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1 EXT. COUNTRYSIDE. DAY. 1
High angle of the steam train travelling through a wide
river valley. The stack belching smoke against the Russian
sky.
2 INT. SECOND CLASS CARRIAGE. COUNTRY SIDE. DAY. 2
Leo Tolstoy (80), sits writing on his lapboard. He is quite
simply the greatest living writer in the world. His
devotion to pacifism, his rejection of the trappings of
Orthodoxy in favor of a simple Christian lifestyle convince
many to regard him as a living saint. With him are his much
younger wife, the COUNTESS SOFYA, favorite daughter SASHA,
and his personal physician DUSHAN MAKOVITSKY. Sasha and
Dushan write in their diaries. Sofya looks from one to the
next a little impatient. The train begins to slow.
SOFYA
Why are we slowing down?
No one responds. Slower. Slower.
SOFYA
We're stopping. Why are we
stopping?
SASHA
I don't know, mother. No idea.
Tolstoy look up from his work, asks a passing conductor.
SOFYA
Excuse me, why has the train
stopped?
CONDUCTOR
It's the crowd, ma'm, the people.
They're blocking the track.
In the distance we can here voices.
VOICES (O.S.)
Long live Tolstoy! Long live the
old warrior!
SOFYA
But if they block the track, the
train can't go...YOU HAVE TO MAKE
THEM MOVE.
2.
The conductor shrugs, walks away. She goes to the window to
investigate. A crowd of a hundred peasants, students
surround the engine, block the track. They carry a huge
cloth banner honoring Tolstoy. We can hear voices chanting
"Tolstoy. Tolstoy. Tolstoy", voices crying "You are the
truth." "You are the hope of the Russian people."
SOFYA
Oh, they won't move. We are
gonna die here. Leo, Leo, go and
say something to them. It's the
only way we are gonna get out of
here.
The chanting grows in intensity. Tolstoy gets to his feet,
walks to the window, shows himself to the crowd. A great
shout goes up. Tolstoy lifts his hand for silence.
Gradually, it comes.
TOLSTOY
I have seen your banner. And I´ve
heard what you say. You think I´m
the hope of Russia, do you? Well,
that´s not true. You are the hope
of Russia. The hope of all the
world. You say, you want a new
way to live? Well, you are not
gonna find it making a fuss over
me. So, I suggest that you get on
with your work and let a poor old
men get on with his.
The cries begin. "Clear the tracks. Let them pass. Let them
go." Tolstoy closes the door and waves to the crowd as the
train pulls away.
3 EXT. COUNTRYSIDE. DAY. 3
On the chanting crowd now as the train pulls away. We
focus on a handsome young man, a little stiff maybe, a
little intellectual. This is VALENTIN FEDOROVITCH
BULGAKOV. He can't contain his enthusiasm. Over the noise
of the train.
VALENTIN
Do you know who that is? That is
the greatest man in the world.
The train pulls away into the distance.
TITLE OVER BLACK: SPRING 1910
4 EXT. YASNAYA POLYANA. DAWN. 4
The ancestral home of the Tolstoy family in the first
budding of spring.
3.
Muzhiks (peasants) gather wood, carry water to the house. A
cart arrives loaded down with mail bags.
5 INT. YASNAYA POLYANA. SOFYA'S BEDROOM. DAY. 5
A handsome room, walls covered with generations of family
photographs. Religious icons are given pride of place, a
testament, not to piety, but to an ingrained social
conservatism, a certain position in the world.
Countess Sofya mumbles her morning prayers before a make
shift altar. Wiping away tears, she leaves the room.
5A INT. YASNAYA POLYANA. ENTRY/STAIR. DAY. 5A
Sofya walks down the stairs and through the entry passed an
old servant asleep in a chair. She continues to the
basement.
6 INT. YASNAYA POLYANA. TOLSTOY'S BEDROOM/STUDY. DAY. 6
Tolstoy has moved himself out of the refined upper floors
into a simple vaulted room he uses as both bedroom and
study. The walls are bare except for a portrait of his
daughter. The furniture is simple, some of it hand made: a
small bed against the wall, a little writing desk in one
corner stacked with books, littered with papers, more mail,
opened and unopened. Pairs of rude homemade shoes line a
work bench.
Tolstoy sleeps in his bed. Though it's late March and
still cold, the window is open. Sofya closes it. She
stands very still, watching Tolstoy sleep. Sitting on the
bed, she gently touches his hand, whispers.
SOFYA
Darling.
