A Gentleman in Moscow (2024) s01e02 Episode Script
An Invitation
1
[OSIP] Life for you and
your kind is over in Moscow.
You must never leave this hotel.
If you do, I'll be waiting.
[NINA] Will they really
shoot you if you go outside?
I have a passkey that opens
every door in the hotel.
There are rooms behind
rooms and doors behind doors.
This hotel is a dangerous
place, especially for you.
[VYSHINSKY] Are you the
author of this poem of 1913:
"Where Is Our Purpose Now?"
It was attributed to me.
Nikolai!
- If I take it seriously
- [GUNSHOT]
I could fall into a dark despair
I could find no way out from.
[CROWD BOOING]
We must continue with a
form of state capitalism
to ensure progress!
The pig must be fattened for the feast.
[BOOING]
- We've got to be realistic.
- [LOUD BOOING]
We can't switch to pure communism.
The New Economic Policy is needed
[MISHKA] There's nothing new about it.
[CROWD CHEERING]
[MISHKA] The workers still toil,
but now the new landowners
profit instead of the old ones.
For a period of transition, perhaps
No, we have suffered under
the yoke of tyranny too long.
We fought for revolution,
not slow transition.
Together we can build a new Russia.
- It is within our grasp
- [LOUD AGREEMENT]
but we must be brave,
- reach out and take it.
- Mishka.
[MISHKA] There can be no compromise.
You know him?
Yes.
We must build a world of
equal opportunity for all.
[CROWD CHEERS]
[MISHKA] We can't go on like this.
Children are going hungry.
Families are freezing
to death in their homes.
Yes, there should be
enough to go around,
but the rich are still
taking everything.
[BOOING]
- It isn't right.
- [CROWD] No!
It isn't right.
Where's our humanity?
Where's our love for our fellow man?
[CHEERING]
[SLOW, DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
[QUIET CHATTER]
Mishka.
Alexander Ilyich.
Good to see you again.
I'd hoped it might be sooner.
Yes, I've been doing important work.
Remind me, under which yoke
of tyranny did you suffer?
I seem to recall you enjoying
your stays with my family at Idlehour.
They burned it to the
ground, by the way.
I know. I was glad to hear
the Countess managed to escape.
I invited you into my home.
I clothed you, I fed you.
The clothes didn't fit.
You were my friend.
I treated you like a brother.
[SCOFFS] You were ashamed of me.
You gave me good reason to be.
Everything that happened
was because of you.
[ANXIOUS, DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
[LUSH ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
♪
♪
[NEIGHING]
[SLOW, CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC]
♪
[DOOR OPENS]
I don't recall ordering room service.
If you could give it a
dust while you're there,
it'd be greatly appreciated.
Is nothing sacred anymore?
It's from your grandmother.
Oh, apparently not.
[OSIP] The traitors in exile
are still dreaming of a glorious return.
A restoration of the Romanov dynasty.
[DOOR CLOSES]
Mikhail Fyodorovich Mindich.
You know him?
Yeah, a passing acquaintance.
You lived together at university.
Despite your difference
in politics and background,
I'd say he was your closest friend.
Then why ask?
Because there's truth to be
found in the lies we tell.
We were close friends
until circumstances came between us.
What circumstances?
He wanted to erase the
class to which I belong.
That may have been true once.
Mishka first came to my
attention at your trial.
Apparently, he has
influence within the Party.
I'd like your help
to understand him better.
I'm not sure what use I could be.
You've known him over a decade.
You must have some
insight into his character.
[SLOW, DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[SIGHS]
It can take time for people
to understand how this works.
But they always do in the end.
[DOOR CLOSES]
[NINA] But the Princess was on
her way to the Tushins' ball.
Well, precisely. So she
would've been perfectly
within the bounds of
courtesy to excuse herself.
Instead, she insisted
that she took the old lady
to visit her son, the blacksmith,
in the town of Kudrovo,
more than seven miles away.
[NINA] And then?
The blacksmith's family
gathered around the carriage,
and the old lady invited the Princess
into their humble home for tea.
[GASPS]
The blacksmith winced.
The coachman gasped.
The blacksmith's son
flushed with embarrassment.
Why?
Because she was a princess.
And going into a working
man's house was beneath her.
Is this your story or mine?
Whether stories truly belong
to anyone is questionable.
[STRING MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
Princess Golitsyn gracefully
accepted the old crone's invitation,
even though it meant missing
the Tushins' ball altogether.
Did she marry the blacksmith's son?
Good God, certainly not.
She finished her glass of tea,
climbed back in the carriage
- and went home.
- Oh.
But her behavior was
befitting of a princess,
which is the object of this lesson.
I would've preferred it
if she married the blacksmith's son.
So, too, would he, I imagine.
- [BARKING]
- [GUESTS GASPING]
[PEOPLE EXCLAIMING]
- [SCREAMS]
- [GLASS SHATTERS]
- [DISTURBED MURMURING]
- [NINA AND COUNT LAUGH]
[PLAYING FAST-PACED CLASSICAL MUSIC]
[DOGS BARKING]
[GLASS BREAKING]
[BARKING CONTINUES]
Olga, please do something.
[PEOPLE EXCLAIMING]
- [GLASS BREAKING]
- [DOGS BARKING]
Uh, d-do those fine
creatures belong to you?
They do.
[PEOPLE SHRIEKING]
Ah.
[WHISTLES]
[WHISTLES SOFTLY]
Here. Come, come, come. There you are.
I'm afraid they're quite ill-bred.
Oh, on the contrary, they
appear to be perfectly bred.
