The soul is gone... empty in the house... The words in the title can describe the whole film to some extent. Almost half a century since the release of the picture on the screen, allow you to see a lot that was not in the frame, but that, one way or another, was implied by the creators of the picture. The very beginning of the 80s is a kind of “calm before the storm”: everything seems to be going well, but many understand that serious changes are long overdue, primarily in agriculture. In the last decade of the existence of the USSR, many films on such topics were shot. Today, we can say that the film “My Eternal Love” was an “order from above”, or in another way – the film reflects the life position of the director and screenwriter.
The plot twists and turns in the picture are typical for the time when the “indicators” were raised into dogma, and determined the behavior of leaders of different levels. A vivid example of this is Mikhail Petrovich Zubov. The amazing charisma of Anatoly Dmitrievich Papanov helped him create a memorable image of the leader of an authoritarian, tough, sometimes rude, but at the same time honest, selfless and open. A man gave 25 years of his life to his native kolkhoz, raised it from the ruins, rebuilt it. Devoting himself to work, Zubov eventually began to identify himself with the collective farm. At some point, he was not “C” fellow villagers, but “Above” them. This style of leadership was good in the 50s, but not in the late 70s. Because time doesn't stand still. Each new generation goes its own way, and this road does not necessarily lead to the collective farm estate.
We must pay tribute to the screenwriter Oleg Stukalov – he introduced a variety of characters into the film narrative, fully reflecting the situation in the village. They are all quite bright and unique in their own way. For example, Ivan Rusov performed by Yuri Kuzmenkov. This is a classic rolling field, who did not want to return to the village after serving in the army, because there is "dirty and hunger! hunger and dirt!" His life was rubbed and bitten until he returned to his home. At first glance, Ivan is an “empty man”, but only at first glance, because his truth lies much deeper – not everyone is given to be “mouthpieces of the revolution”, but everyone wants personal happiness.
These words apply to the youngest generation – Ilya and Dasha. It is no accident that the director at the beginning of the film, immediately after the scene with the chairman, transfers the camera to young people resting in the hay, thereby showing that the importance of the chairman is in his position, but no less (if not more) important are these young man and girl - the future residents of the collective farm, about which the hero Papanov cares so much. If with the younger generation, everything is more or less clear – there is a whole life ahead, which means that you should not worry too much about today, then with the middle generation everything is not so simple. In my opinion, the character of the mechanizer Korshunov turned out ... to put it mildly, strange. An adult, honored (two orders) man commits acts that are more characteristic of his son - childish upholstery, and childish behavior.
There are still characters in the picture that cannot be ignored: this is a married couple (both on the screen and in life) Gleb and Klavdia Gribova (Eugene Zharikov and Natalia Gvozdikova). Several scenes of their family life are a real decoration of the film. Let these scenes do not carry a special plot load, but they give an opportunity to “try out” the game of your favorite actors. Incredibly “delicious” was the role of Maria Savelyevna Skvortsova, able to make any episodic role memorable. Her Maximovna is a real source of humor, energy, cheerfulness.
If you sum up the film, then there is a certain contradiction: on the one hand - not particularly memorable "production" plot, composed, like a mosaic, of individual fragments. And on the other hand - the acting game, which made these "separate fragments" in a special way to shine, play, light up. However, the contradiction is apparent, because we are watching the film not for the sake of the plot, but for the sake of the actors who animate even a dead plot.