Karaganda: Red Mafia (2025) Movie Script
1
- Dig.
- Hey.
- Hi.
One more?
- I think I've had enough.
- Vanya.
I got you a present.
- I'm intrigued.
Aren't you?
- I shouldn't take
all the credit.
Dima made the plates,
but it was my idea.
- It looks real,
I'll give you that.
But a real money
has a smell to it.
And this one smells
like a chemistry set.
- It's a one that was bleached,
and then a 100
was printed on it.
- Clever.
- Not clever enough.
Look at the words,
"In God We Trust."
They're blurry.
- It's hard to tell, really.
- If I can tell,
so can anyone else.
And it's not very
bright in here.
- I thought maybe you'd like it.
- What can you give a
man who has everything?
- All I want in life
is to keep my promises.
Mm.
- Marat got an A
on his math test.
Can you say something to him?
- Mm-hmm.
- Daddy!
- Anyachka!
Mm.
- Have you seen the
dill outside, Dad?
It's up to my knees.
- I told you, you
have to thin them out.
- Here we go again.
Marat, you'll be late!
- I told you, you had to
thin them out a little,
not kill them, mm.
How's Pasha?
- Hungry.
- That's a healthy sign.
Pancakes?
May I please have one?
- Horses eat oats, not pancakes.
- Horses eat oats.
When did you get so smart?
- Hey, Dad.
- Morning, Marat.
- Dad, where were you?
- Working.
Congrats on your test,
I'm proud of you.
- I made your favorite, Marat.
- Working, where?
- In California.
Your food's getting cold, eat.
- Dad, I know California.
The teacher taught us in school.
Alabama, Arizona, Alaska,
Arkansas, California
- That's okay, Marat.
I don't have to
hear all 50 states.
How are things at the hospital?
- I may have to work a
double shift this weekend.
Another nurse is
getting married.
- Can't they find someone else?
- Mm.
I don't like to disappoint
people that depend on me.
Eat guys!
Colorado,
Connecticut, Delaware
- The name Oceans
Import Export was my idea.
But you'll never hear
me say that to Vanya.
- Piece of shit!
- It's 10:30.
What the fuck are you
doing here so early?
- We
started last night.
- We're celebrating Vanya's
birthday and we never stopped.
- Kirill, did you
sell those cigarettes yet?
- Almost.
- You need to get
your shit out of here today.
- I'm just waiting for Dima.
Dima is gonna put
stamps on them.
- I don't care what
Dima promised you.
Get your fucking cigarettes
off our property.
- Okay, fine.
- Go.
Now!
My share of the red
shipments was 18%.
Of course, it didn't make a dime
but it was good for
laundering money.
- OJ Simpson pleaded not
guilty in Los Angeles today,
stating for the record
that he was, quote,
"100% not guilty."
- Good morning,
Vladimir Abramovich.
Coffee?
- Please.
- Standing
along side him
was the legendary
lawyer F. Lee Bailey.
- Here you are.
- Thank you.
- Absolutely,
100% not guilty.
- My share of
the black shipments was 25%.
I don't need to explain
how much money it made me.
- Vlad?
You scared me.
- Pretend as
if I'm not here, Dima.
- Well, how did Vanya take it?
- He thought it was
interesting.
- "Interesting"?
- Mm-hm.
- What does that mean?
Either he liked it or he didn't.
- He said it didn't smell right.
- I didn't take a perfume course
at the Moscow Art Academy,
so you may be on your
own with this one.
- You know, if you try
to fake a dollar bill,
the Secret Service
comes after you.
It's just not worth it.
- Monya, I can think of plenty
of places around the world
that don't have
a secret service.
- Who would be dumb enough?
- So what'd you get
your uncle, huh?
A $100 fucking tie?
- I got him a hooker.
- Mm.
- But he already happened to
have a date for the night,
so I played with her myself.
- You're a mensch, Monya.
A mensch.
- By the way, did you
tell that putz, Kirill?
- Cigarettes
are coming out as we speak.
- And the chocolate?
- No one is gonna ask questions
about a warehouse
full of chocolate.
- Vlad!
Vlad, listen.
That putz!
Listen, I wanna talk
to you about something.
- What?
- What do you think
of this color?
For the bathrooms.
- Bathrooms?
- Babushka's.
- Babushka's?
Monya, what are
you talking about?
- The club, you
dumbass, the club.
I didn't mean that, Vlad.
Listen, I just.
I was hoping to get your
opinion on this one.
Leprechaun green.
- Leprechaun green?
Reminds me of a police officer.
- Funny.
- Why are you asking me this?
I told you I don't wanna be
a part of your nightclub.
- I know.
- I told you another
club is more heat.
Your uncle has one already.
- Yeah, and you
already said that.
- Well, so why are
you asking me this?
- I was just hoping to
get your opinion and,
it seems your not
a fan of the color.
- I thought you'd
be in late today,
or not at all.
- There's some bad news.
- You got the AIDS virus
from that hooker last night?
- Worse.
- Oh, you fell in love with
the hooker from last night?
- There's a problem just came
up with one of our shipments.
- I'll send Kirill or
Armen to take care of it.
- One of our black shipments.
I need to send
someone to Russia.
There's an officer in there,
who thinks he's clever.
- Me?
I got my club opening
in three weeks.
I'm fucking knee-deep
in paperwork.
- I didn't say I was
going to send you.
Well.
- What would you have me do?
- Print up some of
that Monopoly money
you and Dima have
been working on.
Spread it around.
But don't be too generous,
or they will start
asking questions.
- Why me?
- I need to send
someone with authority.
Our pilot is threatening to
leave without the shipment.
You need to leave quick
and sort it all out.
- Why don't you
pull some strings?
Make one of your puppets dance.
- You ever read the Bible, Vlad?
I mean not the Old
Testament, the new one.
There's a story in there,
when Satan asks Jesus,
"If you're the Son of God,
why don't you jump off
a cliff and show us?"
And you know what Jesus said?
- "You shall not put the
Lord, your God, to the test."
- And who said the Jews
don't read the Bible?
Mm.
- Did you tell them
about our vacation?
- You know, I couldn't
say something like that.
- Why didn't you?
Maybe they could have
sent someone else.
- I'll be back by Monday, Elena.
- Where are you going?
- To Russia.
There's a problem with
a shipment.
- Russia?
Don't put your life in danger.
- It's nothing.
Just a misunderstanding.
Nothing to worry about.
- Why do I wish you had lied
and said you were
going to California?
Wait, don't break
the superstition.
- Who the hell are these guys?
- They probably
just wanna check
if our seatbelts are fastened.
- Why didn't you pay me?
- I've already paid
your associates.
- Those were
federal authorities.
We represent the
local authorities.
- We are from Golyanovo.
- Oh, wow.
How is it that I've never
heard of you before?
- 1986 Wrestling
Championship, Budapest.
Gold medal.
100 million people watch.
1987 Wrestling Championship.
France.
Gold medal.
120 million people watched.
1988 Olympics South Korea.
Silver medal.
One billion people watch.
And you've never heard of me?
- If you let us go,
I'll give you $730,000.
- Why that amount?
- Because that's how
many $100 bills fits
inside a standard Samsonite
Attache briefcase.
- Mm.
You're free to go.
- You're welcome.
- Don't run, act natural.
How soon can we be ready?
- 10 minutes,
to warm up the engines.
- Make it five.
- I can't believe that worked.
Those fucking morons.
- Kostyanko!
Take a look at this.
The numbers are the same.
- Let's go!
- I thought you said
we're supposed to act natural.
- Can this plane fly with holes?
- I've never tried.
- We need to take
off, immediately.
- What we need to do is to
get to the end of the runway
so we can turn around.
- Tell me we have a
machine gun here somewhere.
- Of course.
This is a Russian plane.
- Let's get go it!
- Raise the ramp.
Raise the ramp!
- The Moscow Fire Department
said it was a firebomb.
One of our guys made it out.
Raffi, the Armenian.
But the rest were
trapped inside.
This is what's left of our
office in Yekaterinburg.
Somehow they got
into the basement.
So far, they haven't been
able to identify the bodies.
So, maybe some of our
employees are still alive.
I haven't heard a
word from anyone.
St. Petersburg.
The bomb didn't go off,
but that same afternoon
there was a gun battle.
No survivors, unfortunately.
- Who the fuck would do this?
- There is only one organization
that disrespects our territory,
the Golyanovo.
- Why now?
Why us?
- Vlad?
- We blew up their airport,
spread a lot of
fake money around,
and this is their response.
- I say we put their
heads on spike.
If need be.
Their girlfriends too.
- And then what?
Huh?
- Why do we need these
offices for anyway?
I thought these people were
just our paper pushers.
- How would you expect to
run and import export company
without anyone to
import or export to?
- You think your fucking
cigarettes keep the lights on
in this place?
Our entire profit is based
on the black shipments.
The ones that don't even
step foot in New York.
- Relax!
Brothers.
We have a plan.
- This is Lublinskaya
organizatsiya.
They control banks,
shipping lines,
and some night clubs.
Most importantly,
they are well represented
in the Russian government.
- And you trust these people?