[PLAYING ROMANTIC CLASSICAL MUSIC]
What I meant to say is
that they are ill-behaved.
Ah. Behavior is a matter
of handling, not breeding.
And for that reason, the well-bred dogs
belong on the shortest of leashes.
Oh, I always think the best-bred dog
belongs in the surest of hands.
Yes, I'm sure you do.
She's an actress.
Ah.
I've seen her films.
They're not very good.
Hmm.
[PENSIVE, DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
[SNIFFLES]
[SNIFFLES]
[LOW CHATTER, LAUGHTER]
[SNIFFLES]
♪
[WIND WHISTLING]
[WIND STOPS WHISTLING]
[GRUNTS]
Hello?
[QUIET, UPLIFTING MUSIC]
♪
Hmm.
Now, if you could unlock the door, Nina,
- then we could get started.
- All right.
[NINA SHOUTS]
Ah, slow down, slow down!
♪
♪
Yes.
[NINA] How did you and Mishka meet?
We were friends at university.
But not anymore.
Someone came between us.
A woman?
- Did you have a duel?
- Certainly not.
Were you both in love with her?
We both loved her, but
not in the way you imagine.
The Princess could never
marry the blacksmith's son.
It's getting late.
We'll be keeping our
regular appointment tomorrow.
Naturellement.
Merci.
Good night.
[QUIET, PENSIVE MUSIC]
♪
[BIRDS CHIRPING]
♪
Thank you for mending them, Marina.
I'll pay, of course.
I'll fix these when I'm
next in the sewing room.
I'm doing some housekeeping
work for Manager Halecki.
Oh, you've had a promotion?
Well, very well deserved, I'm sure.
Yasha, you must be
very proud of your mama.
Yasha, leave that.
Oh, that's all right. That's all right.
Come on.
The staff are having
a New Year's Eve party.
You should come.
Well, that's very kind of you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. Thank you.
Goodbye, little man.
[BIRD COOS]
[FLAPPING WINGS]
[BIRD COOING AND FLAPPING WINGS]
- [MAN] Hey!
- [CAR HORN HONKS]
I heard that he's already dead.
I can assure you, Comrade Lenin
is in the rudest of health.
- The rudest.
- So it's not syphilis?
I beg your pardon?
Well, he was in exile a long time,
and there's only so much
you can do in Finland.
Take it from one who's had the pleasure.
Or the lack thereof.
I can assure you it was not syphilis.
But it is true he had a stroke?
That'll be how he caught
it in the first place.
It's certainly not true.
He doesn't have anything.
Nothing has happened.
And you'd be well minded
to keep your voice down.
Thank you, Olga.
Glory to the Revolution.
[OLGA] Just make sure
our room is in order,
if you'd be so kind.
[VASILY] I checked myself, this morning.
[LIGHT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Can I assist, madam?
Um
Your coats?
Oh, yes. Yes. Thank you.
Ooh.
[ANNA] And if the frog does croak?
Then it would either
be Trotsky or Kamenev.
Both of whom recognize
the importance of film as a medium,
and both are great fans of yours.
And you know this.
They are regular visitors
to the Ministry of Culture.
We speak often.
And what about the man of steel?
No, he's a thug.
No one's seriously talking about Stalin.
Trotsky and Kamenev do have
their favored film directors.
I'm good friends with all of them,
and could, of course
arrange introductions.
Everything in this new
world comes at a cost.
I'd like to have dinner with you,
and drinks afterwards.
We'll have lunch.
With drinks.
Well, we've got to
get through it somehow.
[CHUCKLES]
I look forward to it.
I'll be in touch.
Mmm.
Vodka.
Boy, more vodka here. Now.
Sorry, you wait like everyone else.
What?
I said, you wait like everyone else.
You say that again.
[GRUNTING AND SHOUTING]
[AUDRIUS] Where's Vasily?
Madam, would you be so kind?
[GRUNTING]
[GUESTS EXCLAIMING]
[GRUNTS]
[GRUNTING AND SHOUTING CONTINUE]
[VASILY] All right.
Calm down, both of you.
[GROANING]
No, I can manage.
[GROANS]
- On second thought
- [MISHKA] Yeah.
[COUNT GRUNTS]
[MISHKA LAUGHS]
[BOTH LAUGHING]
Ow!
[GROANING]
You still don't know how to fight.
You don't know how not to.
What was the cause?
Bad manners.
That I can get behind.
With our compliments.
Oh, thank you.
Thanks, Audrius.
To your health.
It was dangerous of
you to involve yourself.
[COUNT] You would've
done the same for me.
How are you adjusting
to your new surroundings?
Well, most of my friends are dead,
my house was seized and burned,
my grandmother's in
exile. Other than that
Yeah, well, it was the Tsar
who ordered his Cossacks
to ride over innocent
women and children.
Petrov is gone.
What threat was he?
All he wanted to do was play his violin.
Sasha, we used to talk
late into the night
about how the world
could be made better.
- We argued.
- No, we agreed.
You once believed
all people should have
the opportunity and freedom
to become whatever they wanted in life.
Everyone has dreams, Mishka.
Only children believe
them after they wake up.
I know the love you have for Russia,
the love you have for
its people. Your people.
We can look forward rather than back.
Don't you think we've both
lost enough already, Sasha?
[ELEGANT STRING MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
[ALL] Ha!
♪
- Excuse me.
- Yeah, Vasily.
A message for you from Comrade Urbanova.
The owner of the two rather large dogs.
[COUNT] Thank you.
You were late for our appointment.
