Сын отца народов

EPISODE FOUR

Iím ready for dinner.

Come, you will sit with me.

Iím sorry, I canít. Iím going over to a girlfriendís house - we have to study.

Can I?

How old are you? Sixteen!

Whatís that lipstick for? Trying to attract men, are you?

Father, what are you saying?

I know what Iím saying!

You know what women like that are called?

Bottom ruble whores, thatís how!

Is that what you want?

Everyone wears lipstick these daysÖ

You are my daughter!

And donít you ever forget it!

Everyone! Who is everyone?

Alexandra! Alexandra!

Iím here, Joseph Vissarionovich.

Where is she going? Who is this girlfriend?

To DosiaÖ Morozova.

Do you know this Morozova?

No.

Get ready, youíre going with her.

Thatís alright, she doesnít have to go.

Oh, so youíre going to see him, arenít you?

To that Jew of yours?

To that old alley cat!

Donít speak about him that way.

You are my daughter!

Mine!

Lock her up! Maybe under lock and key you will come back to your senses!

Go!

Yes, Joseph VissarionovichÖ

Some tea, maybe?My poor poor girl.

Vasily Josephovich, the boys at the garage told a joke about Hitler! Want to hear it?

Go on.

So Hitler goes for a visit to the mental asylum.

All the patients are rounded up into two lines, they all go ìHeil HitlerîÖ

Throwing up the right hand and all that stuffÖ

He walks to the end of the line and sees that the last man didnít greet him.

So Hitler asks ìWhy didnít you greet me?î

And the man answers- ìIím not one of the crazies- I just work here.î

He works thereÖ

Youíre looking very glum, Vasily Josephovich. Did something happen?

What could have happened to me?

What can ever happen to me while Iím here?

Iím under so much protection that even the sniffles wonít come dare me.

Why am I here, fed and warm, gathering mold while my friends are at the front?

Can you tell me that?

Well, someone needs to man the fort, I supposeÖ

Who else is there?

Let the church mice sit it out behind the frontlinesÖ

Iím a damn pilot not a paper clip in some office, understand?

Why am I even so mad at you? Itís not like itís your faultÖ

Forgive me.

I asked to be sent to the front twice myself, you know?

They didnít let meÖ ìMan the wheel, the war will be won without youî - they said.

Donít you dare! Who will drive me around then?

My advice - donít stick your neck out while Iím still here.

When I go - you goÖ Understood?

Yes sir, Vasily Josephovich.

Maybe they wonít be able to win the war without us, after all.

Enter.

Comrade Stalin, Colonel Stalin reporting as ordered.

Stop yelling.

This headache has been killing me all day as it is.

It must be the weather change affecting me.

Iím getting old.

Are you mad at me?

Not at all.

Sit down.

Lavrentiy told me about your little chat.

Why didnít you come to me? Why him?

Youíre always busy. They donít let me see you.

FatherÖ Let me go to the front.

The front?

Did Lavrentiy show you the newspaper?

The one where Yakov is with the GermansÖ

But you donít believe that Yakov could have done it, do you?

I donít, you donítÖ

But the rest of the world watches and believes.

Iím not holding you back, Vasily.

But if you are ever taken prisoner like YakovÖ

Understand what shame it would bring upon me.

What shame it would bring on the entire country.

You will fly to Stalingrad.

With an inspection.

When you return - you can decide what you want to do next yourself.

Go now.

Where are we going, Vasily Josephovich? You didnít tell meÖ

The airport.

Really?

Joseph Vissareonovich allowed you to go to the front?

He did but not entirely.

Iím going to head an inspection but thatís alright.

This is something different entirely!

Itís not like being the Inspector Firing Squad!

You bet!

But be careful down there, Vasily Josephovich!

Only a fool isnít afraid of the war! Iím afraid!

But you know whatís scarier?

Being told later that while my friends were killing Germans - I hid behind my surname!

I understand.

Well if you understand then why are we driving so slow?

Step on it, will you?

Yes sir, Vasily Josephovich!

Vasily Josephovich!

Oh, itís thewriter! What are you doing in Stalingrad?

Iím a correspondent for the Red Star.

The Red Star you say? Well thatís a noble deed - write about us!