- I knew their leader,
Pasha Ivanov, in Perm.
When you are as big as we are,
you need an even bigger roof.
- More partners means
more mouths to feed.
- Did I accuse anyone
here of starting this war?
I only ask if one
of us makes a mess
that person helps clean it up.
In two weeks, the leaders of
the Lubslinskaya organisatsiya
are traveling to the US as
part of the Yeltsin delegation.
They wish to make an agreement.
- Since this regards the
use of our obshak funds,
it's only fair we take a vote.
All in favor.
- You don't
kill the king with a vote.
- Some guys came
looking for you.
- Who?
- I don't know.
Russian guys.
They were wearing pointy shoes.
You know, the kind of
where the toes curl upward?
- What'd you tell them?
- I told them to get new shoes.
- Dig.
- Never been hit
with a shovel before.
- You should have
shot him sooner.
- I wanted to see the look
on your face.
- How did you find me?
- After you blew up the airport,
everyone blamed Kostyanko.
He was toast.
And the Golyanovo
ordered it that way.
But Kostyanko thought
he had one more shot
at getting his spot back
if he could find you.
So I told him I knew
you and wanted revenge
for when you tried to
kill me in Karaganda.
- He believed that?
So, now you're a gangster?
- Mm, businessman.
You?
- Also a businessman.
- Mm-hm.
- Tell me what happened to
you after I last saw you?
- Your plan
didn't work.
In '91, Gorbachev
gave an amnesty,
became a free man.
Went looking for work, but,
well, there was only one
kind of job available so.
- How long do you
plan to stay here?
- Oh, I like America.
I hear you have something
called warning shots?
Is that true?
- You kidding?
- So.
How about you?
Is your wife Elena in America?
- No.
- It's a long ride.
Tell me what happened.
Ah.
- I was earning
500 rubles a month,
selling boatloads of
televisions on the black market,
using the connections
I had made in the army.
It wasn't really the
clothes or the girls
or the fact that I always knew
how to get a brand new TV.
I just knew I was a
little more clever at it
than other people.
- And lucky too.
- Happy Anniversary.
- Happy Anniversary.
- I was gonna wrap it,
but it was too big.
- It's really big.
- Mm-hmm.
I wanted the best.
- I was happy with the old
one, but this one is nice too.
- I know you always
said you wanted to see
what life is like
in other countries,
now you can see it in color.
- Where did you get it from?
- You don't like it?
- I didn't say that.
- When your
mom fed you dinner,
did you always ask her
where the food came from?
- Only when it tasted funny.
- You're too smart for me.
- Aren't you gonna
ask me what I got you?
- Oh.
- Ooh.
Ooh.
- I always knew there's
something up there.
It's, it's wonderful.
- Mm, it's not a color TV.
- It's great.
I love pineapples.
- First time we met, you
said I was like a pineapple.
Tough on the outside,
but sweet on the inside.
Remember?
- I seem to remember
a line from Lermontov,
but I suppose I said that too.
- I took all
your corny poetry.
- Mm.
- Mm-hmm.
And put it into a can.
- Mm.
- To be honest, I didn't
know what to get a man
who has no trouble
getting anything.
- I love it.
- Happy Anniversary.
- Happy Anniversary.
- How are things
at the hospital?
How's Andrei, the drunk,
with the broken arms?
- Oh.
I lit a pack's worth of
cigarettes for him today.
So, I'm not sure he's
getting any better.
Mm.
Um, remember one of
the nurses, um, Marina?
- Vaguely.
- You know the one
with, uh, two kids,
and the engineer husband, Pasha.
- Mm, now, I remember.
- She handed in her
resignation papers today.
She and her family
are moving to America.
- And?
- She applied to the
resettlement program for Jews.
The one that I showed
you in Pravda, remember?
I guess she won a visa.
- I told you, this program
gives out 10 or 20 visas a year
to satisfy the Americans.
The rest have a bull's
eye put on them.
Not for me.
Especially
considering what I do.
My partner has a fishing
boat on the Black Sea.
Who knows maybe.
If I sell enough of these TVs,
we can jump in the boat
and paddle to America, huh?
Elenachka?
Sorry.
Can we not think about it today?
- Okay.
- I was gonna get a bigger TV,
but then I thought
you might be worried
that people will think
we don't read any books.
- You're right,
I would have thought that.
- Mm-hm.
- What does Masha want now?
Oh, God.
Just tell her we're out of
everything she'll go away.
- She's older, be nice to her.
Who is it?
- Masha.
- Vladimir Abramovich
Bernshtein.
- It took
the court only an hour
to hand me a 10-year sentence.
Elena got the same.
- I got a joke, wanna hear it?
- No, not really.
- It's funny.
- Tell it.
- So the optimist and the
pessimist are standing
in line one day for bread.
The pessimist says, "Things
can't get any worse."
The optimist says,
"Yes, they can."
- That's funny.
- What's the matter?
You don't think that's funny?
- You're telling so many
jokes, we'll miss our quota.
And then we'll drop
down to a 7B ration.
- Are you an idiot?
We're building a
punishment block,
sooner we finish this,
the sooner they'll have
a new place to beat us.
I got one you'll like.
The International
Space Convention.
- He'll
never make it.
- He'll make it.
Vornin is fast, he
can outrun anyone.
Vronin could've
won the Olympics.
He'll make it.
- He's got no supplies.
There's nowhere to run.
- You'll see, Volodya, let's
just your Jew mind thinking.
Run!
Don't look back.
- He must have made it by now.
- Well, at least he'll give
the guards some trouble.
- You know that means,
we have to do his share.
- You see, he made it.
- Are you a dissident?
- No.
- I thought all Jews
were dissidents.
Who's that girl?
That picture you're
always looking at?
- No one.
- Ah, Jewish girl, huh?
- What?
- Show me.
Show me, show me.
- Okay.
Don't touch.
- Not bad.
- Not bad?
- The beautiful
ones are always trouble, huh?
- No, she was good to me.
Real nice.
For our last anniversary, she
gave me a can of pineapples.
- You could get pineapples on
any street corner in Moscow.
- Not in Kishinev.
You've never seen a woman
with eyes like this.
- I have.
Her name was Ludmila,
ballet dancer at Gorky Theater.
I used to steal necklaces on
the bus and give them to her.
- So you're a thief?
- Pickpocket.
- Same thing.
- And you?
- Smuggler.
- Well, I can't see the
point of being a smuggler.
What's there to
smuggle these days?
And from where?
- A good television's
worth a lot more
than anything you can find
in someone else's pockets.
- First night of
Ramadan tonight.
- What?
- For the Chechens.
And they like to beat
up Jews on Ramadan.
- What are you looking at?
- Tell me,
how come the Vors have so
much power in this camp?
- How come they call this soup?
- I'm serious.
- I know what you
really wanna ask me.
The answer's no.
They'll never let you join them.
- Because I'm a Jew?
- Because you haven't
killed anyone.
- Yet.
- Tell me how to join the Vors,
and I'll give you
medicine for your hand.
- From where?
- This bread has been
underneath my bed for a week.
- It's penicillin.
It'll keep you from
getting amputated.
Take it for a week.
- Chechens.
- Give us your jacket.
- No.
- You're
not going to be able
to get your jacket back,
those men will kill you.
- If I don't get a
jacket by October,
I'm dead anyway.
- I got a friend that
works in Transport.
He'll probably get you a new
jacket off the next train.
I know why you want that jacket.
You don't need that picture.
- You don't understand.
When I got arrested,
they took my wife too.
Said she had to have known
the TV wasn't Russian.
The picture's the
only way to find her.
- Say your name.
- Bernstein.
Vladimir Bernstein.
- Say your name for us.
- Aleksei Rukov.
- Don't think I'll
hesitate to kick your ass.
- I'll be fine.
- You haven't won until
Grusinin says you have.
Don't stop fighting until then.
- I was in the boxing team
when I studied in Leningrad.
You fight pretty
well for an amateur.
But, I mean, you're not
the boxer that Vronin was.
- You're an asshole, Aleksei.
- Don't you get it?
I got in that fight
to save your life.
Anybody else would have
killed you for being a Jew.
The bread you gave
me saved my hand.
I wanted to repay the favor.
- You know what I
want you to tell me.
- The Vors are
worse than animals.
Can't let that happen to you.
- A letter came yesterday
from my mother-in-law.
Elena is in a prison camp
in Karaganda region.
Lagpunkt 84.
A woman's camp.
- You think the Vors
will help you find her?
You wanna join the Vors?
I'll tell you what I know.
First thing you'll
have to do is,
get a little creative
about your past.
- I'm sorry.
- Grusinin wants to see you.
- And if I say no.
- You won't say no.
- You look smaller
than I remembered.
Come in, have a seat.
You hungry?
Want some sugar?
- Yes.
- When I was in Kolyma,
they gave us our sugar
ration once a month.
We got it in handfuls.
Ate it so fast, we choked on it.
Called it, Sugar Day.
Here, drink some chifir.
I heard you're a smuggler.
- On occasion.
- It'll be a long time
before you smuggle again.
Do you have enough books to
keep you from getting bored?
