getting married, hire
the best musicians in these mountains and valleys
the Dzvonar family!
And the guests on your wedding will be as numerous
as grass and leaves in our mountains!
Ladies and gentlemen, honorable landowners!
If you want to have a teeming
baptism party for your child
hire these famous musicians!
and you'll have as many guests
as there's sand in the sea!
Les', maybe you'll give me one to help out with my household?
- We won't bargain too much! - Hey, anyone of you, get off the cart!
Well, as you see
everyone would prefer
to remain in their village
Well, there's plenty of you!
I'll take the little one. Georgiy.
Why do you showcase your boys as if they were ginger breads?
They're as fit as oxen!
- Give them to me for the summer works! - Master, what do you pay for 1 month?
Oh, you'll certainly earn more than today on the fair!
When winter comes you can have 3 sheep and nicely fattened boys.
Master Levyts'kyi, I have one request - if a wedding happens,
or any other event, please, let them go!
Petro, why are you so sad?
Play something jolly, Romanian!
He'll play something jolly at your funeral.
Ha! Look at them!
They're being sold like cattle
but they still put on frills!
Go and clean the feathers under your tail!
Why are you laughing, Christians? Nowadays you're all being sold!
Hey, what language do you speak?
Please, say! Please!
Please!
Please, say something!
[in Romanian] Fall! Rise!
[in Romanian] Fall! Swine!
- Why did you shove me, you fool? - [in Romanian] Rise!
- Why do you beat me?
- [in Romanian] Arrest him! - Why? What have we done?
Don't worry about my children! God has given me children,
so he'll give me something to feed them.
- So which one do you take? - Is there a cheaper one?
No, they're all equally priced.
I'll take that one.
Please, take this stork!
I'm not selling it, I want to give it to some good people.
My house was taken by the water, I am old
it's time for me to die. Please, take this stork!
I've sold my boys
and now I have money.
But I have debts as well. Should I buy a sheep?
No!
I'll take money to the priest,
maybe he'll stick up for Petro.
No, I'll send Georgiy
The little one will cry there
and he won't refuse to help.
Oh, I can't go... They'll grab me on the Polish side...
Mister officer was very angry with me
he told me I am running to and fro too much.
He ordered to shoot if I show up.
How will I feed this abyss of hungry mouths?
I won't come back from there!
I swallowed the money...
How much?
20 leis. I hid it in my mouth
so I didn't lose it. And I swallowed it...
Don't beat me.
I'll give it back tomorrow in the morning.
Oh you old fool! Where are you sending the little one?
Oh, but he's not too little to gobble up money!
He will learn how to earn it!
[Romanian language]
Didn't I tell you?
Oh, what have you done to the child?
Oh, dear Lord!
Where's the sack?
Where's the flour?
You bit the priest! You ran away from the madhouse!
You swallowed the money! Where is it? Where?
- I bought the icon for that money. - The icon?
So instead of bread I'll be winding up some music for this abyss?
- But it's beautiful! - Beautiful?
Oh, now you'll be beautiful too!
I am not sleeping at nights because of you!
I am giving you all the bread, to the last crumb
I didn't ask to be born!
Oh you degenerate!
- Oh dear Lord, what are you doing? - The egg will teach the hen?
- Stop! Give him to me! - I'll kill him!
You may kill with lashings, but you won't teach with them.
I'll incline your son to you with tenderness and God's words.
Where are you going, son, Georgiy?
The priest's daughter told me that storks on top of houses throw children in.
We have enough kids, we starve because of that!
I know, you gave me to the priest so that there were less hungry mouths!
Oh, where did this idea come from, my child!
I better throw them off the roof!
But they're God's birds! Do not harm them!
A stork was a human being once.
God gave it a heavy sack and said:
Go and throw it into the abyss,
but don't peek inside!
But the human being wanted to know what God knew
And he peered into the sack.
And in there were all the creeping things of the world!
All the evil spirits of the world!
The man hurled the sack into the abyss
But the sin was committed!
The human being encroached on God's secret!
