MovieChat Forums > Kak ya provyol etim letom (2011) Discussion > question about the fish (spoilers)

question about the fish (spoilers)


first of all I have to say that I really enjoyed this movie!

but I think I missed something in the plot... was the fish that makes Pasha puke contaminated by Sergei? I would think so, but I'm not totally sure.

thanks :)

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He was eating too fast and choked on a bone.

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Did he, really?

A very strange scene.

i got am impression he cussed at Sergei going kinda "B!tch, b!tch, b!tch you are", prolly 'cause the fish was tempered with somehow, oversalted or something.

That made him go and 'return the favour' in a way.

Maybe, i'm reading too much into that.





Es gibt eine Serienmörderin in meinem Schrank

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My exact same thoughts!

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i think he was becoming a little paranoid at that point?

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I agree. Mind games were beginning to play tricks!

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I still dont completely get it. If it was bones he choked on (which it looked like he did) how is the other guy responsible for there being bones in a fish? And how were the fish hanging from the building different from the fish in the freezer? He was just overreacting, right?

And, btw, my copy translated suka suka suka to a$$hole(x3). Yours said b|tch?

http://www.imdb.com/list/coi2SOsZMPI/ - Favorite Films Of Every Year 1900-present

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I still dont completely get it. If it was bones he choked on (which it looked like he did) how is the other guy responsible for there being bones in a fish? And how were the fish hanging from the building different from the fish in the freezer? He was just overreacting, right?

Well, i wish i knew for sure, but the real reason might have ended up on the cutting room floor.

Maybe he was overreacting, maybe the fish was tampered with. Might have to watch the scene again but didn't he sink his teeth into the juiciest bit, then spat it out?

And, btw, my copy translated suka suka suka to a$$hole(x3). Yours said b|tch?

i'm a native speaker so didn't need subs.

The exact translation of 'suka' is 'b!tch'.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=suka

Thing is, as a swear word it's a pretty multifaceted one, so in the context of the movie it could have meant something like 'a$$hole' too.

Some modern youths like to use as a verbal comma of sorts where it loses its actual meaning.




"This is the United States - we are a nation of laws." - lesstrollingmoreculling

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Thank you for your reply. Russian is one of the languages I plan on learning (after German and Korean).

I already turned the movie in now, but it looked like he had a bone lodged in his throat by the way he was coughing and wheezing.

http://www.imdb.com/list/coi2SOsZMPI/ - Favorite Films Of Every Year 1900-present

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Just watched it last night. A bit of discussion took place about the key scenes, including the fish scene. Most felt that Pavel had reached such a paranoid state by the time he ate the fish that he blamed Sergei for the bone that was caught in his throat. There was nothing actually wrong with the fish. Further, we all thought that had Sergei actually wanted to kill Pavel the experienced Arctic man could have done it in a flash. When Pavel returned to the hut adn noted that the weapons were empty of ammunition it was not because Sergei had used it all but because he had not wanted Pavel to sneak back and shoot him!

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Sorry but this is a no-brainer. Pavel was suffering from the early symptoms of radiation sickness

Come and get one in the yarbles, if ya have any yarbles - Alex DeLarge

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Good call (better than the 'bone' version) albeit in real life scenario where such a station was concerned it's highly unlikely that Pavel would receive a dose high enough to start displaying the symptoms of acute radiation syndrome.

For those who don't know what those things are, check here:
Radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG, RITEG)

In addition to spacecraft, the Soviet Union constructed many unmanned lighthouses and navigation beacons powered by RTGs. Powered by Strontium 90 (90Sr), they are very reliable and provide a steady source of power. However, critics argue that they could cause environmental and security problems, as leakage or theft of the radioactive material could pass unnoticed for years (or possibly forever: some of these lighthouses cannot be found because of poor record keeping). There has even been an instance where the radioactive compartments were opened by a thief. There was also the case of three woodcutters in Georgia who came across one of these units and slept close to it as a heat source during a cold night. They were later hospitalized with severe radiation burns.The unit was eventually recovered and isolated.

