The drunkard and his wife become orderlies in a cholera barracks during the outbreak.
Acting
Nina Ruslanova's exhausted ferocity carries the whole grim enterprise.
Production
Authentic 1890s cholera barracks that you can practically smell.
Director
Mark Donskoy
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Donskoy adapted this from Kuprin's 1890s stories, using cholera as metaphor for societal rot under late Tsarism—ironic given Soviet censorship of disease narratives.
Shot in actual 19th-century hospital buildings; cast reportedly contracted minor infections during filming. Method acting, Soviet style.
SU
