[ART TO THE MASSES]
What's there?
Where are you going?
Hey!
[Apartments index]
Latunsky
Hey!
Why are you standing still??
Comrade Latunsky, open the door!
Do something!
Step aside…
Don’t break anything!
What’s happening here?!
You’re flooding us, that’s what is happening!
When will there be peace and quiet in this building?!
Call the police!
Mom!
Hush
Don’t be afraid
Don’t be afraid, little one
It’s some boys breaking windows
Ma’am…
Ah?
Where are you?
I’m nowhere
I’m your dream
Lie down now, put your hand under your cheek
and I’ll tell you a story
Once there was a certain lady...
And she had no children,
and generally no happiness either
And so first she cried for a long time,
and then she became wicked
Margarita quietly placed the hammer on the window-sill and flew out the window
There was turmoil by the building
On the asphalt pavement strewn with broken glass,
people were running and shouting something….
shouting something.
In the building on the other side of the street
behind all the windows dark silhouettes of the tenants appeared,
trying to understand....
You’re still going on writing, huh
Is it about love at least?
Not only about it
Lie down
Oh, it’s good it’s about love
You’re in there too, Praskovia Fyodorovna
You don’t say?
And is Dr Stravinski in there?
Of course. How are we gonna do without him?
He has a whole plot line with the patients
Which patients? You?
With one proletarian poet
Lately here it’s been another day — another poet
It’s not a madhouse anymore, it’s…
What do they call it on the radio?..
The Union of Writers
Quiet, quiet…
Give it to me to read!
I’m curious what you have scribbled about us there
Of course! I only need to finish, it’s not much
Here you go…
Rest
Oh, I’m such a klutz!
He’s been writing and writing…
That’s okay, we’ll read everything…
sleep was just about to come over the poet,
when the grille suddenly moved noiselessly aside,
and a mysterious figure appeared on the balcony,
bathing in the moonlight,
and shook its finger at Ivan.
Shhh!
May I sit down?
Your profession?
Poet
And what is your name?
Bezdomny
Oh-oh…
What, you mean you dislike my poetry?
I dislike it terribly
And what have you read?
So, how did you wind up here?
The thing is that a year ago I wrote a novel about Pontius Pilate
You’re a writer?
I’m a master
She sewed it for me with her own hands
She?
And what is your name?
I no longer have a name
I renounced it,
as I generally did everything in life
A year ago
Oh, good afternoon!
Good afternoon!
Pilate
Will you sign it, please?
Are you interested in modern drama?
Aha
Gala
Oh, Gala!
Well, it’s the main show of the season
I haven’t been in Moscow long,
and by the way I’m an actress
I wanna work in your theater
It’s not really my theater
Have a good day!
Good afternoon!
I’m sorry for being so forward…
Are you in the Union of Writers?
So what?
Tonight at their restaurant they’re playing real American jazz
-Hello! -Hello!
Greetings!
You probably want me to invite you?
I do
Hello!
Moscow is your city!
Thank you!
The guard is tired, comrade playwright
Hello!
Excuse me
See you tonight! It starts at 8 p.m
Everyone’s waiting for you!
Is Efim Romanovich here already?
He won’t be here
Hello
-And how are we gonna rehearse without the director? -I’ll come back later
Actors learnt their lines,
and you as an author will correct them if something is wrong
You know better
Pilate is already on the stage, waiting
Hegemon,
it’s the accused from Galilee
Move it, the accused, move it!
So it was you, Yeshua Ha-Nozri,
who incited the people to destroy the temple of Yershalaim?
Good man! Believe me…
The Roman procurator is called Hegemon
Do you understand me, or do I hit you?
I speak your language, Hegemon
Good
So it was you who was going to destroy the temple building
and called on the people to do that?
Never, good…
Never, Hegemon, never in my life was I going to destroy the temple building,
nor did I incite anyone to this senseless act
You’re a liar
People have testified to it
These good people, Hegemon, have confused everything I told them
Generally, I’m beginning to be afraid that this confusion may go on for a very long time
Stop pretending that you’re a madman
There’s enough written in your record to hang you
No, no, Hegemon
There’s one with a goatskin parchment who follows me and keeps writing all the time
But once I peeked into this parchment and was horrified
I said decidedly nothing of what’s written there
And what was it in any case that you said about the temple to the crowd in the bazaar?
I said, Hegemon,
that the temple of the old faith would fall
and a new temple of truth would be built
What is truth?
The truth is
that your head aches,
and aches so badly
that you’re having faint-hearted thoughts of death
You lost faith in people
But your suffering will soon be over,
your headache will go away
Well, there, it’s all over
And I’m extremely glad of it
Unbind his hands
Sorry
What? Sorry, what’s this?
Huh?
Comrades, what’s happening?
Don’t you see we’re rehearsing?
We’ve been told the performance won’t happen
What? I don’t understand! How can it be possible?
Good people, put the props back!
Have you gone crazy?!
Don’t you see there’s a People’s Artist of USSR on the stage?!
What’s happening?!
We’ve been told to dismantle the set
What?!
Who told you this?
Here, comrade Rimsky
Of first freshness
Grigory Danilovich!
It’s okay
They are dismantling the set right now there
The play was shut down by order of Narkomprom
But we passed all the commissions
Don’t worry that much
Today it was shut down, tomorrow they’ll bring it back
But what’s the reason?
I'm only in charge of the financial part
Comrade Rimsky…
Oh, yeah yeah
Go to comrade Likhodeev
Yeah, but he’s not at the office
He’s on a business trip
[he's binge drinking]
Again?
For one week and a half
How do I find him?
You know the building on Sadovaya street
Apartment 50
Thanks even for that
Fear, you white bastards!
The day of reckoning has come!
Fire!
You’ll remember commander Sitnik
Load!
Fire!
I’ve come to see Stepan Bogdanovich
Comrade Likhodeev isn’t here.
I’ve been told he’s here
He isn’t. He’s in Yalta
Grunya! Water!
Stepan Bogdanovich!
Grunya!
He took some time off
Water!
Grunya!
Water!
[incoherent drunken mumbling]
Mikhail Alexandrovich
How did you find out I live here?
I didn’t, I came to see Likhodeev
I’m neighbors with him now
The manager of the theater and your editor live in the same apartment,
how convenient!
He took some time off
Off what?
Off his ass?
Made a real den of horrors here
Why are you sitting?
The session begins soon
What session?
Ah, this one
I moved in recently
Previous tenants moved out to somewhere
And you will move out soon, you scabby intelligents,
having hogged three rooms!
That’s okay, you won’t be all comfy here for much longer!
It’s a wicked apartment. Wi-cked
It's Annushka, mad woman
Took the proletarian struggle personally
Mikhail Alexandrovich, ‘Pilate’ was shut down
Don’t you worry!
Us and theaters have always been different departments!
If a performance is shut down,
everyone will rush to read a play it was based on
And here you have it, dear comrades!
In the latest issue of our magazine
With all responsibility, as the chairman of the Union,
I’m telling you: if you had problems
I would be the first to know
Bravo!
We thank you, Nastasia Lukinishna,
for your report about work on the collection of sea stories
‘The Navigator George’
We can’t wait to read it
The next matter on the agenda…
The dispute about the artistic and political component of the play ‘Pilate’
We welcome the author to the stage
Please, take a seat
This one?
Yes
We welcome critic Osaf Semenovich Latunsky to the stage
Before I start,
I’d like to remind
all the comrades writers present here
that the main goal of the Soviet criticism is
to reveal the objective, class meaning of literary works
And now to the actual point
While the Party and the Government are putting incredible efforts
into rid the country of reactionary and religious prejudices
once and for all
a member of the Union of Soviet Writers
is engaged in creating an apology for religious obscurantism
He writes a play
about Pontius Pilate and Jesus Christ
who he bashfully refers to as Yeshua Ha-Nozri
Thus by hiding behind the historical material,
he criticizes the Soviet government
Let me…
I’m not finished
Sit down, please
I will quote this Ha-Nozri
“All authority is violence over people.”
