My summary isn't meant as criticism--it's just what you'll see when you watch this film. It is well made and I admired some of the acting-- such as the nice performance the director got out of a little boy. But the film is such a downer I cannot imagine it having any widespread audience.
The film begins in the Soviet Union just after WWII. A woman collapses and give birth along a muddy road. The scene then skips ahead six years. The widow mother and her boy are on a train--- heading nowhere in particular. On the train, she meets a dashing soldier and he sweeps her off her feet. Next they're moving into a crummy apartment and soon she realizes that he is NOT a soldier but a sociopath who steals without remorse. But the mother is a strongly dependent personality and she refuses to leave the bum and the trio travel across the country stealing and living irresponsible lives. What's next? See the film...just understand it won't get any prettier!
I admire the film for being daring and different. I would assume such a picture never would have been made in the old Soviet Union and the film is clear indication of changing times and attitudes. Worth seeing if you love international films, my only complaints about the film are that it don't think it was so good that it should have been Oscar- nominated plus it was SUPPOSED to be told from the child's viewpoint--yet several scenes occurred where the child was not present--so HOW could the kid have known what happened? Decent, unpleasant and unique.
The film begins in the Soviet Union just after WWII. A woman collapses and give birth along a muddy road. The scene then skips ahead six years. The widow mother and her boy are on a train--- heading nowhere in particular. On the train, she meets a dashing soldier and he sweeps her off her feet. Next they're moving into a crummy apartment and soon she realizes that he is NOT a soldier but a sociopath who steals without remorse. But the mother is a strongly dependent personality and she refuses to leave the bum and the trio travel across the country stealing and living irresponsible lives. What's next? See the film...just understand it won't get any prettier!
I admire the film for being daring and different. I would assume such a picture never would have been made in the old Soviet Union and the film is clear indication of changing times and attitudes. Worth seeing if you love international films, my only complaints about the film are that it don't think it was so good that it should have been Oscar- nominated plus it was SUPPOSED to be told from the child's viewpoint--yet several scenes occurred where the child was not present--so HOW could the kid have known what happened? Decent, unpleasant and unique.