NTV PROFIT presents
coproduction NTV PROFIT = Russia
PRODUCTIONS LE PONT ROISSY FILMS = France
with the coIIaboration of
THE RUSSIAN STATE COMMITTEE FOR CINEMATOGRAPHY
the FRENCH NATIONAL CENTER FOR CINEMATOGRAPHY and CANAL +
producer IGOR TOLSTUNOV
presents
VLADIMIR MASHKOV ToIjan
EKATERINA REDNIKOVA Katja
MISHA PHILIPCHU K Sanja as a chiId
in a PAVEL CHUKHRAI fiIm
THE THIEF
I was born just after the war...
in 1946.
My mother was going to see some relatives in Jaroslavl'...
and she gave birth to me on the side of the road.
I never saw my father.
He came back from the war wounded...
and died six months before l was born.
But I thought about him...
throughout my childhood.
I tried to imagine him.
THE THIEF
In 1952, I was six.
My memory then confused...
what l saw and understood after that.
But l knew l'd remember that train...
for the rest of my life.
Get rid of one.
= What shouId I get rid of? = Hearts.
Hearts... I don't have any.
- Mommy! - What?
Can I go up there?
You're not aIIowed.
But there's nobody up there.
There was just a stop. maybe someone's coming.
So who is the queen married to?
The jack or the king?
The queen?
That's enough, I've had it.
HeIIo.
Let's play some more.
Cards, huh?
Just Iike at home.
Come on.
I've been robbed!
= Where are you going without shoes? - What's going on?
A woman was robbed.
PeopIe.
Stay in your seat.
= I'm going, you stay here. - Mom, pIease!
Listen, squirt.
Here you go.
What are you doing? Don't worry.
Keep an eye on my stuff, okay?
Excuse me.
Excuse me, Iet us through.
Why cry? It's too Iate.
ShaII we have a smoke?
Are you crazy!
What's your name?
Mine?
Katja.
Daddy!
Where are you going?
WeII... I don't know.
We got off with Uncle Tol jan in some random city.
My mom said that from then on we would live with him...
and that l would have to call him Dad.
We walked through the city...
looking for a room or a small apartment to rent.
Do you have a room?
The accountant and his wife Iive there.
An engineer and his daughter, there.
Here's the kitchen.
The bathroom.
An artist Iives here, my husband and I there.
Varvara teaches the accordion there.
A drunk woman lives in there, but she's harmIess.
The room isn't mine, it's my sister Anna's.
She's in the hospitaI now.
And I'm Aunt Tanja.
Sanjec'ka.
Aunt Tanja.
I'Il give you the down payment in a few days.
My housing money and passport are at the miIitary headquarters.
You know how the army is.
Okay.
Whenever.
You're a father, a soIdier.
= You're not a con artist. = Thanks.
No probIem.
Mommy!
What's wrong? CaIm down.
It's nothing, honey.
= What's wrong. Sanja? = It's nothing.
He'II go back to sIeep now.
Now Daddy wiIl tie the chairs together so you won't faII.
He was choking you?
What are you saying?
I heard it, you know?
You were dreaming.
I'm sIeeping here!
Not on your Iife!
Lie down here.
I'm staying with mommy.
Goddammit!
I sIeep here.
If you say another word. I'II throw you out the window!
You don't beIieve me?
So?
Don't worry.
Put a naiI up.
Why?
To hang up your uniform.
Okay, I'II put it up myseIf.
And what are these?
They're for you, I bought them at the market.
Just for me?
For you, for you.
For me?
It's for me?
It doesn't fit.
Stop it.
Stop it, get out.
And don't make any noise, or they'II send us away.
Your passport isn't at headquarters. You never went there.
I'm on Ieave. I have two days Ieft.
If you bring it to the woman, she'II know I'm not your wife.
So what?
So what? She'II kick us out!
She won't kick us out.
You're Sasha?
My name is Inessa PavIovna.
Are you the drunk?
No.
- I haven't had a drink in a month. - Sanja! Go out and pIay!
l don't want to!
lt seems the girl liked me.
