The Plot

A sublime, exceptionally well acted film about a single working class mother and her teenage son. She finds a man and marries him, her son is jealous and full of hot air at first but comes to understand her in the end. That's all. The simplicity of the story notwithstanding, this is one of the most sincere and lyrical films to have been produced in the 1960s-1970s Soviet Union. Very realistic, too, showing the life as it was then. Lyusyena Ovchinnikova is superb, it is this film that makes one realize what a wonderful and under-appreciated actress she was. Nikolay Burlyayev is very good as a lanky teenager, the final scene with him carrying a glass of carbonated water for his mother is stunning. Oleg Efremov is very convincing as a working class man who found his happiness at last.

Streaming On