What does the author mean by this?
That the power of the proletarian dictatorship is violence too?
Yes, it is
But it is forced
and necessary
And it's like that throughout, comrades
‘Pilate’ is a politically harmful and extremely dangerous work
that doesn’t belong in Soviet literature
Bravo!
We’re continuing the debate
Comrades! A small impromptu!
Once our Pilate Went for work to Narkomat
Tra-ta-ta Ta-ra-tam-tam
Comrade Bezdomny, we don’t have time for impromptus,
we have an approved schedule of the session
Okay, one more very quick
Why do we need heaven If we can go to the Crimea region!
What about vouchers to Crimea?
Comrades, I’d like to get more clarity on the housing issue…
Oplykhin, will you calm down or do we need to remove you?
I’m calming down…
Thank you
We’re continuing the debate
Boris Petrovich Meigel has the floor
How did it happen that a reactionary play ‘Pilate’
was published
and then — staged?
Because beggars cannot be Pilatees
But our mission is not to ban it only to bring joy to our enemies
who can't wait to get the proof that there’s no freedom of speech in the USSR
Our mission is to help the author,
guide the author to the right path towards serving working people
What did comrade Lenin say?
“The smart one is not the one who does not make any mistakes.
The smart one is the one who can quickly fix them.”
Comrade Meigel! Comrade Meigel!
Let me speak
Please, comrade Berlioz
First of all, as the editor
who allowed this play to be published,
I would like to extend my sincere apologies to my colleagues
for exercising political
shortsightedness
Forgive me
I’m offering to withdraw the circulation of the issue at once
I’m sure that by properly working with the author,
we’ll be able to refine the play
in order to achieve the ideologically correct direction
Bravo!
That’s right!
Now the only thing remained is to hear the author's opinion
Mine?
I can speak?
Of course
Please, speak up
Well, I’ve already written my play
Very well
Why won’t you use your talent to write something
that will actually catch the Soviet readers’ interest?
For example, something about a labor feat of the people?
Well, it just happened that I haven’t worked in a factory or mines
I haven’t mowed oats
How am I supposed to write about something that I don’t know?
As far as I know, you haven’t been to Ancient Judea either
Well, if you don’t mind, I’m a historian
Then write us the history of the revolution
I’m afraid you won’t like it either
Comrades, I have another short impromptu!
Comrade Bezdomny, will you stop?
But it’s short!
A Soviet poet isn’t interested in Christ
A Soviet poet is interested in a pump!
Gasification, electrification, oil production
That's our spiritual nourishment!
Quiet, comrades!
Comrade!
Where are you going?
There
Buddy!
Everything you said is right
I wanted to step up for you but didn’t make it on time
That was powerful
Or stupid
Huh?
Depending on how you look at it
Dialectics
Don’t look at it!
Well, if they nail you,
write them a novel about a collective farm
‘How the rye was harvested’
I think you can whip up something like that in a week
Huh?
Wow, you have a real resort here
People back then knew how to live!
Ha, what a fat cat!
tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk
What’s its name? Bourgeois?
Behemoth
Yours?
He visits me sometimes
Just like me!
Watch your head
And in my communal apartment they hung up a crapper schedule
Can you imagine?
And I’m an artist, I can’t go to the crapper on schedule!
You have a writer’s heaven here
I’m afraid after today’s purgatory
they won’t even let me translate poems for kids
And I won’t have anything to pay for heaven
But please, don’t bury yourself too soon
Their strength lies in our fear
In a week or two everyone will forget about everything
You just need a distraction
For example, tonight at the restaurant they play… this…
tss tss tss
Jazz
Jazz!
Ah, I promised to take her there
Who?
One extremely ambitious young actress
who came to conquer the capital
My favorite type…
But not mine…
I’ll save you
I’ll take over
What you won’t do for a friend!
Please, welcome Harlem Swing with the song ‘Hallelujah’!
-Good evening! -Good evening!
Good evening! Please, come in
Hello!
This is Aloizy Mogarych, a movie playwright
and this is Gala
Pleased to meet you
The pleasure is all mine
Please, sit
Champagne?
Yes, but only a little bit,
If I drink too much champagne,
demons take over my mind
I’m ready to take my chances!
Please, wait for us for a couple of brief moments
Champagne, please!
Listen, I whispered around here,
everyone’s literally shocked
There’s a lot of sympathizers
In short,
a suggestion to go out was raised
Go out where?
To the protest against censorship
For freedom of literary creativity
I'm sorry, I stand by you
Thank you
Tomorrow at 10 a.m. in front of the Union’s building
But tomorrow at 10 a.m. there’s the May Day, God forgive me, Parade
Exactly! When, if not now?
If we don’t say anything now, it’ll happen to everyone
How Dumas said,
‘Un pour tous, tous pour un!’
Let's drink to our beauty which is the only thing
that can surpass our talent!
Everyone, drink!
Oh, it’s the manager of your theater?
Likhodeev?
Yeah, it’s Stepan Bogdanovich
Hallelujah!!
I just need to talk to him
Comrade!
Show your card
Starting today, it’s nullified
I’m asking you to leave
What do you mean?..
I’m asking you to leave
Thank you
Are you by any chance a writer?
I’ve been told that it’s a restaurant for writers
I am
And you are from Germany, judging by your accent?
Yes, and from Germany too
So what are you doing here?
I’ve come to learn about this fascinating Soviet experiment of yours
Is it for your work or for your soul?
It’s the same thing to me
Tough day?
My play was shut down today
The magazine where the play was published is withdrawn
And they just took away from me my Union of Writers card
But otherwise everything is fine
For what did they do this to you?
For what was permitted yesterday and today already isn’t
New country, new rules
And what about people?
Are they all new?
New people…
New people are well-forgotten old ones
You know, as far as I know no country in the whole history of humankind
has tried to get rid of god and to build a society
that would preach atheism as a religion
It has to change people somehow, don’t you think?
I can imagine now how it all looks through the foreigner’s eyes
Now imagine how it all looks from there
Or from there
Kha! It could be a great plot for a story
Devil in whom no one believes decides to visit Moscow
He would restore the order!
They will never publish it
For whom should I write?
Write not to be published but to be republished
You know who you remind me of?
Good night!
Professor, we should go
I’m coming, comrade Koroviev
By the way, don’t you wanna go with me to the party?
Not today, if you don’t mind
That’s too bad
I’d love to talk to you more on occasion
Think about it
I’m planning to be in Moscow for a while
Are you coming with us?
Where’s everyone?
Everyone promised to come…
One for all, all for one...
Probably, they’re sleeping off after yesterday
I’ll come by your place soon
So I was walking along this May boulevard,
and thoughts were racing in my head
Maybe I should start writing opera librettos?
Well, so be it…
I bitterly regretted that I had abandoned science
and condemned myself to a miserable existence
But God knows
only my love for literature was the reason for it
Sorry, can I get through there?
Tverskaya street is occupied until the parade is over
A flag or a flower?
Pass
Maybe I should write a letter so they’ll allow me to leave the country?
Why will they keep a writer whose works can’t exist in the USSR?
The passage is closed
Yeah, but the thing is…
The passage is closed
No writer can be silenced
If they can, it means they weren't a real writer
And if a real one shuts up, they die
Catch him!
Comrade, stop!
Imagine that thousands of people were walking along Tverskaya,
but I can assure you that she saw me alone,
and looked not really alarmed, but even as if in pain.
