There lived an absent-minded man... Review of the film Kharms by Sergey Yu

Neva embankment. A bundled-up woman waits her turn at the ice hole. The air raid alarm sounds.

Yakov Druskin enters an empty apartment, he calls Marina. Nobody responds. Druskin looks into the room. There are empty bird cages there, an icon hangs on the wall.

A man in military uniform walks along the embankment. A man in a sweatshirt stops him. He starts a conversation about how winter has come, and therefore the stoves need to be lit. A man in uniform rewards his interlocutor with a slap in the face and says: lower the gangplank, I’ll go seek the ways of the Lord.

An NKVD officer asks a prison guard: who is in this cell? The writer is kind of sick.

A woman in a white coat asks a man questions: what is his name? Daniil Ivanovich Yuvachev, Kharms. Where do you live? Kharms gives an address in Leningrad. When were you born? 1905 Family status? IM married. What is your occupation? I write poems. I'm a poet.

Druskin picks up a piece of paper from the floor. This is the search report. There is also an inventory of things: notebooks, the New Testament, a ping-pong ball.

Kharms is lying on a cot in a prison cell. His voice sounds: this will be a story about a miracle worker who lives today and does not perform miracles. He knows that he can perform a miracle at any moment, but he does not do it.

Druskin lights the stove. Before his eyes are memories of the Oberiut disputes: the tragedy of the Renaissance; what is knowledge? what is science; what is insight? which can be considered supernatural. Friends read their poems.

Kharms approaches the entrance of his house. A man approaches him and demands to pay off his debts. Kharms promises to do this and enters the entrance. At home, he takes the plugs out of his ears. Documentary footage: columns of workers move to the sounds of a bravura march.

In the editorial office of a literary publication, his employee reads to the editor a story about the artist’s love for a girl and for his mother. It turns out: despite the fact that the artist bought elegant dresses for the girl, and his mother spent the night on the floor, he valued his mother more highly. After all, when his mother died, the artist cried. And when the girl who fell from the window died, the artist did not even cry at all, but called another girl. This means that the mother is valued by him as unique - a valuable brand that cannot be replaced by another. Who wrote it? Daniil Yuvachev, Kharms. Talented!

Kharms wakes up, falling out of bed. He takes a bath and blows soap bubbles. Then he looks out the window at the clouds in the sky and smokes his pipe. An old woman looks at him through a telescope. Behind her, another old woman with a rolled-up newspaper in her hand is hunting flies. An amateur orchestra marches through the yard. Its leader is Sno. He introduces Kharms to his nephew. He says that he is a connoisseur of the poet’s work and invites Kharms to drink wine with him in the evening. Kharms sees a ballerina in a tutu in the window of the opposite house. He bows to her. The old woman watching Kharms falls out of the window.

Kharms is in prison. He remembers: I truly loved only once. It was Esther. Translated into Russian - star. She was not only a woman, but also something else. Esther was the window through which I saw a star in the sky.

Harsm and Esther ride a boat on a pond, drinking wine from a bottle.

Kharms and Esther enter the room, she lies down on the bed, Kharms takes off the girl’s shoe, kisses her foot, rises higher, kneels, buries his head between Esther’s legs. She rolls her eyes in ecstasy.

Esther is lying in bed. Naked Kharms sits with a pipe in his mouth at the table, writing. He reads poems to Esther in which diminutive suffixes rhyme. Esther yawns: what stars, light bulbs, glasses! She rolls over and falls asleep.

Documentary footage: people on the beach. Kharms walks down the street with Alexander Vvedensky. He reasons: there is some kind of harmony felt on the beach. At first, a person feels like a white sausage with red spots, and he is ashamed of it. And then he walks around naked, with dignity. And I fell in love on the beach. Yes, you fall in love with every second girl in a swimsuit. So what should I do next? Find out her house number. I already found out. But I'm so shy. I can’t come and tell a woman: hello, I saw you naked today. Well, not completely naked! Almost. A pioneer runs up to Kharms: are you an American? Go away! This is the second one today. Why did you put this on? – Vvedensky points to the flower that Kharms wears at the causal place. What, going for a new passport is not a festive enough occasion?