She thought they beat me up because of her.
ln fact they beat me up because l was different.
I don't want to Iive here! They beat me up!
What's wrong? They'Il throw us out for sure.
Don't yeII.
Why are you a tattIetaIe? Show 'em.
What do you mean, UncIe ToIjan?
I'm not your uncle, I'm Daddy! Go and defend yourseIf!
Defend myseIf... but how?
Use your fists, bite, kick.
This way, they'II remember.
If not, you're not a reaI man. Now turn off the water.
Caterina!
Are you there? Come and see what your son has done!
What a mess!
You shouIdn't have rented it to them, with a chiId!
That's not a rag, it's a toweI!
Sorry.
Hey, asshoIe, come out here!
Listen !
Is this your son who's been hitting these kids with a stick?
He's crazy!
DiscipIine him, dammit!
Let go of his ear...
or I'II come down there...
and smash your face in.
Go ahead, come on down!
They move in and you can't Iet the kids pIay...
in the courtyard anymore!
Okay, okay. Can't you take a joke?
I'm coming down and I'm going to smash his face in. Just wait.
He throws rocks!
LittIe brat!
If you touch him again, I'm going to smash your face in!
Are these the guys who beat you up?
Did you defend yourseIf?
Did he beat you up? And you?
Punch him.
I said hit him!
Come on !
Again!
Hit him again!
On the nose, in his face!
Pound him!
Okay, okay.
Now caIm down. We're Ieaving.
I shouId whip you. You fIooded the whoIe house!
Sit down!
Get me the belt.
Give it to me, I said!
l forgive you.
Don't worry, I'm going to beat him.
Why do you want to hit him?
It's better to teach him the accordion. I don't ask for much.
What accordion! He's a pest!
Learning how to pIay the accordion wouIdn't hurt.
But his father's a soIdier. Today we're here, tomorrow there.
I wouId never have married a soIdier.
ReaIIy?
Sure. she'd never have gotten married!
Look at her!
Touch it.
Harder.
Understand?
And this?
It's to scare peopIe.
lf you scare them, they respect you and they Iisten to you.
- And if they don't Iisten? = Pummel them.
And if they're stronger than you?
Whoever it is, you have to teII yourseIf:
''I'm ready to kiII for this cigarette,
for this ice cream.''
The others understand that, and they wiII give you anything. Understand?
Is that StaIin?
Why?
He's my father.
Sure.
RealIy?
Sure.
And he... does he know?
Yes.
But it's a secret.
Don't teII anyone, understand?
- Yes. = It's a secret then, squirt.
I hope it's okay...
FeeI how my heart is beating.
And you? Are you happy now?
Go teII the neighbors you're sorry before they throw us out.
Go on !
Go, Sanja.
Do you have kids?
We had them.
We aII had chiIdren once:
SoIomonich, Inessa, us.
Where did they go? Did they die in the war?
Yes.
Look, the soIe has worn away.
They're oId shoes.
Not Iike your father's...
made of caIfskin, new.
He's not my father.
- So who is he? - UncIe WatchamacaIIit!
Sanja, where are you? Come home!
You're an idiot!
You couId have Iooked at his passport at Ieast.
And what wouId I have done with it?
Anyway. he's a soIdier. We can aIways caII headquarters.
Good morning, loveIy Iadies.
PIease, heIp yourseIves.
Aunt Tanja, have one.
= What Iuxury! What do we owe=- - We have to ceIebrate.
Speaking of which, how do we want to ceIebrate?
To each his own.
It's better to ceIebrate together!
I'Il be in charge of organizing it.
- And don't cry, Aunt Tanja. = I'II bring our daiIy bread!
No. no.
- None for her. - No way.
Comrades...
as a soldier, I traveI a Iot and meet a Iot of peopIe.
But I have never met peopIe...
as kind and friendIy as you.
For this reason...
accept as a sign of gratitude...
tickets for the circus!
For Saturday! We'II go together.
You're crazy to spend so much !
We are touched, reaIIy. We'd Iove to come.
EspeciaIIy on Saturday!
To your heaIth.
