A 12-year-old takes the fall for love and learns cruelty has no age limit.
A twelve years old girl Lena who has come to live with her grandfather in a small Russian town is being bullied by her classmates. She took the rap of being a class traitor because she was in love with the boy who had betrayed his classmates when they were bunking off and going to cinema instead of a literature lesson. The class is penalized for that, not being allowed to go to Moscow for fall holidays with the rest of the school. Lena is being ostracized, "boycotted" however not telling the truth, waiting that the boy himself would confess to be guilty.
Acting
Kristina Orbakayte's silent suffering could stop your heart.
Direction
Bykov makes a classroom feel like a gladiator pit.
Production
Bleak Soviet autumn so vivid you can smell the radiator steam.
Director
Rolan Bykov
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released during perestroika, it became a phenomenon — millions of Soviet teens saw their own cruelty reflected. Schools organized mandatory screenings.
Kristina Orbakayte is the daughter of Soviet megastar Alla Pugacheva; this was her only significant film role before becoming a pop singer herself.
SU