And God announced:
you'll become a white bird marked with black
and until you gather all the creeping creatures in the world
you'll stay that way!
Since then
the storks wade in the marshes
and go to all the garbage piles in the world
and destroy the evil they brought upon us.
Oh my prince!
So? Can you see the Black mountain?
Or did you come to steal from me?
I don't need your apples!
I am looking for the tree that will open my eyes
So I could see things!
To be like God
To know good from evil
Good from evil?
Hm...
Do not hurry!
When they sell you 100 times
for a piece of bread,
you'll see the light!
What is this?
People say that if you warm an egg for 7 days
you can hatch a personal devil
I will nurse it
I will feed it with devil's weed
and devil's berries
for it to become more evil
so that it will be like an ox
with enormous horns!
And then we'll see!
Don't befoul your body, because your body is the temple of your soul!
Love, love!... The one who's stronger is always in the right!
Pardon me, my son!
What do you want?
Georgiy, nurture your devil!
Nurture it!
Maybe he'll help me too!
Petro!
Oh, damn you, you scared me a lot!
Hey, Dzvonar family! Dryps or kulkat? [fall or rise in Romanian]
Oh, we'll show you all right!
You go from the left, I'll go from the right.
I am armed. Romanians have kept me under arrest...
Hey, you're crazy, guys!
Ah, my brothers!
Why don't you go out?
- Why don't you love? - Whom?
- Petro? - Petro
- Orest? - Orest
- Bohdan? - Bohdan
So whom? All of them?
Everyone?
Don't you come here!
Love somebody else! There's plenty of other girls!
Comforter!
This will help me!
Give it back! This is my devil!
Give it back. I tell you!
You've gone mad! It won't be neither for you nor for me!
I was foolish, I thought, I was choosing... No, only love will decide.
Dana, I beseech you, girl, go home!
Girl?
Don't follow me any further!
I will go anyway! Why did you ask me to go here?
I don't know. It just happened.
It just happened? If it just happened, then so be it!
Don't go! I haven't come here to play!
You won't wash away my pain with your handkerchief!
I want you to take me over there!
Ok. And you'll see why am I here. Sit down.
But you should know one thing:
this is not forever!
The water will come and destroy everything!
See, this is my way.
Either to the woods,
or to the prison.
What am I to do?
My love, my love...
Wait! Wait! You don't understand me!
I am like cattle! I can be bought at the fairs, I can be beaten.
I can't give you the things you want!
Look! I can't wait
until all of my brothers are sold
one by one. I have to have revenge!
Go! I hate you!
Georgiy! Georgiy! Come to me, my prince!
Come, my little swan!
Sit down.
- What are you doing, Vivdia? - I am baking bread.
So that the boys stick to me like this dough.
What for?
I could have killed you now!
Well, you are my prince! If you want you'll kill me.
But for you to love me forever and deeply, eat this bread.
I'll marry you!
Ah of course! But first you have to grow up a bit, cutie-pie!
[in Romanian] Welcome, welcome!
[song] I combed my hair and slicked it down And I've worn white trousers
[song] But when I came to see the girl...
If you... Once more with Dana...
Go to hell!
There was nothing between me and her.
- There could be something, but I didn't want it. - You lie.
Take away your scythes, you've worked enough for the landlord!
- Have you seen that guy who was arrested at the fair? - Yes, I saw him.
I ran away with him. Tomorrow or the day after there will be Soviets here.
You're lying about all of this.
You'll see for yourself, you fool. They are waiting in the valley already.
Take him.
He's very weak. He's dying.
They say the Soviets have come
to the other side of Cheremosh river. And they have pills
to cure all illnesses.
Go!
- I know, you don't have to tell me! - Hey, Myko, don't die!
Wait a little bit! Wait! Your father will come back with the pills!
Myko, son!
[in Russian] Ready?
Wait! You were thanked today with bread and salt already. But please, take this
from me as well, before you give a command.
There was no flour in my house yesterday to bake you this bread.