- What do you want from me?
- What would you
have to give me?
I wanna give you an opportunity.
What you did to those
beasts impressed me.
Same as I'm impressed
when the guards bring
me a female prisoner
I haven't fucked yet.
- Who are you?
- We're the closest to
what most people mean
when they think of Anarchists.
But our rules matter more to us
than Lenin does to the party.
The Soviet Union
will only last for
another 10 years at most.
Everything will be in
our hands after that.
- And you plan to run
Russia from these barracks?
- When the crow dies,
it will be safer here
than in the Kremlin.
To join us, you must go
before the other Vors.
If you answer their
questions incorrectly,
they will kill you.
Do you agree?
- I only
ask for one thing.
- Brothers,
tonight we're going to
decide if Vladimir Bernstein
is honorable enough
to join our ranks.
Give us a brief account
of your life and exploits.
- I was raised in an
orphanage in Kishinev.
By age 11, I had
my own street gang.
We used to run
through the markets
and take whatever we could
while one of us
made a distraction.
By 21, I had my own
smuggling racket.
- What did you smuggle?
- Televisions and radios,
from Germany and Italy
for the black market.
- Later I shipped out heroin
through Odessa on a fishing boat
to Greece and Italy.
I had a connection
in the Caucasus.
- But how
did they catch you?
- They ratted me out.
I used to cut the tongues out
of men who spoke too much.
- But it's not enough to
know how to smuggle heroin.
- You are Jew, no?
- Yes.
- All the Bolsheviks were Jews.
- When I hear the word
Bolshevik, I reach for my knife.
- A man after my own heart.
I don't trust a Jew.
- I only believe in what
I see and what I can take.
- You see?
- Do you know our laws?
- Yes.
- Begin.
- In three years,
I had contributed
enough to the obshak
to force Grusinin to make
a deal with the guards.
- 2B ration.
But the quota is still the same.
- Orders from Moscow.
- Look at these suckers.
- Fish for the bear.
You get sleep at your new job?
- Enough.
-Quota two tons.
- Package came for you.
- What package?
Forgive me.
This was the only way.
- I'm happy just
to see you again.
Oh, God.
Volodya.
- Are you okay?
- Yeah.
I'll survive.
- Got you something.
It's not much.
Mm.
I was gonna read
from Evgeniy Onegin
then I figured the
timing might be wrong.
- You always know the right
words for every occasion.
- Maybe the only
thing I'm good at.
- It's perfect.
I'll savor every bite.
How did you find me?
- I gave them your picture.
What's wrong?
- He forced me to do things.
Terrible things.
- Who?
- I don't know his name,
but he had a tattoo.
A cat tattoo on his hand.
What now?
- Eat those
pineapples, Elenachka.
Let their sweetness bring
you back to life, huh?
Try and remember our apartment.
The window looking
out at the park.
The sound the kettle made
when the water boiled, huh?
The smell of the car
we used to drive.
Try and make your mind
forget everything that
happened between then and now.
- How, Volodya?
How?
- You must, Elena.
You must.
- Vlad.
- Someone get
your cigarettes today?
- I'm hurt badly, Volodya,
I think I broke something.
- Let me help you.
Dr. Adler, this man needs
immediate medical attention.
Get him the morphine.
- Three rubles for the obshak.
- We'll deal you
in the next hand.
- Tell me joke.
- No more jokes, let's play.
- I got one.
What's the difference between
capitalism and socialism?
In capitalism,
man exploits man.
In socialism, it's the reverse.
- Funny.
Not as funny as the
joke about the Armenian,
but still funny.
- I can't keep telling jokes
about Armenians all the time.
- See?
Man exploits man.
What's the news, Father?
- The guards tell me
that there's been a syphilis
outbreak in Lagpunkt 19.
It may take time but it
will land here no doubt.
- Is that a piece of advice
or some encouragement?
- Take it how you like.
- Oh, uh, I got
another one fellows.
Uh, just remembered,
it's about two prisoners
at the Mongolian border.
Siroga and Peter.
And if you don't laugh,
I'll cut your eyes out.
So the two prisoners.
- Whatever debt you
think I still owe you
this should repay it.
- Oh, I'd say we're
almost even.
Hey, tell me, Volodya,
did they help you find Elena?
- They found her.
It was not what I expected.
- What happened?
You should make a run for it.
- Like Sherdenko and Vronin?
- Not like Sherdenko and Vronin.
- I can tell what you're
planning and I'm not interested.
- Kotov and I have been
drying bread in our
barracks for weeks now.
We almost saved a kilo.
- No, thanks.
- Well, if you're not coming
with us, at least help us.
- How?
- You could
distract the guards.
- With what?
Jokes?
- I don't know.
Bribe them.
- If you escape,
the guards get in trouble.
That means the Vors
get in trouble.
I can't help you.
It's a death wish.
You shouldn't have told me.
- So now that you're a Vor,
you never wanna
leave this place?
Tell me, Volodya, what
happened to Elena?
Was she hurt?
I mean, don't you want
revenge against these animals?
Maybe there's a way we
can help each other.
- If you want more supplies,
you need to pay in blood.
- Why do I feel like
you're letting me win?
- Why don't you ask me
at the end of the game?
- If you're gonna
play like an imbecile,
I'd rather play myself.
- Father, I came to ask a favor,
the prisoner I fought,
Aleksei Rukov.
He's spreading lies
all over the camp.
- I remember him.
- I'd like to
settle his account.
- You'll have your wish tonight.
- What, you're gonna
make a run for it
during the work shift?
- How'd you guess?
- So, you think you're faster
than Sherdenko and Vronin?
- The important thing is
that we have supplies.
And I thank you for that.
- You'll get killed, Aleksei.
- What would you have us do?
Wait here for the
rest of our lives?
Covered our bodies
with words that say,
"Hey, I don't give
a shit if I leave."
Hey, maybe you can.
I can't take another
minute in this place.
- Get Kotov to take
the shift in the woods,
cross the river and rip a
piece of your shirt off.
It will cause the dogs to lead
the guards to the other side.
If you jump back in the
river and swim downstream,
you might get a
couple of kilometers
before they figure it out.
- Always so clever, Volodya.
- Better to be
lucky than clever.
Wait.
Take it.
I'm going to cooler for this.
If I don't make it out, you'll
be the only left to find her.
I know you'll make it.
After that, they threw
me in the cooler.
I got out when the Americans
forced the Soviet Union
to allow the Jews to emigrate.
I never saw Elena again.
- I'm sorry to hear that.
I know she meant a lot to you.
- Why do I have a feeling
you're gonna ask me for a job?
- Huh?
Everyone comes here now
that Rasputin got raided.
Vanya holds court in the
back 4 am every other Sunday.
And if a woman asks
you for a cigarette,
she's not asking
for a cigarette.
- Cigarette?
- This is Lyosha.
- Aleksei Rukov.
- Pleasure.
- This guy likes to dress
up like a police officer
and rob people.
No amount of convincing can
make him put a stop to it.
- Just like in the Russia.
- Kirill, Armen.
Armen, Kirill, Aleksei.
A good friend of mine.
- If you want any cigarettes
come straight to me.
I'll get you a lifetime supply.
- Armen has a device
that can make any slot
machine hit jackpot.
Really nice, you
should check out.
- Built the thing myself.
- A radio transmitter?
- Something like that.
But you got to pay
me to find out.
You know.
- Yeah, let me guess.
You're just one jackpot
away from a decent suit?
- What the fuck does that mean?
- Oh, I'm just kidding,
I'll buy you a drink.
- We'll be back, we'll be back.
What are you doing?
- Stolichnaya?
- Please.
- Take it to Monya's table?
- Will do.
- The women.
Incredible.
Been meaning to ask.
You know a good
immigration lawyer?
Preferably one that
doesn't have mafia stamped
on his forehead in big letters.
- I got a guy.
I'll write down
the number for you.
Be nice.
Normal.
Monya Polinsky.
- Aleksei.
- Nice to meet you.
- And this is.
- Nastya Petrova.
- Aleksei Rukov.
- Monya is a business partner.
- In what?
- Import, export.
- You'll have to show me.
- Sure.
I'll give you a tour.
- And how do you
two know each other?
- Karaganda.
- To friends,
old and new.
- To friendship.
- To friendship.
- To friendship.
- How's my, uh, request going?
- I'm working on it.
- I feel like I know
you from somewhere.
You used to drive a taxi
in Moscow, didn't you?
- Don't know me.
- No, no, no, no, um.
You once drove me around town,
pointing out every casino
where the prostitutes hang out.
- You're right.
Maybe that was me.
- And where are
you from, Aleksei?
- Well, that depends
on what you mean.
I was born in Moscow, went
to university in Leningrad.
- University?
- You think it's strange for a
man to be handsome and smart?
I wonder why.
- And how did you end
up in Brighton Beach?
- That's one of those stories,
better left for the campfire
than in front of
a beautiful woman.
- Why is it that single guys
are always the biggest
experts on women?
- Just the guy that likes
to have a good time.
No reason to feel
threatened by it.
- Tell me, you always
so good at making friends?
- Waitress a friend of yours?
- No.