A rare opportunity has presented itself,
and I'm afraid we will have
to delay until tomorrow.
We had a prior arrangement,
and I need to talk to you.
[COUNT] Yeah, but we just
agreed on tomorrow instead.
You suggested tomorrow. We agreed today.
I'll give you 20 rubles. Fifty?
Miss Urbanova is inquiring as to why
you are hiding behind a plant pot.
Uh
Nina, whatever it is,
I'm sure it can wait.
[NINA] Please.
Count Rostov?
Good evening.
I'm so pleased you
could drag yourself away
from the flower arrangements.
The pleasure is mine, Miss Urbanova.
Oh, please.
Call me Anna.
Shall we?
Your four-legged friends
will not be joining us?
They shan't.
But I see your two-legged one shall be.
Is this your daughter?
- Him? No.
- No.
I don't know who this is.
Shall we go somewhere else?
The Hotel Britannia has
a fantastic restaurant.
He's not allowed to leave the
hotel 'cause he's a criminal
- All right, Nina.
- and a danger
- to the Russian people.
- Nina, that's enough.
Thank you.
- So you do know her?
- [NINA] Hardly at all.
More than I would like.
[CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY]
Room 317.
Give me 20 minutes.
Nina?
Nina.
[EXHALES]
[KNOCKS ON DOOR]
- Yes?
- Ah, um I am expected.
[SIGHS]
Comrade Urbanova will be just a moment.
["CHE GELIDA MANINA" PLAYING OVER RADIO]
[DOGS PANTING]
- [BARKING]
- Ah. Hello, girls.
♪
[CLOCK TICKING]
♪
[WINDING]
♪
[KNOCK AT DOOR]
[ANNA] Get that, would you?
Ah, good evening.
Just there, please.
Ah. I've been in two restaurants
and a bar today and
haven't had a bite to eat.
I'm absolutely starving.
Admiring the additions to the theatre?
"Admire" might not exactly
be the word I would use.
Mm, apparently, Lenin's
going to announce
the formation of the new Soviet state.
If he isn't already dead, of course.
Well, shall we see what we've got?
Oh. Thank you.
[ANNA] Mmm.
So
two restaurants and a bar?
Five journalists in three hours,
the same stories recounted each time
as if it were the first.
And then a meeting with a director
younger than most of my shoes.
Golubev imagines himself a genius,
but I pride myself on being
an impeccable judge of character.
Take you, for example.
Take me?
A man of certain means.
Well, not anymore.
But in the past you
never wanted for anything.
Oh, I wanted for many things
I never had the opportunity to enjoy.
Not for lack of money.
And I'm sure there are
many things you did
enjoy all too readily.
Go on.
You're from a family of some stature
inherited rather than earned?
Well, it was earned at some point.
Mm.
But not by you.
You don't have the air of
a great military leader.
Luckily, or else I would be dead by now.
Given who you are, you should be dead.
Instead you're imprisoned
at the Metropol Hotel.
Why?
Why are they keeping you here?
My turn.
The way you deboned that fish,
I would say you are the
daughter of a fisherman.
I was raised in a
village on the Black Sea.
You had no siblings.
That I know of.
So you lived in this
village, dreaming of escape.
That's what drew you to the stage,
a place where you could
forget about your life.
I was at my happiest there.
I'd go to the beach and
help my father mend nets.
He died when you were very young.
That's why you wanted to escape.
Back to you.
Am I right?
Back to you.
Your wife left Russia
after the Revolution
and took the children.
I have neither wife nor child.
Lack of opportunity or desire?
There was no shortage in either
department, I can assure you.
- And you?
- Children? No.
No, it would've been
an impossible burden.
Why?
Why did they let you live?
Why did you want to run away from home?
I've done enough talking for today.
["BELLA FIGLIA DELL'AMORE" PLAYING]
[GRUNTS]
♪
[GRUNTS]
- Forget about the shoes.
- No. What about your sheets?
Oh, for goodness' sake.
- [GRUNTING]
- Oh. [GRUNTS]
Mm.
Have you always lived in Moscow?
In the winters.
Summers were spent in the
region of Nizhny Novgorod,
at Idlehour, our family estate.
Oh, I take it you ate
your fair share of apples.
Mm. We were surrounded
by forests full of them.
According to local
folklore, there is a tree
deep within the forest
with fruit as black as coal.
And if you can find this
tree and eat of its fruit,
you can start your life anew.
So, would you?
Would I what?
Would you take the bite?
How could I possibly
relinquish the memory of this?
Hmm.
Or of all the princesses and duchesses
who have come before me?
Oh. Some, not all. [CHUCKLES]
I'm surprised you countenanced
sleeping with a lowly actress.
Well, as everyone keeps
telling me, times have changed.
What exactly do you mean by that?
Very little.
Oh, because I would be
beneath a man like you?
Well, I-I wouldn't say
that was necessarily true.
Necessarily true?
If you wouldn't mind, close
the door on your way out.
[SCOFFS]
Oh.
Of course.
[SLOW, INTRIGUING MUSIC]
♪
[DOOR OPENS]
♪
[GENTLE, WISTFUL MUSIC]
♪
♪
I believe I owe you
something of an apology.
We had a prior arrangement,
and I should've honored it.
[NINA] You should've.
I-I neglected our friendship.
I was in the wrong.
You were. I'm ready for it now.
Ready for what?
Your apology.
- But I
- You said you owe me an apology.
I'm sorry, Nina.
Apology accepted.
- Shall we get some breakfast?
- I'm staying here.
