A stubborn milkmaid vs. Soviet bureaucracy—spoilers: the cow wins.
A film story about everyday life of people in the countryside, their work in the collective farm and their attitude to their work. Unlike those who fulfil their duties according to the commands of the party leadership, milkmaid Praskovya Likholetova belongs to those people who do not pass by mismanagement and injustice. She has always been a truth-seeker, principled, honest, convinced of her rightness, and this has often led to conflicts. Having worked almost 40 years on the farm, Praskovya was forced to retire. But before leaving, she said that now she has a lot of time, and she will take care of their affairs...
Acting
Lyubov Sokolova's unglamorous, ferocious final screen performance.
Direction
Muratov lets silences do the shouting.
Director
Aleksandr Muratov
Lyubov Sokolova
Praskovya Likholetova
Mykola Shutko
Ivan Mikhaylovich
Yuri Platonov
Sergey Matushkin
Viktor Miroshnichenko
Fyodor Dyadko
Svetlana Tormakhova
Elena, Praskovya's daughter
Emilya Serdyuk
Darya Fedotovna
Evgeniy Pashin
Fyodor
Aleksandr Milyutin
Boris Klimenko
Aleksandra Danilova
Shura Chebotareva
Anatoli Lukyanenko
Lyonya
Yuriy Rudchenko
Dudka
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Lyubov Sokolova died months after filming; this was her swan song, and she reportedly insisted on working through chemotherapy.
Released during glasnost's infancy, the film's critique of collective farm mismanagement was suddenly permissible—Muratov shot it just before the floodgates opened.
SU