I gathered it in the poorest houses
In one - a pinch, in the other - a handful.
I didn't put any salt on the top.
When Katryna, my old woman, was knitting the dough
Her tears dropped in this flour.
One tear of happiness, the other of sorrow. Sorrow of the mother
that buried her child. And I thought over the coffin:
maybe it's better that God took away the child from these hardships?
How would he live?
How did we all live?
And me, how did I live?
My first 10 years without trousers - that's nothing.
5 horrible years of war you can count out.
That's 15 already. 1927, 1930, 1933 - 3 years of famine,
1 year of cholera, 1 year in a Romanian prison
because I was running past this pole to get some bread, from Ukraine
to Ukraine. That's 20 years.
And in the last 30 years I lived the whole 60 days!
1 day on Easter,
when you gather with people having eaten the holy bread
and having drunk a bit of alcohol,
and one day on Christmas,
when the soul rejoices....
And thus, my foolish head, that's what you have
60 days in the whole life...
Please, take this bread
and tear away that damn pole, which was stuck
in our bodies as a rotten thorn.
Aye!
Hey, lad! A fair girl, isn't she?
[in Russian] For her alone it was worth freeing the whole of Bukovina!
So maybe you'll marry her?
-[in Russian] Why not? Maybe I will! - I don't mind.
[in Russian] Will you ride on this tractor with me?
[in Russian] I will
Hey, Dzvonar family! Are you asleep? Maybe play some march music for them?
Play some march music?
March music? Of course.
[song] I combed my hair and slicked it down And I wore white trousers
Then I saw a girl and on the porch I ... sat...
Black boys.
Glory to Ukraine! Hey, why don't you greet us?
You are rafting wood to Russians!
This wood is for the school.
We are building it together with the soldiers.
Yes, raft it. The Soviets will need some for the coffins.
You'll also take some arms to the valley.
I'll escort you and tell you where to stop.
You are pretty scared!
And you, Orest.
- Now it's all clear why none of you have, well, the priest's daughter... - What?
Oh, I'm just joking!
It's just that you like Soviets and gave the priest's daughter to that Russian
as a present. They say, now the tractor driver is...
Roman, why? For whom is this death we carry?
You fool! While you lick the Red's heels
Europe is fighting!
1-2 days and Hitler will help us
to free our land from anyone's yoke!
This is our freedom! And someone elses death!
You are the fool yourself! What kind of freedom do you want?
German freedom?
I am a hutsul! [highlander]
And my freedom is as high as these mountains!
It is as quick and proud as this river!
I am not a coward!
And with the arms I will fight so that my fiance
isn't groped, isn't raped by some bandits.
and for a start
we will have fun at this wedding.
There will be enough of leftovers for everyone.
What wedding?
You don't know?
While you were cutting down trees in the mountains
the priest's daughter and the tractor guy...
Where? Where to?
Don't be foolish!
Guys, row to the rock!
Hey, I tell you, to the rock! Hold him!
- To the rock! - Not to the rock! You'll destroy the weapons! - Shut up!
Leave the stern!
Run away, guys!
You see, the big water came? It will carry away you and your
awful words! Here you have it!
Petro, you're a son of a bitch! You wont be able to live in these mountains!
Ha! Come and shave my moustache!
You gave your common pride to people as that wedding bread that you divided!
You have a personal dowry too: a bow and a gratefulness.
To whom you give them, mister groom?
A groom gives his... Well...
I give my dowry, my bow and my gratefulness to the person,
who's my father and mother today.
He's all of my family,
to my commander!
Bride, to whom to whom you give your dowry, your bow and your gratefulness?
The bride's farewell dance!
War! War!
Form up!
Dana, I'll be right back!
- Son! Where are you going? - Mom, I'm with them.
- I'm with the Soviets. - Oh, don't go!
Dress! Attention!
What's happening?!
My love! I have been waiting which one of you dares...
I didn't need that wedding!
I did it only to annoy you!
I would have hanged myself in the morning! I was waiting...
I prepared the horses myself.
And now we're alone.