There are approximately 1,000 such RTGs in Russia. All of them have long exhausted their 10-year engineered life spans. They are likely no longer functional, and may be in need of dismantling. Some of them have become the prey of metal hunters, who strip the RTGs' metal casings, regardless of the risk of radioactive contamination.
....

Many Beta-M RTGs produced by the Soviet Union to power lighthouses and beacons have become orphaned sources of radiation. Several of these units have been illegally dismantled for scrap metal resulting in the complete exposure of the Sr-90 source, fallen into the ocean, or have defective shielding due to poor design or physical damage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator

Not sure what 'poor design' they are on about, them things are built like tanks so unless they're seriously violated by idiots for scrap metal(500kg of stainless steel, aluminum and lead) with special tools or explosives etc and left to rot, they are safe.

Pavel would have to live on it for weeks to get a critical dose. Ok, so they used it as a plot device with Geiger counter going mad and all but since it was a secure location with no passing 'treasure hunter' traffic, the protective casing should've been intact leaking a negligible amount of radiation, not even enough to 'poison' that fish as it transpires. That Geiger counter would've gotten poisoned too, if that was the case.

i've hit Ruskie movie forums to get to the bottom of it and read some interesting bits and pieces about the whole shebang leading to some new angles to the story.

Bear in mind that Pavel comes across as a bit of a rogue modern tosser, playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. instead of taking readings and all, so in all fairness, he wouldn't know much about radiation anyway if he really believed that the fish would become poisonous if 'smoked' there. If fish was sprinkled with exposed strontium or polonium, then yes but not the 'radiation' plot device.

Sergey, the old school professional, on the other hand, would know better than that, so in the end when Pavel comes clean and Sergey goes kinda "well, don't tell anybody about it", it's unclear if he's concerned about Pavel showing off his scientific ignorance.

Then, for those who missed it, there's that fish angle too, fish representing Christian Ichthys.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichthys

Some people in the know claim that the way fish was prepared and salted(with heads still attached) has little to do with real life, but that's minor methinks.

Also, that particular fish (Golets/July) season is not sitting well with Pavel's finding any eggs ('eggs' are flying by then).

To sum up, at that particular station the radioisotope thermoelectric generator was supposed to be intact, giving off less power as it was well past its 'best before' date, but still safe to be around unless Pavel was ripping it apart in his spare time, of course.

And if it was somehow leaking badly(the station or the device would've been evacuated then), why the heck he slept next to it, then tried to 'wipe radiation' from his clothes, another ridiculous scientific moment.





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I was thinking that if the RTG emissions were strong enough to warm Pavel up after his tumble into the ocean, they were enough to give him a fatal dose.

Come and get one in the yarbles, if ya have any yarbles - Alex DeLarge

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It seems that RTGs of that particular type do run quite hot (up to 600C), but ionising radiation it emanates is a different kettle of irradiated fish altogether.

A device with intact outer shielding reads up to 0.5 mRem/h on its surface, much less so if one sits one meter away from it. Pavel said something about it getting worse at 400 Rem/h dose-equivalent which would've been way OTT and given him serious trouble IRL if exposed for too long -50% of a fatal dose an hour.

Pavel stood there above the 'hole' for 5-6 minutes so his head and hands would've been exposed mostly. That short exposure was unlikely to give him a fatal dose.

Thing is, from what i read, the worst case so far happened when one unit was found badly leaking after seemingly being cracked open by a tracked vehicle and left behind, and it read from upto 87 Rem/h.

So, a good dose of poetic license seems to be at play here.

Some ideas about irradiated food for sterilising purposes here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_irradiation

Anyhow, that's what a quick search yielded. If i'm way off the mark, i'll gladly stand corrected.

That's how the working device looks like:
http://www.film.ru/img/photo/434/07.jpg

A little featurette about RTGs with the director's commentary (sorry, all in Russian)
http://www.filmz.ru/videos/7572/

The thing used in the movie was an old, ominously looking and 'dilapidated', casing with its capsule already safely utilised.







