Six hours of Soviet forbidden love that'll wreck your weekend plans.
A story about old Gypsy man Budulay, his troubled life and the difficult love to Russian woman.
Acting
Mihai Volontir carries decades of pain in his eyes.
Production
Soviet TV budget stretched into genuine scale.
Director
Aleksandr Blank
Klara Luchko
Klavdiya
Mihai Volontir
Budulaj
Leonid Nevedomsky
Timofej Iliych, Predsedatel'
Nina Ruslanova
Katerina
Maya Bulgakova
Lushilikha
Matlyuba Alimova
Nastya
Ivan Ryzhov
General Strepetov, Direktor Konezavoda
Lyubov Sokolova
Yuriy Chernov
Evgeni Burenkov
Andrei Nikolayevich
Vladimir Zamanskiy
Privalov
Mariya Kapnist
Baadur Tsuladze
Stasis Petronaitis
Ozhogin
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Volontir was Moldovan, not Romani—casting that sparked debates about ethnic representation in Soviet cinema.
The original novel was banned for years; this adaptation aired as glasnost began loosening controls.
SU
