The film is from the past and the problems are still the same. Although today is a day off, we have moved away from our tradition of watching French cinema on weekends and decided to watch Soviet cinema. I don’t know why, but I remember this movie today. I saw him once, a long time ago, back in the 90s, when I was in school, after that he somehow did not meet me, and even forgot a little, and today I suddenly remembered. So we decided to watch it.
The film consists of two series. In my opinion, a third is missing. Very interesting... what happened next? A very strong, lifelike film. Exactly strong. Kind and sincere, but hard after him. It's very hard.
A strong-willed woman is a mother of many children... the mother of a whole orphanage. She's loved, respected, trusted. The woman devoted 20 years of her life to an orphanage. A woman has a son. They have a warm, good relationship. Mother loves son, son loves mother. But... everything is not smooth in our lives. The most beautiful game of Natalia Gundareva. Strong, courageous, sometimes sharp! Mimics, gestures! Everything about this woman is beautiful! Bravo
This film touches on many issues, many problems. The film gives food for thought... about life, children, fates. A complete revaluation of values . Indeed, many of the modern society consider a person brought up in an orphanage at a somewhat lower social level, a subhuman, a person who should be treated with caution.
In the film, one of the pupils “in the forehead” asks the question “Why do some people have everything?” Nothing for the others?! Why is there no justice? Why is there no equality? And in this film is very clearly read in the eyes of children one question that always stands in the eyes of real children living in orphanages: "Why?". They don’t understand why they were left without a mother, why they should live differently than the children who are in school nearby. They did nothing wrong, they were simply born to these parents and by their very birth put in special conditions outside their own family home.
The relationship between mother and child is also discussed here. Notice how the number of abandoned children whose children were taken away from their parents has increased due to the deprivation of parental rights.
The film's main character, "What is happening now?" I don't want to give birth. I don't want to educate you, please! A very strong scene where an adopted guy makes a decision... does he want to meet his real mother after 20 years, having a mother who raised him, or is it better not to date?
Admirable work of Soviet cinema. The film raises a problem about which, unfortunately, so little is said now. And our society needs such films, because a person leaves the family, and millions of children do not have it.
Still for some reason it was a pity Ksenia Ryabtsev - a dissolute mother Sergei. And here's the interesting thing: the older I get, the more sorry I feel for such unwise people. Is that why? She seems to be a short-sighted, dissolute kind, obviously poorly versed in men - it seems to irritate, but it's a pity for her, there is no strength. A fool who abandons her only child . . . and evokes such emotions. Maybe that's how it was played by Polyakova? It turned out that she had some initial damage, as if she had always been unhappy, was already born clumsy, complexed, and because of that she so passionately “sculpted” to the man whom she allegedly loved. I don’t want to trample, kick, poke her... she’s just terribly pathetic! Especially the footage, when music sounds and she looks out the window at the kindergarten with walking children - this is the loneliness of a person who is guilty of everything, and has already punished himself. It hurts so much that there is no one to blame.
I read that the film was shot in a real orphanage, in the episodes there were real pupils. Most of the scenes were filmed in the nearest park and school adjacent to the building of the orphanage. The film is piercing and makes you think about a lot, despite the absence of excessive heartbreaking scenes, which, for sure, would be filled with modern cinema.
The film is wonderful! I recommend it to anyone who likes movies that make you think. The film is very honest and full of truth. It does not feel false, as if you are really watching the fate of ordinary people. Of course, everything is merged here – impeccable directing, the work of directors and operators, and the brilliant play of actors. Such tapes are good to show young people in schools and institutes. It is here that you can learn for yourself that there is life and simple universal values, which are imperishable, unfortunately, now there is absolutely no such piercing, simple and therefore super valuable for the soul truth on the screen. Of course, there are no such ideal orphanages in life, but I always want to believe that such love for other people's children is real.
I would like to note one fact that in the pre-perestroika era still played a decisive role. It is a systematic and consistent replacement of some values by others. The happiness of a Soviet person lies in his work, the interests of the collective stand above personal, etc. The heroine Gundareva sacrifices her female happiness for the sake of the profession. At the beginning of her career, after listening to the advice of the “wise” Marya Timofeevna, consciously deprived herself of maternal happiness, and the child of a warm family hearth. Her professionalism and reputation would not have been harmed by the decision to take on an orphanage child. Many years later, having met a man with whom she had been in love since childhood and for whom she still harbors warm feelings, she again deprives herself of simple human happiness for the sake of her career. When, it would seem, everything is already decided, and it is only necessary to take the final step, Mary Timofeevna again intervenes in fate and convinces her of the futility of such an act.
In all her actions, Alexandra feels thoughtfulness and the presence of her own opinion, and in the most important questions concerning only herself, she listens to advice from outside. As they say, with good intentions... Alexandra believes that she is an indispensable person here and she herself is nowhere without these children. This is a deliberately erroneous opinion of any employee who thinks that without him his home factory, hospital, orphanage, will immediately cease to exist. But, as you know, in the work of irreplaceable people there is no sacred place is empty. And the children who demand our care and attention are everywhere full. The question arises: is all this worth such sacrifices?
There is something sad, serene in this film, like that pre-perestroika time, the time of withering, the last days of golden autumn. And even those global problems that are raised in the film in today’s cynical time look somehow simple, or naive. I think this is what attracts the viewer, tired of modern cruelty and cynicism as a norm of life. I am not sure, however, that this is the merit of the creators of the film, rather the time that has gone forever.
9 out of 10