And I was struck not so much by her beauty
as by an extraordinary loneliness in her eyes,
such as no one had ever seen before
Do you like my flowers?
No, I don't
You don’t like flowers at all?
I do like flowers
But not this kind
What else do you like?
Sea
Though I’ve never been to one
How can you love something you’ve never seen?
Are you a writer?
You guessed right
And who are you?
An angel?
An angel…
More like a witch
And I suddenly understood
that I had never liked and would never like anyone precisely like this woman
I knew it that same day when, without having noticed the city
we found ourselves by the Kremlin wall on the embankment,
and talked as if we had parted only the day before,
as if we had known each other for many years
Aren’t you afraid of telling this to a stranger?
To speak the truth is easy
and pleasant
So, you’re a writer
What do you write?
Now — nothing
I have an idea… But…
But?
It’s foredoomed
It makes it more interesting
Will you tell me about it?
It’s one of my most favorite places in Moscow
But soon it’ll change too
Imagine when all these great constructions end
there will be enormous buildings and monuments
And there, on Bronnaya, they will launch trams
And right here, along the new Patriarch’s Ponds,
are walking an editor of a literary magazine Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz
and his young companion, a poet Ivan Ponyrev
who writes under a pseudonym Bezdomny
After we walked through Alexander’s garden, I invited her to the Patriarch’s Ponds
The Patriarch’s Ponds!!
Hush!
That’s the place where it all happened
What exactly?
We met him there
A consultant
I’m begging you, tell me everything
They are walking up to the water booth
They want to buy seltzer, there’s no seltzer
They’re drinking an apricot soda
And here they are meeting him
Who is he?
The thing is that long before Jesus had been born lots of…
Berlioz had commissioned from the poet a long anti-religious poem
for the next issue of his magazine
He was now giving the poet something of a lecture on Jesus
to provide the poet with some kind of guidance
None of these ancient historians never mentioned a word about Christ
even though they lived allegedly at the same time
There’s not a single Eastern religion in which, as a rule,
an immaculate virgin did not give birth to a god
And in just the same way, without inventing anything new,
the Christians created their Jesus, who in fact never lived
It’s on this that the main emphasis should be placed!
You’ve opened up my eyes!
I will rewrite everything!
Excuse me,
kha,
please,
Excuse me, please,
if not being your acquaintance, I allow myself...
but the subject of your learned conversation is so interesting that I just couldn't…
May I sit down?
Unless I heard wrong,
you were pleased to say that Jesus never existed?
No, you did not hear wrong
That is precisely what we were talking about
Ah, how interesting!
And you were agreeing with your interlocutor?
A hundred per cent!
Amazing!
So it means you both are…
...atheists?
But of course!
We’re atheists
Allow me to thank you with all my heart and soul!
Wait, what are you thanking him for?
For some very important information,
which is of great interest to me as a traveler
What, then, about the proofs of God’s existence,
of which, as is known, there are exactly
fünf?
five
Kant’s proof!
But it is equally unconvincing
They ought to take this Kant
and give him a three-year stretch in Solovki for such proofs!
Ivan! Hush!
No no no, he’s right!
Send him to Solovki!
But if you say that there is no God,
then who governs human life and,
in general, the whole order of things on earth?
Man governs it himself! With his own hands!
Man? Come on!
Man isn’t able to plan anything for certain,
at least somewhat decent length of time, let’s say, a thousand years
He cannot even vouch for his own tomorrow
Imagine that you got sick
Let’s say it's...
[creepy Woland sounds]
lungkhhhh cancer
And now you’re not having much fun
Sometimes it’s worse:
the man slips and
tsak!
Falls under a tram-car
Are you going to say it was he who governed himself that way?
Man is mortal!
No one disputes that
Of course, of course man is mortal,
but that would be only half the trouble
The worst of it is that he’s sometimes unexpectedly mortal!
And he has no idea what he’s going to do this same evening
Well, there’s some exaggeration here
About this same evening I do know more or less certainly
It goes without saying,
if a brick should fall on my head on Bronnaya…
A brick, ha-ha!
No, nothing will ever fall on your head
so don’t you worry
You will die a different death
Maybe you know what kind precisely?
Head…
Your head will be cut off!
By whom?
Enemies?
Interventionists?
Tonight I’ll stop by my place on Sadovaya…
No, that’s out of question
Why?
Because Annushka has already bought the sunflower oil,
and has not only bought it,
but has already spilled it
What has sunflower oil got to do with it...
and which Annushka?
Listen, Misha…
Comrade, have you ever happened to be in
a hospital for the mentally ill?
Yes! Yes, I have, Ivan Nikolaevich
How do you know my name?
Gracious, Ivan Nikolaevich, who doesn’t know you?
You’d like to smoke, I see?
What do you prefer?
Our Brand, blue ones
So what?
You're welcome
That’s when I thought that this consultant was no foreign tourist
but a spy
Are you German?
You speak Russian well!
And what is your field?
Where are you staying?
Where are you gonna live?
In your apartment
And there’s no devil either?
Enough already!
There isn’t any devil!
That is positively interesting!
What is it with you — no matter what one asks for
there isn’t any!
Professor, please, sit here for a minute with comrade Bezdomny,
and I’ll just make a quick phone call
And then we’ll take you wherever you like
Of course, of course go make your call
But before you go, I’ll tell you:
the devil does exist, believe me
I no longer ask you for anything more
Mind you, there exists a seventh proof of it
And it is going to be presented to you right now
Very well!
Keep an eye on him,
I’ll go make a quick call and get help
Looking for the turnstile, citizen?
This way, please!
Straight on and you’ll get where you’re going
Straight on, straight on!
Straight on!
How about a little pint pot for my information?
Move, you fool!
The head had bounced so far away they found it only when it got dark
Thanks!
You weren’t lying, you indeed have a rich imagination
What’s next?
Next, next…
I haven’t come up with it yet
You just have to write it
Thanks for walking me home
Wait!
I live on Mansurovski alleway, there’s this wooden house,
it’s the only one…
I’m married
…the entrance is through the gates...
Keep writing
Chapter 1. Never talk with stranger
At the hour of the hot spring sunset in Moscow
two citizens appeared at the Patriarch’s Ponds...
One of them, approximately forty years old…
Chapter 4. The chase.
…The poet had rushed to the turnstile as soon as he heard the first scream…
Step aside! Step aside!
I rushed to the turnstile as soon as I heard the first scream!
Of course, I forgot about the mad German
and tried to figure out one thing only: how it could be
that I had just been talking to Berlioz,
and a moment later — the head…
Citizens!
Have you seen the head?
Has anyone seen the head?
Someone spilled the oil around the turnstiles
It’s Misha!
Don't come close to the body!
5 metres!
It’s Misha!
Go the hell away from here!
It’s him! There!
It’s the consultant!
He killed him!
Catch him! Catch him!
Why are you standing still?
Quiet!
We need to catch him! Police!
He is getting away!
Stop!
You stop!
Citizens! He’s getting away!
Stop him!
Stop!
There he is! There he is!
Here’s my ticket…
No cats allowed! Scat!
Get off, or I’ll call the police!
Rude
No, you’re rude! Where are you going?!
There’s a cat on the top!
You have a cat on the top!
Stop! There's a cat!
Stop! It’s a spy!
Stop!
Comrades! Help! A spy!
Catch up and overtake, young man.
Comrades! Comrades!
Let me in!
Quiet!
How did the police let him walk like that?
He has appeared…
Who has appeared, comrade Bezdomny?
The consultant
And this consultant
just killed Misha Berlioz
at the Patriarch’s Ponds
He killed our Misha!
Mikhail Alexandrovich died?
He was killed!
We need to catch the consultant, do you understand?!
He is going to cause indescribable troubles!