Why are we sitting? You men couId ask us to dance.
May I?
- I can't come to the circus. = Why not?
I have a pIay on Saturday.
And then?
Some Iike to meddIe in other people's affairs.
David Solomonich, a toast.
I wouId Iike to toast...
the man who made this day possibIe...
and not just this.
To the good, the wise...
the best of aII men.
To Comrade StaIin.
I aIso have to drink to his honor.
What is this stuff?
Water!
I know you too weII. I've lived with you too Iong!
Know what I think?
When you're big, you're going to marry me.
Nice. huh!
What time does OIga usuaIIy come home?
It depends.
I understand.
Saniec'ka, I have to go out for a minute.
Don't go. PIease, don't go away.
I'm just going to the bathroom, and then I'II be back.
You promised me we wouId go back.
- I'm not coming! - Be good!
You're a liar!
Sasha. maybe we have to Ieave.
= Right now? And UncIe ToIjan? - I don't know.
No... Stay here, I'Il be right back.
- What did you come here for? - To get my things.
I'm Ieaving.
So take your things then.
You knew it, right?
What are you doing?
But what...
What are you Iooking for?
What are you doing? I don't understand!
= Where is your Olga? - What fucking OIga?
Get the boy, otherwise we'lI miss our train.
- So then you're not a soIdier. - I am, actuaIIy.
They stick my rank on my ass, and they even give me a titIe!
And I thought that now...
we wouId Iive together.
I Iove you.
And you...
- I did it for the boy too... - TelI me about it Iater!
Let's go.
- Don't take anything. Iet's go. = What? Look what a mess!
I beg you!
I Iove you. We have a chiId to raise...
C'mon, we'II miss our train.
Why am I so unIucky?
Let's go, the train's Ieaving.
Think about it later. Now Iet's go.
No!
Then Ieave me the address.
Maybe I'II write you from prison.
You know
I have no address.
C'mon. squirt.
Here you go, chief. AII set.
= Did you Iook at it? = AII set.
- Mommy. = Be quiet.
Mommy. Iook!
This is mine!
Give it to me! Give it to me, I said!
Be quiet.
Leave them aIone.
If they ask, it's not our stuff.
WouId you Iike tea?
Everything's fine, Katiusha! Now we can enjoy ourseIves!
Oh, my sweetheart
l love you so
Listen to my love song
You are my happiness
Oh, my sweetheart
l love you so...
I hate you !
Take it.
Never, ever.
You'II take it and then tomorrow you'Il go to the market and seIl it.
Me?
Here!
And so I saw the Black Sea for the first time.
Good morning, comrades.
Who's in charge here?
My wife and son are down there.
Comrade Captain !
- Comrade Captain ! - C'mon, Iet's go...
Put the bags in the Ieft Iuggage. Hurry!
It wouId have been better if you hadn't come back.
Liar.
''Shipr.''
- What? - Shipr coIogne.
= We'd Iike to rent a room. - We're no troubIe.
My husband is in the service, my son is weII=behaved.
Yes, I understand, but...
we don't rent.
Too bad.
But there's a coIIective apartment in the basement.
I think they rent there.
Katja.
Are you sIeeping?
No.
What's wrong?
What's wrong with her?
Bring her some water.
= Stop! You new here? - Yes!
HeIIo...
= Don't you say hi? Your name? = I'II kiII you, damn you !
Are you a new tenant?
Yes.
= Don't you say heIIo? - HeIIo.
What's wrong, Katja?
I'm scared, Toljan.
What do I do with it?
Drink it. ActuaIIy, go out and check things out.
Take a good Iook, then teII me.
Stop giving him Iessons! Do you want him to become Iike you?
What's wrong with that?
Sanja, want to become a soIdier?
Yes.
Good. Now get out!
You promised it was the last time...
and then we wouId have a normaI Iife!
You were the one who said you'd write me from jaiI !
If I keep going like this, l'lI end up Iike you.
And who wiII I send postcards to? My son in the orphanage?
Don't yeII!
I haven't made money in a whiIe.
I aIways find poor peopIe's houses. One good deaI, and then I'II stop.
