Soviet construction chaos where corruption meets concrete and nobody's hands are clean.
The film raises acute issues in construction, where, back in the 1970s, all the social shortcomings of large-scale but short-term production projects were concentrated: premature completion of projects, mismanagement, weak control, theft, and fraud.
Acting
Yankovskiy's weary idealism against Ulyanov's bureaucratic weight.
Direction
Tregubovich's unflinching institutional critique, barely released by censors.
Director
Viktor Tregubovich
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made during the Brezhnev stagnation, the film's critique of construction fraud mirrored real scandals that plagued Soviet infrastructure projects.
Goskino nearly shelved it for 'pessimism'; its limited release made it a word-of-mouth sensation among Soviet intelligentsia.
SU
