Eisenstein in Guanajuato Page #7

and then I fall sick with some mystery disease

that no one can find a name for, even in Aztec.

And what about this letter

that Upton sent to the Russians in America,

saying that the hacienda story's

the only one that makes a film

that anyone could understand in Hollywood

and that the rest is just

aimless pretty pictures?

Upton does not simply understand

that the film needs to be edited the right way.

Well, he says the rushes are the same thing

- over and over again.

- Jesus!

That's the way you make a film, god damn it!

Where have you been?

We keep shooting till we get it right.

Not every single retake

is in the goddamn film!

He said, anyway, at the end of his letter

that he was convinced that it would be

a beautiful and magnificent work of art.

And, and look what he wrote

to Stalin, "Dear Stalin..."

You don't address the Premier

of the USSR like that.

Upton did, and he's a writer.

"You may have heard

"that I have taken the job

of financing a moving picture,

"which the Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein

"is making in Mexico.

"It is going to be extraordinary work

"and I think will be a revelation

"of the moving-picture art.

"Someday you will see the picture

"which Eisenstein is making

"and realise that Soviet technique

"has advanced another step

"and been crowned with fresh laurels."

Well, I'm not sure what else

he wrote in that letter,

but he must have provoked Stalin somehow,

because this is what he telegrammed

back to your husband.

Oh.

"Eisenstein lose his comrade

confidence in Soviet Union.

"Stop. He is thought to be a deserter

"who broke off with his own country. Stop.

"I'm afraid the people here

"would have no interest in him. Stop.

"I'm very sorry,

but all assert it is the fact. Stop.

"My regards, Stalin."

How did you get hold of a private telegram

from Stalin to my husband?

Well, from those very people

who apparently have no interest in me.

So who's lying?

And my husband wrote back at once,

saying he had never,

ever thought you were a deserter

and had never been disloyal

and that you were ferociously attacked

by the American rednecks in California

and that you stood firm in your principles

and had every intention of returning

when the film was completed.

There are so many

contradictions flying around

to your advantage,

it is hard to believe

that you want us to succeed.

And I wonder what you have not contributed

to all these contradictions.

You have been nothing but trouble

from the moment we started.

Even on the train leaving Los Angeles,

you get into a fight with the brother

of the Mexican Chief of Police.

Well, we weren't to know who he was!

He was ravishing some woman

on my couchette!

Ha!

With nights under hotel arrest

until Sinclair phoned Chaplin

to persuade them to release you.

Well, see how popular we are.

In the end, we had 12 American senators,

Douglas Fairbanks,

and Albert Einstein rooting for us.

And the Mexican President apologised.

What about that business with the young man

stealing your gun and shooting his sister?

That was an unhappy accident,

which you well know.

And it wasn't my gun.

This troublemaker, your brother,

is being very far from helpful.

His poor, not to say, bad management,

and his not knowing anything

about film production

has wasted hundreds of dollars

that we could do well with.

He has presented me to your husband

as a liar and a blackmailer

and God knows what else.

It is impossible to work

under such an ignorant tyrant.

What the hell does he know

about film production?

He's just a stockbroker salesman

from the provincial South.

You have to get him off my back.

- I wouldn't be at all surprised...

- Seor!

If he was spending the film money

on women, drink, and gambling.

We all know he was jailed in Mrida

for public indecency at a brothel,

throwing whores into a... Swimming pool.

You are a liar and a slanderer.

I am a respectable businessman,

and you and your company

are just a bunch of homos.

Ah, what have we provoked?

I think Mary, Mrs Upton Sinclair,

we have all said more than

we intended, eh, Kimbrough?

I think not, Mr Sergei Eisenstein.

I think not.

Well, how am I to arrive

in this skeleton state for real?

You have four options.

One. The Stalin option,

an assassin from Moscow.

Ah! Poisoned coffee. (CHUCKLES)

Machete in the desert.

- Pig falling down from balcony.

- (BOTH LAUGHING)

Car without brakes. Eight out of ten.

Oh, or two, wasting away

in a Mexican jail for moral turpitude,

either for the seduction

of the young and under aged or...

- (LAUGHS)

- Or, or for sodomy,

in which case expect perhaps

a red-hot poker up your arse

like Edward II.

Six out of ten.

Or three, Sinclair's revenge.

He sets light to my film.

And throws you on the pyre. Two out of ten.

Or four, the Camorrista kidnap me

and cut me up into little pieces,

mailing me off on the slow boat

to Saint Petersburg.

500,000 rubles for every pound of flesh.

- Zero out of ten.

- Which is it going to be?

Well, I think the Camorrista

are the most deserving.

We don't want to disappoint them.

We just have to take

Hunter Kimbrough's photograph

and give it to the newspapers.

- That will do nicely.

- (BOTH LAUGHING)

Camorrista!

(BOTH GRUNTING)

No! No! No! Aah!

(CLASSICAL MUSIC)

(BOTH GRUNTING)

(BOTH LAUGHING)

(HUMMING ALONG TO MEXICAN MUSIC)

Come on, try it.

Right. Come on.

Right, left.

(BOTH CHUCKLING)

Oh. Oh!

Hey.

(BREATHING HEAVILY)

Well, I have to teach from 11:00

for three hours.

See you later.

(CONTINUES HUMMING)

(CHUCKLES)

(LINE TRILLING)

(LINE CLICKS)

Pera? ls that you?

PERA:
Sergei, it's the middle of the night.

Oh, I'm sorry,

were you asleep?

Did I wake you?

Do you have anyone with you?

PERA:
Sergei, is that likely?

(CHUCKLES) I was wondering

if you had finally given in to Boris.

PERA:
Things are heating up here

about your long absence.

They are threatening

to take away your apartment.

What? They can't do that.

PERA:
Sergei, I'm afraid they can.

Do you want me to start

packing up your books?

My God,

it will take me months.

Listen, Pera, listen,

I have something extraordinary

to tell you.

This country...

This country is astonishing.

All the large things in life

constantly hit you on your head,

in the pit of your stomach,

and in your heart.

Nothing can be superficial.

You know how I work...

Timid with affairs

of the heart and body.

My prick always

safely tucked up in my trousers.

PERA:
Sergei!

You know

I'm a work automaton.

Well, suddenly

my timidity collapsed.

My defences fell down.

I shocked myself.

I behaved without reserve.

You would have been

both shocked and amazed.

And I would have

wanted you to be.

Everything we ever talked about

has been bowled over.

(SIGHS) I have been moaning

and complaining to you

that I could not go

the distance.

Well, now I have... (CHUCKLES)

And beyond.

I have got everything

that I desired.

And not just

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