I’m sorry, can you be more precise?
What do you mean — ‘kill’?
Who killed?
The consultant!
He has to be caught!
And you are sitting around here! Dancing!
Here’s what, citizens:
call the police at once,
demand to send out five motorcycles with machine-guns…
Comrade Bezdomny, calm down…
I’m calm
Pardon me…
No, anyone else, but you
I will not pardon
And that’s my brothers in literature!
That’s how I wound up here
You yourself, dear heart, are to blame for it all
You shouldn’t have behaved so casually
and even impertinently with him
But who is he, finally?
Yesterday at the Patriarch’s Ponds
you met Satan
No, it can’t be!
Satan doesn’t exist
Anyone else might say that, but not you
You’re, as you yourself understand, in a mental hospital
yet you keep saying he doesn’t exist
But he’ll be up to devil knows what here!
We have to catch him somehow!
You’ve already tried,
and that will do for you
And as for being up to something, rest assured,
he will be!
But how annoying that it was you who met him and not I
But what do you need him for?
I’m coming!
So?
Are you writing?
I am
I just finished a new chapter
We have construction going on here…
Well, there's construction going on everywhere
And here we have roses
Sorry, it’s this way
Downstairs
Sorry for the mess
Would you like some tea?
Okay, I don’t have tea…
I’m out of tea
Will you let me read it?
As you will!
Have you come up with the title?
For now it’s ‘The Dark Lord’
It’s good it’s for now
The Grand Chancellor?
I’ll think more about it
I know why you called him Woland
It’s from Goethe’s, one of the Mefistofel’s names
I’m a part of that power which still
Produceth good, whilst ever scheming ill
I’ll leave you to it
Excuse me, please
if, not being your acquaintance, I allow myself...
but the subject of your learned conversation is so interesting that…
...their Jesus, who in fact never lived...
Please, take it
Bear in mind that Jesus did exist
But there’s need for some proof!
There’s no need for any proofs. It’s all very simple:
In a white cloak with blood-red lining,
with the shuffling gait of a cavalryman,
early in the morning of the fourteenth day of the spring month of Nissan
there came out to the covered colonnade
between the two wings of the palace of Herod the Great
the procurator of Judea,
Pontius Pilate…
Four criminals,
arrested in Yershalaim
for murder,
incitement to rebellion,
and outrages against the laws and the faith,
have been sentenced to a shameful execution —
by hanging on posts!..
So which of the two criminals the Sanhedrin intended to set free:
Bar-Rabban
or Ha-Nozri?
…And this execution will presently be carried out on Bald Mountain
The names of the criminals are
Dysmas,
Gestas,
Bar-Rabban
and Ha-Nozri
Bar-Rabban! Bar-Rabban! Bar-Rabban!
What is truth?
Are you a great physician?
No, I am not a physician
And now tell me,
why is it that you use the words “good people” all the time?
Do you call everyone that, or what?
Everyone
There are no evil people in the world
But only three of them will be executed,
for, in accordance with law and custom,
in honor of the feast of Passover,
to one of the condemned,
as chosen by the Lesser Sanhedrin
and confirmed by Roman authority,
the magnanimous emperor Caesar
will return his contemptible life
The Sanhedrin asks that Bar-Rabban be released
Their crimes are quite incomparable in their gravity
If one is guilty of murder,
the other one, Yeshua Ha-Nozri,
is only guilty of uttering preposterous things
It’s sultry today, isn’t it?
Do you know a certain Judas from Kiriath?
Yes, I met Judas from Kiriath
He is a very good and inquisitive person
The name of the one who will now be set free before you is…
What? Even after my intercession?
And a third time I repeat that we are setting Bar-Rabban free
So what did you say about the temple to the crowd at the bazaar?
Among other things I said that
all authority is violence over people,
and that a time will come
when there will be no authority of the Caesars,
nor any other authority
…Bar-Rabban!
Your story is extremely interesting,
though it does not coincide at all with the Gospel stories
You know, I was personally present at it all,
only secretly, incognito, so to speak,
and therefore I beg you — not a word to anyone, total secrecy
Shh!
Seems like he’s a bit shy in front of you
When they don’t want to upset an author,
they usually say ‘they’ve done a great job’
Yershalaim, Pontius Pilate popped in out of nowhere...
You haven’t told me about him
It’s from my play, it’s called ‘Pilate’
After our meeting I thought it was all connected so…
Weird, right?
It’s weird, yes
Do you know how it all will end?
I have no idea
I have some thoughts about a new chapter
but I haven’t thought that far ahead
I’m listening
Yes, it’s me
When?
Okay, I’ll be there
They asked me to be at the theater asap
Seems like they decided to bring the play back
Let me walk you to the theater, then
And you’ll tell me about the new chapter
By the way, the next chapter is related to the theater
To be more precise, to Stepan Bogdanovich Likhodeev
Once he came to his senses in his apartment in this building —
ex-owners were compacted
and now there are communal apartments for modern elites
It must be said that this apartment had long had,
if not a bad, at least a strange reputation
Two years ago people began to disappear from this apartment without a trace
Disappear?
So this chapter will be dedicated to
the mysterious Stepan Bogdanovich Likhodeev’s disappearance
from the wicked apartment
A heavy bell was booming in his head,
he was nauseous, and this nausea, as it seemed to him,
was connected with the sounds of some importunate gramophone.
Styopa passed his trembling hand down his hip to determine
whether he had his trousers on or not,
but failed.
Grunya….
Why no one’s home…
Guten Tag, my most sympathetic Stepan Bogdanovichhhhhhh!
I am so sorry for my appearance…
Voilà!
Follow the wise old rule
Cure like with like
Voilà!
Oh….
Sausages?..
Op-la...
I’m sorry
Ew, Stepan!
Dear Stepan Bogdanovich,
I get the feeling that you followed vodka
with some port wine, didn’t you?
- I'm sorry - Tsk tsk tsk
I didn't mean to…
I hope now you remembered who I am
Woland
Professor of black magic
We signed a contract for seven performances yesterday,
and agreed on meeting at 10 a.m.
And, as you can see,
ta-da-da-dam!
I have come
Yes?
Stepan Bogdanovich?
Yeah, it's me
There’s a certain matter...
I have this...
artiste...
Woland sitting here...
asking about tonight
Bonjour!
Grunya..?
I’ll be there in half an hour
Don't worry, Stepan Bogdanovich
The cat is mine
Grunya..?
Ah, yes
Grunya's not here
I sent her away to her hometown
She complained
you diddled her out of a vacation
That’s better
Comrade!
COMRADE!
AY!
Are you blind?!
No...
Watch yourself!
I see you’re somewhat surprised,
my dearest Stepan Bogdanovich?
And yet there’s nothing to be surprised at
This is mon entourage
And this retinue requires room
so there’s just one too many of us in the apartment
And it seems to me
that this one too many is
precisely you!
Yes, that's them!
They've been up to some terrible swinishness lately
Drinking,
using their position to have liaisons with women,
because they don’t know anything
of what they’re supposed to do!
Drive around in an official state car…
I don’t understand how he got to be a manager
He's as much a manager as I am a bishop
Time to vacate the living space
Allow me, Messire,
to chuck him the devil out of Moscow?
I allow :)
Meow
Meow!
Scat! Get away from me, unclean power!
Everything’s fine, calm down!
I’m begging you, tell me, where am I?
Comrade, you’re in Dr Stravisnki’s hospital…
What city is this?
Yalta
Come on, Alexander Nikolaevich…
[patient screaming in the background: I'm healthy! They don't treat!..
50 in a week!..
[unintelligible]
Rubles! Dollars! Rubles!
Professor!
Professor, I’ve never in my life seen that money!
Today I also need to go the Commitee, you know that?
