Red Moscow

After Zoya died in the Great Patriotic War, she was posthumously awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union and was the first Soviet woman to receive this title.

But such a great heroine was smeared by some shameless people a few years later. It is said that the reason why she fell into the hands of the Germans was because she did not dare to provoke the Germans and only dared to target innocent villagers. When she tried to burn down the stables in the village, she was caught by the angry villagers and hanged. For the sake of publicity, Stalin actually packaged such an arsonist as a hero.

The reason for Sokov's hesitation is that even if he writes about the real Zoya and makes it into a movie, once Stalin dies and everything about him is denied, someone will definitely make a fuss about the movie. I'm afraid that I will get into unnecessary trouble by then.

"What's the matter, Misha?" Seeing Sokov's delay in speaking, Eisenstein felt somewhat dissatisfied and asked with a straight face, "Aren't you willing to write such a script?"

To be fair, Sokov really didn't want to write a script about Zoya, at least not at this time. Maybe in ten or twenty years, when the right time comes, it won't be too late to write this script. However, Sokov could not say that in front of Eisenstein. He could only prevaricate and say: "Sergey, I have never dealt with Zoya. If I want to write a script about her, I'm afraid I won't be able to do it. You'd better hire someone else."

Eisenstein did not expect that Sokov would answer him like this, and he was dissatisfied and disappointed. He sighed and said: "What a pity, what a pity." What a pity, he did not explain to Sokov, and Sokov happened to not want to Understood, this matter will be settled as it is.

"Misha, I prepared pen and paper for you in the guest house. You should go back there and write your novel now." Eisenstein said to Sokov: "I have to supervise the filming work, so I won't accompany you. .”

When Sokov and Yakov walked to the guest house, Yakov said with a smile: "Misha, you may not know that when you rejected Comrade Eisenstein, you have offended him. "

Sokov didn't know his answer, which disappointed Eisenstein. However, there is nothing that can be done about it. After Stalin's death, many film and television works with his image have been deleted or banned. For example, the image of Stalin in "Lenin in October" and "Lenin in 1918" were all deleted; and "The Capture of Berlin", which deepened Stalin, was directly banned and sealed.

If I were to write a script about Zoya at this time, the image of Stalin would inevitably appear in it. Not only would the movie be affected, I might also be in trouble. However, he couldn't tell anyone about these difficulties, so when Yakov said this, he could only smile bitterly, and then said: "No way, Yasha, I have never dealt with Zoya, and I don't know the real her. I think it is not enough to create the image of a heroine out of thin air or based on propaganda in newspapers."

He was worried that Yakov would continue to criticize himself, so he quickly took the initiative and said: "The three movies about snipers I mentioned are because I have dealt with these three snipers for a long time and know them all very well. , knew how to portray them in the film. It was because I was familiar with them that I decided to write novels about these three films."

Returning to the guest house room, Sokov saw the notebook and sharpened pencil on the table in his original room.

Yakov saw a pencil on the table and asked Sokov: "Misha, can you get used to using pencils to write novels?"

"I think pencils are pretty good." Sokov said with a smile: "If you write something wrong, you just need to erase it with an eraser and rewrite it. If you use a pen, you can only erase the wrong words. Then my manuscript would look messy.”

"I live next door. If you need anything, call me and I'll come right away." In order not to disturb Sokov's writing, Yakov turned around and left the room after saying this.

After Sokov waited for Yakov to leave, he began to think about which one he should write first. The three movies about snipers all have plots about Stalin. In contrast, in the Heissou movie "At the Gate", except for Stalin's portrait, there is no image of Stalin. If it is filmed, even if the image of Stalin in film and television works is cleaned up in the future, this film can still survive with slight modifications.

Thinking of this, Sokov began to write and wrote the words "At the Battle of the City" in his notebook.

But the next writing was much more difficult than imagined. After all, he had only seen the movie and not the novel. Nowadays, it is not easy to turn the content of a movie into a novel. Even after writing for more than an hour, he could only write more than 200 words.

Seeing that the efficiency of creation was so low, Sokov suddenly lost interest. Unexpectedly, some things looked easy, but were difficult to do. He had watched the movie "At the Gate" five times. He knew the plot by heart, but it didn't seem that easy to translate it into words.

Sokov threw the pencil on the table, stood up and walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, thinking about what he should do to smoothly transform the content of the movie into an attractive novel.

I don't know how long he walked in the room, but he still had no idea. Just here, the phone on the table by the wall rang. He walked over and grabbed the receiver: "Hello, who's there?"

Yakov's voice came from the receiver: "Misha, how is your book going?"

"Not very good, I can't write it down." After saying this with a wry smile, Sokov asked, "What do you want from me?"

"I bought two cans of pickled cucumbers and a bottle of red wine." Yakov said on the phone: "How about we drink some?"

"Forget it, I have a terrible headache now. If I drink some wine, I won't be able to write anymore." Sokov said, "Besides, you know, I rarely drink."

"Since you don't want to drink, forget it." Yakov said, "I will ask Comrade Eisenstein to drink with me later in the evening."

Hearing Yakov mention Eisenstein, Sokov couldn't help but think of the other party's persuasion to write a script about Zoya. A sudden thought came to his mind. Although I can't write about Zoya, I can write about it. Other female soldiers in the Patriotic War, such as the famous novel "The Dawns Here Are Quiet", was adapted to the screen by director Rostotsky in 1972 and has been remade several times. More importantly, there is basically no mention of Stalin in this novel. Even after filming, there is probably no danger of being banned.

