We'll Live Till Monday

We'll Live Till Monday ({Russian Доживём до понедельника, translit. Dozhivyom do ponedelnika) is a 1968 Soviet romantic drama film about a schoolteacher who faces a moral crisis.
 * Directed by Stanislav Rostotsky. Written by Georgi Polonsky.

Ilya Semyonovich Melnikov

 * History is the science that makes a person a citizen!
 * Every now and then I hear: “Jaurès did not take into account”, “Hertzen failed”, “Tolstoy misunderstood”... As if a squad of losers were operating in history!
 * Have you ever thought about the great role of paper? We must bow to her boundless patience! You can write on it: [quoting Aleksandr Pushkin.] “The dark of night is lying on the Georgian hills,” or you can write a slander against your neighbor... You can rewrite your dissertation — to remove one name, one fact, to change the interpretation... If you have a paper, why not do it? It will endure everything! But the souls of us and our kids aren't made of paper, Kolya!..
 * Next time we'll talk about the December armed uprising, and I hope you don't burn down the school before that.

Natasha Gorelova

 * It’s impossible to explain happiness... It’s like pinning a sunbeam to paper.

Gena Shestopal

 * Happiness is when you are understood.
 * A person needs a state of falling in love. With someone or something. Always. All the way. Otherwise, life is not interesting.

Other characters

 * In general, Russia was terribly unlucky with its tsars after Peter the Great. This is my personal opinion.
 * My daughter gets C grades in your discipline systematically, this is surprising and alarming, because history is not mathematics, you don’t need to be a genius.

Dialogue

 * Nikolai Borisovich: You want to rest? To nurse your honesty? Let others build? And after we've finished building, you'll refrain from shaking our hands, saying, "You've gotten your hands dirty."
 * Melnikov: Depending on the kind of dirt, I might not want to shake hands.
 * Nikolai Borisovich: Exactly. That sums you up nicely.


 * Pupil: There are only fifteen lines about him in the textbook...
 * Melnikov: Is fifteen lines a lot or a bit? For most people, all that remains is a dash between two dates.


 * Melnikov's mother: Why are you worried, you yourself said that if a person is stupid, it's for a long time.
 * Melnikov: It was Voltaire who said, not me.


 * TV host: First of all, it is necessary to determine what the soul is.
 * Melnikov's mother: Will he really determine it?


 * Pupil girl: Didn’t you receive anything from my dad? Any letter?
 * Melnikov: I did. And this is what I ask you to tell him!
 * Pupil girl: No need, Ilya Semyonovich! Actually, don't pay any attention! He writes letters like this to everyone...
 * Melnikov: To whom - to everyone?
 * Pupil girl: To everyone... Even to the Minister of Culture. Why are actors filmed in such poses in movies...

Cast

 * Vyacheslav Tikhonov - Ilya Semyonovich Melnikov — History Teacher
 * Irina Pechernikova - Natalya Sergeevna Gorelova — English Language Teacher, formerly Melnikov's student
 * Nina Menshikova - Svetlana Mikhailovna — Russian Language and Literature Teacher
 * Mikhail Zimin - Nikolai Borisovich — School Principal
 * Nadir Malishevsky - TV Show Host
 * Dalvin Shcherbakov - Borya Rudnitsky, formerly Melnikov's student
 * Olga Zhiznyeva - Melnikov's Mother
 * Lyudmila Arkharova - Nadya Ogarysheva, pupil
 * Valeriy Zubarev - Genka Shestopal, pupil
 * Olga Ostroumova - Rita Cherkasova, pupil
 * Igor Starygin - Kostya Batishchev, pupil
 * Roza Grigoryeva - Sveta Demidova, pupil
 * Yuri Chernov - Syromyatnikov, pupil
 * Lyubov Sokolova - Levikova
 * Arkadi Listarov - Vova Levikov, pupil