The House That Swift Built (Russian: Дом, который построил Свифт, romanized: Dom, kotoriy postroil Svift) is a 1982 Soviet fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Mark Zakharov based on the eponymous play by Grigori Gorin about Irish satirist writer and Anglican priest Jonathan Swift.
In 1745 Dublin, a weary Jonathan Swift confronts mortality and legacy as he encounters characters from his own writings, blurring the line between reality and fiction in his final days.
Contents
Plot
The story begins on October 5, 1745, in Dublin, as Dr. Richard Simpson arrives at the home of Jonathan Swift, the dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and a renowned writer. A crowd has gathered, thinking Swift’s funeral is taking place, but he soon appears, repeating an annual ritual where he stages his own funeral and reads his will. Swift, who has been silent and keeps his eyes covered, is cared for by his housekeeper Vanessa and his servant Patrick. Inside the house, Dr. Simpson encounters characters from Swift’s books: three Lilliputians in a love triangle, a now-shrunken giant named Glum, and Mr. Nobody, who claims to be over a thousand years old. A theater troupe performs in Swift’s home, hoping to inherit it. Amid tensions, the police arrest the actors, Vanessa is dismissed, and her sister Esther, who loves Swift, replaces her as housekeeper. A guard named Jack begins to see his life as a time loop and attempts to free the actors, only to be killed by his partner, hoping his next life will be different.
Days later, the council, led by the Governor-General of Ireland, grows concerned as strange events continue around Swift's home, including the sighting of a celestial body resembling the island of Laputa. Dr. Simpson, frustrated by his inability to influence events, finally reads one of Swift’s books and recognizes himself as Dr. Lemuel Gulliver, Swift’s literary alter ego. A delegation of Laputians from the future arrives, announcing that Swift will die of a heart attack on October 19. Breaking his silence, Swift confirms his impending death and refuses to choose between Vanessa and Esther, stating both women hold a place in his heart. Swift steps through an open door, accompanied by the characters from his books, on what he calls his final “fifth journey” into the afterlife. Dr. Simpson remains, poised over a blank page, envisioning himself on a grand ship setting sail.
Cast
Oleg Yankovsky - Jonathan Swift
Aleksandr Abdulov - Richard Simpson, Doctor
Vladimir Belousov - Patrick, servant-secretary
Yevgeny Leonov - Glum, the giant
Marina Ignatova - Vanessa
Alexandra Zakharova - Stella (Esther Johnson)
Alexander Sirin - Mr. Someone, Struldbrugg
Aleksandr Zbruyev - Relb, Lilliputian
Nikolai Karachentsov - Flim, the Lilliputian
Tatyana Rudina - Betty, wife of Relb
Viktor Proskurin - Jack Smith, constable
Yuri Astafiev - Constable
Villor Kuznetsov - main Laputian
Vsevolod Larionov - Bigs, the judge
Semyon Farada - Governor
Yuri Kolychev - Bishop
Valery Belyakov - city dweller
Vyacheslav Gorbunchikov - city dweller
Evgeny Markov - participant of the meeting with the governor
Vladimir Myshkin - city dweller
Igor Fokin - spectator with binoculars