Yerina Moryaka

## Introduction

***Yerina Moryaka*** (**Erina the Sailor**) is a Mecharussian romantic drama. Written and directed by veteran filmmaker Modest Kristov in 2105 to celebrate the bicentenary of the Revolution of 1905, it tells the story of the fictitious Erina Gerasimenko, a sailor's lover who stows away aboard the Russian battleship *Potemkin* during the Revolution, and is considered one of the great classics of the Mechanocratic Ideology.

Despite its popularity, *Yerina Moryaka* was never reproduced until the Trotskaya Regime, in line with laws intended to uphold the purity of beloved cultural works. When the modern remaster of the film appeared in 2155 at the height of the 'legend' period of Mecharussian culture, it was heavily scrutinised by the Ministry of Propaganda to ensure that it remained as close to the original as possible.

## Plot summary

*Yerina Moryaka* begins in early June 1905 at Erina's family farm close to Odessa, with her receiving a telegram of condolence informing her that her father, a commodore in the Imperial Navy, was killed at the Battle of Tsushima the month before. Because her father was the family's main source of income, the family runs the risk of destitution; Erina promises to her grieving mother and younger brother Sergei that she will find work in the city to ease the burden on them and plans to support the family with her wages. Moving in with her lover Sasha, a carpenter and reservist in the Navy, she finds work as his apprentice, proving to be a diligent worker.

Two weeks pass before Sasha is called up to fight in order to replenish losses sustained in the Russo-Japanese War, being brought aboard the battleship *Potemkin*. There, he meets and befriends the kind-hearted sailors Afanasi and Grigory, but grows to dislike his commanding officer, the mean-spirited first mate Ippolit Giliarovsky, and begins to plot against him with his newfound friends. Meanwhile Erina, fearing that Sasha will be killed in action just as her father was, smuggles herself aboard in an empty fish barrel.

One day after leaving port, the sailors are called to dinner and presented with rotten, maggot-infested borscht. Sasha, Afanasi and Grigory all protest, but Giliarovsky threatens to punish anyone who refuses to eat the borscht with insubordination. Grigory angrily takes a stand, but Giliarovsky cruelly shoots him in the head, killing him instantly. In a fit of rage, Sasha draws his antique sabre and stabs him through the heart; the sight of Giliarovsky's death prompts the other sailors to launch a mutiny, led by Afanasi. In the ensuing chaos, the ship's captain is wrapped up in the Imperial naval ensign (which is replaced by the Red Banner) and thrown overboard, and the *Potemkin* is seized.

Hours after the mutiny, the sailors discover Erina hiding in the cargo hold. Before they can execute her as a loyalist conspirator, Sasha stops them and protests her decision to stow away aboard the ship, Erina explaining that she could not bear losing another loved one and begging him to let her stay by his side.

As Sasha orders the mutineers to put her into a lifeboat and send her back to Odessa, the *Potemkin* is attacked by a loyalist warship. A shell strikes the deck, knocking both Sasha and Afanasi unconscious; just as the other sailors start to panic, Erina announces that she is taking command and picks up Sasha's sabre. Inspired by her rallying call, the sailors regain their composure and she orders them to take Sasha and Afanasi to the medical bay.

At that moment, marines board the ship and prepare to seize it by force; Erina personally leads the defence with a handful of armed sailors. The better-equipped marines force Erina and the sailors inside of the ship, her ordering the group to barricade the door to stop them from entering. The marines try to break through the door, and some make it through, but Erina proceeds to fight them all off with Sasha's sabre. Just as she is about to be overpowered and killed, however, Sasha himself appears, he and Afanasi having outflanked the marines and forcing the rest to flee the ship. The ship's guns are re-manned, and the opposing warship is quickly sunk. Following her display of bravery in the battle, the mutineers begin to chant Erina's name, having accepted her as one of them after their initial disdain for the stowaway, and she watches the sunset with Sasha.

The next day, the *Potemkin* lands at Odessa to bury Grigory, with hundreds of people turning out for his funeral – including Erina's mother and Sergei. However, the funeral procession is interrupted by the arrival of large numbers of mounted Cossack troops, sent by loyalist commanders to apprehend the mutineers. The sailors refuse to surrender, prompting the Cossacks to charge into the crowd.

Arming herself with a carbine, Erina rushes to the defence of her family, against Sasha's wishes. Terrified for her safety, he orders a group of sailors to go after her and bring her back, but they are shot and killed by the Cossacks. Moments before her mother meets her end at the hands of the loyalist soldiers, Erina jumps in front of her, taking the bullet herself and shooting the Cossack dead in the process. Although this act buys her family and the surviving sailors enough time to retreat to the safety of the *Potemkin*, Erina herself dies from her wounds. Grief-stricken and enraged, Sasha orders the ship's heavy artillery to fire on the Cossacks, but Afanasi overrides the order in the nick of time, convincing Sasha that the resultant collateral damage would disgrace Erina's sacrifice. After the Cossacks are forced back, the sailors recover her body and the *Potemkin* departs from Odessa.

The final scene depicts Erina's own funeral. The mutineers elect to bury her at sea as a true sailor, and after rendering one final salute as her coffin drifts into the distance, they vow to carry on fighting as revolutionaries in her memory.

## Status in the world

### Mechanocratic Russia

The first screening of *Yerina Moryaka* in the Great People's Celebration Hall in Greater Sunikagrad received a standing ovation – the Supreme Leader, who attended the showing, reported that he was *"genuinely moved"* by the story, and *"only didn't shed a tear out of physical impossibility"*. Even to the present day, the drama is considered one of the greatest ever produced by the Mecharussian film industry. Like the other ideological classics of its like, it is considered sacrosanct and legally immune to unscrutinised remakes and fan-fictions.

*Yerina Moryaka* is also noted as being a childhood favourite of Elena Trotskaya – indeed, it was the crimson shawl that Erina is depicted as wearing in the film that inspired the Red Tigress' own signature plasteel hood and cloak.