Dead Mountain (2020) s01e01 Episode Script

On 27th of January 1959
a group of students and graduates
from Ural Polytechnic Institute,
lead by Igor Dyatlov
headed out for a ski hike in the mountains
to the north of the Sverdlovsk region.
On February 12, the group does not arrive at
the end of the point at the estimated time.
On 26th of February, at the North-Eastern slope
on a mountain Kholat Syakhl
the first bodies were found.
No one knows what happened.
actually.
No one, but me.
DYATLOV'S PASS
Comrade major, wake up!
Wake up, comrade major.
We're getting closer, we'll be landing soon.
I wish you good health, Comrade Major.
I'm Captain Okunev from the department.
KGB in the Sverdlovsk region.
You can call me Oleg.
It's damn cold in here.
Call me Sasha.
I see, you're not dressed for this weather.
Let's go!
How many bodies did you find?
- Four bodies and a tent.
What about the others? I thought it was 9 people.
- I don't know, comrade major.
The radiogram arrived.
As expected, I reported to Moscow.
They sent you.
Who is conducting the investigation?
Vasily Tempalov, the Prosecutor.
What kind of person is he?
He's a good guy, he knows what he's doing.
He fought in war, like us.
Lieutenant of the Guard, he has medals.
We're driving to him now.
He's waiting for us.
Very well.
Good evening.
- Can't shake hands over doorstep, come on in.
Sasha.
- Vasily.
I need to get back now.
I'll leave you to talk.
Tomorrow morning, I'll be back and we'll go
to altitude 1079.
Alright.
Come in, it's warmer there.
Sit down.
Excuse me, comrade major, I am
I am an outspoken person, and there is no
- Oleg.
What?
- Call me Oleg,
especially in front of outsiders.
let them think i'm your assistant.
Hi.
- Hi.
This is my wife, Nadezhda.
- Nice to meet you. Oleg. Excuse us.
Everything is fine, I understand.
- Nadia, please!
What? You couldn't treat our guest,
while you wait.
We have dried venison.
Or do you prefer a drink,
to get warm?
- Nadia, please!
The man came from Moscow.
- It's all right.
It's all right, Vasechka.
Nadezhda
- Yakovlevna
Nadezhda Yakovlevna, I'd actually appreciate it.
I'm terribly cold.
It was freezing in the helicopter.
I'd like to get warm.
You see? Here you go!
What are you doing?
- Come on!
Now. Just a second.
Sorry.
- I'm so sorry.
Vasily Ivanovich, look
sit down!
I'll tell you something important.
I don't exist for any
of your documents,
not for any protocol,
not for anything.
Introduce me to others,
as you wish.
I'm not here, but I'm in charge.
And technically, you are.
Until a new investigator is appointed.
I thought you were being sent for surveillance.
Is everything clear?
- Yes, sir.
Here you are.
Sverdlovsk region.
The altitude of 1079.
Hey! Don't touch anything!
The prosecutor is here.
This is my assistant.
And what's the difference?
You've messed it all up anyway.
You insult me, Vasily Ivanovich.
we just looked to see if there were people there.
Sharavin and I found a tent.
With us was also forester,
he is from the locals, Ivan Pashin.
He gave us a ride.
We thought they had fallen into a ravine.
But from there
I could see the tent through my binoculars.
So it wasn't snowed in?
- It was, but not completely.
It's been here for a month, what you expect?
It has been snowing.
We decided to go up, but the forester,
he didn't come with us, he wasn't feeling well.
Why?
- Vasily, we were also afraid.
The tent fabric was torn,
snow accumulated inside, skis stick out,
at the entrance there is an icebreaker,
not a living soul is visible.
The fabric was cut from the inside.
- That's how we found it.
They left the tent,
cutting it open from the inside.
What do you mean inside?
Show me the bodies.
- Down there.
Your assistant is very fast.
- Tell me about it.
Where are their outerwear?
Borya, where are their clothes?
I don't know, that's how we found them.
- What do you mean?
We found them as you see them.
So they had escaped from the tent.
and they ran 1.5 kilometers like this?
Did you recognize anyone?
Yuri Krivonischenko and Sasha Zolotarev.