We're free from everyone and everything.
Oh, what a surprise!
We were getting ready to go to the wedding, but the bride
came here on her own, and she's got a company!
My bullet has been looking for him for a long time now. Don't you recognize me?
Choose:
either the bullet is for you and the bride is for us or
you'll go with us and kill the person we show you. So?
Hold your horses!
Oh, I am good with horses, don't worry!
Petro Dzvonar is a Soviet.
[in Romanian]
May you all go to hell!
Father!
Oh, help!
Good people, please, help!
Help!
Oh my God!
Oh, people!
Do you remember when your bastard wanted to play something jolly at my funeral?
So now you play something jolly! Play!
Hey, come here, Georgiy!
You're good for nothing...
You'll have to ring bells for your living.
Go away, Georgiy!
Well, why haven't you seen your in-law for 3 years now?
Please, pardon me, dear father, for everything!
Go and ring the bell! Ring it for people!
Can't they hear the bell?
My head is ringing so much that it can be heard across the mountains!
Our task is to ring. And if it dawns or not
it is for Him to decide.
Oh... The dawn is not of our concern....
Our kids are not our concern...
Go away from here, Georgiy.
Rescue my son, dear father!
Put a different year of birth for Bohdan in your book!
Make him 3 years younger
or they will mobilize him.
They will take him to the war.
Let him go to the woods, to Orest.
They need people there, in the woods.
And send me Georgiy again. I need someone to look after the horses.
[song] Oh the cuckoo was cuckooing
[song] It was heard from far away
[song] People say that I'm a whore but I don't regret it
[song] I'll whore while I'm young and I'll repent when I'm old
Look at her! How she painted herself!
As an Easter egg on the willow tree!
For her work.
She has no work during the day. Only at night.
Well, good that she at least waits for the night! The mess she is!
Hey, you whore! Where are you going? Look, the water turns dirty after you!
Water will bare everything!
- Are you looking for a drowned man? - Why would she need a drowned man?
She ate enough! And then men will come back from war.
Shut up, you schmuck, because I'll hurt you and we'll both be the same!
Let's tie her shirt over her head!
Yes, let's tie her shirt!
Yes, let's do it!
And then let her go like this in the village! Let's do it!
Well, it turns out that not all men are at war.
The servant of God Vivdia is getting married to the servant of God Georgiy.
Will you have servant of God Vivdia to be your wife?
I will.
Will you have servant of God Georgiy to be your husband?
I will.
[phrase in German]
Vivdia was killed, but they didn't get me. I am a small bird
grey and agile. Jump, jump and I am here, making a nest.
- But they don't give any porridge. Vivdia was shot. - Who was shooting?
- I haven't eaten for 3 days. - Who was shooting?
Heil! Heil! People.
One was angry
that the shooting was too loud. So they killed him too.
Did you bring me some porridge?
Who was shooting? Have you seen them?
Sit here and wait for me!
I will go and find my brothers.
We will come back.
We'll show them, all of them!
Everyone, no matter where they are!
What has happened? Has our house burnt down?
Oh, it has!
- Where's Orest? - In the wood.
- And where's Bohdan? - He's hiding from the war, day and night.
Oh, I see you've become a gentleman.
The officer! Maybe you're a communist as well?
Yes...
Yes, a communist.
Father, gather your things. We need to go.
- Where to? - To fight in the war.
Don't make me laugh! I have my own war with your mum. We've been fighting
for 25 years. Look at you, our trophies And all of you are without heads.
One drags us in the forest, the other drags under the bullets. I don't know
if I should try to teach the old ones with the belt or to make the new ones.
Hey, why do your tic-tocs show different times?
Ah, so as to not make mistakes when new authorities come.
So we don't need to change hands every time.
So one shows Romanian time, another shows Polish time,
the 3rd one shows German time, the 4th one shows Moscow time.
And this one shows our time.
Who taught you this?
My children! They are like my children, who go to water the lawn
each in his own time!
Father, we have very little time.
Please, believe me. We have to go.
