With support of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine
Ukranimafilm
Viy .
Viy Based on the eponymous novel by Gogol
Once, in an ale-house, two friends from the Pakievska seminary met -
Bogoslav Kholava and Tiberius Gorobetz.
Kholava!
Kholava,
Have you heard what has happened to Thomas Brutus?
No. What?
Our Thomas perished.
How did we lose him?
Do you remember when we got lost in the steppe?
No I don't remember... Oh, yeah! That was a dark night.
One can't see anything.
Where is the road?
It is gone.
Let's shout. There should be a farm near here.
Ahoy. Ahoy!!..
The farm!
It's from the farm.
I told you that a farm was near.
Here we are!
Maybe we can get something to eat here,
and maybe a little drink for the night!
Open up.
Who's there?
Simple monks.
We have lost our way. Let us spend the night here.
It is impossible. The whole house is full of people.
Sleep in the steppe.
Go away!
Have mercy old woman!
How can you let Christian souls suffer for no reason?
Let us in, grandma.
Well, I'll let you in! But you must sleep in different rooms.
You will sleep in the barn.
You will meet the horses. How good for you.
As you wish! Although it might have been better to sleep in the steppe.
What is it, grandma?
Eh! Listen here, grandma:
Today's a fast, and I am the sort of man who will not break it even for 1000 golden coins.
You, dear, are too old for this kind of stuff.
What do you want?
Go away... go away in the name of God.
You are hurting me.
Oh!? What is this?
What is happening to me? What is this sinful bliss overwhelming me?
Scary and sweet.
Lord! Oh Lord! Forgive my sinfulness!
Prayer. I need a prayer.
Resurrect, God. Let all of your enemies go away like smoke.
Abolish all unholy spirits.
Holy saints! Holy saints! Holy saints!
Ha ha. Ha ha!
Thomas got scared!
Don't laugh.
Hear what happened next.
Rumors came up that the daughter of a rich noble from an estate near Kiev
came home all beat up and very close to death.
She summoned for Thomas Brutus to read the prayers for the dead on her.
They sent the horses for him.
I remember. Thomas did not want to go.
But our rector used his cane.
Then Thomas agreed.
Where did you come to know my daughter?
I do not know her, gracious sir; I declare I do not know her.
My dearest died.
Before her death, she told her mother: Let no one offer up prayers for me.
Send to Kiev for the student Thomas Brutus;
"Thomas Brutus"
He shall pray three nights running for my sinful soul
— he knows.
"He knows."
But what he really knows she never said.
Yes. I believe it would be better to send for a deacon, he'll know what is to be done.
But me...
Oh, no. If you want me to spare your life,
you'll read the prayers for her - 3 nights, for which you'll be rewarded. With gold.
But if you do not, You shall taste the iron spike.
Go!
Never mind. I can manage to hold out for three nights,
and then the colonel will fill both my pockets with gold.
Ah! The witch!
What is there to be afraid of?
She will not rise from her bier, since she fears God's word.
Oh, woe upon me.
Holy saints! Holy saints! Holy saints! What horror.
Maybe it was a dream?
It was not a dream.
Thomas didn't tell any one what he saw in the church.
He asked Garilki for a room and went to sleep till the evening.
And in the evening they brought him to the church again.
I am over the first shock.
The first time I was frightened, but I am not frightened at all now!
Be gone! Be gone, Satan!
My Lord! My Lord save me!
In the evening, Thomas was found barely alive.
When they brought him to daylight, he was pale as a towel.
Maybe that's the way it happened and maybe it was not.
Maybe he was drunk.
I don't know. That's what people say.
Thomas decided to run.
Good day. Well, how are you getting on?
Let me go, Pan.
How's that?
I can't. I can't go on!
Your daughter, sir, she is, of course, of noble descent -
no one can dispute that, nevertheless...
...don’t be angry, and may God grant her eternal rest!
She is in league with the devil.
Listen here, philosopher! It was not for nothing that she sent for you.
There is only one night more!
Go!
What horror.
I will run away.
I'm not afraid.
What have I really to fear? Am I not a Cossack?
I held out for 2 nights. With God's help I will get through the third night as well.
My Lord. My king almighty.
I sold my soul.
The devil tricked me with his black doings.
Woe upon me. Oh, woe upon me!
Oh, King, take his soul, And let mine go.
Here comes his army. Have mercy on me.
Bring the Viy*. Bring him! * The king of the gnomes
Bring the child to me. Raise my eyelids!
I can’t see anything!
I must not watch.
There is he!
Aghh! I've lost my sinful soul.
They never found a trace of him.
The church became a scary place, with monsters stuck in windows and doors.
It became overgrown,
and no one goes there anymore. Yeah.
He was a fine fellow, Thomas,
but he lost his life for nothing!
Yes; God had appointed it so:
He died because he feared the witch.
One ought to cross oneself incessantly and spit exactly on her tail,
and then not the least harm can happen.
I know all about it, for here, in Kiev, all grannies in the market-place are witches.
Maybe that's true,
but let's remember Thomas Brutus.
Amen!
screenwriter & director Alla Grachova
art-directors M. Churylov, I. Kotkov based on sketches by V. Melnychenko
camera A. Havrylov director L. Zarubin sound I. Pogon, Yu. Nechesa
animators K. Chykyn, A. Grachova
artists N. Mylkovytska, O. Fomenko, L. Snezhko,V. Kozarenko, M. Korolkova, O. Makarova, I. Borodayeva, S. Golovin
voices B. Benyuk, I. Kadubets, N. Sumska, V. Mazur, Ye. Shakh
music V. Runchak, L Hrabobskiy, V. Shapovalenko, V. Rybalchenko, M. Skorulskiy, B. Moshkova, O. Skryabin
montage L. Mokrousovaya assistants A. Lapchinska, L. Kucherova, I. Shevchuk
script editor S. Kutsenko production director V. Kilinskiy
The End, Kiev, 1996 subs by zemzela@gmail.com, revised by Eus (2015) and Niffiwan (2024)