Zolotarev was an instructor.
tourist base "Kaurov",
Krivonischenko engineer at the plant,
he worked in the "four-legged".
In Chelyabinsk-40?
Yes.
There was a fire here.
Did they burn their clothes?
Maybe they tried to keep warm until the last moment?
- Is there other reasonable explanation?
Let's continue. Where's the other one?
- A little lower.
Igor Dyatlov, he is the leader of the group.
Zhenya Maslennikov recognized him.
Were you friends?
- Not really. We had a story.
I was on the routing committee.
Igor and I discussed this trip.
I knew the students, they were well prepared,
experienced tourists.
He was probably walking toward the tent.
Over there, see?
300-400 meters,
where our boys are.
Zina Kolmogorova is there.
We didn't find any others,
although we searched a large area.
We are still gathering people.
How was the body positioned?
- What?
Kolmogorov's body with its head to the west
and its feet to the east?
I can't say that.
OK, her head towards the tent
like the others?
Yeah, yeah, I guess.
Did you see the footprints?
What footprints?
Some went wearing valenki,
others-barefoot.
Interestingly, the tracks were left
by 8 people, and there were 9 of them.
So they cut the tent open from the inside.
and ran away, wearing whatever they had on,
leaving warm clothes,
food and things in it.
In such weather conditions,
this leads to certain death.
Why did they do it?
Mansi call this mountain
Kholat Syakhl.
Mountain of the Dead.
Students are children still.
Parents shouldn't bury their children.
We've been through enough of this during the war.
April 20, 1945,
province of Brandenburg, Germany.
Damn how they hit,
those 200 millimeter guns.
Are they hitting Berlin?
- No, not yet.
Vitya, you are losing your mind because of this "Walther".
Treating it as a woman, by God!
You haven't stopped cleaning it.
This is no ordinary "Walther", Oleg.
I'll shoot Hitler with it.
Oh, then it's alright.
Quiet! Do you hear?
Guys, look!
the Germans are retreating.
Where did they come from?
They shouldn't be here.
What's it?
- It looks like a castle.
Strange, it's not on the map.
We have to report to headquarters.
It's gonna take an hour to reach them.
Let's see what's in there.
I don't like this place.
Brothers, I'll watch the entrance.,
I'm not going to go any further.
Come on, Yegorich! There's no one here.
You're a soldier. Supposed to go through fire and water.
- Quiet!
Sergeant major, cover the entrance!
Two will stay here.
Vitya, you're coming with me.
Are there any Germans here?
Hey!
Stop!
Hey!
Where did she go?
- Who?
A girl was going this way.
- There's no one here.
How come no one? Where did she go?
Come on!
What is this all about?
That girl over there.
- What did they do to her?
It can't be!
I saw her in the hallway a minute ago.
Oleg, what's wrong with you?
She's been dead for a long time.
This hair and this
Archive of the Prosecutor's Office,
Sverdlovsk region
Oleg Dmitrievich?
- It's Me.
I am an expert in forensic,
Shumanova Ekaterina Andreyevna.
Ekaterina Andreyevna, excuse me,
I didn't understand right away. Come in.
They brought me here straight from the plane.
And I thought ,
That we're having an official meeting
It's just me here. I'm the only one in the library.
You are welcome.
So I understand that we have to drive now.
To Avdella?
Is everything ready there?
- Yes.
To be honest, I wasn't expecting you today.
I thought you'd be here tomorrow, but
Either way, sit down, we need to talk.
Do you know what happened?
A tourist group has disappeared.
- Yes.
Currently, only four have been found,
all dead.
And I need to find out one hundred percent.
Exactly how they died.
Can I ask you a question?
- Of course.
Who are you?
I've never seen you in the
Sverdlovsk prosecutor's office before.
Last name, first name, father's name,
date of birth, address and signature.
A non-disclosure of information?
- Yes.
Are you serious?
- If you want me to answer, then yes.
If not, don't sign it,
but then we will communicate in a different format.
Now you're under oath, don't forget that.
A KGB major?
Do you think they were killed?
- I don't know what to think.
But I see signs of some
strange confusion in our country.
What?
- This is Hamlet in Lozinsky's translation.
I heard he already has a designated expert.
- Yes.
But you will conduct an autopsy,
and Comrade Vozrozhdeni will sign it.