Are our rooms...
I see, you’re not going to take off your hat
Praskovia Fedorovna, let’s double the dose
Symptoms of schizophrenia don’t go away
Do you understand they need to catch him?
He’ll kill someone else!
And who’s this newbie?
A poet!
Stepan Bogdanovich,
how do you like our Yalta?
Why Yalta?
When Lihodeev is gone on a drinking binge,
he says to everyone he went to Yalta
Woland was kinder to him than to Berlioz
Stepan Bogdanovich deserves some mercy
He drinks only not to see everything that’s happening to the theater
Well, here we go…
I’m so sorry
But now you can dedicate all your time to this novel
Maybe, let’s have dinner?
Breakfast
I’ll be back in the morning to read the new chapter
Here,
here
and here
What is this?
Your fee
And he dares to be discontent!
They don’t always pay you
when a play is shut down before the premiere
And you received at least something
For a half a year's work?
One second
Ivan Savelevich…
Tickets to the premiere
No, thank you
Tickets are impossible to get
You can
profitably sell them
Yeah, full Sytinskaya...
You can put it down next to mine so it won't get dirty
Thank you
This way, stand here
I thought why not have dinner in the morning?
Where does all this luxury come from?
Let’s say…
I won a lottery
I never would have thought you could dance
I thought you knew everything about me
After all, you’re a witch
Careful
Our family legend says that my grand-grand-grandmother
was put on trial for relations with the devil
Oh!
I can imagine how you’re flying over Moscow at night
On a broomstick?
Let’s say yes
What if I’m shot down as an enemy flying object
by our valiant Soviet aviation?
Well, to them you’re invisible
So, it means you don’t see me neither?
Well, I see you
And you're...
...naked
What if I make you a character in my novel?
Well, it won’t really be you,
but she will have the name Margarita
Then let her have a paramour
A writer who writes a novel about Pontius Pilate
Is he a good…
writer?
She likes him
That’s the most important thing
She has a husband?
Aha
He’s a prominent specialist
who made a big discovery of national importance
Young, handsome
Kind, honest
Adores her
But she’s never loved him
Button it up
And one more thing
That day they met…
she wanted to kill herself
I need to go
Soon, very soon,
this woman became my secret wife
She was coming to me in the morning,
and leaving me in sunsets
Her first action on arrival was to put on an apron,
and she was cooking breakfast in the cramped hall…
The administrator was agitated and full of energy.
After the insolent phone call he had no doubts
that it was a band of hooligans playing nasty tricks,
and that these tricks were connected with the disappearance of Likhodeev…
…Nobody knew about our liaison,
I can swear to that
Her husband didn't know,
her friends didn't know
When the May storms blew
and the water slashed noisily past the dim little windows,
threatening to flood my last home,
we stoked up the stove
I wrote, and she re-read what had been written
She was reading out in a loud sing-song
random sentences that pleased her
...with the shuffling gait of a cavalryman...
I don't know, something different
She was promising me glory and hurrying me up
That was when she started calling me
master
She was saying that the novel was her life
We loved each other so strongly
that we became utterly inseparable
We were sure that fate had brought us together
on the corner of the Tverskaya and that side-street,
and that we were made for each other for eternity
Pilatism
What is it?
Reviews of Soviet critics on my works
Why do you collect them?
I’m proud of them!
They’ve never written so much about me
The icon-dauber under the guise of a writer
O. Latunsky
That’s my favorite!
With a hot iron we must burn out of the Soviet media
this ugly abscess of the disgusting White Guard,
covered with a fig leaf of literature
Do you know where he lives?
Who?
Latunsky
In the Writers’ Building on Lavrushinsky alleway
Why?
Margarita Nikolaevna!
What are you going to do?
Going to break Latunsky’s windows
With a hammer?
What if he lives on a high floor?
You can't take offense at critics and executioners
He isn’t malicious, he is just doing his job
What are we supposed to do then?
Write a funny scene about him?
That’s actually a great idea
You have your methods, I have mine
Margarita Nikolaevna!
I hope he’s at home
Good afternoon!
Meet each other
This is Aloisy, a playwright
A screenwriter
Margarita is…
A mistress
A muse
I wonder what novels you can write with such a muse…
Did he try to preach anything in the soldiers’ presence?
The only thing he said was that among human vices
he considered cowardice one of the first
He has to be buried in a secret place
This land is full of superstitions
They expect a messiah every other day here
You’re no doubt right
And so, the second question
It concerns Judas of Kiriath
He is responsible for Yeshua’s detention
I have received information that
this Judas is going to be stabbed tonight
Tonight?
Tonight.
Therefore I ask you to occupy yourself with this matter
that is, to take all measures to protect Judas of Kiriath
Understood.
But tonight…
I’m pretty sure he’ll be stabbed tonight
I’m counting on you
The third squatted down by the murdered man and looked at his face.
A few seconds later there was not a living man on the road.
The lifeless body lay with outstretched arms.
It’s not just about Ancient Judea…
It’s all about now.
That’s how they talk.
They understand each other with a half-word.
Well,
it’s obviously clear who is the head of the secret service
And is Pilate..?
Well…
People disappear every day from our studio
No one asks anything,
they are too scared
Maybe he got sick?..
Just like in your wicked apartment
In your place I wouldn’t read this out to anyone else
You never know what might happen
Even to you?
Listen,
do you wanna read my new script?
Of course, it’s the director’s idea
but I managed to come up with something really interesting
It’s a musical comedy about a collective farm
Hollywood style
Are you listening?
Oh yeah, so what’s that about?
A young tractor driver falls in love with a milkmaid
She sings in the local singing and
dancing group
But suddenly an audit committee
arrives at the village…
…everyone is dekulakizated
and they all dance merrily at the end
Huh?
I hear you.
Not everyone can afford being so relentless
You don’t have to pay alimony
I’m sorry!
Maybe you want to go to the theater this Sunday?
Instead of my ‘Pilate’
they perform a musical ‘Forward to the future!’
For inspiration and all that
Next time
I have a deadline
Forward!
To the future
I should note that I’ve never seen
such confidence in the future
anywhere else as in this country
You can think less about the present
if you live in the future
Thank you so much for the invitation
It’s the perfect place to observe
as you now call it,
population
You are greeted by a simple machine tool worker
I’m joining the Party,
I’m the son of our Soviet country!
The old world is destroyed!
But the new one we only have yet to build
Ah, I want so much to see this new world right now!
Which year should we travel to
to see with our own eyes how our great country lives?
I’m setting 30th December 2022
Let’s go!
100 years since the foundation
of our great and indestructible Soviet Union!
Dear girls,
where are we now?
In the Soviet Union of People's Republics!
How many republics does it have now?
All of them!
All republics of the world!
Then tell us how you live here,
in the future!
We better sing about it!
♪ You can go around everywhere ♪
♪ But you won’t find a country ♪
♪ Where people are just as equal ♪
♪ to each other as here ♪
I’ll be right back
♪ …In our magical country ♪
♪ We have enough of everything… ♪
♪ We have everything equally ♪
♪ We have everything... ♪
♪ Both what to wear and what to eat ♪
Good evening! Good evening, comrades!
What’s kickin’, chicken?
I’m sorry, who are you?
Please, read it out loud!
It’s from the Leader himself!
What?!
Here!
D-dear guests,
we have slight changes in our schedule
Now before you will perform a famous
foreign artiste monsieur Wolánd…
Wóland, Wóland, Wóland!
…with a séance of black magic.
But there’s no such thing in the world,
and Maestro Woland is simply a perfect master
of the technique of conjuring,
as we shall see from the most interesting part
that is, the exposure of this technique.
Let’s bring on Maestro Woland to start
the séance of black magic
Bravo, bravo, bravo!!