Kharms and Vvedensky stop near the line. People stand behind kerosene. While Vvedensky lights a cigarette with one of the men standing in line, people begin to argue: were aliens standing here or were they jumping in line. The friends move on, but the quarrel in the queue continues.

A brick falls on a man's head. I am citizen Kuznetsov. I have a big bump on my head. I went to the store to... I forgot why I went to the store!

Kharms sees his persistent creditor, he and Vvedensky sneak down the street, mingling with the marching band of Sno and his nephew.

Kharms comes home. There is a note on the door of his room: I’m home. Working. I don't accept guests. I don't even talk through the door.

From his room, Kharms hears the monotonous squabble of his neighbors in the kitchen: Fedya! What do you want? He also asks, bastard. Fedya! What? He also asks, son of a bitch! Fedya!

Daniil opens the new passport he just received and next to the last name Yuvachev writes in a hyphen: Kharms.

Kharms talks to his father. He says: you have lost your way, what you write is terrible. I'm probably old and stupid, for me literature stopped at Tolstoy. But yours is just a disaster, it’s a hole, chaos, you’ll drown there. You are not god. And you do all this consciously, making reality meaningless. Dad, you just made a pun. I know that I am not god. You are a beggar, you are not published, your wife left you. I publish in children's magazines. I know that I am not god. I left Esther myself. Now I will go to the editorial office and get money there.

Someone is calling Kharms from the street. Why do they always shout that they can’t get up? And as long as you call yourself Kharms, you will need everything, you will be persecuted.

Kharms goes down the stairs past two old women. One argues: not everything is what it claims to be. It is necessary to check the bird when purchasing. If she has teeth, she is not a bird. Who? Don't know. Let's go have a look.

Kharms visits the editorial office of children's magazines "Chizh" and "Hedgehog". He asks the editor for a fee. He suggests asking at the cash register. Kharms says he already tried, but was refused. So you need to come tomorrow. Kharms tells the editor that he has come up with a joke about Pushkin and tells it. The editor is not funny.

Kharms and Vvedensky walk through Palace Square, Kharms tells his friend that sniffing ether is a bad habit. On the way, they greet Anna Akhmatova, who is walking towards them. Kharms continues: ether is like a keyhole. And it’s not good to peep through a well. Have you seen shamans? Understand, the secret is revealing itself to you. And Nostradamus also didn’t know what he was doing? Yes. Vvedensky runs down the steps to the Neva, puts his hand in the water and catches a banknote floating by, then another. This is a miracle!

Friends drink vodka in a street eatery, Kharms overhears the philosophical reasoning of local drunks: over time, a person becomes a ball and loses all desires.

Kharms is about to leave home. He says goodbye to the sleeping Esther. She responds to affection in a dream: yes, Mishenka! Leaving, Kharms slams the door.

A brick falls on Kuznetsov's head on the street again.

Kharms' neighbor falls from the window, gets up from the ground and goes home.

The Oberiuts debate about art. What to do if art doesn't move forward? Then it must be turned into reality. Friends invite Druskin to get married: it’s so nice! Vvedensky reads poetry: on the table lies a circle of the world in the form of creme brulee... A sparrow flies from a revolver and holds the tips of ideas in its beak... The world has gone out, he was slaughtered, he is a rooster.

The vodka has run out. We still have to go. Kharms tells his friends that they need their own magazine. And he also really needs the theater.

Kharms sits near the open window, a sheet of paper in his hand, next to a pen and inkwell. He says: yesterday I was sitting at the table, smoking a lot. There is paper in front of me. What to write? Poems, story, reasoning? I didn’t write anything and went to bed. What should I write? I asked God about this, asked him for a miracle. But I just wanted to smoke. Something needs to change in me.

Kharms enters the editor's office. Is your name Holmes? You flatter me. And this morning my nose started bleeding with milk. And my name is Kharms. Your poems cannot be published in our publishing house.

Kharms knocks on the door. A girl opens the door for him. I'm visiting Olga Nikolaevna. She's not here, I'm her sister. What is your name? Marina. Maybe then you will come with me? I'll go. Wait a bit.