Do we understand one another?
Yes.
Alright.
The contents of the stomach
one hundred cubic centimeters slimy mass,
brown-red-like color.
The mucosa has a purplish-red color,
swollen, with well-defined folds.
A large number of small hemorrhages
can be seen on the surface of the folds,
Vishnevsky's spots.
How long after the last meal
did they die?
Can this be determined?
- Yes, I would say 6-8 hours.
Does this mean anything to you?
- Dinner is usually eaten before bedtime.
In the tent found
leftovers from dinner.
You think they weren't planning on
leaving the tent?
They were having dinner.
and they just wanted to sleep?
But someone or something
- Go on, Katya.
The bones and cartilage of the skeleton
are intact to the touch.
In the lower third of the right shin
there is a wound the size of
4 by 2 centimeters along the outer
side surface
of the lower third of the right
forearm,
along the surface of the wrist
has abrasions, brown-red color.
April 20, 1945,
Province of Brandenburg, Germany.
I told you, the Germans
don't have brains.
Wish that bastard had left schnapps,
for the valiant Red Army.
There are no documents,
everything is taken out or destroyed.
What is this place?
Maybe it's a concentration camp?
Who knows - we found a
girl without eyes, tongue and heart.
Here they were torturing people.
More cruel than in a concentration camp.
So what, motherfucker,
you'll be done soon.
Andryukha, do you want a picture
for your castle?
I've seen a concentration camp,
and this is not one.
No stoves, no shacks.
The girl was wearing the number 31.
Means there weren't many prisoners.
No radio equipment,
no layouts, no maps.
No barracks.
I don't understand what this place is.
What the hell is this?
I've never seen anything like it.
Usually they hang
their swasticas everywhere.
Check the other rooms.
I'll go through the drawers.
Comrade captain!
If you find schnapps, don't be greedy.
Alright!
What's wrong with you, Oleg?
Oleg, why did you do this?
I thought he was alive.
What are you talking about?
This guy had a hole in his head.
Big as a fist.
I don't know.
Well. We haven't slept in a few days.
We have to go back.
Are you ill? Are you feeling sick?
It's because of the formalin.
It happens if a person is not used to it.
No, no.
Katya, it's all right.
How much longer?
- A little bit.
I'm almost done.
I'll switch to the next one soon.
How are you? Are you ready?
- Yes, of course.
What does dry residue indicate?
Frost. I've done an autopsy
of frozen bodies several times.
Are you sure?
What about these wounds and abrasions?
Nothing significant - there was ice, there
were stones, fell, got up, crawled.
No serious injuries.
- Thank you, Katya.
What do you think happened to them?
I do not understand.
I really don't understand.
So listen up. You make a transcript of the report,
you give it to the Vozrozhdeni.
And he signs it as his own.
- Have you found anything, comrade major?"
Destroy the tape.
My voice is on it here and there.
His voice here and there.
I will destroy it.
I haven't slept all day,
and don't feel sleepy at all.
Yeah, no sleep here.
Where are we going?
- To the airport.
You must return home.,
to Sverdlovsk.
I just didn't think there would
be a special flight.
It's for me.
You will not remain in Avdella,
to continue the investigation?
I'll stay, of course, but I have to
go to the district attorney's office.
They've hired a new investigator.
I have to give him a job recommendation.
Just need to talk to him.
- Who is he, if it's not a secret?
Lev Ivanov. do you know him?
- Yes, I've worked with him several times.
He's the same age as Tempalov,
he knows his work, serious.
Smart.
This is useful in our work.
Oleg, you
- He likes the ladies.
What?
- I'm talking about Ivanov.
Has his way with women.
Haven't you noticed?
- No.
What and you've never heard of a wife of
Chairman of State Farms either?
The one with one leg.
- Sasha!
Drive the car.
You showed interest,
Comrade major, and so I
Katya, you wanted to ask me Something.
No, nothing special. Later.
When should I expect you?
- In a couple of days.
Keep me posted on everything.
Wire it to the office
they'll find me.
- Yes, sir.
Oleg, back there I wanted to tell you.
While you are in Sverdlovsk,
come visit me.
I'll introduce you to the family.
we'll have lunch or dinner.
I'm probably a pretty good cook.