When we return to
Moscow in the new year,
Papa says I shall be starting school.
Apparently, I'm in danger
of going off the rails.
Mm, the most interesting people
in life are rarely on them.
If I stay here, you could teach me.
Yes, but lessons in the conduct of
princesses are of little use now.
An education would give you
a true sense of the world.
But I like it here. It's fun.
Yes, but it's not just
about where you are.
It's about the people you meet.
And at school you would make
the best friends of your life.
Like you and Mishka?
Indeed.
[SLOW, DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
♪
[FLOOR CREAKS NEARBY]
Please, do come in.
I'd like to talk to
you about an incident
that occurred several days ago.
Yes. War and Peace,
Tolstoy's finest work
in actual fact, anyone's finest work.
- Uh, you have read it?
- I know the story.
You got into an altercation
with one of our factory administrators.
I had no idea who it was,
nor would it have made any difference.
Have you had time to reflect
on our previous conversation?
Why are you so interested in Mishka?
Because he risked his
standing in the Party
to save your life.
There is nothing you can learn
about Mikhail Fyodorovich
Mindich from me
that you could not glean
by simply meeting the man himself.
He is loyal to a fault.
He is the very best that
humanity has to offer.
Then why did you deem him
unworthy of your sister?
Because I wrongly believed
that nobility is a birthright.
Because a Bolshevik could
never be a gentleman?
I'm certain that's not
true of all of them.
And what about me?
Do you believe I'm a gentleman?
I don't know you.
Well, let's just say I'm charged
with keeping track of
certain men of interest.
[SLOW, PLAINTIVE MUSIC]
Easily done when they're
under house arrest.
It's easier still when you
place them in the ground.
We'll speak again, I've no doubt.
Neither do I.
Wait.
Before you go
Consider it a Christmas present.
The celebration of
Christmas is outlawed.
Uh
- [SOFT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING]
- [LIVELY CHATTER]
♪
[NACHEVKO] Both Lenin and Trotsky are
huge fans of Golubev.
I can be sure to mention
you next time he visits us.
Would you like to come to my room?
Would-would I
With you?
I understand I'm not
particularly of your persuasion,
- but
- Is it so obvious?
To me.
But rumors of an affair
with a leading lady of cinema
would distract most
people from the truth.
One good turn deserves
another, after all.
Ah. Yes, uh, my usual table, thank you.
[WAITER] Of course.
[NINA] Your Countship.
Happy New Year.
All the joys of the season to you, sir.
[COUNT] Ah.
I'm dining with Father later,
so I've only ordered
myself an hors d'œuvre.
The hors d'œuvre?
- Oui.
- [COUNT CHUCKLES]
Would you like to peruse the menu?
No, thank you, my good man.
Just a glass of champagne and a spoon.
Of course.
Will you be all right without me?
There's really no need
for you to concern yourself
with an old fuddy-duddy like me.
All the same. I shall.
- How is that hors d'œuvre?
- Splendid.
I understand you might be leaving us.
Such a pity.
Thank you.
To an entirely unanticipated
and truly wonderful friendship.
And this
this is a little something
that my sister made very good use of
when she was your age.
You have always known me
best. I shall treasure them.
It's getting late.
Come on.
I don't want you to
keep your father waiting.
And you should go to the party.
It would be the noble thing to do.
[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
From Mademoiselle.
[COUNT] Nina, this is too much.
You must promise not to open
it until the stroke of midnight.
You have my word.
Goodbye, Alexander Ilyich.
[SIGHING]
[FOOTSTEPS RECEDING]
♪
- [MAN 1] Cheers.
- [MAN 2] Happy New Year!
[LIVELY CHATTER, LAUGHTER]
- [RAUCOUS CHATTER, LAUGHTER]
- [LIVELY MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
[OPERA PLAYING OVER RADIO]
♪
Good evening.
[RUSSIAN FOLK MUSIC PLAYING]
[LIVELY CHATTER]
[SINGING IN RUSSIAN]
[LAUGHTER]
Sasha! Come.
Mishka.
Ah. Thank you.
Ah.
Good evening.
I thought you might like some brandy.
[ANDREY] Please, join us.
It's a wonderful
choice, Your Excellency.
Uh, are there any glasses, Mishka?
[SINGING IN RUSSIAN]
Champagne region.
Obviously.
Ugni blanc grapes, double oaked.
And the turn of the century.
I would say 1906.
Oh, very close. 1908.
- But still
- [LAUGHING]
It is to be drunk with friends.
Cheers.
[PLAYING "AT THE BIRCH TREE"]
[SINGING IN RUSSIAN]
[COUNT] Oh, who's this?
This is my son, Ilya, three months old.
Goodness.
[SINGING IN RUSSIAN]
[PLAYING "KOROBUSHKA"]
[SINGING IN RUSSIAN]
♪
[CHEERING]
[PLAYING "KALINKA"]
[CHANTING]
[SINGING IN RUSSIAN]
♪
I often wonder if she'd still be alive
if I hadn't come between you two.
Maybe I would've become a nobleman.
We could marry and both now be dead.
I am truly sorry I came
between you and Helena.
I know what you did for
me, Mishka, with the poem.
I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you.
You saved my life.
I should stand and go
whilst I'm still able to.
Will you visit me again, Mishka?
If you'd like me to.
[GENTLE, INTRIGUING MUSIC]]
♪
[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
[BIRDS COOING]
[WINGS FLAPPING]
[SOARING, WISTFUL MUSIC]
♪
[MANY WINGS FLAPPING]
[CLANGS]
♪
[EXHALES]
♪
[OSIP] Life for you and
your kind is over in Moscow.
