The second part of the anthology – "Death of a Government Clerk" – is an episode from the life of a county court bailiff Chervyakov (Ivan Moskvin), who, when sneezing during a theatrical performance sprays General Bryzgalov (Vladimir Ershov), who is sitting in front of him.

On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the death of Anton Pavlovich, administration of the studio Mezhrabpomfilm offered the film director to adapt several short-stories of the writer; he was granted the right to choose the works himself.

The short stories which were included into the anthology were united by the theme of Russian servility and readiness to obey superiors and to recognize any person invested with power as the supreme authority.

[5]According to film critic Sergei Lavrentyev, the three novellas included in the anthology exhibit a cluster of fundamental directorial techniques used in cinematic interpretation of literary works.

[7] In the story "The Death of a Government Clerk", much of which was shot in the realistic tradition, in the finale the director suddenly uses elements of fantasy – they are found in the episode when the General towering over from the colossal table looks down at the small huddled officer;[7] Bryzgalov at this point resembles a giant, Chervyakov (whose imagination spawns the vision) – a "bug".

[6] Film critic Sergey Lavrentyev on the contrary highlights the beginning of "Chameleon": an image of a provincial town wearied from the heat with sleepy inhabitants and a slow rhythm of life largely explains the behavior of artisan Khryukin, who selects a small dog as an object of entertainment.

But the scenes with the search for the owner and the inspector Ochumelov whose mood changes by the minute are less cinematic and more theatrical: The audience gradually sinks into a state similar to the one which the villagers doltish from the heat inhabit, and one comes to the conclusion that for a literalist film adaptation (that is to say, an illustration) sound is the basic requirement.