She's all yours.
- All night, people came
to me with complaints.
All night, they said,
"Vanya, why are
the potatoes cold?"
"Vanya, why does your staff
never clean the ashtrays?"
"Vanya, why the toilets
in the bathroom not work?"
Tonight, I was ashamed to be
the owner of this restaurant.
Who made the kutleti?
Was it you?
- Not me.
- It was you, wasn't it?
- I made the
soup and the appetizers.
I didn't touch the meat.
- Vanya, a word in private?
I wanna introduce to you
a friend, Aleksei Rukov.
We were in Karaganda together.
- In Karaganda?
- We started out in
the same work brigade.
He has many talents.
- I'm good at keeping secrets.
Listen, Vanya,
I respect who you are.
And I respect what you do.
Actually, Vladimir didn't
tell me what to do,
but I want to work for you.
If you'll give me the chance,
I'll prove to be the most loyal
and honest worker you ever had.
- And you two ran into each
other in Brighton Beach,
just like that?
- Like two geese at the pond.
- I told you we
might have something.
- We're not hiring.
- He helped us deal
with Kostyanko.
The one from the airport.
- I'm not a picky man, Father.
Please.
I need this.
- Give us a moment.
From Karaganda?
And you never mentioned
this friend before.
- I never thought
I'd see him again.
- This brother of mine was dead.
And he's alive again, for he
was lost, but now he's found.
- I know how it looks.
- Mm.
- But I trust him like a
wolf trusts his own tail.
- If he wants to work
on the red shipments,
you can hire him
out of your end,
but not the black ones.
Not at least until I say so.
- You won't be disappointed.
- I know.
- Not so bad.
Let's get the ones in the back.
Volodya?
Came down to eat with the plebs?
- Just a smoke.
- What's happening?
- A group of American
senators are demanding
that all Russian Jews
be allowed to immigrate.
- I don't understand.
- We're sending them the
worst Jews we can find.
- Volodya, what's happening?
- Your exit passports.
- I'm sorry.
- I know.
- You never have to
think of that man again.
- I, um.
- What?
- I'm.
I'm also sorry.
- Don't be, huh?
He died a painful death.
I didn't wanna hear that.
- I wanted you to know.
Tell me you forgive me.
- For what?
- For all of this.
Tell me you forgive me.
- I will.
- From Karaganda?
- And who are you?
- Ivan Polinsky.
They call me Vanya.
- Vladimir Bernstein.
- I know who you are.
- I told the aid
workers in HIAS to
let me know if anyone came
through with Vor tattoos.
I guess they never
gave you my number.
- Where did you
dance to the music?
- 18 years in Perm for murder.
Pray tell how a Vor like
yourself is being useful.
- Before prison
I was a smuggler.
- Mm.
- What's there to smuggle
now that you can buy anything
on the open market?
- Not everything.
- How do
you make your money?
- I took what the
Jewish charities gave me
to open an obshak with
my kid nephew, Monya.
- Mm.
- But now, I'm just a roof
over some smaller operations.
Mainly in the gasoline business.
- Gas?
- We pocket the taxes and bury
the government in paperwork.
I wanted to ask you
to come work for me.
But I know,
I shouldn't have to.
- Oh, yeah?
- Vor must forget his family.
His only family
are his brothers.
- We have
to leave tonight.
- Where?
- I don't know.
Anywhere.
Just not here.
- Um, we can't do that.
- I ran into a Vor.
So I was thinking, we'll go
to the train station. Tonight.
And see what options
there are, hm?
Come on, let's
go, I'll help you.
- I could give birth at
any minute, Vladimir.
- I don't understand.
You still have two months, mm?
Hey.
- I wanted to tell you.
I knew.
I knew I had to tell you.
- You could have told
me from the start.
We could have done
something then.
- I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
You have no right to come here.
- Sometimes I need to
pray just like you.
Where are the kids?
- Slumber party.
What are you thinking?
- I'm tired of pretending
to be Marat's father.
I can't keep lying to him.
- Do you remember
when we brought him
home from the hospital?
I remember
how hard it was to
breastfeed, how much it hurt.
I remember sitting
awake at night,
and the thoughts I had
looked into his eyes.
I only saw the face of
the man who abused me.
I remember I wanted
to take a pill,
and end his life
as revenge against
the one who hurt me.
But I couldn't.
I told myself
I would love him someday.
And I was right.
The only way I can forgive you
for what happened in Karaganda
is if you keep on
being Marat's father.
- Okay.
I promise you.
- Don't promise.
I remember the promises you made
when we came to this country.
- Some promises
take longer than others.
- Now I'm gonna have bad dreams
because of this conversation.
Good night.
- Good night.
- Tonight's news, Russian
President Boris Yeltsin
joined other leaders of
the United Nations today
on the occasion of
the organization on
the 50th anniversary.
- Did you hear what
happen to.
- No.
- He was so drunk, he left his
hotel room in his underwear
and went searching for a pizza.
- I don't believe that shit.
- So?
He likes pizza, so
what's the big deal guys?
Leave him alone.
- I read it in the paper,
he was in D.C.,
and the secret service
was chasing him.
- Fuck that.
The Jews are on the
newspapers, no offense.
- So, you think the
Jews made it all up?
- It's just the part about
being in his underwear.
Everywhere you go,
you're technically in
your underwear, right?
So, they fucking twisted it.
- And this is the government
we are partnering with.
- These fucking Jews.
We never show him
playing tennis, not once.
- At least another
house on the property.
It's nothing.
- And the checkpoint
will be there.
- One of our guys,
one of theirs.
- What about the parking?
- My plan was to
shuttle our guys in,
less of a footprint.
- Huh?
You thought of everything.
And what about the house?
Did you check it for bugs?
- I haven't yet.
- Get your signal checker.
By the way, I thought about it.
I like leprechaun green.
Maybe it'll give us some luck.
- Are you saying what
I think you're saying?
- Vanya want some word.
Alone.
- Oh.
It's good that we
talked.
- Your nephew, Monya,
wants to become a Vor.
He wants to schedule
an Approach.
- There is some other business.
Our partners in
Lublinskaya organizatsiya
say that your friend Aleksei
is a member of Golyanovo.
That he was sent here to
disrupt our operations.
- He told me he left Golyanovo.
- So you knew.
Our contact tells us if
Aleksei managed to get visas
for some members of his gang.
Did he tell you
anything about this?
- No.
- I tried to work
it out with them,
but there was only one thing
that could satisfy them.
I'm asking you,
Vladimir Abramovich,
to be the one to
settle the account.
- He's my friend, Vanya.
- Mm.
- When I was in Perm,
another Vor bet the watch
of a dissident and lost.
But before the Vor
could collect the watch,
the dissident was
sent to another camp,
so the Vor could not
collect his debt.
The council met to
discuss his punishment.
I wanted to cut two fingers,
but the other Vors on
the council thought
that wasn't enough.
They wanted to cut
the whole hand.
So, we bargained for a while,
and then we agreed on three.
After that, I was
called The Generous One.
- I can't do it, Vanya, not me.
- I know you have a family
you brought with you
from Karaganda.
I kept that quiet
all this time.
Not my business.
But now, you're putting me
in an uncomfortable position.
- Please, Vanya, not this one.
- I will settle this one myself.
Bring him tomorrow.
You, him and I,
we will discuss.
- Jury selection began today
in the OJ Simpson trial
for the alleged
murder of Ron Goldman
and Nicole Brown Simpson.
This comes after nearly a
six-week search involving
over 300 potential jurors.
Authorities are saying
they wanna make sure that-
- Ride with me today, ready?
- Decided by a jury of this.
- The only thing I didn't
like about
was the cooking.
Ugh, she made the
borsht so salty
I had to chase it
down with three beers.
I have something for you.
I was gonna give
this to you earlier,
but you told me she was dead.
Didn't wanna ruin the moment.
I'm sorry you never
found her, Volodya.
- Give me my gun back.
- Can't do that.
It's a very bad day for
your business, Volodya.
You're about to
lose some employees.
- You can trust me.
- I trust you.
Insurance, keep working.
- I lied, Aleksei,
my wife is with me.
We made it out of
Karaganda together.
Hope you meet her someday.
I have a family in
defiance of the Vor's law.
I didn't want this life
in America, Aleksei,
it found me.
Where does this leave us?
- I thought you just
said you wanted out.
- You're right.
To go inside, get something.
- You don't wanna
go back in there.
A lot of your old friends
don't have the same
faces they're used to.
- I have to get a key on Vanya.
It opens his safe with
our obshak inside.
- I'll come with you.
- Sorry, boss.
- Good God.
I got something in my shoe.
- Give me that knife.
- Aleksei.
- It'll be okay,
Volodya.
- You'd be okay, Aleksei.
I wanted to throw
it in the river.
I wanted to leave it all behind.
But then I knew I had been
given it for a reason.
- Volodya.
Are you hurt?
- No.
- What's in the bag?
- It's our anniversary present.
- It's not our anniversary.
- I was gonna put it in the
closet and save it until then.
- I don't like this.
- A promise is a promise.
This is what it took.
- Okay.
Okay.
I believe you.
