"Days of Eclipse" by the Strugatsky brothers and Pavel Kadochnikov, summary

The screenplay is based on the famous novel by the Strugatsky brothers. The original script was written in the late 1980s with the participation of Pavel Kadochnikov. The text sets the action in a sultry southern city, shifting the emphasis from science fiction to philosophical drama. In 1988, director Alexander Sokurov adapted this script into a film of the same name. The film won the European Film Academy Award. The adaptation received high critical acclaim for its visuals and profound psychological insight.

Strange interference

The pale yellow walls of earthquake-resistant buildings sway in the hot haze. The streets are empty, the city seems abandoned. Dmitry Alekseevich Malyanov sits in his apartment, working on a theory of macroscopic stability. The heat is oppressive, but the scientist is absorbed in calculations and typing his paper. Suddenly, a series of inexplicable events begins. The phone rings nonstop. Unknown couriers send deep-frozen lobster. His friend Zakharov offers him the position of branch director. Malyanov declines for the sake of pure science.

Biologist Philip Vecherovsky arrives. Malyanov tells him about his work, which could earn him a Nobel Prize. Vecherovsky inquires about Malyanov’s neighbor, engineer Arnold Pavlovich Snegov. Soon, an awkward girl named Lidochka appears with a huge suitcase. She claims to have come at the request of the apartment owner’s ex-wife.

A neighbor’s visit

Lidochka constantly disturbs him: she breaks dishes and floods the bathroom. In the evening, she recalls their supposed past affair, but Malyanov is certain it’s a false memory. Snegovoy’s neighbor invites Malyanov over. The engineer’s apartment is cluttered with shells and images of spirals. Snegovoy nervously questions the astrophysicist about the secrecy of his research.

The engineer mentions the names Gubar and Glukhov. Then he takes out a pistol and hides it in a desk drawer. Malianov leaves in fear. That night, a small earthquake occurs. In the morning, Malianov awakens to the sound of a gunshot — Snegovoy has committed suicide. Lidochka disappears without a trace from the locked room, along with her belongings.

Messengers of an unknown force

In the kitchen, Malyanov discovers a red-haired hunchback. The stranger introduces himself as Zakhar Zakharovich Gubar. He demands that work on the theory be immediately stopped. The hunchback speaks on behalf of a super-civilization. Discoveries by Earth scientists could make humanity a dangerous competitor in space. An alien intelligence is blocking scientific breakthroughs. A solar eclipse begins. Gubar disappears, leaving half-drunk tea on the table.

A seven-year-old boy in old-fashioned clothes rings the doorbell. The child declares he’s coming to live there. He’s brazen, quoting Dostoevsky and asking, "Would you agree to be an architect under these conditions?" The boy explains that if Malyanov continues working, an unknown force will destroy the innocent child. The astrophysicist tries to throw the guest out, but the boy throws a tantrum in the stairwell. The scientist leaves the boy to sleep on the ottoman.

Capitulation of colleagues

Malianov goes to see Vecherovsky. In the biologist’s perfect apartment sits historian Vladlen Semenovich Glukhov. Glukhov admits he abandoned his dissertation. As soon as he sat down at his desk, he began to suffer unbearable headaches. The historian chose a quiet life and watching television. Vecherovsky is certain the scientists are facing an insurmountable force.

Returning home, Malyanov resumes his work on formulas. Late in the evening, a man calling himself Alexander Platonovich Poluyanov arrives. He takes the boy away, complaining of his difficult personality. The business card he left behind turns out to be a blank piece of cardboard. A child’s scream is heard outside. Malyanov finds only a yellow sandal on the stairs.

The final choice

The scientist collects all the drafts in a white folder. He returns to Vecherovsky’s house. Glukhov is sitting at the entrance, his face smeared with soot. The historian is tormented by shame for his rejection of science, but leaves with a lame woman. Vecherovsky’s apartment is devastated by the explosion. On the surviving table lie the folders of Snegovoy, Glukhov, and other researchers.

Vecherovsky intends to study this hostile force. He is ready to dedicate his entire life to it, despite the mortal danger. Malyanov refuses to participate in the struggle, shouting that he does not want to risk other people’s lives for the sake of the distant future. The astrophysicist leaves his white folder on the biologist’s desk. In the final scene, a boy awakens on the seashore, alive and well. He shakes water from his ear and trudges across the sand, one sandal in hand.