At night, Oleg kept watch on the perimeter.
He was tired.
His body felt empty and ordinary.
Thrice the men had gone to the mountain pass, all for nothing.
They couldn't get through.
Some came back, others didn't.
Fifty-fifty, like the old man says.
PEREVAL (MOUNTAIN PASS)
Once on a cold winter day, I wandered through the woods.
It was mighty cold.
Suddenly I saw a horse, climbing up the hill...
Hitched... wagon...
What's a horse?
A horse is a four-legged animal.
Used for riding and transporting cargo...
Oleg had seen the photo a thousand times:
Father and Mother, young and radiant.
Father is wearing his uniform,
and Mother is wearing a sleeveless dress.
They call it... a "sarafan."
Oleg didn't exist then.
Twenty years ago, Oleg didn't exist.
But fifteen years ago, he did.
Too bad you came so quickly.
I could have handled it myself.
Are you alright?
You're crying! Are you hurt?
No, I dropped the mushrooms.
This is where the avalanche trapped us.
But no, Nikita died higher up the canyon.
It was Autumn.
The temperature dropped down to 40 at night.
Radiation was one of the reasons we had to leave so quickly.
Many were sick or wounded, but now...
I am relying on you in particular.
On your knowledge.
Ha, look at our Atlas.
They're still children.
They're all we have.
They're our last hope.
They can save us.
Save us?
You're still talking about that!
The men went to the pass three times, and how many came back?
We were inexperienced then.
We didn't understand the laws of this place.
Now we have a fortunate set of circumstances.
The summer is unseasonably warm.
And the children have grown.
They have ten times the endurance we have.
It's now or never.
If the others hadn't died,
we would have more able-bodied men now.
That's true.
But we would still be subject to the laws of degradation.
Either we are part of mankind, preserving its knowledge, striving for it,
or we are savages with no prospects.
You're an idealist, Boris.
A slice of bread today is more important than abstract pineapples.
But you remember the taste of a pineapple.
What a funny word.
A pineapple is a tropical fruit with a peculiar taste...
Enough.
What is that?
Why?
It's a radiation counter.
It may be radioactive there.
Thomas, if you find some tobacco, don't forget to bring it!
And the ray gun!
I won't forget!
The main thing is to find the ray gun!
I won't forget...
Why go?
You won't make it.
You won't come back alive.
You won't make it.
You won't come back alive.
Moments of beauty are rare in life
But there's plenty of unbelief and toil
Thoughts of the past line our pale faces with creases
Thoughts of the future are full of leaden worry
The present doesn't exist
So between the two shores,
We battle without light, without happiness, hopes or gods
So sometimes, to remember that we are still alive,
We divert our hearts with another man's game
There's a sea of ugly grey faces at the boundary
But the wings of blue birds sparkle in their eyes
The blue canvas of the skies unfurls once more
Oh, how we missed that blue light
And we missed the words of triumph
Gestures brave and free, impossible dreams
All we have, all we have are walls
A home frightful and dark
Ceaselessly we must recite...
The same old words
But it's not easy to extinguish the spark in our hearts
How can we live with open eyes but no faith or hope?
And continue this absurd play, like mindless sheep,
With no fire, no inspiration, no beginning, no end?
So sometimes, to remember that we are still alive,
We divert our hearts with another man's game
- Is the cave near? - Very near.
It'll be dark soon. Night creatures will come.
The cave!
Don't!
Can't you see? It's my goat!
Three years ago, Mariana found a goat in the woods.
It was still very small.
The goat had a whiny bleat.
It stomped its hooves and shrieked.
It lived in the village until Spring.
It got used to humans and rarely bit anyone.
It hung around Sergeev's shop, where it was warm.
Then the night creatures came and took him away.
I fell asleep.
Me too. I don't know how it happened.
The goat woke me.
Good boy. Good boy.
Halt!
This way.
What is that?
Incredible!
It's a flask!
This was our last rest stop.
It's Vaitkus's flask.
Flask? What's it for?