- It's over.
It's over.
- Dig.
- Hey.
- Hi.
One more?
- I think I've had enough.
- Vanya.
I got you a present.
- I'm intrigued.
Aren't you?
- I shouldn't take
all the credit.
Dima made the plates,
but it was my idea.
- It looks real,
I'll give you that.
But a real money
has a smell to it.
And this one smells
like a chemistry set.
- It's a one that was bleached,
and then a 100
was printed on it.
- Clever.
- Not clever enough.
Look at the words,
"In God We Trust."
They're blurry.
- It's hard to tell, really.
- If I can tell,
so can anyone else.
And it's not very
bright in here.
- I thought maybe you'd like it.
- What can you give a
man who has everything?
- All I want in life
is to keep my promises.
Mm.
- Marat got an A
on his math test.
Can you say something to him?
- Mm-hmm.
- Daddy!
- Anyachka!
Mm.
- Have you seen the
dill outside, Dad?
It's up to my knees.
- I told you, you
have to thin them out.
- Here we go again.
Marat, you'll be late!
- I told you, you had to
thin them out a little,
not kill them, mm.
How's Pasha?
- Hungry.
- That's a healthy sign.
Pancakes?
May I please have one?
- Horses eat oats, not pancakes.
- Horses eat oats.
When did you get so smart?
- Hey, Dad.
- Morning, Marat.
- Dad, where were you?
- Working.
Congrats on your test,
I'm proud of you.
- I made your favorite, Marat.
- Working, where?
- In California.
Your food's getting cold, eat.
- Dad, I know California.
The teacher taught us in school.
Alabama, Arizona, Alaska,
Arkansas, California
- That's okay, Marat.
I don't have to
hear all 50 states.
How are things at the hospital?
- I may have to work a
double shift this weekend.
Another nurse is
getting married.
- Can't they find someone else?
- Mm.
I don't like to disappoint
people that depend on me.
Eat guys!
Colorado,
Connecticut, Delaware
- The name Oceans
Import Export was my idea.
But you'll never hear
me say that to Vanya.
- Piece of shit!
- It's 10:30.
What the fuck are you
doing here so early?
- We
started last night.
- We're celebrating Vanya's
birthday and we never stopped.
- Kirill, did you
sell those cigarettes yet?
- Almost.
- You need to get
your shit out of here today.
- I'm just waiting for Dima.
Dima is gonna put
stamps on them.
- I don't care what
Dima promised you.
Get your fucking cigarettes
off our property.
- Okay, fine.
- Go.
Now!
My share of the red
shipments was 18%.
Of course, it didn't make a dime
but it was good for
laundering money.
- OJ Simpson pleaded not
guilty in Los Angeles today,
stating for the record
that he was, quote,
"100% not guilty."
- Good morning,
Vladimir Abramovich.
Coffee?
- Please.
- Standing
along side him
was the legendary
lawyer F. Lee Bailey.
- Here you are.
- Thank you.
- Absolutely,
100% not guilty.
- My share of
the black shipments was 25%.
I don't need to explain
how much money it made me.
- Vlad?
You scared me.
- Pretend as
if I'm not here, Dima.
- Well, how did Vanya take it?
- He thought it was
interesting.
- "Interesting"?
- Mm-hm.
- What does that mean?
Either he liked it or he didn't.
- He said it didn't smell right.
- I didn't take a perfume course
at the Moscow Art Academy,
so you may be on your
own with this one.
- You know, if you try
to fake a dollar bill,
the Secret Service
comes after you.
It's just not worth it.
- Monya, I can think of plenty
of places around the world
that don't have
a secret service.
- Who would be dumb enough?
- So what'd you get
your uncle, huh?
A $100 fucking tie?
- I got him a hooker.
- Mm.
- But he already happened to
have a date for the night,
so I played with her myself.
- You're a mensch, Monya.
A mensch.
- By the way, did you
tell that putz, Kirill?
- Cigarettes
are coming out as we speak.
- And the chocolate?
- No one is gonna ask questions
about a warehouse
full of chocolate.
- Vlad!
Vlad, listen.
That putz!
Listen, I wanna talk
to you about something.
- What?
- What do you think
of this color?
For the bathrooms.
- Bathrooms?
- Babushka's.
- Babushka's?
Monya, what are
you talking about?
- The club, you
dumbass, the club.
I didn't mean that, Vlad.
Listen, I just.
I was hoping to get your
opinion on this one.
Leprechaun green.
- Leprechaun green?
Reminds me of a police officer.
- Funny.
- Why are you asking me this?
I told you I don't wanna be
a part of your nightclub.
- I know.
- I told you another
club is more heat.
Your uncle has one already.
- Yeah, and you
already said that.
- Well, so why are
you asking me this?
- I was just hoping to
get your opinion and,
it seems your not
a fan of the color.
- I thought you'd
be in late today,
or not at all.
- There's some bad news.
- You got the AIDS virus
from that hooker last night?
- Worse.
- Oh, you fell in love with
the hooker from last night?
- There's a problem just came
up with one of our shipments.
- I'll send Kirill or
Armen to take care of it.
- One of our black shipments.
I need to send
someone to Russia.
There's an officer in there,
who thinks he's clever.
- Me?
I got my club opening
in three weeks.
I'm fucking knee-deep
in paperwork.
- I didn't say I was
going to send you.
Well.
- What would you have me do?
- Print up some of
that Monopoly money
you and Dima have
been working on.
Spread it around.
But don't be too generous,
or they will start
asking questions.
- Why me?
- I need to send
someone with authority.
Our pilot is threatening to
leave without the shipment.
You need to leave quick
and sort it all out.
- Why don't you
pull some strings?
Make one of your puppets dance.
- You ever read the Bible, Vlad?
I mean not the Old
Testament, the new one.
There's a story in there,
when Satan asks Jesus,
"If you're the Son of God,
why don't you jump off
a cliff and show us?"
And you know what Jesus said?
- "You shall not put the
Lord, your God, to the test."
- And who said the Jews
don't read the Bible?
Mm.
- Did you tell them
about our vacation?
- You know, I couldn't
say something like that.
- Why didn't you?
Maybe they could have
sent someone else.
- I'll be back by Monday, Elena.
- Where are you going?
- To Russia.
There's a problem with
a shipment.
- Russia?
Don't put your life in danger.
- It's nothing.
Just a misunderstanding.
Nothing to worry about.
- Why do I wish you had lied
and said you were
going to California?
Wait, don't break
the superstition.
- Who the hell are these guys?
- They probably
just wanna check
if our seatbelts are fastened.
- Why didn't you pay me?
- I've already paid
your associates.
- Those were
federal authorities.
We represent the
local authorities.
- We are from Golyanovo.
- Oh, wow.
How is it that I've never
heard of you before?
- 1986 Wrestling
Championship, Budapest.
Gold medal.
100 million people watch.
1987 Wrestling Championship.
France.
Gold medal.
120 million people watched.
1988 Olympics South Korea.
Silver medal.
One billion people watch.
And you've never heard of me?
- If you let us go,
I'll give you $730,000.
- Why that amount?
- Because that's how
many $100 bills fits
inside a standard Samsonite
Attache briefcase.
- Mm.
You're free to go.
- You're welcome.
- Don't run, act natural.
How soon can we be ready?
- 10 minutes,
to warm up the engines.
- Make it five.
- I can't believe that worked.
Those fucking morons.
- Kostyanko!
Take a look at this.
The numbers are the same.
- Let's go!
- I thought you said
we're supposed to act natural.
- Can this plane fly with holes?
- I've never tried.
- We need to take
off, immediately.
- What we need to do is to
get to the end of the runway
so we can turn around.
- Tell me we have a
machine gun here somewhere.
- Of course.
This is a Russian plane.
- Let's get go it!
- Raise the ramp.
Raise the ramp!
- The Moscow Fire Department
said it was a firebomb.
One of our guys made it out.
Raffi, the Armenian.
But the rest were
trapped inside.
This is what's left of our
office in Yekaterinburg.
Somehow they got
into the basement.
So far, they haven't been
able to identify the bodies.
So, maybe some of our
employees are still alive.
I haven't heard a
word from anyone.
St. Petersburg.
The bomb didn't go off,
but that same afternoon
there was a gun battle.
No survivors, unfortunately.
- Who the fuck would do this?
- There is only one organization
that disrespects our territory,
the Golyanovo.
- Why now?
Why us?
- Vlad?
- We blew up their airport,
spread a lot of
fake money around,
and this is their response.
- I say we put their
heads on spike.
If need be.
Their girlfriends too.
- And then what?
Huh?
- Why do we need these
offices for anyway?
I thought these people were
just our paper pushers.
- How would you expect to
run and import export company
without anyone to
import or export to?
- You think your fucking
cigarettes keep the lights on
in this place?
Our entire profit is based
on the black shipments.
The ones that don't even
step foot in New York.
- Relax!
Brothers.
We have a plan.
- This is Lublinskaya
organizatsiya.
They control banks,
shipping lines,
and some night clubs.
Most importantly,
they are well represented
in the Russian government.
- And you trust these people?
- I knew their leader,
Pasha Ivanov, in Perm.