You must never leave this hotel.
If you do, I'll be waiting.
[NINA] Will they really
shoot you if you go outside?
I have a passkey that opens
every door in the hotel.
There are rooms behind
rooms and doors behind doors.
This hotel is a dangerous
place, especially for you.
[VYSHINSKY] Are you the
author of this poem of 1913:
"Where Is Our Purpose Now?"
It was attributed to me.
Nikolai!
- If I take it seriously
- [GUNSHOT]
I could fall into a dark despair
I could find no way out from.
[CROWD BOOING]
We must continue with a
form of state capitalism
to ensure progress!
The pig must be fattened for the feast.
[BOOING]
- We've got to be realistic.
- [LOUD BOOING]
We can't switch to pure communism.
The New Economic Policy is needed
[MISHKA] There's nothing new about it.
[CROWD CHEERING]
[MISHKA] The workers still toil,
but now the new landowners
profit instead of the old ones.
For a period of transition, perhaps
No, we have suffered under
the yoke of tyranny too long.
We fought for revolution,
not slow transition.
Together we can build a new Russia.
- It is within our grasp
- [LOUD AGREEMENT]
but we must be brave,
- reach out and take it.
- Mishka.
[MISHKA] There can be no compromise.
You know him?
Yes.
We must build a world of
equal opportunity for all.
[CROWD CHEERS]
[MISHKA] We can't go on like this.
Children are going hungry.
Families are freezing
to death in their homes.
Yes, there should be
enough to go around,
but the rich are still
taking everything.
[BOOING]
- It isn't right.
- [CROWD] No!
It isn't right.
Where's our humanity?
Where's our love for our fellow man?
[CHEERING]
[SLOW, DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
[QUIET CHATTER]
Mishka.
Alexander Ilyich.
Good to see you again.
I'd hoped it might be sooner.
Yes, I've been doing important work.
Remind me, under which yoke
of tyranny did you suffer?
I seem to recall you enjoying
your stays with my family at Idlehour.
They burned it to the
ground, by the way.
I know. I was glad to hear
the Countess managed to escape.
I invited you into my home.
I clothed you, I fed you.
The clothes didn't fit.
You were my friend.
I treated you like a brother.
[SCOFFS] You were ashamed of me.
You gave me good reason to be.
Everything that happened
was because of you.
[ANXIOUS, DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
[LUSH ORCHESTRAL MUSIC]
♪
♪
[NEIGHING]
[SLOW, CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC]
♪
[DOOR OPENS]
I don't recall ordering room service.
If you could give it a
dust while you're there,
it'd be greatly appreciated.
Is nothing sacred anymore?
It's from your grandmother.
Oh, apparently not.
[OSIP] The traitors in exile
are still dreaming of a glorious return.
A restoration of the Romanov dynasty.
[DOOR CLOSES]
Mikhail Fyodorovich Mindich.
You know him?
Yeah, a passing acquaintance.
You lived together at university.
Despite your difference
in politics and background,
I'd say he was your closest friend.
Then why ask?
Because there's truth to be
found in the lies we tell.
We were close friends
until circumstances came between us.
What circumstances?
He wanted to erase the
class to which I belong.
That may have been true once.
Mishka first came to my
attention at your trial.
Apparently, he has
influence within the Party.
I'd like your help
to understand him better.
I'm not sure what use I could be.
You've known him over a decade.
You must have some
insight into his character.
[SLOW, DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[SIGHS]
It can take time for people
to understand how this works.
But they always do in the end.
[DOOR CLOSES]
[NINA] But the Princess was on
her way to the Tushins' ball.
Well, precisely. So she
would've been perfectly
within the bounds of
courtesy to excuse herself.
Instead, she insisted
that she took the old lady
to visit her son, the blacksmith,
in the town of Kudrovo,
more than seven miles away.
[NINA] And then?
The blacksmith's family
gathered around the carriage,
and the old lady invited the Princess
into their humble home for tea.
[GASPS]
The blacksmith winced.
The coachman gasped.
The blacksmith's son
flushed with embarrassment.
Why?
Because she was a princess.
And going into a working
man's house was beneath her.
Is this your story or mine?
Whether stories truly belong
to anyone is questionable.
[STRING MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
Princess Golitsyn gracefully
accepted the old crone's invitation,
even though it meant missing
the Tushins' ball altogether.
Did she marry the blacksmith's son?
Good God, certainly not.
She finished her glass of tea,
climbed back in the carriage
- and went home.
- Oh.
But her behavior was
befitting of a princess,
which is the object of this lesson.
I would've preferred it
if she married the blacksmith's son.
So, too, would he, I imagine.
- [BARKING]
- [GUESTS GASPING]
[PEOPLE EXCLAIMING]
- [SCREAMS]
- [GLASS SHATTERS]
- [DISTURBED MURMURING]
- [NINA AND COUNT LAUGH]
[PLAYING FAST-PACED CLASSICAL MUSIC]
[DOGS BARKING]
[GLASS BREAKING]
[BARKING CONTINUES]
Olga, please do something.
[PEOPLE EXCLAIMING]
- [GLASS BREAKING]
- [DOGS BARKING]
Uh, d-do those fine
creatures belong to you?
They do.
[PEOPLE SHRIEKING]
Ah.
[WHISTLES]
[WHISTLES SOFTLY]
Here. Come, come, come. There you are.
I'm afraid they're quite ill-bred.
Oh, on the contrary, they
appear to be perfectly bred.
