Perestroika Page #5

after years of separation!

There is another person, well

known to most of you here,

whom we haven't seen in just as

many years as Sasha.

Friends, let us drink to the

ever beautiful Helen of Troy!

Excuse me, are you... Helen

Preston?

Yes, yes I am.

You called... Asked me to

come... Here I am.

I am Sasha Greenberg.

Of course! Of course! You're

the famous Greenberg!

Famous? How?

The first physicist refusenik.

The freedom fighter.

So, you came over from America

on an exchange program?

Citizen, you are violating laws

here.

Let's see your pass!

You've been fired from this

institute.

You should've turned in your

pass a long time ago.

I'll be leaving in a few

minutes.

What few minutes?

Chromov, Come on, take his other

arm!

Sasha!

This is a serious offense.

This is a scientific facility, we

have classified information here.

Lucky for us, a comrade called

and informed us.

Otherwise, we'd be taking the

heat for this.

Is that the spy?

Let's have him!

Sasha, I will be behind you.

You're Greenberg?

I am.

You can go.

Why was I detained?

Why don't you ask your buddies

at the institute.

Suddenly, there's this racket -

spy, spy, spy!

The director of the institute

says "he's no spy".

So go on, get out of here before

someone else gives an opinion!

Oh, thank God, it's you!

I called the embassy, I called

Gross.

I guess Gross he must have got

through to them. Thanks.

Did you know this could happen

if you showed up?

I didn't entirely discount the

possibility.

So why did you come?

You asked me to.

Until the end of last century,

Moscow was a completely unique city.

All green and white, yellow and

gold.

Hills were covered with gardens,

white and yellow mansions

and palaces with green roofs

drowning in the gardens,

golden domes crowning churches

and cathedrals..

So, you were saying that your

experiments support my hypothesis?

Now, if gamma is less than one

you must increase the mass by a

factor of two.

Right. But gamma is more than

one in this case.

Can we see your house from here?

My house? Ah, it's over there.

You see the yellow high-rises

right behind there.

Let's go there?

God, I've never felt so happy.

Happy Birthday!

You gonna let me in?

Of course... Come in, I didn't

invite anyone.

Didn't plan anything.

Thanks for remembering.

You're not supposed to invite

anyone.

A birthday party should only be

for those who remember.

You think anyone remembers me

now?

We'll see about that.

You see! And you said no one

would remember!

Oh, Sasha! Happy birthday!

Sasha, I want to make a toast!

I'd like to talk to you in

private.

Right now? OK, go ahead.

I want to make a toast!

Where's Natasha?

Where's Helen of Troy?

I'll get them.

I want to tell you I'm in love

with Sasha.

I want everything to be in the

open between us.

Wonderful! Why tell me, of all

people?

Because I thought you were

together.

Sasha and I are old friends.

If you mean sex, then, yes, we

did sleep together... once.

You have my permission.

Even if I were in love with him,

maybe even he with me,

I would still tell you to go

ahead.

Why?

Because Sasha's destiny is not

with me.

There is nothing I can do to

help him, but you can.

What about you?

Don't you wanna leave?

No, It's very hard for a woman to

attain any sort of position in science.

I've achieved a lot here and

Gross appreciates me.

And anyway where would I go?

For what?

Where the hell did everybody go?

I want to make a toast already.

Your application is accepted.

The trial period is three

months.

Come back in three months and we

will marry you.

Three months! What do you mean,

in three months?

Her visa expires in two weeks!

Couldn't you speed it up, in

view of the circumstances?

Young man, we do not make

exceptions or "speed things up"!

The law is the same for

everybody!

I know their tricks. You won't

be able to get a visa for longer

than a month

and we'll never be able to get

married.

Fine! I'll contact the Senate.

I'm going to get you out of here!

The American Senate? What does

it have to do with anything?

Everything.

Sasha, this is Rabbi Katz, this

is Sasha.

Shalom.

Shalom.

The rabbi has kindly agreed to

marry us.

But you're not even Jewish!

Now I am. I converted.

Soviet authorities will not

recognize a marriage performed

by an American rabbi.

But the American Senate will, and

I think the American people will.

And then we'll see what your

authorities will have to say.

It was my mother's...

Who knows what's hidden inside

this little figurine.

Who is this?

That was my father. He was killed

in 1945. That's his last picture.

Pictures of military uniforms are

forbidden to leave the country.

But it's from World War Two!

I don't make up the laws. You can

leave it behind or I can cut it.

Go ahead. Cut.

Do you think you've outwitted

the experimenters and returned

from unexplored space?

I wasn't thinking that at all,

Master.

On the contrary, you were right

all along:

one does not return from

unexplored space.

I have merely made another pass

into a new unexplored space.

How long's it been since you've

been here?

Seventeen years.

I'll bet you can't wait to see

your friends!

I can't.

They're gonna tell you how great

everything has become, how

things have changed.

Don't believe them. Our lives

are still pretty hard.

You're a guest? Go right ahead,

I'm not even going to open it.

Go on, your friends are waiting.

Your labyrinth has changed so much,

I can't keep a sense of reality.

I have a persistent feeling I'm

in a dream.

Reality can get a little hazy

when one consumes such vast

amounts of alcohol.

That's why I drink, partially,

to regain a sense of reality.

Reality!

Obviously this word still had

some clear meaning for Gross.

As for me, all such words as

reality, logic, sanity,

time, place lost their sense a

long time ago.

It's amazing. Can I really live here?

Can you really be my wife?

I'm really your wife, and I have

some news for you.

We're going to have a baby!

She found him? Thank God.

Where was he?

What happened?

Brenda lost the baby!

She found him.

Yeah. Thank you. Thank you.

I'm coming.

I'm going to have to quit my

job.

If that's what you really want.

I don't think I have a choice.

I, I used to get so angry

whenever people said

women they only go to college to

get husbands,

but, maybe, they were right.

Daddy has to stay home and work

today and tomorrow too...OK?

We'll play later. I have to work

on the phone.

Anything?

No, it's useless. There are no

open positions anywhere.

How about universities? They are

always looking for someone.

Not all universities have the

means and facilities I need to

continue working on my model.

So, now what?

I don't know.

Hughes wants to hire me.

He keeps calling back.

He's got tons of money.

I remember once you preferred

emigration

to working for the military.

Yes, I had somewhere to emigrate

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes