“In the name of the health of the people must step over the law” To those who have read Mitta’s monograph, this picture may seem to be the result of the exact following of the described cinematic method. For example, the initial element in the structure of the film drama, called by Mitta “flash of audience interest”, arises after the return of Professor Gusev to Moscow: from now on, his thoughts are entirely occupied with the idea of saving Japanese children. The next element of the structure of the film drama by Mitte is the deepening and expansion of the conflict through the “confrontation” of theme and counterthemes. And if the main topic here is the search for opportunities for the production and delivery of the vaccine to Japan, then the counter-theme is a powerful resistance from pharmaceutical corporations, the bureaucratic bureaucracy of both countries and even Gusev’s inner circle. The peak of tension such a “fight” reaches in the final, in Mitta’s words, mandatory scene – and this is the last element of the structure of the film drama. When many barriers that can only be built by human efforts are overcome, the forces of nature stand in the way of Gusev. Having correctly calculated that the degree of emotional involvement of the viewer by this moment is the highest, the director adds to his “mandatory” scene an alternative, conditionally “undesirable”, version of the finale – however, only as a mental visualization of the main character. Nevertheless, the reception works, as they say, one hundred percent - and this is the most vivid, but not the only example of how easily, carefully and dosed, Mitta plays with the emotions of the viewer. A masterful director's work. The favorable outcome of Gusev’s “struggle” for saving children’s lives, although it seems justified, from a humanistic point of view, simultaneously gives the picture a certain touch of fabulousness. Obviously, overshadowing this effect, the authors leave us in the dark about the fate of the protagonist. Realism is also added to the picture by purely artistic techniques, for example, the interchange of frames of a dancing scientific audience with a black and white chronicle of children suffering from illness.
However, the director himself has repeatedly emphasized the proximity of a number of his previous works to the genre of fairy tales. So, in addition to the “Tale of Wanderings”, he mentioned “The Tale of how Tsar Peter Arapa married” and even pointed to fantastic elements in the plot of the “Crew”. As if emphasizing the same “fairytale” continuity, the pathetic musical theme of the composer Schnittke migrated from “Tale of Wanderings” to “Step”. And the scientist Gusev, played by Leonid Filatov, continues the series of “heroic” characters of Mitta – the inventor of Orlando, flight engineer Skvortsov. The quality that unites all three is an unconditional readiness for self-sacrifice to save others. If there is a real opportunity to help sick children, Gusev is convinced, “which soul will not respond?” This is the norm of human happiness, and one can die for it. Thus the highest goal becomes the meaning of life for him, and the constant overcoming of himself, working at the limit of physiological possibilities, becomes its content. “I don’t have time, I have purpose,” he says, “everything I do is called expedient.” The altruism of Filatov’s character seems to have no limits at all: when the possibilities of using animals in scientific experiments run out, it takes their place. Moreover, Tatiana, who is in love with him, does not stop when she does the same. And even the first impression of the scientist's sincere feelings for the Japanese Keiko - and then later turns out to be deceptive. His love is not personal, it is universal. Love as service is the key to understanding the image of Gusev. And Filatov’s play here seems to be the peak of acting opportunities: “living” in the frame of every emotion, no “extra” look or gesture. Traditionally, a rich palette of colors is also seen in Tabakov - "branded" grins and infectious laughter make his bureaucratic character unexpectedly alive, unambiguously sympathetic. Of course, the expressive work of Yakovleva, whose heroine is endlessly devoted to Professor Gusev, who endlessly betrays her in the name of his goal. Slightly more difficult, due to linguistic and cultural peculiarities, the play of actress Kurihara is perceived. Although it was in her mouth, the authors put, probably, the main message, playing the title of the film: “In the name of the health of the people, you need to step over the law.”