How am I supposed to write anything if they donít let me go to the other shore?

What do you mean?

They keep saying that I will get in the way and be a burden!

What am I, an infant or something?

The readers deserve to know what their sons, fathers and brothers look like.

You speak the truth. Beautifully too.

But you writers donít always put the truth on paper.

Or will you tell me otherwise?

Your scripts for example. Do they always tell things the way they happened?

What do my scripts have to do with anything? This is different.

This is real life. Truth and struggle is whatís needed here.

Otherwise my conscience wouldnít allow me to sleep at night.

Or did I come to the front to hide behind the backs of others?

Alright, Iíll help you - they will let you come.

Thank you.

Donít thank me yet. Just be careful, alright?

So that I wonít have to wipe Svetaís tears off her cheeks later, understand?

Otherwise they will drown me!

Alright, good seeing you.

You as well.

Moscow speaking. News from the Soviet information bureau.

On the night of the 3rd of December, North-West of Stalingrad, during a fierce battle,

N company managed to secure a fortified position.

27 enemy bunkers have been demolished, a battalion of German infantry has been destroyed,

4 artillery and 7 machine guns, 35 assault rifles as well as many more have been captured,

On the other side, three counter attacks of the enemy have been fought off.

Over 600 enemy corpses have remained on the battlefield.

At 4:15, around Verkho-Krimskaya, the pilots of the 520 air battalion managed to

down an enemy spy plane, model Fokker Wolf.

What about the crew?

The crew, consisting of three people, has been taken prisoner.

Good job! You are fierce fighters!

I donít think the Germans are going to like that.

Who would?

Any response?

The enemy has not undertaken any response action in the past 24 hours.

After noon they intensified artillery fire at infantry squads 197 and 198.

The next day they flew several planes on a scouting mission.

We couldnít shoot down any one of them - they never got close enough.

They were too afraid so they just circled around us.

They are preparing something. What is the intelligence on this?

We are waiting for the assault.

I seeÖ

Prepare a report concerning all the issues we discussed - I will include it in my report.

Also, contact the Volzskaya flotilla and tell them to get a certain correspondent across.

His surname is Kapler. Did you get that?

I did but the fighting is incredibly intense over there. Do you think heíll handle it?

Donít worry, he will - heís a tough one.

I wish I was there.

So, correspondent. Do you have the material you need?

When should we send you back?

I think I have everything I need. Well, almost.

They are waiting for my article at the newspaper.

What did you write? What will be the name of the article?

Something like ìRussian heroes are giving the Germans a beating they wonít forgetî?

Thatís a little over the top, Iím afraid. It will be simply called ìA lieutenantís letterî.

About the heroism of the defenders of Stalingrad?

What else would I write about? Cowardice or something?

I suppose you know better, seeing everything from the sidelines.

But there would be no heroism without cowardice.

What do you mean? How should I interpret that, Captain?

Interpret that any way you want to.

Iíve only cowards left in my battalion - the heroes are all in the ground already.

What does the hero think? He thinks that he canít be hit by a bullet.

That he is special and unique and that death will pass him by.

So he does what he wants to, whatís needed and what isnít.

The coward thinks about staying alive.

He thinks that he is defenseless against bullets and shrapnel.

He feels death breathing down his neck.

To kill a German is great and allÖ

But staying alive is what they think about.

There will be more Germans to kill whichever way you look at it.

But one needs to be careful.

Thatís a curious theory you have there.

Almost an entire philosophy.

What paper are you writing this for?

Iím writing to a girl. The one I love.

I see.

Then write.

My love. I donít know if this letter will reach you.

It has a very long road to travel. But I hope it will reach you.

That it will survive enemy fire and cross the Volga and the steppes.

Through winds and snowstorms it will bring to beautiful Moscow my love for you.

My soul mate. Snow had fallen on Stalingrad today. Winter is here.

The sky descended and now hangs low like the ceiling of a hut.

In this foul weather I canít help but let my thought pace to you.

I will write to you whenever I have a moment.

I want you to know about our lives and the struggle we face.

About what we feel and what we think about here in Stalingrad.

I want to tell you about the fate of a small friend of mine.