Just my Iuck!
Get rid of this crap! I have a boy to feed!
- Here, UncIe ToIjan! = I toId you to caII me Daddy!
Say it! Daddy!
Stop it!
I'II kiII you!
Go ahead.
You know the ruIes of the game?
If you puII a knife, you have to use it.
Go ahead.
Otherwise I'II hit you.
Leave me aIone!
Sanja, are you in there?
Stay in there. it's good for you !
Citizens!
Do you have an accordion? The souI needs music.
Do you have an accordion?
Good idea, putting the bed between two night tabIes!
WiII you avenge me, my son?
Daddy!
C'mon, Comrade, play.
The night is short.
At Ieast teII us why we're ceIebrating.
ReaIIy, AnatoIij, please teII us.
It's my birthday.
Citizens...
this is what I want to say:
l Iiked you right from the start. Iike a famiIy.
- And for this reason-- - There'II be no circus.
For this reason...
I want to drink with you to Comrade StaIin.
HeIIo.
= What's wrong with your hand? - Nothing. I smashed it.
But you're hurt.
We need some iodine.
I have some at home. C'mon.
C'mon !
Come in.
My husband...
is a very important doctor.
He amputates aII the time, 24 hours a day.
He's aIways at work.
I have Iots of free time.
You're not any troubIe.
Give me your hand.
We'II cIean it up.
Does it hurt?
Does it burn?
You have to disinfect it, otherwise you couId get tetanus.
- What is it? - What?
Tetanus.
Tetanus is...
I don't even know.
It's something...
dangerous.
- Who is it? = CaII the soIdier uncIe!
- He's not here. = CaII him!
Do you understand Russian or not?
TeIl him his son has cIimbed up the fire escape...
and can't get down.
If he doesn't come right away, we'II caII his mother. got it?
There you are!
- No! - Don't worry, I'II be carefuI.
There he is!
So, squirt, what shouId I do?
Leave you here?
You need an escort!
Look. Iook!
HoId on, squirt.
''Shipr''...
Your mother wiII show us ''Shipr''.
What are you doing? What are you doing there?
We're going to the bathhouse.
Take some straw and scrub your ass.
Like that. Like me.
Don't worry, squirt.
If you're brave, yours wiII grow too.
I'II pour the water on you.
You peed in your pants. Don't worry about it.
It happens to everyone.
One time...
I pissed bIood for three days.
BIood?
Five peopIe...
kicked me in the kidneys with their boots.
= Who? - It happened.
They hit me here, and here.
They broke my ribs, but I didn't say a word.
I didn't speak.
I Iay in the bIood for three days, Iike a stuck pig.
Just remember, squirt.
You can pee in your pants 100 times, but then you have to win.
Understand? Good boy.
Another one?
Go get another beer. Go on, hurry.
Friends, today is my Iucky day!
= Want some bread with saIt? = Your turn!
Look, I have another ten and the ace of spades!
Wait a minute! I have the ace of spades too!
Bastard!
They're fighting in there.
= Documents, Captain. = You want documents too!
= Documents. = What are you taIking about, guys?
= Documents, I said. - Take a Iook then.
They cooked me aIive in the tanks, I rotted in the swamps...
and I fought on the front Iines. so you couId ask for my documents?
Stop it!
Documents for you, shithead? Here!
I shouId show them to him!
Go to heII ! We're just wasting time.
That's it, good boys, go on.
AIways carry a IittIe saIt with you. It can come in handy.
Give me your hand.
This is our neighbor, Rosa L'vovna.
Have a seat.
Okay.
Let's go.
Where?
= CIimb up, Sanja. I'lI foIIow you. - Why?
You just have to open the door.
= What are we doing? SteaIing? - What? I'm on a mission.
- What mission? = A secret mission. Go on.
Sanja! Are you wetting yourseIf?
Are you a IittIe girI? Want a bow?
I'm not a IittIe girI.
Hurry up.
There's no time. squirt.
Don't be afraid or we'II faII.
I'm not going up.
We're Iike thieves.
- They'II put us in prison! - What's wrong?
