The passage from The Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov that you are about to see in the video (in Russian, the English translation is below), has long been known by heart. When I was 16, I loved the images Bulgakov painted and satyrical notes; a little less than 16 years later I can’t help loving the relevance this passage still has today. Whether social, economic, political, cultural or personal, the ruin does indeed start in people’s heads. It’s what we think on the regular basis that eventually makes or breaks us. Obviously, things are often a little bit more complex, but the bottom line remains: our mind is the mightiest weapon – we should be careful not to use it against ourselves.
The part of Professor Preobrazhensky in this adaptation of Bulgakov’s story is played by Evgeny Evstigneev, one of the best actors of his generation. Dr Bormenthal is played by Boris Plotnikov.
'Why on earth do they have to remove the flowers from the landing? Why does the electricity, which to the best of my recollection has only failed twice in the past twenty years, now go out regularly once a month? Statistics, Doctor Bormenthal, are terrible things. You who know my latest work must realise that better than anybody.'
'The place is going to ruin, Philip Philipovich.'
'What do you mean by ruin? An old woman with a broomstick? A witch who smashes all the windows and puts out all the lights? No such thing. What do you mean by that word? I'll tell you what it is: if instead of operating every evening I were to start a glee club in my apartment, that would mean that I was on the road to ruin. If when I go to the lavatory I don't pee, if you'll excuse the expression, into the bowl but on to the floor instead and if Zina and Darya Petrovna were to do the same thing, the lavatory would be ruined. Ruin, therefore, is not caused by lavatories but it's something that starts in people's heads. So when these clowns start shouting "Stop the ruin!" - I laugh!' (Philip Philipovich's face became so distorted that the doctor's mouth fell open.) 'I swear to you, I find it laughable! Every one of them needs to hit himself on the back of the head and then when he has knocked all the hallucinations out of himself and gets on with sweeping out backyards - which is his real job - all this "ruin" will automatically disappear. You can't serve two gods! You can't sweep the dirt out of the tram tracks and settle the fate of the Spanish beggars at the same time!