I'm sorry, I think I said something wrong.
I didn't want to
Of course, I will come, Katya.,
with pleasure.
Dinners in the officers' mess are sad.
I'll write you the address.
Have you forgotten where I work?
Actually a car is waiting for us in Sverdlovsk.
We'll take you home first.
I'll remember the address.
Sverdlovsk
Wait in the car.
Ekaterina!
I'm sorry, I just
I collapsed.
This is normal, you deserve a break.
Are we in the right place? Is this your house?
- Yes, this is my entrance.
Apartment 16.
Clear.
- When should I expect you?
I'll talk to Ivanov and get some sleep.
Today, if you don't mind.
I'll walk with you.
- I welcome the idea.
My son will be thrilled.
He loves the military, the police.
You
- And I am both. How old is he?
Madman, he just won't stay still.
But he's a good boy,
haven't gotten in trouble.
Or maybe he's just lucky.
- Katya, nothing can cancel luck, but
Any little thing can
turn your life upside down.
Yes, you are right, Oleg.
For instance - the tenth person did not go with
the Dyatlov group and stayed alive.
What?
- What tenth?
There were a 10 of them, not 9.
I don't remember the name of the tenth.
He stayed back at the last point
before they went to the pass.
He got sick.
You didn't know?
- I didn't get his file.
You must have been given only the files
of the missing persons.
And he is all right.
Why didn't anyone tell me?
How can this be?
Who works like this?
The locals were aware,
you came late.
I guess no one thought it to be significant.
- Where is he now?
Actually, I'm sorry, Katya.
It's not your fault.
I have to go. Sorry.
We'll reschedule dinner for tomorrow.
Prosecutor's Office of the Sverdlovsk region
Yes.
- Major Kostin is here.
Let him thtough.
- Go on in.
Comrade major?
- That's right!
I came to see Ivanov.
- He won't run away from you.
It won't take long.
come with me.
My name is Andrey Pavlovich Kirilenko.
- Yes.
You are the first secretary of
Sverdlovsk Regional Party Committee.
You know everything, buy you're not even from here.
That's just my job.
To what do I owe this honor?
I learned that a man had been sent from Moscow
to conduct an investigation.
This is a high-profile case.
So I decided to meet you,
so to say - to be in the network.
Lev Ivanov is leading the investigation.
I'm just an adviser on some matters.
And in which matters?
With all due respect,
Andrey Pavlovich.
That doesn't sound like respect.
I can give you the number.
to my boss in Lubyanka.
You can call him.
and ask him your questions in person.
Too bad, major. You're not a local.
You'll need support, help.
I believe that every Soviet person
should help the authorities.
Especially in an investigation
of a crime, isn't is so?
Did you learn it from the textbook?
Alright! Let's do this.
We just had a bad start.
We must have misunderstood each other.
I really want to help.
What are you so afraid of,
Andrey Pavlovich?
Me?
- Yes.
I'm not afraid of anything.
How dare you speak to me like that?!
I went through the whole war.
- So have every other person over 30 years old.
We've all been through this.
What?
Do you understand
who are you talking to?
Yes. And you?
Last name, first name, father's name?
- Yudin Yuri Yefimovich.
Year and place of birth?
In 1937, the village Tabari,
Sverdlovsk region.
Nationality?
Russian.
- Party affiliation?
Member of the Komsomol.
For what reason could you not
continue the hike?
My leg started hurting.
- Is that all?
How could I go on?
There were dozens of kilometers on skis.
We came north
and spent the night in an abandoned hut.
In the morning, I woke up and realized
that I couldn't continue.
But the guys went on.
Yura
Please tell me why you turned back?
I just told you.
- Say it again.
I had pain in my leg.
- What's wrong with it?
It started to hurt.
- I've already heard that.
What exactly did he have?
A chronic illness, an old injury?
I must've frozen it.
It was freezing.
I may have sprained a tendon.
Yura, look into my eyes!
Look me in the eye!
Why did you deviate from the route?
Look me in the eye!
I knew.
I knew everyone would die.
I felt
something bad.
You don't have to believe,
but all the time while we were walking,
it was as if something was floating around.
Some kind
evil. I don't know.
Death
I don't know what it was, but this
Did you tell anyone?