When you are as big as we are,
you need an even bigger roof.
- More partners means
more mouths to feed.
- Did I accuse anyone
here of starting this war?
I only ask if one
of us makes a mess
that person helps clean it up.
In two weeks, the leaders of
the Lubslinskaya organisatsiya
are traveling to the US as
part of the Yeltsin delegation.
They wish to make an agreement.
- Since this regards the
use of our obshak funds,
it's only fair we take a vote.
All in favor.
- You don't
kill the king with a vote.
- Some guys came
looking for you.
- Who?
- I don't know.
Russian guys.
They were wearing pointy shoes.
You know, the kind of
where the toes curl upward?
- What'd you tell them?
- I told them to get new shoes.
- Dig.
- Never been hit
with a shovel before.
- You should have
shot him sooner.
- I wanted to see the look
on your face.
- How did you find me?
- After you blew up the airport,
everyone blamed Kostyanko.
He was toast.
And the Golyanovo
ordered it that way.
But Kostyanko thought
he had one more shot
at getting his spot back
if he could find you.
So I told him I knew
you and wanted revenge
for when you tried to
kill me in Karaganda.
- He believed that?
So, now you're a gangster?
- Mm, businessman.
You?
- Also a businessman.
- Mm-hm.
- Tell me what happened to
you after I last saw you?
- Your plan
didn't work.
In '91, Gorbachev
gave an amnesty,
became a free man.
Went looking for work, but,
well, there was only one
kind of job available so.
- How long do you
plan to stay here?
- Oh, I like America.
I hear you have something
called warning shots?
Is that true?
- You kidding?
- So.
How about you?
Is your wife Elena in America?
- No.
- It's a long ride.
Tell me what happened.
Ah.
- I was earning
500 rubles a month,
selling boatloads of
televisions on the black market,
using the connections
I had made in the army.
It wasn't really the
clothes or the girls
or the fact that I always knew
how to get a brand new TV.
I just knew I was a
little more clever at it
than other people.
- And lucky too.
- Happy Anniversary.
- Happy Anniversary.
- I was gonna wrap it,
but it was too big.
- It's really big.
- Mm-hmm.
I wanted the best.
- I was happy with the old
one, but this one is nice too.
- I know you always
said you wanted to see
what life is like
in other countries,
now you can see it in color.
- Where did you get it from?
- You don't like it?
- I didn't say that.
- When your
mom fed you dinner,
did you always ask her
where the food came from?
- Only when it tasted funny.
- You're too smart for me.
- Aren't you gonna
ask me what I got you?
- Oh.
- Ooh.
Ooh.
- I always knew there's
something up there.
It's, it's wonderful.
- Mm, it's not a color TV.
- It's great.
I love pineapples.
- First time we met, you
said I was like a pineapple.
Tough on the outside,
but sweet on the inside.
Remember?
- I seem to remember
a line from Lermontov,
but I suppose I said that too.
- I took all
your corny poetry.
- Mm.
- Mm-hmm.
And put it into a can.
- Mm.
- To be honest, I didn't
know what to get a man
who has no trouble
getting anything.
- I love it.
- Happy Anniversary.
- Happy Anniversary.
- How are things
at the hospital?
How's Andrei, the drunk,
with the broken arms?
- Oh.
I lit a pack's worth of
cigarettes for him today.
So, I'm not sure he's
getting any better.
Mm.
Um, remember one of
the nurses, um, Marina?
- Vaguely.
- You know the one
with, uh, two kids,
and the engineer husband, Pasha.
- Mm, now, I remember.
- She handed in her
resignation papers today.
She and her family
are moving to America.
- And?
- She applied to the
resettlement program for Jews.
The one that I showed
you in Pravda, remember?
I guess she won a visa.
- I told you, this program
gives out 10 or 20 visas a year
to satisfy the Americans.
The rest have a bull's
eye put on them.
Not for me.
Especially
considering what I do.
My partner has a fishing
boat on the Black Sea.
Who knows maybe.
If I sell enough of these TVs,
we can jump in the boat
and paddle to America, huh?
Elenachka?
Sorry.
Can we not think about it today?
- Okay.
- I was gonna get a bigger TV,
but then I thought
you might be worried
that people will think
we don't read any books.
- You're right,
I would have thought that.
- Mm-hm.
- What does Masha want now?
Oh, God.
Just tell her we're out of
everything she'll go away.
- She's older, be nice to her.
Who is it?
- Masha.
- Vladimir Abramovich
Bernshtein.
- It took
the court only an hour
to hand me a 10-year sentence.
Elena got the same.
- I got a joke, wanna hear it?
- No, not really.
- It's funny.
- Tell it.
- So the optimist and the
pessimist are standing
in line one day for bread.
The pessimist says, "Things
can't get any worse."
The optimist says,
"Yes, they can."
- That's funny.
- What's the matter?
You don't think that's funny?
- You're telling so many
jokes, we'll miss our quota.
And then we'll drop
down to a 7B ration.
- Are you an idiot?
We're building a
punishment block,
sooner we finish this,
the sooner they'll have
a new place to beat us.
I got one you'll like.
The International
Space Convention.
- He'll
never make it.
- He'll make it.
Vornin is fast, he
can outrun anyone.
Vronin could've
won the Olympics.
He'll make it.
- He's got no supplies.
There's nowhere to run.
- You'll see, Volodya, let's
just your Jew mind thinking.
Run!
Don't look back.
- He must have made it by now.
- Well, at least he'll give
the guards some trouble.
- You know that means,
we have to do his share.
- You see, he made it.
- Are you a dissident?
- No.
- I thought all Jews
were dissidents.
Who's that girl?
That picture you're
always looking at?
- No one.
- Ah, Jewish girl, huh?
- What?
- Show me.
Show me, show me.
- Okay.
Don't touch.
- Not bad.
- Not bad?
- The beautiful
ones are always trouble, huh?
- No, she was good to me.
Real nice.
For our last anniversary, she
gave me a can of pineapples.
- You could get pineapples on
any street corner in Moscow.
- Not in Kishinev.
You've never seen a woman
with eyes like this.
- I have.
Her name was Ludmila,
ballet dancer at Gorky Theater.
I used to steal necklaces on
the bus and give them to her.
- So you're a thief?
- Pickpocket.
- Same thing.
- And you?
- Smuggler.
- Well, I can't see the
point of being a smuggler.
What's there to
smuggle these days?
And from where?
- A good television's
worth a lot more
than anything you can find
in someone else's pockets.
- First night of
Ramadan tonight.
- What?
- For the Chechens.
And they like to beat
up Jews on Ramadan.
- What are you looking at?
- Tell me,
how come the Vors have so
much power in this camp?
- How come they call this soup?
- I'm serious.
- I know what you
really wanna ask me.
The answer's no.
They'll never let you join them.
- Because I'm a Jew?
- Because you haven't
killed anyone.
- Yet.
- Tell me how to join the Vors,
and I'll give you
medicine for your hand.
- From where?
- This bread has been
underneath my bed for a week.
- It's penicillin.
It'll keep you from
getting amputated.
Take it for a week.
- Chechens.
- Give us your jacket.
- No.
- You're
not going to be able
to get your jacket back,
those men will kill you.
- If I don't get a
jacket by October,
I'm dead anyway.
- I got a friend that
works in Transport.
He'll probably get you a new
jacket off the next train.
I know why you want that jacket.
You don't need that picture.
- You don't understand.
When I got arrested,
they took my wife too.
Said she had to have known
the TV wasn't Russian.
The picture's the
only way to find her.
- Say your name.
- Bernstein.
Vladimir Bernstein.
- Say your name for us.
- Aleksei Rukov.
- Don't think I'll
hesitate to kick your ass.
- I'll be fine.
- You haven't won until
Grusinin says you have.
Don't stop fighting until then.
- I was in the boxing team
when I studied in Leningrad.
You fight pretty
well for an amateur.
But, I mean, you're not
the boxer that Vronin was.
- You're an asshole, Aleksei.
- Don't you get it?
I got in that fight
to save your life.
Anybody else would have
killed you for being a Jew.
The bread you gave
me saved my hand.
I wanted to repay the favor.
- You know what I
want you to tell me.
- The Vors are
worse than animals.
Can't let that happen to you.
- A letter came yesterday
from my mother-in-law.
Elena is in a prison camp
in Karaganda region.
Lagpunkt 84.
A woman's camp.
- You think the Vors
will help you find her?
You wanna join the Vors?
I'll tell you what I know.
First thing you'll
have to do is,
get a little creative
about your past.
- I'm sorry.
- Grusinin wants to see you.
- And if I say no.
- You won't say no.
- You look smaller
than I remembered.
Come in, have a seat.
You hungry?
Want some sugar?
- Yes.
- When I was in Kolyma,
they gave us our sugar
ration once a month.
We got it in handfuls.
Ate it so fast, we choked on it.
Called it, Sugar Day.
Here, drink some chifir.
I heard you're a smuggler.
- On occasion.
- It'll be a long time
before you smuggle again.
Do you have enough books to
keep you from getting bored?
- What do you want from me?
- What would you
have to give me?
