Perestroika Page #6

then.

Oh well, if it's a chance for

you to keep working on your

model, how can I say "no"?

By the way, he is paying triple

of what I get now.

I'm, I'm so tired. So much work

in the house.

God, if you only knew how much I

hate you!

I hate your face, I hate your

voice, I hate the air you breathe!

But most of all I hate that

Universe of yours that consumes

absolutely everything.

It sucked away every single drop

of my life! I've had it.

You go sacrifice somebody else's

life for it.

Just go! Worship it.

Go, go! F*** it for all I care!

Have fun!

I love you. You know that.

Me?! You love me?!

The only thing you worship is

your Universe and your own mind.

Yes? Yes, this is... Sasha

Greenberg.

You called before, right?

I remember.

You're making a film about

science.

Your wife?

Umm... maybe not.

What does that mean?

It means that I am not sure.

I am afraid I can't give you

definite answers on everything,

not even science.

So, be forewarned.

Scientific progress is a pretty

ambiguous concept.

After Hiroshima, it is very

fashionable to give up science.

It may have been a sixties'

cliche.

But you didn't give up?

I know that and smoking and

drinking are bad for me, but I

haven't given them up.

Besides, I've already mentioned

an ambiguity, an uncertainty.

Science has done a lot of good

too.

So, if I understand you

correctly,

that a science is much like the

presence of your wife:

a definite "maybe". Agree?

Agree. What're you. Would you

like to have dinner with me?

Maybe... There is a certain ambiguity

involved here, an uncertainty.

And you do not approve?

Strangely enough, I kind of like

it.

The Universe is boundless.

Imagine that on a small planet

orbiting a tertiary star,

one of billions of such stars in

an insignificant galaxy,

a group of microscopic creatures

dares to grasp in their minds

the entire extent of the

Universe!

Let us drink to ourselves,

friends,

the most daring representatives

of the daring race of humankind!

What's there to be proud of?

Man's a dirty animal!

The only species with the bent

and ability to self-destruct,

taking the rest of the planet

with it!

I know, I know. Our atmosphere

is polluted.

Our waters are poisoned.

Entire species of animals are

being annihilated!

We are living on a bomb with the

lit fuse, and still we dare to

be proud of ourselves!

And all human family values and

social traditions have collapsed.

For real, do you have a wife or

not?

In the past two years, she's

left four times and come back

three times.

And why?

Why did she come back? We have

a son together, I asked her to...

and, I guess, she does love me.

Why'd she leave?

She says I ruined her career.

She was a scientist before I...

before she had the baby and quit

work to stay home.

You're a male chauvinist?!

Bullshit! I hate those labels!

For the past two years she's

been working anyway.

And before that she's always

done what she's wanted.

I've yet to see a married woman

who does whatever she wants!

You two should get along

splendidly.

My God! You're so beautiful!

Are you Helen?

Nice to meet you. I'm Jill.

In eighteen years, he's never once

said thank you for anything I've done!

What're you talking about?

Did you thank me every time I

came home with a paycheck?

It's ridiculous.

No, it's not. You earned your

paycheck doing what you loved best!

What did I get for my work?!

You've done what women have done

for centuries.

You're such a Male chauvinist!

I never asked for your

sacrifices.

You wanted me to give up my

career!

To compromise all my principles

and live on blood money you got

for making bombs!

Nobody, absolutely nobody forced

you into any of it!

Besides, if you want to talk

about sacrifices, you should

try eating one of your dinners!

I'm an astrophysicist Sasha.

I'm not your cook!

So be an astrophysicist!

Nobody's stopping you.

Professor, you know how much

respect I have for you,

but there is something I wish to

steal.

It is Sasha?

The very one.

Will you permit me?

What can I do?

I can refuse you nothing.

Thank you, professor.

It's so stuffy in here. Let's go

outside for a few minutes.

Come on, let's go.

We'll be back in a minute.

It's right around here.

Moscow. The familiar city of my youth,

and at the same time completely

different.

We've been driving for half an

hour.

A whole half hour without

alcohol.

It might actually be good for

your health.

I hoped to find here the answers

to the questions

I am struggling with, instead

I've got more questions.

Will I manage to find answers to

them?

And this is where we live these

days.

When my daughter was born, I

applied for a new place.

It took three years. You remember

my old communal apartment -

what a rough time I had with

Elena there.

Now we have two rooms. It's

pretty far, but it's alright.

The Metro is fast.

Is Elena coming right back?

Uh uh. She is spending the

night at her grandparents'.

There's your vodka.

Is she my daughter?

What difference does it make?

What do you mean, what

difference? I want to know.

Don't bother asking, I'm not

going to tell you anyway.

Let's drink to the mysteries in

life, um?

Natasha, wait...

Don't say a word, Sasha. I am

not blind, I have seen your

harem of women.

Look at me. Look at me.

My body is just as good as

twenty years ago.

Aren't you happy I brought you

here?

Tomorrow we'll dance the tango

at my parents'.

You won't believe this. All the

old records are still there.

Nothing has changed at their

house.

Do you remember the old church

next door?

The one that used to be all

nailed up?

We used to sneak in at night?

It's being restored.

It looks like new.

We'll go there,

I'll show you around.

Mom! It's me.

This girl. She did not even

exist when I left.

Everyone hardly changed at all,

but out of nowhere,

as if out of sea foam - there

she was.

There was something mystical

about that.

Don't come in here.

I am not alone.

I know you're not.

Why did you come back then?

It's my house too.

It is. Now go to sleep, darling.

All my days in Moscow I couldn't

stop thinking about Elena

and, look, here she was.

Now she will move furniture all

night long.

The presence of this girl

was definitely changing my

perception of the world.

Do you know how it is in science

fiction,

when you return from a trip to

the past

to find out you accidentally

changed something?

Both your past and your present

are no longer yours.

They may seem the same at first

glance,

but you look closer and no -

there is this girl.

So, you inevitably start

re-examining everything else,

including yourself.

We cannot be the same, life

cannot go on as before.

Good morning.

Good morning. Although I am not

sure it is morning yet.

I've wanted to talk to you.

Let's walk.

Sure, let's. After all, what

else is there to do around here

at this time?

Oh, sure. In America, you can

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