The Green Elephant

Two junior Soviet officers arrive at a penal military prison and share a small, grimy cell. The room has a leaking sewer and toxic green walls that cast an oppressive mood over the inmates. This claustrophobic setting foreshadows the brutal power dynamics that unfold.

Pakhomov's talkative, delirious stories irritate Epifantsev, who finally lashes out with a punch. The guard Maslaev punishes the outburst by forcing Epifantsev to clean the toilet with a fork. The cell quickly becomes a stage for coercion and fear.

Exhausted, Epifantsev returns to the cell after punishment while Pakhomov defecates on their plate, smears himself with feces, and consumes some of it. He offers the plate to his cellmate, provoking disgust and tension between them. Maslaev reappears to punish again, seemingly paying no mind to Pakhomov's actions.

Captain Osmolovsky arrives and quizzes Pakhomov about the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, focusing on Pearl Harbor's ships. He grows angry when Pakhomov answers incorrectly, underscoring the captain's harsh, performative authority. The moment deepens the prison's brutal hierarchy.

Osmolovsky mocks a cup of tea brought by Maslaev, saying it tastes like piss and dousing the guard with it while forcing him to hold the glass with his teeth. The captain's cruelty extends to the guards, keeping everyone in line. Later, Osmolovsky orders Maslaev to beat Pakhomov.

The prisoners are dragged to the basement, where the captain and guard subject them to demeaning acts while watching. The oppressive routine tightens as Epifantsev and Pakhomov are forced to endure and endure again.

Osmolovsky taunts Maslaev about an imminent execution, triggering the guard's fear and a moment of wetting himself. The captain then whips Maslaev to make him dance as Epifantsev and Pakhomov sing the song Yablochko together, intensifying the surreal cruelty of the scene.

The captain forces Epifantsev into an act of oral sex, muttering the names of Pearl Harbor's ships as he exerts control. Epifantsev protests but is overpowered, illustrating the depths of the captain's cruelty and its effect on the prisoners.

Driven to insanity by torture, Epifantsev grabs a pipe and wounds the captain, ultimately killing him. The brutal act marks a drastic turn in the prisoners' struggle for survival within the penal system.

Having killed his captor and been driven to the brink, Epifantsev ends his own life in the basement. Pakhomov mourns him, muttering about his mother as he processes the loss and horror around him.

Maslaev returns as a self-proclaimed colonel and invites Pakhomov to a supposed celebration. He climbs onto a chair and hangs himself, and Pakhomov knocks the chair over, leaving the corpse on the floor. He then lingers with the dead, singing softly about the Green Elephant.

Intercut black-and-white scenes show the guard walking the hallways, drinking, and complaining about how the prisoners affect military prestige. These vignettes contrast with the color brutality of the main story and highlight the guard's complicity in the system.

During the credits, the guard is shown shouting I am a colonel and I will be a colonel, a grim coda on militaristic aspiration. The final shots leave the viewer with a haunting reminder of power and corruption.