[PLAYING ROMANTIC CLASSICAL MUSIC]
What I meant to say is
that they are ill-behaved.
Ah. Behavior is a matter
of handling, not breeding.
And for that reason, the well-bred dogs
belong on the shortest of leashes.
Oh, I always think the best-bred dog
belongs in the surest of hands.
Yes, I'm sure you do.
She's an actress.
Ah.
I've seen her films.
They're not very good.
Hmm.
[PENSIVE, DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
[SNIFFLES]
[SNIFFLES]
[LOW CHATTER, LAUGHTER]
[SNIFFLES]
♪
[WIND WHISTLING]
[WIND STOPS WHISTLING]
[GRUNTS]
Hello?
[QUIET, UPLIFTING MUSIC]
♪
Hmm.
Now, if you could unlock the door, Nina,
- then we could get started.
- All right.
[NINA SHOUTS]
Ah, slow down, slow down!
♪
♪
Yes.
[NINA] How did you and Mishka meet?
We were friends at university.
But not anymore.
Someone came between us.
A woman?
- Did you have a duel?
- Certainly not.
Were you both in love with her?
We both loved her, but
not in the way you imagine.
The Princess could never
marry the blacksmith's son.
It's getting late.
We'll be keeping our
regular appointment tomorrow.
Naturellement.
Merci.
Good night.
[QUIET, PENSIVE MUSIC]
♪
[BIRDS CHIRPING]
♪
Thank you for mending them, Marina.
I'll pay, of course.
I'll fix these when I'm
next in the sewing room.
I'm doing some housekeeping
work for Manager Halecki.
Oh, you've had a promotion?
Well, very well deserved, I'm sure.
Yasha, you must be
very proud of your mama.
Yasha, leave that.
Oh, that's all right. That's all right.
Come on.
The staff are having
a New Year's Eve party.
You should come.
Well, that's very kind of you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. Thank you.
Goodbye, little man.
[BIRD COOS]
[FLAPPING WINGS]
[BIRD COOING AND FLAPPING WINGS]
- [MAN] Hey!
- [CAR HORN HONKS]
I heard that he's already dead.
I can assure you, Comrade Lenin
is in the rudest of health.
- The rudest.
- So it's not syphilis?
I beg your pardon?
Well, he was in exile a long time,
and there's only so much
you can do in Finland.
Take it from one who's had the pleasure.
Or the lack thereof.
I can assure you it was not syphilis.
But it is true he had a stroke?
That'll be how he caught
it in the first place.
It's certainly not true.
He doesn't have anything.
Nothing has happened.
And you'd be well minded
to keep your voice down.
Thank you, Olga.
Glory to the Revolution.
[OLGA] Just make sure
our room is in order,
if you'd be so kind.
[VASILY] I checked myself, this morning.
[LIGHT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Can I assist, madam?
Um
Your coats?
Oh, yes. Yes. Thank you.
Ooh.
[ANNA] And if the frog does croak?
Then it would either
be Trotsky or Kamenev.
Both of whom recognize
the importance of film as a medium,
and both are great fans of yours.
And you know this.
They are regular visitors
to the Ministry of Culture.
We speak often.
And what about the man of steel?
No, he's a thug.
No one's seriously talking about Stalin.
Trotsky and Kamenev do have
their favored film directors.
I'm good friends with all of them,
and could, of course
arrange introductions.
Everything in this new
world comes at a cost.
I'd like to have dinner with you,
and drinks afterwards.
We'll have lunch.
With drinks.
Well, we've got to
get through it somehow.
[CHUCKLES]
I look forward to it.
I'll be in touch.
Mmm.
Vodka.
Boy, more vodka here. Now.
Sorry, you wait like everyone else.
What?
I said, you wait like everyone else.
You say that again.
[GRUNTING AND SHOUTING]
[AUDRIUS] Where's Vasily?
Madam, would you be so kind?
[GRUNTING]
[GUESTS EXCLAIMING]
[GRUNTS]
[GRUNTING AND SHOUTING CONTINUE]
[VASILY] All right.
Calm down, both of you.
[GROANING]
No, I can manage.
[GROANS]
- On second thought
- [MISHKA] Yeah.
[COUNT GRUNTS]
[MISHKA LAUGHS]
[BOTH LAUGHING]
Ow!
[GROANING]
You still don't know how to fight.
You don't know how not to.
What was the cause?
Bad manners.
That I can get behind.
With our compliments.
Oh, thank you.
Thanks, Audrius.
To your health.
It was dangerous of
you to involve yourself.
[COUNT] You would've
done the same for me.
How are you adjusting
to your new surroundings?
Well, most of my friends are dead,
my house was seized and burned,
my grandmother's in
exile. Other than that
Yeah, well, it was the Tsar
who ordered his Cossacks
to ride over innocent
women and children.
Petrov is gone.
What threat was he?
All he wanted to do was play his violin.
Sasha, we used to talk
late into the night
about how the world
could be made better.
- We argued.
- No, we agreed.
You once believed
all people should have
the opportunity and freedom
to become whatever they wanted in life.
Everyone has dreams, Mishka.
Only children believe
them after they wake up.
I know the love you have for Russia,
the love you have for
its people. Your people.
We can look forward rather than back.
Don't you think we've both
lost enough already, Sasha?
[ELEGANT STRING MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
[ALL] Ha!
♪
- Excuse me.
- Yeah, Vasily.
A message for you from Comrade Urbanova.
The owner of the two rather large dogs.
[COUNT] Thank you.
You were late for our appointment.