Tell me, my gentle Fagott
what do you think,
the Moscow population has changed significantly, hasn’t it?
That it has, Messire!
The city folk have changed greatly...
externally, that is,
as has the city itself, incidentally
Trams, automobiles have appeared
But I believe the question
of much greater importance is
if the city folk have changed inwardly
Yes!
Yes, that is the most important question, sir
However, we’re talking away, my dear Fagott,
and the audience is beginning to get bored
Show us some simple little thing to start with
Some simple little thing!
Yes, Messire, bravo, bravo!
So...
I see nothing
I hear nothing
Fly, little ball, fly,
bring people joy!
So...
Fly!
YES, HA-HA!
Money, money, money!
More, more!
Grab it!
Money, money, money!
Don’t be shy!
There’s enough for everyone!
Take it!
Please, stop! What are you doing?
Yesyesyesyesyesyes
Stop it!
Comrades!
You and I have just beheld
a case of so-called mass hypnosis
proving in the best way possible
that black magic isn't real....
Comrades!
Go away!
Citizens!
The notes are real
Absolutely!
This one
has annoyed me
I’m sorry?
Keeps poking his nose
where nobody’s asked him,
spoils the séance with false observations!
Citizens
what’re we going to do with him?
Imprison him!
Fire him from the theater forever!
Tear his head off!
Tear off tear off tear off
Don't worry
Step right here, on your favorite spot
Here, here
Stand here
It’s not...not funny…
Are you ready?
Always ready
Aaaaand
ein
zwei
aaaaaaaand
drei
I caught it, I caught this little head!
Azazello!
Will he lie in the future or won’t?
For God’s sake, don’t torture him!
Forgive him!
What are your orders, Messire?
Well,
they’re people like any other people
They love money,
but that has always been so...
Mercy sometimes knocks at their hearts
In general, reminiscent of the former ones
Only the housing problem has corrupted them, yeah…
​​Take my apartment,
take my paintings,
only give me back my head!
Mmm...
Put the head back on
It’s outrageous!
All righty, now that we’ve kicked that nuisance out
and you have pockets full of money,
let’s open...
a ladies’
shop!
Eleganza, magnifique…
Incroyable
Bonjour, Moscow!
Our humble boutique is offering perfectly gratis
an exchange of the ladies’ Soviet old dresses and shoes
for Parisian models of the last season
Guerlain,
Chanel No. 5,
Mitsouko,
Narcisse Noir
Evening gowns,
cocktail dresses…
Who? Don’t be shy!
Come on in our boutique!
Come on!
Me!..
It’s not worth it.
Don’t be shy!
Bravo, bravo, bravo!
Oh, we’ll turn you into a diamond!
Welcome to the stage!
Aaaand close it!
Alley-oop!
Abracadabra!
Voilà!
Please, come in
Well, please, come in
Abracadabra, voilà!
Line up!
Let me go!
What do you need?
My wife has the flu,
can I also go there?..
As you please, come in!
Alley-oop!
Wait wait!
Alley-oop!
Voilà!
Attention, monsieur and madame,
due to the late hour the shop is closing
Yes, yes, yes, it’s sad, I understand,
you didn’t have enough time but what can we do
But!
There’s some good news:
all the goods in the showcases
are yours!
Let me go, despot and philistine!
♪ We have evertyhing equally ♪
♪ We have everything, ♪
♪ Both what to wear and what to eat ♪
Yeah, but it’ll be harder for them
to get rid of money than from God
♪ We have everything equally ♪
♪ We have everything ♪
♪ Both what to wear and what to eat ♪
[Master hums along]
Wonderful!
Is that her?
Your Margarita?
She is mine from 12 a.m. to 5 p.m.
5 days a week
How can you not sing
♪ Satan is leading the ball here! ♪
How did you like ‘Forward to the future?’
They’ve done a great job
Why do you go to things like that?
To inspire myself
And this
is this for inspiration too?
But I wrote a new chapter!
Do you wanna listen to it?
Black magic!..
Let’s do it somewhere else
You need a change of
scenery
I had a dream tonight
I dreamt of a strange unfamiliar place
Half-bared trees,
and in between them there is some kind of a log cabin
And here swings open the door of this log cabin,
and you are coming out of there,
wearing ragged clothes,
with messy hair,
eyes looking ill
You’re beckoning me with your hand,
and I’m running to you across these swamp hummocks
And then I woke up
It’s just a dream
Margarita Nikolaevna, is this you?
And here I’m walking and thinking,
is this your hat or not yours
But you said...
Natasha, it’s not me
It’s some other woman that looks exactly like me
Do you understand?
It’s Natasha
Our house maid
I wish we could fly somewhere
To the sea?
To the place where there’s no one but us
Everytime I come to your place,
I’m scared
I don’t want to come here someday
and not find you
I’ve decided
I love you more than life
and I don't wanna lie anymore
I’d stay with you right now,
but I’d rather not do it that way
I'll explain myself to him
I won’t allow you to do it
Things won’t go well for me,
and I don’t want you
to perish with me
Is that the only reason?
The only one
The last thing I remember from my life is
a strip of light from my front hall,
and in that strip of light an uncurled strand of hair,
and her eyes filled with determination
‘Tomorrow morning I’ll be with you’.
We’ll fly away from here
I’ll meet you at the airport
Those were her last words in my life
I love you
What happened next??
That’s it for now
I’m emptied out
What?! No, wait!
But it’s perfect!
You just have to finish it
Maybe you could suggest what Woland would do next?
Are you asking me?
Yes
Well, I don’t know…
I think he’d throw a party that night
and bring all the sweet unclean forces together in one place
I like this idea
I know where we’ll go tonight!
To the great event
at Likhodeev’s!
No, no, please!
Yes! Yes!
For inspiration!
Not tonight…
I need to get some sleep
before tomorrow's departure
A novel requires some sacrifices
A great novel — great ones
No
Yes. Let’s go
Bonjour
Good evening!
Password?
Yalta
Stepan Bogdanovich,
meet your guests!
Your Gella is really a vampire
Dear Emma, do you like black caviar?
Very much
Then please, help yourself!
Wow
What a surprise
Why so shy, my dear fellow?
Come on in!
Take off your jackets!
Dear Gala, please take care of our guests
Comrades!
A toast!
At Styopa Likhodeev's ball,
the usual laws do not work
Hoorah, comrades!
Oh, this is Berlioz’s room!
He isn’t here?
Well, he hasn’t been with us for a long time…
I'll open
You’re talking about Hector Berlioz, aren’t you?
A French composer
who was buried in Montmartre cemetery in Paris
I don’t know any other Berlioz
Oh, Osaf, dear!
Stepan Bogdanovich!
Hello, dear!
More narcoms have gathered here
than in the Kremlin
Do you recognize this one,
behind me in the corner?
The narcom of State Security
Yes, he is
And you were worried it’d be boring
Look, comrades, who is here!
Oh, glad to see you!
Let’s go
One minute
You understand, right,
that I was just doing my job?
Nothing personal
I understand. Everything. Perfectly
A toast!
Come here
Let's drink to...
For people who are trying to destroy the bourgeoisie
they became too alike to it
What do you think?
Maybe that’s how they see communism
And one more thing!
We have a little surprise for you!
Here, right on this stage before you
will perform a new star of theater and cinema,
Lyubov…
You thought Orlova?
No, comrades
Lyubov Bengalskaya!
Let’s welcome her!
Oh, baron Meigel!
Sorry, comrade
Comrade Meigel has a very interesting story
he indeed was a baron
and rumors have it he was offered a choice:
he either spends 3 years in Solovki correctional camp
or…
Guten Abend
[embarassed Woland sounds]
There you are!
Is it our writer?