Kharms and Marina ride a boat on a pond and drink wine. Marina catches a fish with a net, Kharms offers to let her go. On the shore, an elderly couple is sitting near a samovar. The woman takes an ax and chops a log. The man says: bale! Don't say that word. Another blow with an ax - again a “bale”. I asked you not to say this word! Fine, I will not. "Bale" again.

The house manager reads out to Kharms’ father excerpts from his son’s autobiography, which he handed over to the house management: then my father put me on a sandwich, he had already poured a glass of vodka, but, fortunately, he was stopped. Kharms's father laughs heartily.

In the kitchen, a neighbor tells Kharms: war is coming, but the main thing is maneuvers.

A woman in a dressing gown asks Kharms, showing a piece of paper: what do you see? Nothing, a shadow on a leaf. Do you hear voices? Yes. Which? Now it’s yours. What about other times? Sometimes I hear messengers. Something is knocking on the clock, I want to drink because of the draft. I think water will help. I take the jug and understand that there is a messenger there. But water is a liquid, and the messenger cannot be liquid. Then what is he like? What does it look like? Thank you, you are free. The doctor writes in conclusion: Yuvachev is unfit for military service.

Kharms and Esther on the shore of the pond where they used to go boating. Kharms tells Esther that he loves her and wants to kiss her. She avoids the kiss: I’m getting married. Kharms runs away.

Kharms plays the piano in the apartment. Undressed Marina dances merrily.

In a prison cell, a rat climbs onto the chest of Kharms, who is lying on his bed.

Kharms invites Marina to catch the rat. But there are no rats in our apartment! So what? Let's catch it anyway? Kharms and Marina are playing catching a rat. Kharms throws his shoe into the corner: hit it! Here look! No! Marina “gets scared” by shielding herself from the invisible rat with a chair.

Kharms and Marina are painting the tiled stove in their room.

Kharms approaches the entrance. A woman sits on a bench nearby; she holds a large watch on her lap. What time is it now? Kharms looks at the dial. There are no arrows there. The woman answers: fifteen to three. Kharms shouts: fifteen minutes to three - until what?

Kharms puts on his shoes. Marina asks him: where are you going? Kharms shouts in hysterics: never ask me! When will you come back? Don't wait for me, I don't know! Marina shouts after her husband: what is her name? Bon chance, mon cupid!

A creditor runs up to Kharms as he comes out of the entrance and demands to repay the debt. Kharms runs away from him.

The editor asks Kharms, reading the text on a piece of paper to himself: are these children's poems? Yes. The editor quotes: zero is God's work. Well, at least it’s not God’s body! “Skafka” – is that how it should be written? Yes: eight people are sitting on a bench - that’s the end of my bench. And it's all? Kharms hands out another piece of paper, the editor reads silently. Unfortunately no. Kharms recites by heart a poem about sailor mice sailing on a boat and not afraid of anything except cats and cats. Goodbye, Daniil Ivanovich!

Near the house, a drunken Kharms sits next to Sno: I want to break out of the dream that is called life and see the world as it is. Then you have to suffer. Yes, you need to ignite trouble around you. And my nephew is a security officer. He is watching you. I guessed this a long time ago. Kharms, swaying, gets up: he must leave this city, a terrible misfortune awaits him.

Marina enters the room and finds Kharms in bed with her sister Olga. She runs out of the room, Olga runs after her, calling. Kharms turns to the wall, howls, and hits the wall with his fist.

Strips of paper are glued to the windows. Young soldiers in brand new uniforms are talking on the move that victory will be achieved in two months.

On the stairs at the entrance there is again a conversation about the need to light the stove in view of the approaching winter, accompanied by slaps in the face. Oops, my face hurts! Why? I don't know myself.

Marina is talking to her sister on the phone. He's sleeping. He doesn't mess around. His father died a month ago. He's working and will get paid soon. No, you don't know anything. You, Olya, are a stupid aunt! We don't need your money. Marina hangs up. Kharms approaches her and they hug.

