studioSoyuzmultfilm
"Mumu"
based on the tale by I.Turgenev
Subtitles by Niffiwan, partially using
Constance Garnett's translation.
In one of the outlying streets of Moscow,
there once lived a lady,
a widow,
surrounded by a numerous
household of serfs.
Her day, a joyless and gloomy
day, had long been over;
and the evening of her life
was blacker than night.
Because of this, she was
tantrum-prone and capricious.
In her house lived comates,
laundresses, sempstresses,
carpenters, tailors and tailoresses,
a harness-maker, and a
household doctor for the mistress.
Of all her servants, the most
remarkable person was the
deaf and dumb porter, Gerasim.
He missed his home dearly,
but a man can get used to anything,
and Gerasim got used at last to city life.
Among these servants was a
laundress named Tatiana.
At one time she had passed for a beauty,
but her good looks had
left her very early;
she did the work of two, but
had never known any affection.
She took his fancy, whether by
the mild expression of her face,
or the timidity of her
movements, who can tell?
The mistress also had a
shoemaker, named Kapiton.
A sad drunkard.
The lady regretted the
corrupted morals of Kapiton,
And so she proposed
to the head steward:
Why don't we marry Kapiton?
Perhaps he'll become steadier.
I fancy he likes Tatiana.
Yes! ...let him marry Tatiana!
So passed a year
Kapiton became a hopeless drunkard.
and as being absolutely
of no use for anything,
was sent away in the spring
to a distant village with Tatiana.
With the first store wagons.
All night did Gerasim
look after the pup.
No mother could have
looked after her baby
as Gerasim looked
after his little nursling.
He had even given
her a name - "Mumu".
Mumu fulfilled that spiritual emptiness
which Gerasim had after the
departure of Tatiana.
The loneliness which had
tortured and worried him
suddenly vanished.
He now gave all of his
love and attachment
to the little living creature, Mumu.
Upon seeing Mumu, the lady cried out:
Mercy! But it's a charming little dog!
Order it to be brought in.
Oh, how stupid she is!
Take her away from here!
A wretched little dog!
What trifles, if you think of it,
will sometimes disturb anyone!
The lady liked to pretend that she
was a bent and widowed sufferer.
"Can some wretched dog really be
more prized than my own life?"
she complained,
and the head steward promised
that tomorrow, the dog would
not be among the living.
The head steward tried to explain
to Gerasim that the lady was
dissatisfied with him,
and that he must hand
over the dog at once,
or it would be the worse for him.
Gerasim hurried without looking back.
He hurried home to his own village,
to his home land,
as though his old mother
were waiting for him,
and calling him,
after a long journey among
foreign lands and foreign people.
Screenplay
A.Kostinskiy, V.Karavayev
Director
V.Karavayev
Art directors
G.Melko, G.Arkadyev
Camera - V.Strukov
Composer - A.Raskatov
Sound operator - V.Kutuzov
Animators: Y.Kulakov,
L.Lobanova, A.Abarenov
Y.Kuzurin, N.Bogomolova,
V.Kolesnikova, Y.Malashenkova,
V.Shilobreyev, R.Mitrofanov
Artists
A.Atamanova, N.Demidova
V.Kharitonova, V.Makina,
M.Ryabikova
Narrator
A.Kalyagin
Assistant director - L.Morozova
Editor - I.Gerasimova
Script editor - Y.Nikitkina
Film group director - O.Khruleva
The End
(C) Soyuzmultfilm film studio