Red Moscow

Karina took the three of them to a room not far away. There were desks and benches here. It looked like a reception room.

Karina said to the three of them: "Comrades, this is one of our reception rooms. Very few people usually come here. You can talk about your affairs here."

"Thank you, Comrade Karina." Screenwriter Werner said to Karina: "We are going to start working, please leave first. Please don't let anyone in before we leave this room. Okay?"

"Okay, comrade screenwriter." After Karina said this, she glanced at Sokov again before reluctantly walking out of the room and closing the door.

"Comrade screenwriter," Sokov said to Werner after Karina closed the door: "There are no outsiders here. If you have anything, just say it."

"That's it, Comrade General, first of all I want to make it clear that as a screenwriter, I wrote this movie script based on the information provided by my superiors." Werner said to Sokov apologetically: "If there is any Please forgive me for any omissions."

After listening to what the other party said, Sokov said in a daze: "Comrade Editor, you and I have never met. What do you mean by this? I don't quite understand?"

"Comrade General," Werner may not be good at words. Hearing what Sokov said, he didn't know how to reply for a moment. He could only turn his eyes for help to the photographer Yekarenchenko next to him and motioned for him to help him continue. Go on. Yekalenchenko saw Werner's look at him, nodded slowly, and explained to Sokov: "Film is an art. When we want to reflect a certain historical event through a film, It always has to be artistically processed.”

"Yes, some things will be more attractive to the audience when they are artistically processed and reflected in movies." Sokov agreed very much with Yekalenchenko's words, but he still didn't understand how these two people came to find him. If something happened, he asked the question in his mind directly: "But I don't understand, does this have anything to do with you guys looking for me?"

"Of course it does matter, Comrade General." In any case, Yekalenchenko and Sokov had been dealing with each other for a few days and were familiar with each other, so it seemed logical for him to say many things: "I remember You’ve read the script, so you probably didn’t realize that you were included in the movie, right?”

When Sokov first read the script, he found that he seemed to have no sense of presence in this world-famous battle. Instead, he was more inclined to the movie script in real history. When Yekalenchenko said this, he nodded slowly and said, "Yes, I was joking with Director Petrov and asked if he could give me a chance to play a small role, but he refused. "

When Sokov said this, Werner secretly observed his expression and saw that he did not seem to be angry because he did not appear in the movie script, so he cautiously said: "Comrade General, we will meet with you in private today. I just want to talk about the script.”

When Sokov heard what the other party said, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and then asked: "Are you planning to modify the script?"

"No, no, no, that's not the case, Comrade General." Unexpectedly, as soon as Sokov's words came out, Werner waved his hands and said in a panic: "The movie script was personally reviewed by the Supreme Commander himself, let alone large-scale revisions. As for the plot, even if I change a few lines, it’s probably not an easy task.”

"Oh, I understand." When Sokov heard this, he immediately understood the reason why the two met him, nodded and said: "You came to me specifically just to tell me that the original script didn't even have a single word. Can’t even change it, let alone significantly modify the plot?”

"That's right, Comrade General, that's what I mean." The person who answered the call this time was Yekalenchenko: "The script has been finalized. If it needs to be modified, I'm afraid it will completely disrupt our entire filming schedule."

"If you called me here just for this matter, then I can answer you solemnly: Since the script has already been decided, there is no need for me to make any form of modifications. I will still film according to the original script. Let's go." After Sokov said this, he stood up and said to the two of them: "I'm sorry, I have something else to do. If you don't have anything else to do, then I have to leave."

"Wait a minute, Comrade General." Just as Sokov was about to leave the room, Werner stopped him and said proactively: "I heard that you are writing a novel?"

Sokov stopped, turned to look at Werner, and replied in a positive tone: "Yes, comrade screenwriter, I am indeed writing a novel."

"Comrade General, the situation is like this. Yesterday I received a call from Comrade Eisenstein, saying that you have written a good novel, and I hope that after you finish it, I will adapt it." Werner used a tentative voice. He asked in a tone of voice: "Can you let me take a look at that book first?"

"Of course." When Sokov learned that Eisenstein called Werner, he suddenly felt like a mirror. He guessed that Eisenstein most likely wanted Werner to adapt the novel into a script, so he said readily: "If If you don't mind that it's an incomplete manuscript, you can follow me to the guest house and take a look."

"That's really what I want." Werner said respectfully: "But I have other things to do now, and I may not be able to get there until at night."

Sokov thought to himself that he could seize the time to write ten thousand words in the afternoon, so that when Werner reads it, he can see a more complete plot, so he nodded in agreement: "Yes, I welcome you at any time! "

"Comrade General," Yekarenchenko said again at this time: "Our film crew is filming in the office in the building right now. Don't you want to go and take a look?"

Sokov wanted to refuse, but then he thought about it. When he returned to the guest house, neither the stenographer nor the scribe came, and he couldn't write a book. It would be better to go and see their shooting scene, so he casually asked: "I don't know. What plot are you filming?”

"It was a conversation between the Supreme Commander himself and Marshal Vasilevsky in the office." Yekalenchenko explained to Sokov: "Since most of our scenes were shot in Vladimir, these highlights Also filmed here at the municipal building.”

Hearing that there was a play playing Stalin today, Sokov suddenly became interested and said to Yekarenchenko: "Then please take me to the scene to see it, so that I can gain experience."

Under the leadership of Yekalenchenko and Werner, Sokov arrived at the filming scene smoothly.

This is a small conference room, and there is a cordon set up by the crew outside the door to prevent irrelevant personnel from affecting the normal filming work. But when they saw Yekalenchenko and others approaching, they did not stop them. After all, one of them was the main photographer. If he was not present, there might be problems with the shooting of some shots.