- About what?
I can whispered it to Gusiev when we were eye to eye.
He
He just laughed.
He said I was instilling anti-Sovietism.
And me
I was just scared.
I lied to everyone about my leg.
Understood.
I couldn't do anything else.
I don't know what it was.
I don't know what happened to them.
I really don't know.
But "it" was there.
Yura, what is "it"?
I swear, I don't know what it was.
It was as if the forest was alive.
I don't know, maybe
In my family
My grandmother was a village healer.
Maybe that's why I felt it.
It's true, I swear. I don't know.
- That's it.
Calm down.
I see you're telling the truth.
I believe you.
Really?
You believe that
Something killed them, didn't it?
No.
I believe that you believe that.
The North-Eastern slope
on a mountain Kholat Syakhl
There's something here.
Oleg!
Have a seat, everything is ready.
Kolya, why are you silent? You wanted so bad
for Oleg Dmitrievich to visit us.
And you're sitting there like a tree stump.
Oleg Dmitrievich, have
you killed many Germans?
Kolya!
Nothing, nothing.
What a feisty boy you are.
I'll tell you something, Kolya.
a man can be proud of having fought.
This is even necessary.
But he shouldn't brag about killing.
- Why not? They're Germans, aren't they?
They are Germans, but they are also human.
And not all of them are bad.
How come not all? All of them are!
They started the war first.
Dad fought with them. they killed him.
- Eat your soup!
Eat, I tell you!
My son would be a
little older than you now.
Where is he?
- Kolya, don't! Please forgive him.
It's all right.
An aerial bomb.
My wife went shopping.
She had no one to leave him with
and she took him with her.
There was an air attack,
both died.
And you don't want to kill them all?
I wanted to.
I really wanted to. Then.
And I did everything for it.
But while we were here on Soviet soil,
I had no doubts.
Then we entered Germany.
Do you know what we saw there?
Thousands, millions of people,
not military.
People just like us,
they did not want to fight.
They also cried
when their loved ones died.
But screams, crying, tears.
It doesn't need translation, it
sounds the same in all languages.
Oleg, we needed to win the war.
If war breaks out, you must
stop by any means necessary,
in this case, with a complete devastation. Yes!
However, the more I saw, Kolya,
the less I understood.
- What did't you understand?
You know what?
When we entered
one of the first cities,
I don't remember his name. I
think it was Hoplin.
We're coming in.
and there were houses.
such beautiful and solid houses!
All on two or three floors,
for each family.
Stone, brick,
their roofs with red tiles.
We're walking, and I swear,
we did't understand anything anymore.
My soldiers have seen these houses,
remembered their villages
with broken houses.
and they say:"What do they need?
They have everything!"
Why did they come to us?
What were they missing?
Flamethrowers rushed to
set fire to these houses.
Just out of spite.
One threw a grenade, the other another.
But myself as well.
I didn't stop them.
No.
It didn't make any sense.
And I didn't stop them.
Like this.
Yes.
It was delicious. Thank you.
Don't! It was modest.
Probably in Moscow
- Nothing special.
In moscow, I only eat well at my mother's.
She bakes pastry with cottage cheese.
I've never tried anything like them.
Well, yes, mothers are like that.
This is no ordinary "Walther", Oleg.
I'll shoot Hitler with it.
- Yes, all right then.
My Vitya's mother comes often.
I thought she was coming by today,
I would've introduced you.
He loved you very much.
I'm sure.
Forgive me.
Let's not put salt in the wounds.
It's over.
But we will always remember our loved ones
And we will try to make sure that this does not happen again.
Yes.
Of course.
Katyaya
I have something to tell you.
- Mom, can I go out?
Look what I brought you.
What are you doing?
- Calm Down! I'm not totally out of it.
It's a Walther, a trophy weapon.
The pin is filed off, the barrel was welded shut.
Just for clicking.
Here you are.
Mom, can I keep it?
Please!
What do you say?
- Thank you, Oleg Dmitrievich.
However, it wouldn't be out of place
to ask me first.
Katya, boys will always play with guns
and it won't make them worse,
believe me.
Who could this be?
- Probably my driver.
Yes, of course.
Hi. I'm Igor Dyatlov.
Can I come in?