Did you sleep too littIe or eat too much, squirt? What thieves?
= You know who my father fights? - Which father? StaIin?
He fights the enemy!
Understand?
An enemy Iives up there.
A spy?
I'm on a mission, and you're ruining everything. Are you an accompIice?
I'm not an accompIice. I swear!
Then prove it!
Prove you're a reaI Soviet!
But I have to pee.
HoId it in! You can do it if you're brave.
The Iock.
Shake it!
Harder!
You have to do it, or I won't be abIe to puII you out!
Push!
You're a weakling. squirt!
Push, or they'II shoot you!
I can't!
Push, I said.
Push!
I'm going to see where he is.
Citizen, I can't see through you.
Sit down.
= Thanks for Iooking after it for me. = No probIem.
Where's my son?
His father took him with him.
He said to go straight to the station and wait for him there.
Thank you.
Hey! What are you doing up there?
What's your probIem. SaveI'evna?
Someone must have entered from the doctor's window.
- Oh come on. = I'm sure of it!
CaII the poIice. so they can take a Iook.
You think?
The windows are dark. There's no one home.
SaveI'evna, everyone's asIeep.
You aIways imagine the same things.
You see thieves everywhere, bandits.
You need heIp.
It's open here.
I'm caIIing the police. They'II take care of it.
Is this her? Get in!
- Hurry! Let's go! - Where's Sanja?
C'mon, Iet's go!
This time it was a fiasco.
Why did you take the boy with you?
Just because.
And then I didn't know how it'd go with the madame.
We're going to the MoIotovka stop.
No one wiII find us there. We'II take the train.
I'm going to Ieave you, ToIjan.
This time, I'm reaIIy going to.
Where?
To Ivanovo. I hear they need workers there.
Then go.
Maybe you'II find someone better.
Maybe...
But I won't Iove him Iike you.
Here's the ticket. One seat, me and the boy.
Seat 15.
Enough. Go on.
Maybe they'II give room and board at Ivanovo.
- The boy'lI go to schooI. If you-= - Katja, don't start.
I Iike the Iife I Iive. I don't want another one.
Take these to heIp you get started.
Did you buy these for me at the market as weIl?
So, squirt.
Even you want to Ieave me?
I have your gun in my suitcase.
Keep it. I don't need it. It'lI be an excuse to see you again.
Get on!
Go on.
- Sanja! - Where are you going?
Freeze!
Stop or I'II shoot!
Shoot, he's getting away!
Stop!
- What did he do to you? = He threw saIt at me!
The suitcase!
= So why did he escape? - He ran after the boy.
He thought something had happened to the boy.
They wanted to check his documents and he threw salt at the sergeant!
He didn't do it maIiciousIy. He was injured in the war.
He'II get five years for this, if he's Iucky!
We shouId knock his head off twice!
Have mercy on him!
How can you leave a boy without his father?
I'm not moved by whimpering or by kids.
The sergeant has two.
What if he'd been bIinded?
Maybe we can heIp his famiIy out.
I have a ring and some earrings. WouId you Iet him go?
l don't know.
After my shift, I'm going to see...
the sergeant in the hospitaI.
- I can try to... - I'II be right back.
= Right away! = Hurry up!
I'm not going to wait aII night.
- Give them to me. - What?
Where are they? He gave them to you!
Where are they?
- Here? - I don't remember!
Look for them, Sanja! I'm asking you in the name of God!
We'II sureIy find them. We have to! Where couId they have gone?
He Ieft.
One moment, citizen.
I don't understand.
You want to bribe me?
Me? Bribe me?
I'II send you to Siberia...
to cut down trees.
See what they do to you!
Whore!
Get out of here!
Get out before I reconsider.
At Ieast let me see my husband.
They've taken him to the city, to Molotovskoe.
Look for him there.
Our efforts were in vain.
They didn't find out about the burglaries in the apartments...
but they gave him seven years anyway.
We waited in front of the prison...
to see him before the long separation.
My mother didn't know it would be her last time.
- Do you know when they caII them? - I don't know.
- When do they caII them? = Who the heII knows?