Sokov followed into the conference room and took the initiative to stand near the door so as not to disturb others. At the same time, he quietly observed the two actors standing at the long conference table.

I saw the actor who played Stalin, Ji Ji, standing at the table and looking at the map on the table, while the actor who played Vasilevsky stood upright next to him, saying nothing.

After a long time, "Stalin" spoke to "Vasilevsky" next to him: "It's very clear - their intention is to attack Stalingrad."

Before "Vasilevsky" could speak, "Stalin" continued: "We are going to repel the enemy's attack on this city for the second time."

At this time, "Vasilevsky" who had been silent for a long time finally spoke: "This is the largest strategic stronghold."

"Stalin" raised his head and met "Vasilevsky's" eyes. After a moment of silence, he continued: "Handing over Stalingrad is equivalent to giving all advantages to the enemy. Holding it is like tying up the enemy." hands, posing a threat to its transportation lines."

As soon as "Stalin" finished speaking, "Vasilevsky" said: "Absolutely correct."

"Stalin" continued: "There is no doubt that in this battle, the occupation of Stalingrad is an important part of the strategic plan of the German General Headquarters. We don't know all their detailed plans, but I think it is better than theirs." Last year's plan to capture Moscow was still risky. ... Their old-fashioned, well-known tactics can no longer scare us. We have experience. But the two wings of our defense line stretch too far, Vasilevs Comrade Ji, you still need to pay more attention."

"Vasilevsky": "I understand, Comrade Stalin."

"Stalin": "It is important to keep a constant watch on the enemy's flanks and to note the appearance of every new German division or division of the Mustache Allies."

"Vasilevsky": "Yes, Comrade Stalin."

The actors' performances were on point and the filming went smoothly. Even Petrov was quietly observing the two people's performances and did not interrupt them easily.

But Sokov was thinking: "In this version of Stalin's speech, there is no need to judge or think at all, he just relies on intuition. It seems that he has traveled back to that era from later generations, retelling the history that is about to happen: 'Very soon. "Clear", "undoubtedly", "a well-known tactic". The conversation between the two people gave the impression that the Soviet army did not encounter any obstacles in judging the direction of the German attack, and they easily determined the position to fight.

In fact, the real difficulty of war lies precisely in anticipating the enemy's next tactics. The "very clear", "undoubted" and "well-known tactics" uttered by Stalin only weakened the difficulty of the decision and also belittled his own side's wisdom.

In the 1990 version of "The Battle of Stalingrad," Stalin was a completely different person from the 1949 version. In the movie, every decision he makes is wrong. At the beginning, it introduced the intelligence that the red agents had obtained from Germany, and clearly told the Soviet base camp that the direction of the Mustache's attack in the summer of 1942 was Stalingrad, but Stalin did not believe it. This was different from the 1949 version of Stalin. The judgments of "very clearly", "no doubt" and "everyone knows" are completely different. "

This sequence of shots was shot quickly. After Petrov went over and chatted with the two actors for a few words, he asked them to rest aside before continuing to shoot the rest of the scene. He accidentally turned around and saw Sokov standing at the door of the conference room. He couldn't help showing an expression of surprise on his face, and then walked quickly towards Sokov.

When he was still several steps away, he asked: "General Sokov, have you seen the screenwriter Comrade Werner?"

"Yes, of course I have." Sokov glanced at Werner, who was standing behind Petrov, and said with a smile: "We have talked in private."

Petrov couldn't help but feel relieved when he saw Sokov's expression. He had proposed modifying the script to the leadership of the studio, but was rejected. Worried that Sokov, the main participant in the battle, would be emotional, the studio directly sent screenwriter Werner to prepare for him to do ideological work, but he did not expect that the matter would be resolved so easily.

Sokov shook hands with Petrov, and after chatting for a while, he took the initiative to say goodbye to him: "Comrade director, I have something else to do, so I won't disturb your work."

"General Sokov, I'll take you out."

"You're welcome. I can leave on my own. You can continue working."

Sokov went downstairs and was about to leave the building through the hall when he heard someone calling him from behind. He quickly stopped and turned to look behind him.

The person who hurried over was Karina. After seeing Sokov, she asked anxiously: "Misha, when did you finish talking? Why didn't you say hello to me? If I hadn't seen you by chance, I would have I thought the conversation between the three of you was not over yet.”

"I'm sorry, Karina." Sokov thought that he was in a hurry to go upstairs to see the shooting scene, and he didn't see Karina when he went out, so he forgot about it, and said apologetically: "When we left , I didn’t see you nearby, so I can’t notify you for the time being.”

Fortunately, Karina just asked casually and did not mean to blame Sokov. After she waited for Sokov to finish speaking, she then asked: "Where did you go and why didn't I see you?"

"We went to the small conference room upstairs to watch the filming scene." Sokov explained to Karina: "A scene about the Supreme Commander himself is being filmed inside."

"Oh, you are talking about the small conference room upstairs." Karina nodded after hearing this: "I have just been there. There are staff on duty outside the door, and non-crew members are not allowed to approach. I said I was cooperating with their work. Yes, but I'm still not allowed in." After a pause, she continued to ask, "Then where do you plan to go now?"

"Where else to go, of course, back to the guest house." Sokov replied with a wry smile: "I still have a lot of things to do in the afternoon."

"Which room in the guest house are you in?" Karina asked, "I will visit you when I am free in the evening."

Sokov gave the number of the room he was in, and then said politely and politely: "I sincerely welcome you as my guest."