A rare opportunity has presented itself,
and I'm afraid we will have
to delay until tomorrow.
We had a prior arrangement,
and I need to talk to you.
[COUNT] Yeah, but we just
agreed on tomorrow instead.
You suggested tomorrow. We agreed today.
I'll give you 20 rubles. Fifty?
Miss Urbanova is inquiring as to why
you are hiding behind a plant pot.
Uh
Nina, whatever it is,
I'm sure it can wait.
[NINA] Please.
Count Rostov?
Good evening.
I'm so pleased you
could drag yourself away
from the flower arrangements.
The pleasure is mine, Miss Urbanova.
Oh, please.
Call me Anna.
Shall we?
Your four-legged friends
will not be joining us?
They shan't.
But I see your two-legged one shall be.
Is this your daughter?
- Him? No.
- No.
I don't know who this is.
Shall we go somewhere else?
The Hotel Britannia has
a fantastic restaurant.
He's not allowed to leave the
hotel 'cause he's a criminal
- All right, Nina.
- and a danger
- to the Russian people.
- Nina, that's enough.
Thank you.
- So you do know her?
- [NINA] Hardly at all.
More than I would like.
[CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY]
Room 317.
Give me 20 minutes.
Nina?
Nina.
[EXHALES]
[KNOCKS ON DOOR]
- Yes?
- Ah, um I am expected.
[SIGHS]
Comrade Urbanova will be just a moment.
["CHE GELIDA MANINA" PLAYING OVER RADIO]
[DOGS PANTING]
- [BARKING]
- Ah. Hello, girls.
♪
[CLOCK TICKING]
♪
[WINDING]
♪
[KNOCK AT DOOR]
[ANNA] Get that, would you?
Ah, good evening.
Just there, please.
Ah. I've been in two restaurants
and a bar today and
haven't had a bite to eat.
I'm absolutely starving.
Admiring the additions to the theatre?
"Admire" might not exactly
be the word I would use.
Mm, apparently, Lenin's
going to announce
the formation of the new Soviet state.
If he isn't already dead, of course.
Well, shall we see what we've got?
Oh. Thank you.
[ANNA] Mmm.
So
two restaurants and a bar?
Five journalists in three hours,
the same stories recounted each time
as if it were the first.
And then a meeting with a director
younger than most of my shoes.
Golubev imagines himself a genius,
but I pride myself on being
an impeccable judge of character.
Take you, for example.
Take me?
A man of certain means.
Well, not anymore.
But in the past you
never wanted for anything.
Oh, I wanted for many things
I never had the opportunity to enjoy.
Not for lack of money.
And I'm sure there are
many things you did
enjoy all too readily.
Go on.
You're from a family of some stature
inherited rather than earned?
Well, it was earned at some point.
Mm.
But not by you.
You don't have the air of
a great military leader.
Luckily, or else I would be dead by now.
Given who you are, you should be dead.
Instead you're imprisoned
at the Metropol Hotel.
Why?
Why are they keeping you here?
My turn.
The way you deboned that fish,
I would say you are the
daughter of a fisherman.
I was raised in a
village on the Black Sea.
You had no siblings.
That I know of.
So you lived in this
village, dreaming of escape.
That's what drew you to the stage,
a place where you could
forget about your life.
I was at my happiest there.
I'd go to the beach and
help my father mend nets.
He died when you were very young.
That's why you wanted to escape.
Back to you.
Am I right?
Back to you.
Your wife left Russia
after the Revolution
and took the children.
I have neither wife nor child.
Lack of opportunity or desire?
There was no shortage in either
department, I can assure you.
- And you?
- Children? No.
No, it would've been
an impossible burden.
Why?
Why did they let you live?
Why did you want to run away from home?
I've done enough talking for today.
["BELLA FIGLIA DELL'AMORE" PLAYING]
[GRUNTS]
♪
[GRUNTS]
- Forget about the shoes.
- No. What about your sheets?
Oh, for goodness' sake.
- [GRUNTING]
- Oh. [GRUNTS]
Mm.
Have you always lived in Moscow?
In the winters.
Summers were spent in the
region of Nizhny Novgorod,
at Idlehour, our family estate.
Oh, I take it you ate
your fair share of apples.
Mm. We were surrounded
by forests full of them.
According to local
folklore, there is a tree
deep within the forest
with fruit as black as coal.
And if you can find this
tree and eat of its fruit,
you can start your life anew.
So, would you?
Would I what?
Would you take the bite?
How could I possibly
relinquish the memory of this?
Hmm.
Or of all the princesses and duchesses
who have come before me?
Oh. Some, not all. [CHUCKLES]
I'm surprised you countenanced
sleeping with a lowly actress.
Well, as everyone keeps
telling me, times have changed.
What exactly do you mean by that?
Very little.
Oh, because I would be
beneath a man like you?
Well, I-I wouldn't say
that was necessarily true.
Necessarily true?
If you wouldn't mind, close
the door on your way out.
[SCOFFS]
Oh.
Of course.
[SLOW, INTRIGUING MUSIC]
♪
[DOOR OPENS]
♪
[GENTLE, WISTFUL MUSIC]
♪
♪
I believe I owe you
something of an apology.
We had a prior arrangement,
and I should've honored it.
[NINA] You should've.
I-I neglected our friendship.
I was in the wrong.
You were. I'm ready for it now.
Ready for what?
Your apology.
- But I
- You said you owe me an apology.
I'm sorry, Nina.
Apology accepted.
- Shall we get some breakfast?
- I'm staying here.
When we return to
Moscow in the new year,
Papa says I shall be starting school.
