Season 1 • Episode 12
LatestThe film follows esteemed gynecologist Pavel Kucotsky as he battles illegal abortions and the 1936 ban amid the political upheavals of mid-20th-century Russia— from Lysenkoism to Stalin’s funeral and the Khrushchev thaw—while public opinion casts him alternately as savior or villain. Interwoven are his wife Elena’s memory loss, their daughter’s turbulent coming-of-age, a Buenos Aires inheritance, and the bohemian jazz scene, all culminating in a saga of personal and national transformation.
Acting
Chulpan Khamatova's magnetism steals every frame she's in.
Production
Painstaking Soviet-era detail from Stalin's death to jazz underground.
Writing
Mash of medical drama, political thriller, and family epic actually works.
Creator
Yuri Grymov
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on Lyudmila Ulitskaya's novel, one of few Russian works to center female reproductive rights under totalitarianism. The 1936 abortion ban depicted wasn't repealed until 1955.
Yuri Grymov filmed during actual Russian winter with period-accurate medical instruments; lead actor Tsurilo shadowed gynecologists to master surgical posture. The jazz club scenes used real 1950s underground recordings.