Who asked for permission to go abroad?
What does his letter say?..
He is responsible for recruiting
secret agents in the cultural community
What a character!
This is the ball of the dead
who just don’t know yet they will die soon
Gentlemen!
A toast!
Let’s drink to communism
that was built
in this particular apartment!
Bravo!
Hoorah, comrades!
The fire roared in the stove,
rain lashed at the windows.
Then the final thing happened.
Thank you, thank you for the great night!
Now I know how to finish the novel
Then write it down until you forget
That’s a good idea!
And I'll help you with packing
Tell me,
will you take little Pilate with you?
It’s not certain it’s Pilate
No one knows for sure what he looked like
This is definitely the procurator of Ancient Judea Pontius Pilate
How do you know?
How do I know?
I saw him myself.
Just like I’m seeing you now
I’m sorry!
Your novel got stuck in my head so firmly
I decided to be Woland for a bit
Are you expecting visitors?
They might be interested in your manuscripts
Comrades, hurry up!
The departure is in two minutes!
You decided to get rid of physical evidence
for anti-soviet propaganda?
It was useless
We’ve known for a long time
what was written in that manuscript of yours
You didn’t have to burn it down
We know about the tram
that cut off the chairman of the Union of Writers’ head,
and about vilification of the highest echelon
of Soviet power…
Who told you all these things?
Don’t interrupt me
Who?
Let’s say,
your mistress
What was her name?
Margarita?
That’s not true
What is truth?
The only single truth is the contents of this folder
He’s been seeming unreliable to all of us
since day one
One look at him and you can clearly see:
he’s not one of us
I had no idea it was Jesus!
Who do you think he was?
He told me it was Yeshua
I’m just an actor,
I play what I am told!
Who else is in your counterrevolutionary group?
Was it the manager of the theater Likhodeev
who talked you into writing this harmful play?
You recently visited his place?
He has nothing to do with this
I was invited by professor Woland
Stop misleading the investigation
We checked out everything,
you were alone at Likhodeev’s,
and no Woland exists in real life
Believe me, he does exist
I will simulate such madness now
that Kolyma will seem like heaven to you!
Your novel has been read
Yes
And they said only one thing:
‘Unfortunately, it’s not finished.’
I hate
this novel
I’ve suffered too much because of it
Nothing is of interest to me
Except for her
Margarita?
Yes
She told you herself that this novel was her life
And she’s right
There, the master and Margarita can be together forever
But yeah, it all depends on you
To achieve this, you need to finish the novel
Unfortunately, I’m not able to do this
You saw that I burnt it down in the stove
Manuscripts do not burn.
Who are you?
I’m a part of that power which still
Produceth good, whilst ever scheming ill
That’s how it goes in Wolfgang Goethe’s?
You’ve got into a very dangerous situation
Section 58
Treason and espionage
Among leaders of our country
there are people who watch
your creative work very closely
Up there…
They like to be stroked the wrong way
Key word: stroked
Understand?
You understand
We’ll restore your membership
in the Union of the Writers
You’ll get paid,
then you’ll get a summer house,
a state official car with a personal driver
You will have everything
Your sacrifice is
senseless
And yours isn’t
What?
You will be sacrificed
On the ball
What ball?
Satan’s ball
You will be the main entertainment for guests
And Queen of the Ball herself
will drink your blood
out of Berlioz’s skull
What kind of nonsense is this?
What the hell are you talking about?
Woland is already waiting
for you
You’ve gone crazy indeed
[COMPULSORY TREATMENT]
Dear fellow,
did you suffer hallucinations before?
What about those unclean forces
you wrote about in your novel?
Do you think they really exist?
Where are proofs then?
She told you herself that this novel was her life.
And she’s right.
There, the master and Margarita can be together forever.
But yeah, it all depends on you.
To achieve this, you need to finish the novel.
We’ll help you
We’ll start with 30mg of morphine
You will sleep so well tonight
You’ll feel better
Can I ask for…
What, sweetie?
A pencil and some paper
It’s not allowed
Diagnosis: dissociative personality disorder,
paranoid schizophrenia.
We prescribe a course of electroconvulsive therapy.
Let’s start with 100 Volts
Chapter 1.
Never talk with strangers
At the hour of the hot spring sunset in Moscow
two citizens appeared at the Patriarch’s Ponds.
140
It’s for your story,
so you won’t lose sheets of paper
…The poet had rushed to the turnstile
as soon as he heard the first scream... Chapter 19.
You’ll feel better.
Hide it!
That’s enough for today
The master and Margarita
She doesn’t know where I am.
And she will never know.
But you could have let her know.
Before her there would lie a letter from a madhouse.
How can one send letters from such an address..
a mental patient?
You’re joking, my friend!
I’ll see you on the parade, dear
No.
Make her unhappy?
No, I’m not capable of that.
Left, left!
1, 2, 3
Left, left!
1, 2, 3
Aloizy??
What happened to him?
I don’t understand what you’re talking about
Is he alive?
How would I know?
You told someone about the novel?
You’ve gone mad, go away
Hey, leave!
Tell me, where is he?
Praskovia Fyodorovna,
I finished it
I have one request for you:
if someday a woman comes here
and asks about me,
give this manuscript to her.
Her name is…
Margarita
And you’re the master?
I read it
Lie down
Tomorrow we’re gonna go to the procedures when you wake up…
I’ve come to you only to say farewell
Unfortunately I cannot be your neighbor any longer
I’ll keep my word,
I won’t write any more poems
I’m interested in something else now
I want to write something else
You know, while I've been here,
a lot became clear to me
Ah, but that’s good
that’s good
Do you hear?
The noise of the storm…
No
I’m being called
It’s time for me to go
Full moon, just like back then
When the full moon comes,
he is tormented by insomnia
He says one and the same thing
That even the moon gives him no peace,
and that he has a bad job
He says it every time he can't sleep
And when he sleeps,
he dreams one and the same thing:
there is a path of moonlight,
and he wants to walk down it
and talk with the prisoner Ha-Nozri,
because, as he insists,
he never finished
what he was saying that time, long ago
Now you can finish your novel with one phrase
You’re free.
I’m telling you,
your novel will bring you some surprises
You’ll see
It’s very sad.
No, it’s not sad.
It’s not sad at all.
I don't know how this hospital would do without you,
Praskovia Fyodorovna
Maybe you should become a head?
Get promoted!
Professor Stravinski!
Yes?
How did you get in here?
I’m listening to you.
You have a patient in custody
He’s a writer
I’m sorry
I forbade the disclosure of information about our patients
How did you get in here?
I really need to see him
Please!
I’m sorry, I can’t help you
I’m asking you to leave the hospital immediately
Escort her out, please
I know he’s here!
Get your hands off me!
You ruined him, didn’t you?
Insults are
the usual reward for a good job
Praskovia Fyodorvna…
I’ll be back quickly…
Wait!
I’ll escort her out, go back to work
You’re Margarita, right?
How do you know me?
I recognized you at once
I was asked to give you something
Who asked?
The master
I have to see him
Margarita Nikolaevna,
Vyacheslav Sergeevich called to say that his train will depart only tomorrow
You’re dismissed for today
Thank you, Natasha
At the hour of the hot spring sunset in Moscow
two citizens appeared at the Patriarch’s Ponds…
The thing was that the editor had commissioned
from the poet a long anti-religious poem
for the next issue of his magazine…
She was facing the Manege.
Margarita squinted in the bright sunlight
remembered how, exactly a year ago to the day and the hour,
she had sat next to him on this same bench.
A funeral procession appeared ahead.
“It would be interesting to know
who they’re burying with such surprised faces.”
Berlioz Mikhail Alexandrovich
Chairman of Massolit
So it means that those are writers following the coffin?