I wanna give you an opportunity.
What you did to those
beasts impressed me.
Same as I'm impressed
when the guards bring
me a female prisoner
I haven't fucked yet.
- Who are you?
- We're the closest to
what most people mean
when they think of Anarchists.
But our rules matter more to us
than Lenin does to the party.
The Soviet Union
will only last for
another 10 years at most.
Everything will be in
our hands after that.
- And you plan to run
Russia from these barracks?
- When the crow dies,
it will be safer here
than in the Kremlin.
To join us, you must go
before the other Vors.
If you answer their
questions incorrectly,
they will kill you.
Do you agree?
- I only
ask for one thing.
- Brothers,
tonight we're going to
decide if Vladimir Bernstein
is honorable enough
to join our ranks.
Give us a brief account
of your life and exploits.
- I was raised in an
orphanage in Kishinev.
By age 11, I had
my own street gang.
We used to run
through the markets
and take whatever we could
while one of us
made a distraction.
By 21, I had my own
smuggling racket.
- What did you smuggle?
- Televisions and radios,
from Germany and Italy
for the black market.
- Later I shipped out heroin
through Odessa on a fishing boat
to Greece and Italy.
I had a connection
in the Caucasus.
- But how
did they catch you?
- They ratted me out.
I used to cut the tongues out
of men who spoke too much.
- But it's not enough to
know how to smuggle heroin.
- You are Jew, no?
- Yes.
- All the Bolsheviks were Jews.
- When I hear the word
Bolshevik, I reach for my knife.
- A man after my own heart.
I don't trust a Jew.
- I only believe in what
I see and what I can take.
- You see?
- Do you know our laws?
- Yes.
- Begin.
- In three years,
I had contributed
enough to the obshak
to force Grusinin to make
a deal with the guards.
- 2B ration.
But the quota is still the same.
- Orders from Moscow.
- Look at these suckers.
- Fish for the bear.
You get sleep at your new job?
- Enough.
-Quota two tons.
- Package came for you.
- What package?
Forgive me.
This was the only way.
- I'm happy just
to see you again.
Oh, God.
Volodya.
- Are you okay?
- Yeah.
I'll survive.
- Got you something.
It's not much.
Mm.
I was gonna read
from Evgeniy Onegin
then I figured the
timing might be wrong.
- You always know the right
words for every occasion.
- Maybe the only
thing I'm good at.
- It's perfect.
I'll savor every bite.
How did you find me?
- I gave them your picture.
What's wrong?
- He forced me to do things.
Terrible things.
- Who?
- I don't know his name,
but he had a tattoo.
A cat tattoo on his hand.
What now?
- Eat those
pineapples, Elenachka.
Let their sweetness bring
you back to life, huh?
Try and remember our apartment.
The window looking
out at the park.
The sound the kettle made
when the water boiled, huh?
The smell of the car
we used to drive.
Try and make your mind
forget everything that
happened between then and now.
- How, Volodya?
How?
- You must, Elena.
You must.
- Vlad.
- Someone get
your cigarettes today?
- I'm hurt badly, Volodya,
I think I broke something.
- Let me help you.
Dr. Adler, this man needs
immediate medical attention.
Get him the morphine.
- Three rubles for the obshak.
- We'll deal you
in the next hand.
- Tell me joke.
- No more jokes, let's play.
- I got one.
What's the difference between
capitalism and socialism?
In capitalism,
man exploits man.
In socialism, it's the reverse.
- Funny.
Not as funny as the
joke about the Armenian,
but still funny.
- I can't keep telling jokes
about Armenians all the time.
- See?
Man exploits man.
What's the news, Father?
- The guards tell me
that there's been a syphilis
outbreak in Lagpunkt 19.
It may take time but it
will land here no doubt.
- Is that a piece of advice
or some encouragement?
- Take it how you like.
- Oh, uh, I got
another one fellows.
Uh, just remembered,
it's about two prisoners
at the Mongolian border.
Siroga and Peter.
And if you don't laugh,
I'll cut your eyes out.
So the two prisoners.
- Whatever debt you
think I still owe you
this should repay it.
- Oh, I'd say we're
almost even.
Hey, tell me, Volodya,
did they help you find Elena?
- They found her.
It was not what I expected.
- What happened?
You should make a run for it.
- Like Sherdenko and Vronin?
- Not like Sherdenko and Vronin.
- I can tell what you're
planning and I'm not interested.
- Kotov and I have been
drying bread in our
barracks for weeks now.
We almost saved a kilo.
- No, thanks.
- Well, if you're not coming
with us, at least help us.
- How?
- You could
distract the guards.
- With what?
Jokes?
- I don't know.
Bribe them.
- If you escape,
the guards get in trouble.
That means the Vors
get in trouble.
I can't help you.
It's a death wish.
You shouldn't have told me.
- So now that you're a Vor,
you never wanna
leave this place?
Tell me, Volodya, what
happened to Elena?
Was she hurt?
I mean, don't you want
revenge against these animals?
Maybe there's a way we
can help each other.
- If you want more supplies,
you need to pay in blood.
- Why do I feel like
you're letting me win?
- Why don't you ask me
at the end of the game?
- If you're gonna
play like an imbecile,
I'd rather play myself.
- Father, I came to ask a favor,
the prisoner I fought,
Aleksei Rukov.
He's spreading lies
all over the camp.
- I remember him.
- I'd like to
settle his account.
- You'll have your wish tonight.
- What, you're gonna
make a run for it
during the work shift?
- How'd you guess?
- So, you think you're faster
than Sherdenko and Vronin?
- The important thing is
that we have supplies.
And I thank you for that.
- You'll get killed, Aleksei.
- What would you have us do?
Wait here for the
rest of our lives?
Covered our bodies
with words that say,
"Hey, I don't give
a shit if I leave."
Hey, maybe you can.
I can't take another
minute in this place.
- Get Kotov to take
the shift in the woods,
cross the river and rip a
piece of your shirt off.
It will cause the dogs to lead
the guards to the other side.
If you jump back in the
river and swim downstream,
you might get a
couple of kilometers
before they figure it out.
- Always so clever, Volodya.
- Better to be
lucky than clever.
Wait.
Take it.
I'm going to cooler for this.
If I don't make it out, you'll
be the only left to find her.
I know you'll make it.
After that, they threw
me in the cooler.
I got out when the Americans
forced the Soviet Union
to allow the Jews to emigrate.
I never saw Elena again.
- I'm sorry to hear that.
I know she meant a lot to you.
- Why do I have a feeling
you're gonna ask me for a job?
- Huh?
Everyone comes here now
that Rasputin got raided.
Vanya holds court in the
back 4 am every other Sunday.
And if a woman asks
you for a cigarette,
she's not asking
for a cigarette.
- Cigarette?
- This is Lyosha.
- Aleksei Rukov.
- Pleasure.
- This guy likes to dress
up like a police officer
and rob people.
No amount of convincing can
make him put a stop to it.
- Just like in the Russia.
- Kirill, Armen.
Armen, Kirill, Aleksei.
A good friend of mine.
- If you want any cigarettes
come straight to me.
I'll get you a lifetime supply.
- Armen has a device
that can make any slot
machine hit jackpot.
Really nice, you
should check out.
- Built the thing myself.
- A radio transmitter?
- Something like that.
But you got to pay
me to find out.
You know.
- Yeah, let me guess.
You're just one jackpot
away from a decent suit?
- What the fuck does that mean?
- Oh, I'm just kidding,
I'll buy you a drink.
- We'll be back, we'll be back.
What are you doing?
- Stolichnaya?
- Please.
- Take it to Monya's table?
- Will do.
- The women.
Incredible.
Been meaning to ask.
You know a good
immigration lawyer?
Preferably one that
doesn't have mafia stamped
on his forehead in big letters.
- I got a guy.
I'll write down
the number for you.
Be nice.
Normal.
Monya Polinsky.
- Aleksei.
- Nice to meet you.
- And this is.
- Nastya Petrova.
- Aleksei Rukov.
- Monya is a business partner.
- In what?
- Import, export.
- You'll have to show me.
- Sure.
I'll give you a tour.
- And how do you
two know each other?
- Karaganda.
- To friends,
old and new.
- To friendship.
- To friendship.
- To friendship.
- How's my, uh, request going?
- I'm working on it.
- I feel like I know
you from somewhere.
You used to drive a taxi
in Moscow, didn't you?
- Don't know me.
- No, no, no, no, um.
You once drove me around town,
pointing out every casino
where the prostitutes hang out.
- You're right.
Maybe that was me.
- And where are
you from, Aleksei?
- Well, that depends
on what you mean.
I was born in Moscow, went
to university in Leningrad.
- University?
- You think it's strange for a
man to be handsome and smart?
I wonder why.
- And how did you end
up in Brighton Beach?
- That's one of those stories,
better left for the campfire
than in front of
a beautiful woman.
- Why is it that single guys
are always the biggest
experts on women?
- Just the guy that likes
to have a good time.
No reason to feel
threatened by it.
- Tell me, you always
so good at making friends?
- Waitress a friend of yours?
- No.
She's all yours.