They don't teII us!
My son, my son...
If you hadn't run away...
he would be with us now.
Everyone back!
If anyone moves. I'II shoot!
Mommy, what does this mean?
Number one! Keep your head down !
Number two! Keep your head down!
Vanja! Vanja!
l'm here!
Pasha!
Serozha! Nina had a baby!
What is it?
It's a girl!
Back!
MicoIa!
Your father died!
Keep your head down !
ToIjan !
Sanja!
Daddy! Don't Ieave us aIone!
Daddy!
Don't Ieave us aIone!
From that day on...
l never saw the image of the soldier...
of my real father again.
Maybe because on that day...
l betrayed him.
Come with me.
My IittIe boy.
Mom, what's wrong?
- Did you eat? = I ate.
What?
The cook gave me a potato and some jam.
TeII her to give you mine too.
Mom, what are you saying?
Does it hurt?
What operation is it?
They taIk about an operation, but I don't understand.
Ladies' stuff.
What is it?
That's aII. Nothing very good.
Get weII soon. I'm bored by myseIf.
I'II get welI soon.
Mom, sing me our IittIe song.
Not now, I'm tired.
It was the ''Three Witnesses''.
My mother died of peritonitis...
after a botched abortion.
l heard some of what the doctors said...
but then l couldn't understand any of the details...
and they weren't important.
From that moment on l had no one else in the world...
closer than Tol jan.
My mother's watch and the gun...
were the only things left from that life.
Fortunately I was able to hide the gun.
I hid it often, later...
in the orphanage.
For years, I lived with the dream that Tol jan was free...
and he would take me away with him.
Chigariov, straighten your back!
Grab the handIebar. Let's go!
Faster. hurry!
Let's go!
Bastards! Idiots!
What are you doing, boy? You seIIing a handIebar?
Squirt.
You Iooking for someone?
You.
Me?
Why is that?
I'm Sanja.
So?
I'm Katja's son. Do you remember Katja?
Which Katja?
On the train, with the IittIe boy.
Wait, wait. Her name was Katja?
And you... so you wouId be...
You'd be...
Sanja.
- Right, Sanja! - ToIjan !
You're a reaI piece of work!
You had a kid with Katja and you don't even remember!
Oh shut up!
So...
squirt...
what do you want?
- You want money? - For who? You drink with mine!
- Who's this Katja? - Can't you see I'm taIking?
Katja!
Admit it. you oId dog!
Katja, he says...
C'mon, I fucked one...
on the train, that's aIl.
TeII her I'm not your father. squirt!
You telI her!
Look, Iook.
She's jeaIous.
I've faIlen in Iove with this one... Iike a IittIe boy.
Go to your damn Katja and take your friends with you !
Good times...
TeII your mother I said heIIo.
TeII her ''From ToIjan''.
She'II remember.
Now go on.
And so l was left all alone in the world.
l felt nothing.
l only had the feeling he had betrayed me and my mother...
and that l had to kill him.
I didn't want to be like him anymore.
Yet my life didn't become easier.
So l decided to start up a new life...
not to think of him anymore.
He didn't exist.
He had never existed. He didn't even exist in my dreams.
Nothing existed.
Nothing... nothing... nothing.
Daddy!
Daddy! Don't Ieave us aIone!
Daddy!
written and directed by PAVEL CHUKHRAI
director of photography VLADIMIR KLIMOV
production designer VICTOR PETROV
composer VLADIMIR DASHKEVICH
sound YULIA EGOROVA
make-up NINA KOLODKINA
costumes NATALIA MONEVA
and NATALIA ALEKSANDROVA
editing MARINA DOBRYANSKAYA
and NATALIA KUCHERENKO
coordinator ANNA KAGARLIZKAYA
assistant directors OLGA KALIMOVA
and TATIANA SAULKINA
cameraman VIACESLAV CHIBRIKOV
directors of production VALENTINA SAITSEVA
and OLGA RU MIANSEVA
executive producer SERGEY KOZLOV
produced by lGOR TOLSTUNOV
WorId SaIes ROISSY FILMS - France