EndGorky Film Studio
They're hunting wolves!
The hunt is on, pursuing
The wily predators,
The she-wolf and her brood.
V. Vysotsky
Dmitri KHARATYAN
Vitaly SOLOMlN
Yelena YAKOVLEVA
Vasily LANOVOY
Tatyana LYUTAYEVA
Tatyana KRAVCHENKO
Vladimir TALASHKO
Vadim ANDREYEV
Emanuil VlTORGAN
Andrei BOLTNEV
Armen DZHlGARKHANYAN
as Georgadze
Mikhail GLUZSKY
as General Tsapko
in a Yuri MOROZ film
BLACK SQUARE
Based on the book ''A Fair in Sokolniki''
by Friedrich Neznansky
Director of Photography
Boris NOVOSYOLOV
Production Designer
lnessa RATNlKOVA
Music by
Yuri POTEYENKO
Vysotsky lyrics translated by
Kneller, Gendelev
As long as l can remember myself,
l've always wanted to be a detective.
All that romantic stuff
from movies and books.
The felon is fleeing,
the detective's pursuing him.
Yet you'll never
see in a movie
a detective fleeing from a felon.
Excuse me.
Producer
Sergey ZHlGUNOV
Written and directed by
Sergey MOROZ
Well, first there was no
detective, of course.
There was no Kostya Merkulov,
as there was no Rita.
There was a trainee, Alexander
Turetsky, 25 years old.
That's me.
Back in April of this year,
the commission on assigning
young specialists
sent me for training
to Moscow Prosecution Office.
Here, on this photo, l'm with
my classmates after the assignment.
Not one of the best of my pictures.
This is my father and mother.
Father died in the North
right after l was born,
so l don't remember him.
Shurik!
Why are you sleeping? Look
what you've done to yourjeans.
Jesus Christ!
Got an iron?
- Yes.
- Bring it.
Hi, grannies.
Here she is.
Yesterday in the middle of the day
they checked documents in the store.
Those who are supposed
to be at work at that time
were taken right to the can.
Are you crazy?
You whacko!
lra, try to be a conscientious
citizen and iron my jeans.
No way. Why should l?
When you've earned all the currency
at the National Hotel, l'll marry you.
What the fuck do l need you for?
l can tell you what to do so that
they don't check your documents.
- We had a briefing yesterday.
- Okay then.
Oh, Sashka...
l don't need Sashka Turetsky,
l don't need Africa, either!
Hey, tell me what to do so that they
don't check my documents in the store.
Don't go to the store at working
hours, go to your work.
l should admit
that l'm very lucky.
This is my chief and mentor
Konstantin Dmitriyevich Merkulov,
detective on special cases
of Moscow Prosecution Office,
an extraordinary personality.
Standard solutions are not
his style, even in personal life.
A few years ago, the inveterate
bachelor Merkulov fell in love.
The object of his love was
a quiet woman named Lyolya.
With an additional baggage, as they
say, of a blond daughter, Lidochka.
This story smacks of
''La Dame aux Camelias'',
though with a flavor of
Socialist Realism.
Today we're on duty on Petrovka.
Every experienced
Moscow detective
has to be a desk officer for 24 hours.
Today is the 17th of November.
Today l'm going to see Rita.
Where's Gryaznov?
Sleeping in the car.
We're understaffed,
Konstantin Dmitriyevich.
You and the trainee are here, l'm here,
the criminal investigator is coming.
But the medical expert is absent.
Who's on duty today?
Rita Nikolayevna Schastlivaya,
First Gradskaya Hospital.
The clocks are not for the happy ones.
(Schastlivaya means 'happy' in Russian)
Where're you going?
Oh yes, of course, just a minute.
My pass...
Here.
l've got instructions
to let no one in.
See? l'm not letting anyone in.
Come in half an hour.
When the government leaves,
we'll let you through.
Top secret. To the officer in charge
at the Department of lnternal Affairs.
Official telephone message.
Today, November 1 7, 1982,
at 12:45 hours,
a policeman patrolling the Exhibition
of National Economic Achievements
discovered a man's body
hanging from a wire loop.
Since this case
is of obscure nature,
l request sending a criminal police