Soviet Romeo and Juliet with tractors, class enemies, and absolutely zero chill about collectivization.
Based on the novel by Mikhail Stelmakh “A Big Family”. The second film of the trilogy (“Human Blood is Not a Water”, “Dmitro Goritsvit”, “People Don’t Know Everything”) tells about one of the first collective farms of Ukraine, the fight against the kulaks and the love of the communist Dmitro Goritsvit for Marta, the Petliurist's daughter, who guilty of the death of Dmitro's father.
Acting
Anatoliy Solovyov commits to Dmitro's ideological fervor like his pension depends on it.
Production
Authentic 1960s recreation of 1920s Ukrainian village life—propaganda budget well spent.
Director
Nikolay Makarenko
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Part of a 1960s Ukrainian Soviet wave reframing brutal collectivization as heroic foundation myth—Stelmakh's novel served state memory politics.
Rayisa Nedashkivska (Maryanka) became a major Soviet star; this early role shows the state's preferred 'peasant' aesthetic.
SU