It's incredible!
I think I'll live.
What pretty pots. Let's take them!
No, there's plenty of them there.
Let me try.
Savage children can't have cognac.
Okay, fine.
But just a small sip.
You poisoned him!
Don't worry, it'll pass.
I'm almost certain now that we'll make it.
Onward, friends, onward!
Who stole it?
I'll kill him!
He was hungry! Dick, don't kill him!
Take this.
When you get to the ship, the first thing is to check for radiation.
- You know how? - Yes.
You'll get better soon.
I'll make it.
I've been on this path for sixteen years.
And I'll make it.
Mushrooms! I'm going down!
Oleg, hold on!
Hold on!
Too bad the goat got away.
I'll find him anyway, and I'll kill him.
I'm glad he got away.
- Where are they? - Look, footprints.
Steady, Oleg!
Give me your hand!
We're going back.
No, we're going forward.
- We have no chance of crossing the pass. - We have a map!
The map is old. Things may have changed.
Thomas said we only had one more day!
We can't trust the map. It was a long time ago.
I'm going to the pass.
Me too.
Don't you see, Dick?
They're counting on us.
The map is old!
Things may have changed!
They stood together.
Three exhausted savages.
Three microscopic figures in an enormous, strange, empty world.
They looked upon the dead ship...
that had fallen to this planet sixteen years ago.
The ship lay sideways in the snow.
Right in the center of a crater.
The captain managed to steer it there after the engines had failed.
He landed the ship there...
in a snowstorm, at night, in fog.
When you get to the ship, check the radiation levels.
Thomas didn't say how it opens...
The torch!
I have two homes:
The village,
and the research ship Polus.
I am not afraid.
Let's go!
Navigation room.
There's landing craft and other equipment here.
But the power supply was damaged in the landing.
That was the fatal blow.
The crew and passengers had to get through the mountains on foot.
Many perished.
Right.
This is the landing craft they dragged out of the dock.
But they didn't make it...
They had to flee.
You studied well. Now what?
This door leads to the stockroom.
It was a strange and wondrous feast.
Everything was tempting and unusual.
Not everything was to their liking.
They loved condensed milk,
but they didn't know it was condensed milk.
They didn't realize they were eating sardines.
They chewed flour, and didn't like it.
They didn't know what it was.
Let's go.
Let's sleep here.
It's safe.
No, it's better outside.
SALT
This is my home.
I've been here before.
I was born here.
Somewhere on this ship is the cabin where I was born.
Number 44.
In an ordinary life, you can't run into yourself.
But here...
Here, tied to the crib,
he saw an unfinished milk bottle.
The milk had frozen,
but you could thaw it and finish drinking.
Come back sixteen years later, and finish it.
At that moment,
listening to that rattle, and remembering its sound,
Oleg fully understood the reality of the ship.
Moments of beauty are rare in life
But there's plenty of unbelief and toil
Thoughts of the past line our pale faces with creases
Thoughts of the future are full of leaden worry
The present doesn't exist
So between the two shores,
We battle without light, without happiness, hopes or gods
So sometimes, to remember that we are still alive,
We divert our hearts with another man's game
Let mirages of happiness with sweet longing rise up again
Let them fool us into thinking that beauty lives in the castle of death
Age-old fairytales and blue birds are welcome guests
Our forgotten tears tremble within those fables...
Oleg, answer it!
Tell them we're here. Don't just stand there!
It's some kind of mechanism.
I don't know how to respond.
But I'll take books with me.
Many books.
I'll study, and we'll return here again.
And I'll let Earth know where we are.
The goat!
He was waiting for us!
Guys, it's a she-goat.
A doe!
And so they went.
Dick and Oleg pulled the sleigh,
and Mariana steered it from behind.
The goat and her kids came last,
whining for food.
Even when they got to the forest, with mushrooms and roots,
she still wanted condensed milk.
But like the travelers, she didn't know...
that the sweet white substance was called "condensed milk."
Written by Kir Bulychev
Directed by V. Tarasov