There Will Be Humans (І будуть люди)

POLTAVA REGION, 1901

Hup!

Come on! Hup! Go!

Go!

Come on.

TARASIVKA VILLAGE

Son, open the gate!

Hup!

This is your new mama, son. Olena.

My wife and the lady of this house.

Come on, don't be a stranger.

Are you asleep on your feet? Say hi to your parents.

Hello, Father…

and you… Mother.

Is my house any better than your aunt's?

Keep scrubbing!

Your nails, too. You can't go to your husband looking like a slob.

Why did he come so early?

It's his business.

Be happy that a man like him wants to marry you,

an orphan with no dowry.

Svyryd is a good contriver,

rich and generous.

Because he brought you presents?

So what?

Never mind he doesn't want a big wedding.

He's a widower. His first wife died of tabes.

A wedding isn't everything.

You will be the mistress of his farm.

It's okay.

Bring me water.

Come on!

Whose boots squeak like a rusty gate?

Because they are new.

Yours can't squeak, only squelch.

You Ivasiutas boast with your riches,

but your father didn't even throw a wedding party.

Not a bottle of horilka for us!

Why would he give horilka to scum like you?

Who does this?

Getting married without a wedding!

Maybe he's too stingy,

or maybe the bride is too ugly to show her off.

What did you say?

What did you just say?

You heard me.

-Vasyl. -Wait.

Say it again.

So he's deaf, too. What a shame.

-Guys, stop it. -Bugger off.

Guys, come on!

Vasyl.

Stop it, Vasyl.

Don't do it.

Don't.

Roman, you're a horse whisperer.

He stands so still for you.

For me, he wouldn't.

Well?

A nightingale sings, and a flea stings.

You're right.

Come here.

Come closer, don't be afraid.

What's this?

I… ran into a branch.

At the party?

Tell me next time.

I'll break off these branches.

I know, Dad.

Feed the pig.

It's been oinking since morning.

Okay, okay.

Look at me.

What are you scared of?

I'm not a werewolf.

Why are you trembling like this?

Shit! Who put it here?

Don't run into the house like a cock.

Sometimes Mother and Father need time to talk.

I've hired Vasyl Hanzha for haymaking.

What?

That infidel?

-Dad, he… -None of your business.

We need a hand.

Why do you call him an infidel?

People say he's a good worker.

Right, that's what they say.

They also say his mother had him with a Turk or a Tatar.

So he is an infidel's bastard.

Don't listen to what people say.

Listen to what I tell you.

I don't care if his father

was a Turk, a Tatar, a Jew,

or, God forbid, a Russian.

I need him to know his job and do it well.

You don't know how jealous he is.

I'd be a bad farmer if paupers didn't envy me.

Don't blame me if something goes missing in the yard.

If he tries to nick something,

he'll lose his hands.

Hello.

Hello.

Is your husband here?

I'll go get him.

Hush!

Shut up, I said! Enough.

You're here.

Where should I start?

Your stepmother is pretty.

A bit too young, though.

What do you care?

I don't.

But your dad is old.

None of your business.

Sure, sure.

I asked him, I begged him

Old man, let me go out!

Shut up.

-Am I not allowed to sing? -You aren't.

You old man, your back like a wheel

What?

Haven't you had enough last night?

Hey, break!

If you want to fight, take it outside.

In here, you work.

Have a snack.

-We could go inside. -Thank you.

You're welcome.

Here. The milk.

Goddamn you.

What are you saying?

It's not that bad.

Yes, it's a hard lot, but you can cut it.

Here, Vasyl.

A hard lot?

It's covered with ruts.

A stubble field overgrown with weeds.

Talk less, work more.

Don't I work enough?

Do I ever sit on my hands?

But when you send me to cut this wilderness with a scythe,

it's driving me mad.

Why waste time and effort on this junk?

Don't we have better land?

Remember one thing.

There is no such thing as a bad land for a good farmer.

If you call the land junk, that's exactly what you are. Junk.

My father told us this, and I tell you.

Got it?

Got it.

This land will be worth it.

We'll sow good grass here later.

Don't fight while you're working!

Olena will come after lunch to turn the hay.

I'm going to town.

Don't do it.

Why are you always so mad at the whole world?

I don't have time to admire the world.

Make sure you don't lose yourself in work.

Life is short.

Have you ever gone fishing at night?

I have. I caught a frog, too.

Sometimes after a day of hard work I go to the beach in the moonlight.

Big stars are twinkling in the water…

Stars are twinkling for you, but nothing clanks in your moneybag.

You think if you're rich you've caught God by His beard?

It's never enough for you Ivasiutas.

You'd grab it all.

The land, the money, the women.

Here, eat this.

Grass is like iron for a hungry haymaker.

-What do we have here, ma'am? -Whatever God sent us.

God or your husband?

Are you tired? You don't say anything.

I have nothing to say to you.

We can't just walk in silence.

Why don't we sing a song?

This isn't a party.

You're so pretty. Don't you sing?

I used to.