I don't know where you've been for 3 years. What have you been doing?
What I have been doing? I've been fighting.
And now I am not far away from here, with the red partisans.
You think that the war has burnt your house?
No, it has burnt your soul.
You don't trust your own children!
Your soul is at war!
The same war that is happening now behind that mountain.
But that one will come to an end, and yours will remain with you.
Please, think, father!
I'll be back in the morning.
Hey, have you seen Georgiy at the war?
The little fool ran away to look for you.
He'll perish on his own.
Orest!
You're here, in these mountains!
Come out, I want to see your eyes!
Then listen to me! You have weapons and you must begin to understand
where our enemy is. Do you want to return to the times
when we were sold as a cattle at the fairs?
What kind of truth are you hiding from people in the forest?
Orest, come out, I implore you!
Dana! Dana!
I loved you!
It's not true that you're quiet! I'll tell you about your end.
Soon, very soon
you, the miserable pack of bandits
rejected by people... You'll be horrible!
You'll be surrounded by your compatriots like wild beasts!
You'll die in shame! And you, Orest,
will command your people to cut off their faces
so that faceless and nameless and damned by their own people
they could not be recognized!
Stop! Dismount your horses and take them into the hide.
Break the boxes open and distribute the rifles!
The Germans named their price for the weapons: to open the crossing.
To hell with them!
They will have to climb the mountains!
We are not allies, neither with Russians, nor with Germans!
Germans came and will go.
And we will get rid of Russians on our own!
We will be in these mountains!
[lyrics from the song]: When the card came
telling me that I'm drafted...
- Close the crossing so that even a dog couldn't pass! - Guys, follow me!
Was there a fight?
No, we made a peaceful agreement.
- So who was shooting? - The Germans.
They shot Gypsies and lunatics from the hospital.
Were you there?
I knew that you'd ask me about this one day. But this is their business.
You were there.
But...
they think that only the chosen ones
deserve to live. And Gypsies, Jews, lunatics
are trash. They need to be destroyed. It's their business.
What about us? Are we the chosen ones? We're not the trash?
I will not just wait when they come to kill me.
I am the master of these mountains!
I was born here
and I decide who'll live here!
Dana!
Yes, it's me who decides here!
I wasn't there when they were shooting! I came later.
You're tired. Rain, mud, dirt, lice... For so many years...
Not everyone would be able to bare this for so many years. But Dana, please
understand! We must. I'm trying my best for it to turn out good for everyone.
I forgot that love, just like a horse, needs tenderness and food.
I can't live without you! I love you!
If not today, then later,
I'll give it all up! I am not supposed to be shooting all my life!
I'll kill you!
Well, here it's you who decides who will live.
Go! Run!
But you should know that you're not going alone!
My crazy youth and my blind love
depart together with you!
But not me. I am staying.
- Run! - Forget about her! She's just a hussy!
You'll revoke your order.
The Germans don't like such jokes.
You can betray me.
[Carroll song]: Heaven and Earth
[Carroll song]: Heaven and Earth Are rejoicing today
[Carroll song]: Angels and people
Are celebrating joyfully
Orest told you to come back quickly
otherwise... That's the end of the message
[song]: Oh in the big wide world There was a horrible battle
[song]: Many old mothers
[song]: Have lost their sons
[song]: Many old mothers
[song]: Have lost their sons
[song]: Oh my eyes
[song]: have closed...
Mom, mom, a snake!
Son! Sonny!
Sonny! You're alive!
You're alive!
That's fine!
Sonny!
[song]: Oh brother, rise up! Rise up, dear one,
[song]: from the grave And write a letter
[song]: In a small hand
[song]: To your family!
[song]: Oh, I can't, my dear brother
[song]: Rise up from the grave
[song]: My white body...
[in Russian] You waited, you waited, didn't you?
[in Russian] I waited. I waited but not for you.
Dana!
- Well, no... - Put out the light! - Blackout control?
- Go, go away! Leave the village! - You won't let me stay overnight even?
Dana!
