Natural dignity This magnificent movie was shot on the play of Viktor Rozov (" Cranes fly, "A Noisy Day")
There is a family:
The elder Zharkov (played by Vsevolod Sanayev; he is probably better known to young people as the grandfather from the book of Pavel Sanayev “Bury Me Behind the Plinth”:) is a graphic writer who accidentally wrote a good novel (the Soviet equivalent of American Ken Kesey), for which he received honor, respect, money and a huge apartment in one of the seven famous Moscow skyscrapers.
Middle Zharkov, Kim (Leonid Filatov) – a former athlete, now a coach, from whom his wife left 7 years ago (he left with her new husband to Brazil)
The second child of Zharkov Sr. is Nina (Lyudmila Savelyeva). She was abandoned 8 years ago by a loved one, after which she made at least 2 suicide attempts.
All of them are deeply unhappy, live only in the past, each their own, and the only thing that really keeps them in this life is Zharkov Jr., the son of Kim.
He is 16, he is a polyglot, learning 4 languages at the same time, and in general - an extremely positive guy.
And then one day (or rather, at two, from evening to noon) two former favorite people from the past come – Lev Gruzdev (Edward Martsevich) and Alla (Natalia Fateeva).
And all the nerve, which seemed to be deeply hidden in this family, breaks out.
It's the best drama I've ever seen, and I've seen and read a lot of it. The acting of the actors is brilliant, even the kid (perhaps, except for one tiny episode at the end), there are a lot of subtle nuances that allow, without fear of exaggeration, to say that they do not shoot this now. They probably never will.
The night scene between Nina and Leva is absolutely stunning. Savelyeva opened up here, in my opinion, like nowhere else. Neither Natasha Rostov, nor Seraphim Korzukhina, nor even more so Louise Poindexter in her performance did not make such a vivid impression and did not cause such “puppy delight” in me.
Zharkov Sr. asks his critic friend:" Tell me, what do you respect most in fiction?
He says, "Miracle." That which falls from the sky without will and reason. Which you'll never think of. From which everything – and your main thoughts, and character, and even the content itself – is illuminated with a special meaning. "
There is a miracle in this film.
Finally, it is quite obvious to me why this film was almost never shown in Soviet times. It is not clear how it was even allowed to be removed. But why it is not shown now is a mystery.
10 out of 10