Kharms is sitting on a bench in the yard. People silently approach him one after another and sit down next to him. Kharms counts them: seven. Nephew Sno comes and also sits on the bench. Eight. The end of your skafka. You can finish your smoke. Now let's go.

Marina sits on the ice of the frozen Neva. Olga comes up to her with a bag containing a piece of bread. Marina says: I went to all the prisons, they say I’m not listed. Disappeared.

Kharms and Marina walk on the ice of the frozen Neva. He says: let's go into the forest and live there. Let's take only the Bible and Russian fairy tales. We will go from house to house asking for food. And for this I will tell fairy tales. Marina replies: I don’t have felt boots, so you go, and I’ll stay. No, I won't go anywhere without you.

End credits.

Daniil Ivanovich Kharms (Yuvachev). Arrested in August 1941. The exact place and date of death are unknown.

Shura, Alexander Ivanovich Vvedensky. Arrested in September 1941. The exact place and date of death are unknown.

Yakov Semenovich Druskin. He remained in besieged Leningrad and saved Kharms’s archives, thanks to which his works were subsequently published.

Esther Rusakova. Arrested in 1936, died in a camp in Magadan in 1943.

Marina Malich. She was taken to forced labor in Germany and fled. She died in exile in 2002.

Have you ever wondered where the alternatively gifted Gazelle drivers got the habit of drawing silhouettes of the old women they supposedly hit on board their carriages? I have a paradoxical assumption about this: the great and mighty Russian literature is to blame for everything. It was the classics who instilled in the motorized barbarians a monstrous attitude towards older women. Just remember the Countess from “The Queen of Spades” or the old pawnbroker from “Crime and Punishment”. But in the history of Russian literature there is one writer who treated old women much harsher than Pushkin and Dostoevsky. Daniil Kharms suffered (enjoyed?) gerontomysogyny in the most severe form. He loved to throw whole bunches of old women from the top floors of high-rise buildings.

For those who are too lazy to Google: gerontomisogyny is a free translation of the clumsy Russian neologism “old woman hatred” into Greek.

When I was going to watch Ivan Bolotnikov’s film “Kharms”, I still had a glimmer of hope to see among the final credits a message that not a single old woman was harmed during filming. Timid hope collapsed already in the 17th minute of viewing: the granny, spying on the main character through a telescope, fell like a swift jack to the bottom of an apartment well.

There is certainly something fascinating in the personality and work of Daniil Yuvachev (Kharms). It’s no wonder that Bolotnikov is already filming the second biopic of one of the greatest creators of Russian absurdism. The first experience was made in the genre of documentary filmmaking. The second is performed in the genre of a full-length biography. I wouldn't be surprised if a series follows this. A full-fledged animated film based on allusions to Kharms’ works would also be nice.

The picture under review is a compilation of episodes from the life of Kharms. Mostly of the late period, somewhere from 1932 to 1941. This is already a mature man, he returns to Leningrad after exile. The shocking fun of the Oberiuts remained in the memories. Ahead lies bans on free creativity, poverty, disaster in personal life, suffering and death.

Since linear editing is absolutely not suitable for describing the life of such an eccentric as Kharms, the film begins straight with a happy ending. More precisely, from the fact that such an insanely tragic life can generally be considered a happy ending. Kharms's friend, philosopher Yakov Druskin (Darius Gumauskas), comes to the apartment of his second wife Marina Malich (Aiste Dirjutė), where a search was carried out after the writer's arrest. No one lives here anymore, blockade desolation reigns. And here Yakov discovers Kharms’s archive, carefully collects the scattered notebooks and individual sheets lying around, puts them in a suitcase and takes them with him. If not for this, most of Kharms’s works would not have been published in more liberal times. After all, this is precisely the fate that befell most of the creations of Kharms’ fellow OBERIU members. At this very time, Harms himself (Wojtek Urbanski) is in a prison psychiatric hospital, where he was admitted by feigning madness in an attempt to avoid a death sentence. Nice happy ending! Which is.

The authors of the film regularly return to this ending, showing us black and white footage of an exhausted Kharms lying on a prison bed and trying to reach an empty bowl standing on the bedside table (prisoners in besieged Leningrad were somehow not very well fed).

