November 1941. One by one, the men leave, leaving only old men, women and children in the village of Bykovka. Ivan Vybornov, the chairman of the collective farm, is also raring to go to the front, but, obeying party discipline, remains in the village and continues to skillfully and energetically lead the collective farm, mobilizing fellow villagers to send bread for the front and starving cities.
Acting
Babochkin's contained fury as a man desperate to fight.
Cinematography
Bleached Soviet pastoral that romanticizes suffering beautifully.
Production
Authentic 1945 wartime location shooting in exhausted villages.
Director
Anatoly Bosulaev
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released weeks after V-J Day, this was among the first Soviet films to process the home front experience while wartime rationing still haunted audiences.
Babochkin, already famous as Chapaev, essentially played himself here—a beloved warrior icon forced into administrative impotence.
SU
