"The Same Munchausen" by Grigory Gorin, summary Automatic translate

This 1979 film script upends the familiar myth of the famous literary character. The author portrays Karl Friedrich Hieronymus von Munchausen as a brutally honest, tragicomic philosopher. The baron’s fantasies literally materialize before the public’s eyes. This masterful device instantly exposes the hypocrisy and cowardice of the surrounding society. The work sparkles with apt satirical dialogue and caustically mocks the human desire for comfortable mediocrity.

The text served as the basis for the cult two-part television film by Soviet director Mark Zakharov. The 1979 film, starring Oleg Yankovsky, was a huge success with audiences. In 1980, the film won the prestigious Best Director award at the International Television Festival in Prague.

The Amazing Life of a Baron

Karl Friedrich Hieronymus von Munchausen lives on an estate near Hanover with his beloved Martha and his faithful servant Thomas. The baron regularly tells guests incredible stories. Hunters openly laugh at the tale of the cherry pit with which the hero supposedly shot a deer. Suddenly, a magnificent deer emerges from the forest with a blossoming cherry tree on its head. Life on the estate is full of true miracles. Everyday miracles: the owner skillfully roasts ducks right through the chimney and casually converses with great thinkers of the past.

Munchausen passionately desires to marry Martha, but the local pastor refuses to perform the ceremony because the Baron is formally married to Jacobine von Dutten. His wife ran away from him long ago and is living with her lover, Heinrich Ramkopf. Pastor Franz Muss arrives at the estate. Munchausen insistently asks him to help with the wedding. The Baron shows his guest an ancient papyrus with an authentic autograph by Sophocles. The enraged priest hurries out of the house.

Marta is growing weary of her constant conflicts with society. She begs Karl to become a normal person. The Baron categorically refuses. He firmly believes that the dreary everyday life will inevitably kill their love.

The trial and May thirty-second

Jacobina, Ramkopf, and the baron’s own son, Theophilus, desperately try to dispossess Munchausen. They go to Duke George and complain about their relative’s madness. The lawyer solemnly reads out Karl’s daily schedule, which routinely plans for war with England. The enraged duke declares mobilization and orders the arrest of the rebel, but as armed troops surround the tavern, the baron calmly plays the violin. Soon, England recognizes American independence, the military conflict is called off, and the duke is forced to release the victor.

The Duke signs the long-awaited divorce petition. A noisy crowd of onlookers gathers in the Hanover court. As the Baron and Jacobina read the divorce papers and the ceremony seems almost complete, Ramkopf suddenly notices the date on Munchausen’s document — May 32, 1776. The Baron enthusiastically explains to the court a complex astronomical phenomenon: over the years, the Earth’s rotation has accumulated unaccounted seconds, creating an extra spring day. The offended judge immediately revokes the divorce.

The mayor persuades Karl to abandon his scientific discovery for the sake of personal happiness. Martha leaves her lover, unable to bear yet another public scandal. The Duke and the pastor harshly demand that Munchausen sign a written renunciation of all his fantasies. Driven to utter despair, the baron burns the manuscripts in the blazing fireplace. Soon, a lone shot rings out in the quiet house.

Life after death

Three long years pass. Hanoverian high society hypocritically honors the memory of the late baron. Jacobina and Ramkopf write fictitious memoirs, shamelessly distorting the facts for commercial gain. The mayor pompously prepares an absurd city monument for unveiling. The sculpture depicts Munchausen’s horse, greedily drinking water in dismembered form. Jacobina treacherously blackmails the pastor with a counterfeit Bible signed by St. Matthew. The terrified priest is forced to deliver a laudatory sermon at the ceremony.

Thomas accidentally wanders into a small flower shop. The devoted servant quickly recognizes his beloved master in the aging merchant Müller. The shocking truth is revealed: Karl masterfully faked his own suicide. Having changed his name, he secretly married Martha, settled into a quiet life as a commoner, and raised a young son. However, Martha could not live with the timid and cowardly gardener. Leaving a farewell note on a huge mirror, his wife fled, after which Karl, in a rage, smashed the valuable Saxon vases.

The Baron secretly visits Jacobine. He categorically demands a meeting at the monument. At midnight, the hero bluntly declares to his ex-wife, Ramkopf, and the mayor his firm intention to be resurrected. Karl is physically disgusted by the edited and sterile version of his biography. The mayor makes an extremely harsh administrative decision. He arrests his old friend as a very dangerous impostor.

Flight to the Moon

A new high-profile trial begins. Ramkopf aggressively accuses the gardener Müller of illegally appropriating someone else’s famous name. Jacobina and Theophilus cynically declare to the judge their absolute lack of relationship to the defendant, the mayor cowardly avoids a direct answer, but then Marta confidently enters the courtroom.

A woman seeks a secret meeting with Karl in a gloomy prison. She is terrified for his fragile life. The court has cruelly ordered a reenactment. The defendant will be sent to the moon riding a live cannonball, but Jacobina had previously confessed to Martha a secret plot: the gunpowder in the cannon will be completely damp. The Baron will simply fall awkwardly into the mud, to the amusement of the local crowd, but he is guaranteed to survive. Martha decides to publicly lie to the court. At the hearing, she calls her beloved a simple gardener named Müller and tearfully begs the Duke for a swift pardon.

Crushed by his wife’s sudden betrayal, Munchausen voluntarily agrees to the fatal flight, sincerely wishing to leave this utterly deceitful world with dignity. Karl stands alone by the enormous cannon, his hands bound. Saying a touching farewell, he asks Martha to speak his most sincere words. At the last critical moment, the woman breaks down and loudly screams the terrible truth about the wet gunpowder. The Baron rejoices wildly. Faithful Thomas quickly tosses his master a keg of proven dry gunpowder.

The spectators are thrown into a wild panic. Having received an urgent dispatch, the Duke officially identifies the defendant as Karl Friedrich Hieronymus von Munchausen. The people around him instantly change their cowardly behavior, and the hypocritical crowd joyfully congratulates the Baron on his safe return from the moon.

Disgustedly refusing to participate in the protracted legal farce, Munchausen loudly declares that he is renowned solely for his crystal-clear honesty. Taking a lit fuse and asking Thomas to prepare a home-cooked dinner by six o’clock, the hero casts a piercing gaze over the frozen crowd and utters the famous words: "Smile, gentlemen, smile!" To the sounds of triumphant, soaring music, the baron leisurely ascends an endless rope ladder straight into the sky.