The authors of the film try to alternate tragic episodes from the life of their hero with stages that, against the gloomy historical background of that era, can be called almost happy: here Kharms, together with his friend the poet Alexander Vvedensky (Grigory Chaban), catches banknotes floating there from the Neva and drinks the spoils in a street pub ; Kharms takes the shoe off the foot of his adored first wife Esther Rusakova (Yustina Vonshchik), kisses her charming foot, rising higher and higher on the ladder of pleasure and bringing his Star (this is how the name of the writer’s beloved is translated) to ecstasy; Kharms fools around with his literary fraternity friends, listens to and reads poetry, philosophizes, and drinks vodka. But, following the poetics of their title character, the creators of the film contrast the happy scenes with their antithesis (if a bird has teeth, it means it is not a bird, you need to check it when buying). Love for Esther? This bird has teeth. Catching imaginary rats with Marina? In Kharms's cell, the rats are not even imaginary.

This literary-cinematic dialectic finds its completion in Bolotnikov’s stunning creative discovery, which becomes the culmination of the story about Kharms’ life.

The poet brings to the publication of a children's magazine a poem in which the words “bench” (on which eight people sat) rhymes with “skafka”. The ingenious onomatopoeia of a child's burr does not find understanding with the editor; he rejects the poems, putting Kharms on the brink of starvation in wartime Leningrad. And the scene with Kharms’ arrest becomes a kind of counterpoint to this episode: he sits on a bench, people sit down on it one by one, he counts them: seven. An NKVD officer corrects him: eight. Your skafka is over. Went.

In general, the echoes of Kafka that are observed in the works of Soviet writers of that dramatic era drive one into a kind of mystical stupor. The same theme of the cockroach is used by Mandelstam, Chukovsky, Oleinikov, Vvedensky. Interestingly, when Vagrich Bakhchanyan uttered his famous “We were born to make Kafka come true,” did he know about the amazing “skafka” of Kharms, who himself was hardly familiar with the works of the great Prague resident?

As is known, the creativity of the Oberiuts was heavily implicated in the philosophy of existentialism, the bearer of whose ideas was Yakov Druskin. The authors of the film could not ignore this topic. Sometimes it breaks through in Kharms’ off-screen reflections, sometimes during scenes of poetic feasts, when Druskin himself talks about creativity, fate and God. Maybe it didn’t turn out very harmoniously, but respect to the authors of the film for trying to load a rather sentimental biographical tragic farce with such thoughtful details.

Overall the film leaves a very pleasant impression. Why this happens cannot be clearly stated. I’ll say right away: the acting did not impress me. It seems that no one is particularly annoying - and okay (although the performer of the role of Marina, in my opinion, sometimes overacts). Does the film's cinematographer have festival achievements? Quite a professional job, but nothing more. Insertions from the title character's works, including falling old ladies? Perhaps this may amaze people who are completely unfamiliar with Kharms’s work. Rather, all these textbook Kuznetsovs with bricks falling on their heads, grannies baling with an ax, and the neighbors’ conversations in the kitchen repeated as a refrain irritated me more than touched me. On the one hand, educational education doesn’t hurt in our time. On the other hand, it was possible to do the same thing much more elegantly. For example, using animated inserts.

All these details would look like a chaotic jumble of skits, gags, and diverse episodes (this also includes the use of documentary materials, alternating color and black-and-white footage), if not for the soundtrack. This is truly a find. The music almost never stops off-screen throughout the entire film. She delicately highlights the nuances of the visual and verbal range of the picture. We listen to jazz almost constantly. And if in the debut of “Kharms”, as a rule, simple Dixieland sounds (it is performed on camera by an amateur orchestra), then avant-garde compositions worthy of the legendary Alexei Kozlov begin to be performed more and more often.

And the final episodes, showing us the terrible writhing of the perky literary avant-garde under the iron heel of socialist realism (Kharms, lying on his prison bed, really writhes and breaks), are accompanied by symphonic compositions of the most tragic nature. It's getting really scary. And falling old women have absolutely nothing to do with it.