Apparently, I'm in danger
of going off the rails.
Mm, the most interesting people
in life are rarely on them.
If I stay here, you could teach me.
Yes, but lessons in the conduct of
princesses are of little use now.
An education would give you
a true sense of the world.
But I like it here. It's fun.
Yes, but it's not just
about where you are.
It's about the people you meet.
And at school you would make
the best friends of your life.
Like you and Mishka?
Indeed.
[SLOW, DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
♪
[FLOOR CREAKS NEARBY]
Please, do come in.
I'd like to talk to
you about an incident
that occurred several days ago.
Yes. War and Peace,
Tolstoy's finest work
in actual fact, anyone's finest work.
- Uh, you have read it?
- I know the story.
You got into an altercation
with one of our factory administrators.
I had no idea who it was,
nor would it have made any difference.
Have you had time to reflect
on our previous conversation?
Why are you so interested in Mishka?
Because he risked his
standing in the Party
to save your life.
There is nothing you can learn
about Mikhail Fyodorovich
Mindich from me
that you could not glean
by simply meeting the man himself.
He is loyal to a fault.
He is the very best that
humanity has to offer.
Then why did you deem him
unworthy of your sister?
Because I wrongly believed
that nobility is a birthright.
Because a Bolshevik could
never be a gentleman?
I'm certain that's not
true of all of them.
And what about me?
Do you believe I'm a gentleman?
I don't know you.
Well, let's just say I'm charged
with keeping track of
certain men of interest.
[SLOW, PLAINTIVE MUSIC]
Easily done when they're
under house arrest.
It's easier still when you
place them in the ground.
We'll speak again, I've no doubt.
Neither do I.
Wait.
Before you go
Consider it a Christmas present.
The celebration of
Christmas is outlawed.
Uh
- [SOFT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING]
- [LIVELY CHATTER]
♪
[NACHEVKO] Both Lenin and Trotsky are
huge fans of Golubev.
I can be sure to mention
you next time he visits us.
Would you like to come to my room?
Would-would I
With you?
I understand I'm not
particularly of your persuasion,
- but
- Is it so obvious?
To me.
But rumors of an affair
with a leading lady of cinema
would distract most
people from the truth.
One good turn deserves
another, after all.
Ah. Yes, uh, my usual table, thank you.
[WAITER] Of course.
[NINA] Your Countship.
Happy New Year.
All the joys of the season to you, sir.
[COUNT] Ah.
I'm dining with Father later,
so I've only ordered
myself an hors d'œuvre.
The hors d'œuvre?
- Oui.
- [COUNT CHUCKLES]
Would you like to peruse the menu?
No, thank you, my good man.
Just a glass of champagne and a spoon.
Of course.
Will you be all right without me?
There's really no need
for you to concern yourself
with an old fuddy-duddy like me.
All the same. I shall.
- How is that hors d'œuvre?
- Splendid.
I understand you might be leaving us.
Such a pity.
Thank you.
To an entirely unanticipated
and truly wonderful friendship.
And this
this is a little something
that my sister made very good use of
when she was your age.
You have always known me
best. I shall treasure them.
It's getting late.
Come on.
I don't want you to
keep your father waiting.
And you should go to the party.
It would be the noble thing to do.
[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
From Mademoiselle.
[COUNT] Nina, this is too much.
You must promise not to open
it until the stroke of midnight.
You have my word.
Goodbye, Alexander Ilyich.
[SIGHING]
[FOOTSTEPS RECEDING]
♪
- [MAN 1] Cheers.
- [MAN 2] Happy New Year!
[LIVELY CHATTER, LAUGHTER]
- [RAUCOUS CHATTER, LAUGHTER]
- [LIVELY MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
[OPERA PLAYING OVER RADIO]
♪
Good evening.
[RUSSIAN FOLK MUSIC PLAYING]
[LIVELY CHATTER]
[SINGING IN RUSSIAN]
[LAUGHTER]
Sasha! Come.
Mishka.
Ah. Thank you.
Ah.
Good evening.
I thought you might like some brandy.
[ANDREY] Please, join us.
It's a wonderful
choice, Your Excellency.
Uh, are there any glasses, Mishka?
[SINGING IN RUSSIAN]
Champagne region.
Obviously.
Ugni blanc grapes, double oaked.
And the turn of the century.
I would say 1906.
Oh, very close. 1908.
- But still
- [LAUGHING]
It is to be drunk with friends.
Cheers.
[PLAYING "AT THE BIRCH TREE"]
[SINGING IN RUSSIAN]
[COUNT] Oh, who's this?
This is my son, Ilya, three months old.
Goodness.
[SINGING IN RUSSIAN]
[PLAYING "KOROBUSHKA"]
[SINGING IN RUSSIAN]
♪
[CHEERING]
[PLAYING "KALINKA"]
[CHANTING]
[SINGING IN RUSSIAN]
♪
I often wonder if she'd still be alive
if I hadn't come between you two.
Maybe I would've become a nobleman.
We could marry and both now be dead.
I am truly sorry I came
between you and Helena.
I know what you did for
me, Mishka, with the poem.
I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you.
You saved my life.
I should stand and go
whilst I'm still able to.
Will you visit me again, Mishka?
If you'd like me to.
[GENTLE, INTRIGUING MUSIC]]
♪
[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
[BIRDS COOING]
[WINGS FLAPPING]
[SOARING, WISTFUL MUSIC]
♪
[MANY WINGS FLAPPING]
[CLANGS]
♪
[EXHALES]
♪