relatives?
Yes, my closest.
This one is Edgar Allan Poe.
He drank and died in the gutter.
And this one?
Arthur Rimbaud.
He died of a venereal disease.
And this one?
Hirsch. He threw himself
down the stairs.
Very interesting.
Really?
Wait. Isn't that. . .?
These are my nearest and dearest.
Alexandr Blok, his wife,
and his friend Andrei Bely.
Are you serious?
-I thought Blok was a monk.
-In a certain sense, he is a monk.
-Then why does he have a wife?
-She's not his wife at all!
Wait.
You just said she was his wife.
No, she is his Muse, understand?
She doesn't belong to this world.
Understand?
Of course, I understand.
No, you don't!
They have a spiritual marriage.
They don't touch each other
but have a fuller life
than Romeo and Juliet.
She's an angel.
And those are her knights:
Alexandr and Andrei.
Clearly.
Did you really understand?
Do you find it interesting?
Very.
Me too, I am never getting married.
And if I do, my husband
will be a spiritual person
with whom I will never have
a physical relationship.
Do you have such a person in mind?
-I have a brother.
-A brother?
Yes, well , he's not really my brother.
Yuri is not what you are thinking.
-I'm not thinking anything.
-That's good.
Read his poetry.
Only if you're interested , of course.
You know, I can't get
that mob gathering out of my head.
Such fervor!
Those people united by impulse!
Any crowd , Grigory,
is abode of mediocrity.
Whether you agree
with Kant or Marx.
Mavericks only seek the truth out.
-What's with the face?
-It's strong.
It's Shustovsky.
Excellent stuff.
One must have faith in Christ
and in one's own soul , and that's it.
My Misha is a Christian.
But I'm Jewish , you know.
You don't understand.
You can even be an atheist,
but you have to know that people
live in history, not in nature.
And our modern history
was established by Christ.
What is history?
Good question.
It's an age-old process
of solving the riddle of death
and finding the way to overcome it.
And here you can't ignore the Gospel
for it is a tool that will help
conquer death.
First of all ,
it's loving your neighbor,
the idea of a free individual ,
the idea of life as a sacrifice.
What about the ancients?
They had no history.
Sasha, then what was there?
A few Caligulas,
practicing debauchery.
Sasha, not for me.
Antonina!
Hang on tight, brother.
The show begins.
Act one. Caligula in a skirt.
-Feklischev got a lashing.
-Really? Is he alive?
-What could happen to him?
-Where did it happen?
At the police station.
Monsters!
Meet Valdemar.
He's a specialist in Sanskrit.
Nice to meet you.
I'm Antonina.
Awful!
Everything is horrible!
It's not about the beating.
It's about the humiliation.
-What did they get him for?
-For protesting.
He took his clothes off
in front of the workers.
-What do you mean?
-Completely naked.
Where did he find the workers?
Tonya, where would he
find the workers?
At the train station.
They were holding a strike there,
he stepped onto the podium and
took his clothes off without a word.
I consider it
an absolutely radical move!
What's this?
Who's this peacock?
Shura, meet Mikhail Gordon ,
our guest.
Shlezinger.
Liberal journalist.
Shlezinger?
It's the name
of one of her husbands.
She has had three or four.
I lost count.
Her maiden name is Ferdyschenko,
or something like that.
Maybe I can take the pillow from you?
He uses the pillow to carry
the translation of the Fifth Gospel.
Is there such a thing?
He says there is.
In the Himalayas.
Is the Fifth very different
from the Fourth?
How does he know
if he's never read the Fourth?
Is there Christ in it at least?
No!
This story with Feklischev
really hit me between the eyes!
-We have to act.
-How about an open letter of protest?
-They won't publish it, rascals!
-Then , a private letter.
You know what?
I just read Yuri's book.
-Is he home now? Call him.
-No, he'll be home late.
Because of