She lies next to him, something girlish, hopeful in her
face, as if waiting for him to wake up and adore her, but
he sleeps on. She carefully takes his arm, positions it
under her neck, and rolling toward him, wraps it around
her. The image of love's intimacy, of wedded bliss.
His hand slips off her shoulder, once, twice. She moves
awkwardly to replace it. He moves a little toward her. She
kisses his neck, his cheek. We don't know if he's awake,
but even this shadow of intimacy penetrates her soul.
7 OMITTED 7
4.
8 INT. MOSCOW. STUDY. DAY. 8
A handsome study in the Moscow townhouse of VLADIMIR
GRIGOREVICH CHERTKOV, Tolstoy's most articulate and
dedicated disciple. He's interviewing Tolstoy's newly
appointed secretary, VALENTIN BULGAKOV, the young man we
met near the train, who, at the mention of sex, blushes a
little.
CHERTKOV
But sex... You are twenty three.
Not an easy age for abstinence,
is it?
VALENTIN
Tolstoy does not approve of
sexual relations. I know this.
CHERTKOV
He despises them, in fact...
Chertkov reaches for a small tin of moustache wax.
CHERTKOV
I don't want to belabor the
point, but I arranged for a
manservant last year who
proceeded to ruin two housemaids
just like that. He was very
upset.
VALENTIN
This would not be a problem. I'm
celibate. I'm also a strict
vegetarian.
Chertkov nods his approval, begins to worry his moustache.
CHERTKOV
Yes, I've heard many good things
about you. I've even read what
you`ve written. So has he.
Valentin's face flushes with pride. Chertkov steals a
glance at his reflection in the glass bookcase. One side of
his moustache droops a little. He tugs awkwardly at it.
CHERTKOV
My dear boy, if you were to
become Tolstoy's private
secretary, you would be given a
great gift. You'll be with him
every day, eat together, walk in
the forest by his side.
It's difficult to contain himself.
5.
VALENTIN
Believe me, since becoming a
Tolstoyan, I have become so eager
to learn, so comitted to
discussing ideas, improving my
very soul.
CHERTKOV
(smiling)
Well, we have a lot to do if we
are to get his work to the
people.
VALENTIN
We?
They both laugh.
CHERTKOV
Yes, we. If we can encourage the
spread of passive
resistance...just think of it
Valentin thousands of ordinary
Russians casting off centuries of
spiritual and political
oppression-
VALENTIN
In the name of truth and freedom.
CHERTKOV
Truth and freedom, yes but still,
my boy, there are so many enemies-
VALENTIN
Enemies?
Chertkov walks to the window, signals Valentin to follow
him. He points to
TWO MEN IN PLAINCLOTHES standing in the street below.
CHERTKOV
The Czar's police...You'll be
followed when you leave
here...and the church will stop
at nothing to bring him back into
the fold. His children can't be
trusted... only Sasha... and then
of course there is the
Countess...
(beat)
Well, one doesn't like to come
between married people whatever
the circumstances, but her dogged
attachment to private property,
her public criticism of our
movement...
(MORE)
6.
CHERTKOV (cont'd)
(beat)
The point is, he needs a man of
your intellectual gifts around
him. Someone who can help him
with the new work. Someone who
understands his goals.
Chertkov returns to the desk.
CHERTKOV
And although they've allowed me
to return to Russia, I can't see
him. They keep me under house
arrest... They might as well keep
me in a cage.
Clearly upset, Chertkov pauses to get control of himself.
He picks up a package, hands it to Valentin.
CHERTKOV
So, I need you to put these
letters directly into his hands.
One can't be sure what gets
through to him.
Valentin looks at him, quizzical.
CHERTKOV
Sofya Andreyevna does not respect
his privacy.
VALENTIN
She wouldn't open his private
correspondence...
Chertkov raises an eyebrow. An ominous silence.
CHERTKOV
I have another task for you, my
dear.
VALENTIN
Please.
CHERTKOV
You'll keep a diary for me.
He hands Valentin a notebook.
CHERTKOV
I need to know everything that
goes on at Yasnaya Polyana. Let
me know who visits the house, any
talk of the copyright to his
work, any contact with the
church, what letters come and go.
(beat)
Anything Sofya Andreyevna says.
7.
VALENTIN
Anything?
CHERTKOV
She's very, very dangerous.
9 EXT. MOSCOW. DOORWAY/STREET. EVENING. 9
Chertkov kisses Valentin delicately on both cheeks and
ushers him into the dying light.
CHERTKOV
Godspeed, my boy.
Valentin makes his way to the droshky that awaits him.
CHERTKOV
And remember what I said.
He turns back to the dark figure in the doorway.
CHERTKOV
Write everything down! Go!
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