- All night, people came
to me with complaints.
All night, they said,
"Vanya, why are
the potatoes cold?"
"Vanya, why does your staff
never clean the ashtrays?"
"Vanya, why the toilets
in the bathroom not work?"
Tonight, I was ashamed to be
the owner of this restaurant.
Who made the kutleti?
Was it you?
- Not me.
- It was you, wasn't it?
- I made the
soup and the appetizers.
I didn't touch the meat.
- Vanya, a word in private?
I wanna introduce to you
a friend, Aleksei Rukov.
We were in Karaganda together.
- In Karaganda?
- We started out in
the same work brigade.
He has many talents.
- I'm good at keeping secrets.
Listen, Vanya,
I respect who you are.
And I respect what you do.
Actually, Vladimir didn't
tell me what to do,
but I want to work for you.
If you'll give me the chance,
I'll prove to be the most loyal
and honest worker you ever had.
- And you two ran into each
other in Brighton Beach,
just like that?
- Like two geese at the pond.
- I told you we
might have something.
- We're not hiring.
- He helped us deal
with Kostyanko.
The one from the airport.
- I'm not a picky man, Father.
Please.
I need this.
- Give us a moment.
From Karaganda?
And you never mentioned
this friend before.
- I never thought
I'd see him again.
- This brother of mine was dead.
And he's alive again, for he
was lost, but now he's found.
- I know how it looks.
- Mm.
- But I trust him like a
wolf trusts his own tail.
- If he wants to work
on the red shipments,
you can hire him
out of your end,
but not the black ones.
Not at least until I say so.
- You won't be disappointed.
- I know.
- Not so bad.
Let's get the ones in the back.
Volodya?
Came down to eat with the plebs?
- Just a smoke.
- What's happening?
- A group of American
senators are demanding
that all Russian Jews
be allowed to immigrate.
- I don't understand.
- We're sending them the
worst Jews we can find.
- Volodya, what's happening?
- Your exit passports.
- I'm sorry.
- I know.
- You never have to
think of that man again.
- I, um.
- What?
- I'm.
I'm also sorry.
- Don't be, huh?
He died a painful death.
I didn't wanna hear that.
- I wanted you to know.
Tell me you forgive me.
- For what?
- For all of this.
Tell me you forgive me.
- I will.
- From Karaganda?
- And who are you?
- Ivan Polinsky.
They call me Vanya.
- Vladimir Bernstein.
- I know who you are.
- I told the aid
workers in HIAS to
let me know if anyone came
through with Vor tattoos.
I guess they never
gave you my number.
- Where did you
dance to the music?
- 18 years in Perm for murder.
Pray tell how a Vor like
yourself is being useful.
- Before prison
I was a smuggler.
- Mm.
- What's there to smuggle
now that you can buy anything
on the open market?
- Not everything.
- How do
you make your money?
- I took what the
Jewish charities gave me
to open an obshak with
my kid nephew, Monya.
- Mm.
- But now, I'm just a roof
over some smaller operations.
Mainly in the gasoline business.
- Gas?
- We pocket the taxes and bury
the government in paperwork.
I wanted to ask you
to come work for me.
But I know,
I shouldn't have to.
- Oh, yeah?
- Vor must forget his family.
His only family
are his brothers.
- We have
to leave tonight.
- Where?
- I don't know.
Anywhere.
Just not here.
- Um, we can't do that.
- I ran into a Vor.
So I was thinking, we'll go
to the train station. Tonight.
And see what options
there are, hm?
Come on, let's
go, I'll help you.
- I could give birth at
any minute, Vladimir.
- I don't understand.
You still have two months, mm?
Hey.
- I wanted to tell you.
I knew.
I knew I had to tell you.
- You could have told
me from the start.
We could have done
something then.
- I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
You have no right to come here.
- Sometimes I need to
pray just like you.
Where are the kids?
- Slumber party.
What are you thinking?
- I'm tired of pretending
to be Marat's father.
I can't keep lying to him.
- Do you remember
when we brought him
home from the hospital?
I remember
how hard it was to
breastfeed, how much it hurt.
I remember sitting
awake at night,
and the thoughts I had
looked into his eyes.
I only saw the face of
the man who abused me.
I remember I wanted
to take a pill,
and end his life
as revenge against
the one who hurt me.
But I couldn't.
I told myself
I would love him someday.
And I was right.
The only way I can forgive you
for what happened in Karaganda
is if you keep on
being Marat's father.
- Okay.
I promise you.
- Don't promise.
I remember the promises you made
when we came to this country.
- Some promises
take longer than others.
- Now I'm gonna have bad dreams
because of this conversation.
Good night.
- Good night.
- Tonight's news, Russian
President Boris Yeltsin
joined other leaders of
the United Nations today
on the occasion of
the organization on
the 50th anniversary.
- Did you hear what
happen to.
- No.
- He was so drunk, he left his
hotel room in his underwear
and went searching for a pizza.
- I don't believe that shit.
- So?
He likes pizza, so
what's the big deal guys?
Leave him alone.
- I read it in the paper,
he was in D.C.,
and the secret service
was chasing him.
- Fuck that.
The Jews are on the
newspapers, no offense.
- So, you think the
Jews made it all up?
- It's just the part about
being in his underwear.
Everywhere you go,
you're technically in
your underwear, right?
So, they fucking twisted it.
- And this is the government
we are partnering with.
- These fucking Jews.
We never show him
playing tennis, not once.
- At least another
house on the property.
It's nothing.
- And the checkpoint
will be there.
- One of our guys,
one of theirs.
- What about the parking?
- My plan was to
shuttle our guys in,
less of a footprint.
- Huh?
You thought of everything.
And what about the house?
Did you check it for bugs?
- I haven't yet.
- Get your signal checker.
By the way, I thought about it.
I like leprechaun green.
Maybe it'll give us some luck.
- Are you saying what
I think you're saying?
- Vanya want some word.
Alone.
- Oh.
It's good that we
talked.
- Your nephew, Monya,
wants to become a Vor.
He wants to schedule
an Approach.
- There is some other business.
Our partners in
Lublinskaya organizatsiya
say that your friend Aleksei
is a member of Golyanovo.
That he was sent here to
disrupt our operations.
- He told me he left Golyanovo.
- So you knew.
Our contact tells us if
Aleksei managed to get visas
for some members of his gang.
Did he tell you
anything about this?
- No.
- I tried to work
it out with them,
but there was only one thing
that could satisfy them.
I'm asking you,
Vladimir Abramovich,
to be the one to
settle the account.
- He's my friend, Vanya.
- Mm.
- When I was in Perm,
another Vor bet the watch
of a dissident and lost.
But before the Vor
could collect the watch,
the dissident was
sent to another camp,
so the Vor could not
collect his debt.
The council met to
discuss his punishment.
I wanted to cut two fingers,
but the other Vors on
the council thought
that wasn't enough.
They wanted to cut
the whole hand.
So, we bargained for a while,
and then we agreed on three.
After that, I was
called The Generous One.
- I can't do it, Vanya, not me.
- I know you have a family
you brought with you
from Karaganda.
I kept that quiet
all this time.
Not my business.
But now, you're putting me
in an uncomfortable position.
- Please, Vanya, not this one.
- I will settle this one myself.
Bring him tomorrow.
You, him and I,
we will discuss.
- Jury selection began today
in the OJ Simpson trial
for the alleged
murder of Ron Goldman
and Nicole Brown Simpson.
This comes after nearly a
six-week search involving
over 300 potential jurors.
Authorities are saying
they wanna make sure that-
- Ride with me today, ready?
- Decided by a jury of this.
- The only thing I didn't
like about
was the cooking.
Ugh, she made the
borsht so salty
I had to chase it
down with three beers.
I have something for you.
I was gonna give
this to you earlier,
but you told me she was dead.
Didn't wanna ruin the moment.
I'm sorry you never
found her, Volodya.
- Give me my gun back.
- Can't do that.
It's a very bad day for
your business, Volodya.
You're about to
lose some employees.
- You can trust me.
- I trust you.
Insurance, keep working.
- I lied, Aleksei,
my wife is with me.
We made it out of
Karaganda together.
Hope you meet her someday.
I have a family in
defiance of the Vor's law.
I didn't want this life
in America, Aleksei,
it found me.
Where does this leave us?
- I thought you just
said you wanted out.
- You're right.
To go inside, get something.
- You don't wanna
go back in there.
A lot of your old friends
don't have the same
faces they're used to.
- I have to get a key on Vanya.
It opens his safe with
our obshak inside.
- I'll come with you.
- Sorry, boss.
- Good God.
I got something in my shoe.
- Give me that knife.
- Aleksei.
- It'll be okay,
Volodya.
- You'd be okay, Aleksei.
I wanted to throw
it in the river.
I wanted to leave it all behind.
But then I knew I had been
given it for a reason.
- Volodya.
Are you hurt?
- No.
- What's in the bag?
- It's our anniversary present.
- It's not our anniversary.
- I was gonna put it in the
closet and save it until then.
- I don't like this.
- A promise is a promise.
This is what it took.
- Okay.
Okay.
I believe you.
- It's over.
It's over.