[song]: Oh in the big wide world There was a horrible battle
[song]: Many old mothers
[song]: Have lost their sons
[song]: Many old mothers
[song]: Have lost their sons
Hullo!
I combed my hair and slicked it down And I wore white trousers
Why are you sitting here?
I can't go home. I don't know what to tell mother.
- Father was killed. - How come?
They killed my father.
And you, why are you here?
I came to see my wife.
- So why are you not there? - Ha?
I ask, why are you not with her?
Well, I've been there already.
Hey, listen, let's go together to my mother.
Uh huh
Landmines.
Don't come here! There are landmines in the field!
- All right? - Yeah!
Go on!
Go on! Var! Past all the boundaries!
You're so unkempt! Maybe you should get married?
Well, so the wife will cut his hair.
Seems to me yours already did!
I never have time for this! Tomorrow I'll go to town, I was summoned.
I'll get my hair cut there.
Sit down!
Let's see what do the communist gobble up and what they wash up with.
Finish this!
Say good-bye to the lady of the house, say thank you for the food.
Take an ax!
I told him!
Children are asleep, you bastards!
- Who's that? - Little Ivan.
- I don't know...
Da-na! Da-na!
Dana!
- Dana! - It's too late...
Look! This is Orest Dzvonar!
Butcher!
- He gave a lot of money. - This is bloody money.
- Judas! - Oh, just wait. This will be the end of him.
The dance is worth 3000 roubles!
To whom is this dance dedicated? For whom should we play it?
Kill me... I don't want to be alive.
Petro.
You have killed Petro.
[song]: Wake up, brothers,
[song]:Because it's a bright day already
[song]:Let's bring happy times
[song]: to all the good people
[song]:Let's bring happy times
[song]: to all the good people
Three years I was away, in the wide world and he's still ringing.
Dana, my little! And I've already read the last rites for you...
That was the right thing to do. I am not yours anymore.
- My little Dana! - I've heard the bells, whom are you calling?
Isn't it enough for you that you have destroyed my life?
You're not sinless either.
The woman has to give birth so that there are people on Earth
Rejoice, Georgiy! The day of death is better than the day of birth!
- Confess! - I have no intention to die now.
I'll grant you absolution.
Stop! I'll grant you absolution.
Please, take off your clothes. I'll examine you.
You're sick.
Please, take off your clothes.
Cast: Dana - Larysa Kadochnikova Petro - Ivan Mykolaichuk
Cast: Orest - Bohdan Stupka Bohdan - Iurii Mykolaichuk
Cast: Katryna - N. Naum Vivdia - D. Firsova
Cast: Les' Dzvonar - A. Plotnikov Father Myron - V. Simchych
Cast: Georgiy as a child - O. Polstvin Georgiy - M. Illyenko
Cast: Ostap - L. Bakshtaev Levyts'kyi - V. Shakalo
Cast: Roman - N. Oleinyk
Writers: Iu. Illyenko, I. Mykolaichuk
Cinematography: Vilen Kaliuta Production Design: A. Mamontov
Costume Design: L. Baikova Sound Engineer: L. Vachi
Make-up: Ia. Grinberg Film Editing: N. Pishchikova
Editor: V. Iurchenko
Cameraman: A. Len Set Decoration: N. Poshtarenko
Story Editors: Iu. Fokin, I. Miliutenko, G. Zilberman, V. Vynnyk
Special Effects: Cameraman - G. Sigalov Special Effects Designer - V. Tsyrlin
Assistant Directors: L. Kustova, V. Trubnikov
Assistant Camerapeople: S. Naida, M. Stepanova, S. Stasenko, P. Stepanov
Assistant Production Designer: V. Beskrovnyi
Music performed by the folk orcherstra of village Glynnytsia
Consulting Ethnographer: N. Snigur Production Management: P. Tarasov
Also appearing: M. Mykolaichuk, V. Vynnyk, V. Kolesnyk, A. Vladimirov, K. Stepankov
Also appearing villagers from Bukovyna
Directed by Yuri Illyenko
The end