A young Russian store clerk has a drab existence in times of shortages and is berated by her ailing mother for not seeing men. So she brings home an unknown young man who she met on the tram. She dreams many things but pines for this man.
Acting
Polina Kutepova's deadpan desperation is heartbreaking magic.
Direction
Daneliya blends kitchen-sink misery with fairy-tale hope flawlessly.
Production
Genuine Soviet scarcity becomes surreal production design.
Director
Georgiy Daneliya
Polina Kutepova
Настя
Irina Markova
Настя после превращения
Valery Nikolaev
Саша Пичугин
Evgeni Leonov
Яков Алексеевич, директор магазина канцтоваров
Aleksandr Abdulov
Тетерин
Galina Petrova
Антонина Плотникова, мама Насти
Nina Ter-Osipyan
добрая волшебница
Natalya Shchukina
Валя
Aleksandr Potapov
Максим Петрович, начальник ЖЭКа
Yuli Gusman
ведущий шоу «Миллиардный пассажир метро»
Savely Kramarov
Косой, вор-домушник
Leonid Yarmolnik
прохожий со шляпой
Roman Madyanov
Моргунин
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot during Russia's catastrophic 1990s economic collapse; the shortages you see are documentary real.
Daneliya called this his 'saddest comedy'—the tram scene was filmed on a genuine Moscow line with real commuters unaware.
RU
