A 77-minute Soviet fever dream where desire and ideology cage-fight in 1919 Ukraine.
Ukraine, 1919. Bolshevik counter-intelligence agents work to stop an uprising by White Russian nationalist-monarchist counterrevolutionaries. A young countess finds herself caught between her family and class allegiance and burgeoning Communist sympathies inflamed by a chance meeting with a handsome young Ukrainian chekist.
Direction
Two directors, one vision: paranoia as aesthetic.
Acting
Dedova's arched eyebrow carries entire political arguments.
Editing
77 minutes that feel like a lifetime of bad choices.
Director
Mykola Litus
Boris Tokarev
Захарчук
Aivars Silins
Лацис
Volodymyr Talashko
Фомин
Boris Sokolov
Лавров
Lyudmyla Sosyura
Урусова
Valeri Svishchyov
Гурьев
Gregory Hlady
Осинцев
Mikhail Golubovich
Мирон
Les Serdyuk
Василенко
Aleksandr Pashutin
фотограф
Vladimir Mishakov
Петров
Viktor Chernyakov
лысенький
Dmytro Myrhorodskyi
Филиппов
Igor Starikov
Немирко
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released during Chernenko's brief reign, when Soviet cinema quietly revived 'revolutionary romanticism' to distract from stagnation. The Chekist as heartthrob was... a choice.
Co-director Symonenko was primarily a documentary filmmaker; his influence explains the archival footage interludes that rupture the narrative like historical conscience.
SU