Thinking of this, Sokov sat back at the table, picked up a pencil and wrote "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" in a blank notebook. He had read this novel no less than twenty times and knew the plot by heart. After writing the title, he started writing the main text of the novel: "In the eyes of history, Moscow no longer has a silent dawn. .

The sun had just risen, and the overcrowded outer ring road turned into a stagnant river of cars. Drivers annoyed by the "traffic disease" in big cities were honking their horns manically, making annoying noises. Some people are used to all this, placing a newspaper on the steering wheel and waiting quietly. …”

If when I wrote "The Soldiers Arrive at the City", it was still a creation, but now when I wrote "The Dawns Are Quiet Here", it was purely a silent writing. Creation requires thinking and deliberation, and the speed will definitely not be fast. But the speed of silent writing was much faster. When Yakov opened the door and came in, he had already written almost two thousand words.

Yakov came to the table and saw that one of the notebooks was almost full, so he picked it up and browsed. When he clearly saw the title of the book, "The Dawns Here Are Quiet," he couldn't help but be stunned, and then asked: "Misha, didn't you say you were going to write a novel about snipers? But let me see if this title is what you were talking about. no the same."

“I originally wanted to write the story about Vasily at the Gate first,” Sokov said truthfully, “but I didn’t feel like I was in a good state. I happened to think of another story, so I wrote it first.”

After listening to what Sokov said, Yakov picked up the book again and started browsing: "...Warrant Officer Vaskov, the military commander of the 171th transfer station, rushed out of the mist. He strode across the railway track, just in time to catch up with the tail end. The car passed by. He reached out to grab the armrest and jumped on the carriage step a little awkwardly. Vaskov only turned thirty-two this spring, but he looked much older, as if he was in his forties. Bushy His beard covers his thick lips, and the expression on his face is always droopy. No matter how you look at it, he looks more like a farmer from a collective farm wearing a military uniform..."

"Misha," Yakov couldn't help but frown when he saw this and said, "The protagonist in your novel is not the warrant officer named Vaskov, is he?"

"Yes, Warrant Officer Vaskov is the hero of this book."

"Misha, I think no one will read the novel you wrote like this." Yakov shook his head and said: "The image of soldiers that girls like is handsome and tall, but your protagonist looks like a Farmers on collective farms wearing military uniforms. I think many people will give up when they see this."

"Yasha, I have only written the beginning now, which may not be very attractive." Sokov said: "But after I finish writing this book and you have read it as a whole, it is not too late to talk about your thoughts. .”

Yakov put down the notebook in his hand. Although he didn't like the content in his heart, he couldn't bear to pour cold water on Sokov, his friend. He just said casually: "Can you tell me the general content of this novel? "

"Yes." Sokov readily told Yakov the general plot of the novel: "In the summer of 1942, Warrant Officer Vaskov led a platoon of female anti-aircraft machine gunners and was stationed in a village close to the concession station. In. One day, squad leader Lida discovered airborne German troops in the woods not far away. Vaskov led a small team to search for the enemy, including Lida, Lisa, Galka, Sonia, and Zhenni. Five female soldiers including Ya. After encountering the numerically superior enemy, they launched a fierce battle. During the battle, the girls died heroically one after another. Lida, who was seriously injured, did not want to implicate the warrant officer, so she entrusted her son to He later committed suicide by drinking a bullet. The grief-stricken Vaskov annihilated the remaining enemies in one fell swoop and completed the mission gloriously. Many years later, Vaskov took Lida's son, a young officer, to the grove where his mother died. Deep respect for all female soldiers."

After listening to Sokov's story, Yakov fell silent.

After a long time, he said: "Misha, although the plot of the story is old-fashioned, the publication of such a work just after the end of the Great Patriotic War should resonate with the audience. I hope you can finish this book as soon as possible. .”

"I will."

"How long do you need?"

Hearing Yakov's question, Sokov thought to himself, "The original work has more than 200,000 words. Although writing letters is faster than writing square letters, it will probably take about a month to write out so much content. "

Thinking of this, he said to Yakov: "What, it takes a month? It takes too long. If you hurry up, can you complete the book within a week?"

After hearing this, Sokov was really dumbfounded. If in later generations, he had a computer in his hand, and with his hand speed of being single for thirty years, he should be able to silently write a novel of more than 200,000 words in a week. But in today's era, before you get familiar with using a typewriter, the speed is still not as fast as handwriting. Thinking of this, Sokov shook his head and said with a smile: "Yasha, you think I am a superman. I can write a novel of more than 200,000 words in a week. You really think highly of me."

"Superman?" Unexpectedly, Yakov looked at Sokov with wide eyes and asked, "Who is Superman?"

"Uh!" Sokov realized that he had let slip what he said and mentioned Superman casually. He quickly said perfunctorily: "He is a person in American comics. He can go to heaven and earth, be invulnerable, and omnipotent."

Fortunately, Yakov was not interested in the American cartoons Sokov mentioned at all. He just said casually, and then said: "Misha, it's getting late, let's go have dinner."

"I am in the mood to write. If I go out to eat now, my train of thought may be disrupted." Sokov pretended to be mysterious and said, "If my train of thought is disrupted, I may not be able to continue writing."

When Yakov heard this, it seemed that this was the case. Writers don’t like to be disturbed by others when they are writing. Several writers I know even close their doors and refuse customers every time they create. "Okay, Misha, then you write slowly." Yakov said: "I will bring you something to eat later."

"Yeah, that's really great." Sokov also wanted to finish writing the novel silently in one go. Since Yakov was willing to send him food, he just happened to stay in the house to write with peace of mind, so he was grateful. Said: "Thank you then."