Well, naturally they are!
Tell me, is the critic Latunsky among them?
And I can see that you hate this Latunsky,
huh, Margarita Nikolaevna?
I’ve been sent to invite you
for a visit this evening
to a very distinguished foreigner
Not a single soul will know of this visit
And you’d better use the opportunity…
You’re hinting that I may find out about him there?
Take it
It’ll come in useful
Margarita Nikolaevna sat in front of the pier-glass,
with just a bathrobe thrown over her naked body.
On a page torn from a notebook,
she penciled a note quickly and in big letters,
without any corrections:
Forgive me and forget me as soon as possible.
I am leaving you forever.
Do not look for me, it is useless.
I have become a witch
from the grief and calamities that have struck me.
It’s time for me to go. Farewell.
Tonight, at exactly half past nine,
be so good as to take off all your clothes
and rub your face and your whole body with this ointment.
With the tip of her finger
Margarita put a small dab of the cream on her palm,
the smell of swamp grass and forest grew stronger.
The cream spread easily and,
as it seemed to Margarita, evaporated at once.
Having rubbed several times, Margarita glanced into the mirror.
Margarita Nikolaevna, is everything alright?
How?..
Allow me to introduce myself to you:
Koroviev.
You are surprised there’s no light?
Economy, so you think?
Unh-unh!
Messire simply doesn’t like electric light
Please, come on in!
No, most of all I’m struck that there’s room for all this
The most uncomplicated thing of all!
For someone well acquainted with the fifth dimension,
it costs nothing to expand space to the desired proportions.
The tradition has been established
that the hostess of the ball must without fail be named Margarita, first,
and second, she must be a native of the place
I hope you won’t refuse to take this responsibility upon yourself?
I won’t refuse.
Follow me
Messire apologizes for receiving you in his bedroom with no ceremonies.
Check
Come on in, please!
Don’t be shy!
Oooohh!
It doesn’t look well, dear Behemoth!
The situation is tough but not hopeless at all!
Please, enter the bedroom
Greetings,
my fair queen
Come on in, please
I beg you to excuse my homely attire
Greetings, Messire
Blood
Blood always has an impact
Margarita was nervous.
Her head was spinning
and she couldn’t see the surroundings clearly.
She could only discern that the room where they were preparing her for the ball
was either made of onyx or smoky stone.
It will be hard
You must be kind to them all
If you don't like anybody
you mustn't even think about it!
They'll notice it instantly
No one forgives inattention
Please, put your foot here
Your beautiful foot…
Yes, just like that!
Where are the guests?
Ten seconds to midnight
It will begin in a moment
Queen,
allow me to give the signal
Ja ja, do it!
The ball!
Monsieur Jacques and his wife!
I recommend him to you, your majesty,
a most interesting man!
He was famous for having poisoned the king's mistress in 1458
Your majesty…
You're welcome
Enchanté!
Her majesty is charmed!
Signora Toffana!
She was extremely popular among the young and attractive ladies of Naple,
especially among those who were tired of their husbands.
Women do get bored with their husbands!
Well, yeah…
…Well, Signora Toffana sold them some liquid in a bladder.
A woman poured the liquid into her husband's soup
and then the lady was as free as air!
Her majesty is delighted!
Her majesty is charmed!
Enchanté!
Her majesty is charmed!
We are charmed!
This is someone new!
Fresh meat…
He wanted to get rid of a man who was threatening to denounce him.
So he made his secretary spray the other man's office walls with poison
We are delighted, Black Queen!
We are delighted! We are charmed!
Enchanté! Enchanté!
On and on poured the stream from below.
Its source — the huge fireplace — showed no sign of drying up.
An hour passed, then another.
Margarita showed no interest in the procession of dukes,
poisoners, gallows-birds, procuresses, jailers, card-sharpers,
hangmen, informers, traitors and seducers.
Her head swam with their names,
their faces merged into a great blur.
Margarita's legs were buckling
and she was afraid that she might burst into tears at any moment.
And this is Frieda.
When she worked in a cafe
the owner enticed her into the storeroom
and nine months later she gave birth to a boy,
carried him into the woods,
stuffed a handkerchief into his mouth
and then buried him.
I am so happy to be invited to the great ball of the full moon.
By the way!
Take it!
Your handkerchief!
Yes!
Please, come on in!
Frieda
Frieda!
My name is Frieda!
Lady, please, come on in, there’s champagne!
Escorted by Koroviev, Margarita returned to the ballroom,
but now the dance had stopped
and the guests were crowded between the pillars.
At the last chime of the invisible clock
silence fell on the crowd of guests.
Then Margarita saw Woland.
It all came true, Mikhail Alexandrovich!
The meeting didn't take place, didn't it?
Your head was cut off by a woman.
That is a fact.
And a fact is the most obdurate thing in the world!
You have always been a fervent proponent of the theory that
when a man's head is cut off his life stops,
and he ceases to exist.
What a stupid theory!
But one theory
deserves another.
My theory is that a man will receive his deserts
in accordance with his beliefs.
You shall depart into the void,
and I will drink to life
from a cup you will become now.
Cup!
Here he is!
I’m coming!
Where are you leading me?
Let me introduce to you,
the most sympathetic baron Meigel!
Everybody’s been waiting for you! Come on in!
Come here!
Please, come in!
By the way!
Herr Baron,
rumors have been going round that
you have an unquenchable curiosity.
What is more, tongues have let slip the words
spy and rat.
This may bring you to an unhappy end in less than a month from now.
So in order to save you
from the agonizing suspense of waiting,
we have decided to come to your help.
Ladies and gentlemen!
To your health!
Drink.
Drink! It’s wine.
Don't be afraid, my queen
The blood has long since drained away into the earth
and grapes have grown on the spot…
Please, Queen
Take a seat
Well,
was it very exhausting?
Oh no, Messire
The night of the full moon
is a night of celebration,
and I dine in the company
of my close friends and my servants
and my guests
Drink it up!
Pure alcohol…
Perhaps you want something?
No
Nothing, Messire
However, if you still need me
I am ready to do anything you wish
Bravo!
That's how you do it!
You passed the test
Remember:
you should never ask anyone for anything
Nothing, no one
Especially from those who are more powerful than yourself
They will come
and they will make the offer
So, Margot
For having been my queen tonight,
what do you want?
Don't be shy!
Speak without constraint
because I made the offer
Tell me
your wish
So, it means
I may ask for one thing…
You may demand it
I want them to stop giving Frieda back the handkerchief
she used to stifle her baby
You seem to be a good person
No, Messire
I tell you frankly that I only asked you about Frieda
because I was rash enough to give her a firm hope
All right, that didn't count
Margot,
what do you want for yourself,
you proud woman?
I want you to give me back my lover
the master
And I want everything to be as it was before
I’m asking you to bring us back to the basement on Arbat
You can't just make everything as it was before
But we’ll try
It’s you
Have no doubts,
it’s me
You’ve indeed become like a witch
I am a witch
And I’m very happy about it
Ain’t misbehaving,
ain’t bothering anybody,
just repairing my primus
And I also consider it my duty to warn you
that the cat is an ancient and inviolable animal
Well, you inviolable,
ventriloquous cat…
Come right in
Shoot him!
It’s all over,
step back from me for a second,
let me say farewell to the earth…
Bring the net!
Hey, gas will explode!
[Gas to every Soviet house!]
Such an interesting city, is it not?
I like Rome better, Messire
The darkness that came from the Mediterranean Sea
covered the city hated by the procurator…
Are all duties paid?
Yes
It’s time to go
Listen to the stillness,
listen and enjoy
what you were not given in life
peace and quiet
I’m a part of that power which still
Produceth good, whilst ever scheming ill
Translation and subtitles: tristezaeternal