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Some people in the know claim that the way fish was prepared and salted(with heads still attached) has little to do with real life, but that's minor methinks.


Not to mention the fact that hanging them outdoors in the open would have risked attracting bears.

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Yeah, I thought the same, it was because Pasha got exposed to radiation, and since he blamed Sergey for that, he decided to contaminate the fish as an appropriate revenge, well and also a self-defence really.



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he chokes. the film is saying that you cannot be alone in those deserted wilderness.

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I still dont completely get it. If it was bones he choked on (which it looked like he did) how is the other guy responsible for there being bones in a fish? And how were the fish hanging from the building different from the fish in the freezer? He was just overreacting, right?
Pavel blames Sergei for the situation that he is in. He has been shot out, drenched with freezing water, subjected to a dose of radiation, and deprived of food. He fears for his life. When Pavel gets the fish bone stuck in his throat, of course he curses Sergei because of all that has happened. If it were not for Sergei's behavior, Pavel would not be ravenously gnawing on a dried fish.

Under the circumstances, it is hard to see Pavel cursing Sergei as an overreaction.

Contaminating the fish is not something that would occur to Sergei. If he really wanted to kill Pavel, he would track him down and do it.

P. S. I think Pavel is saying something like this when he contaminates the fish: "All of this is because of your damn fish. I almost choked on one of your damn fish. I hope your damn fish kill you."

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"P. S. I think Pavel is saying something like this when he contaminates the fish: "All of this is because of your damn fish. I almost choked on one of your damn fish. I hope your damn fish kill you."

Yes, in fact just before he finally tells Sergey his family is dead he says that "all this is because of your trout". Even then he somehow blames the whole thing on Sergey's desire for fish. It makes sense then that as his mind deteriorates he sees the fish as appropriate to use for his revenge.


I prefer Imaginality to reality.

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julie_robin2 wrote:

Yes, in fact just before he finally tells Sergey his family is dead he says that "all this is because of your trout". Even then he somehow blames the whole thing on Sergey's desire for fish. It makes sense then that as his mind deteriorates he sees the fish as appropriate to use for his revenge.
There is a logic to Pavel's blaming the fish. Sergei was not supposed to be off fishing. But he was, and so he was neither there to take the call, nor could Pavel explain that he wasn't there. (Obviously, Pavel should have explained the situation once he heard about Sergei's family, but he does not know what to do, and he doesn't.)If Sergei isn't off fishing, none of this happens. Of course, if Pavel explains that Sergei is off fishing, none of this happens either._______________For easy markup see http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/42255

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I thought at first perhaps Sergei had poisoned the fish knowing that Pash was close by and would probably steal it. Clearly that wasn't the case and I think Pash was just venting his frustration at him perceiving that Sergei was trying to kill him, thus forcing him to live rough and then eat raw fish.

Interestingly, my subs said *beep* rather than "bitch".

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[deleted]

the fish were contaminated with radiation when he placed them above the radioactive heat thing.

My foreign film list http://www.imdb.com/list/z86jRjauDwE/

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I've read through all the debate on this thread, but I thought it was obvious he was choking on a bone. Anyone who's ever eaten trout before will know they have extremely fine bones, which can be difficult to see and can easily get lodged in your throat. You need to be very careful when eating trout.

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simond-10 wtote:

I thought it was obvious he was choking on a bone.
I agree. I also thought it was obvious that he was choking on a bone. He is ravenous, and he's just stuffing the fish into his mouth without removing the bones._______________For easy markup see http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/42255

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Exactly! If you watch the scene again, he is eating so damn fast! First thing I said when I was watching this was "DONT EAT SO FAST! IT MIGHT BE TASTY BUT YOU WILL CHOKE!".

I have had some close calls with trout myself and the bones they have.

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On my DVD, the subtitles came up, *beep* *beep* *beep* I thought maybe Pavel was cursing himself for not looking out for the bones and so he was angry with himself for choking on one.

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