The film is based on the first part of the novel of the same name by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Prince Myshkin returns to Russia from Switzerland, where he was treated in a psychiatric clinic. On the train, on the way to St.Petersburg, the prince meets Parfyon Rogozhin, who tells him of his passionate love for Nastasya Filippovna, the former containment woman of the millionaire Totsky. In St.Petersburg, the prince finds himself in the house of his distant relative – Lizaveta Yepanchina (General's wife), meets her husband, their daughters, as well as the Secretary of General – Ganya Ivolgin. The portrait of Nastasya Filippovna, accidentally seen on the general’s table, makes a great impression on the prince...
The tragedy of a talented and strong woman who built the well-being of her family on blood and blood. And well-being turned out to be just as false and ghostly.
"Polikushka" was the only film directed by Aleksandr Sanin, one of Moscow Art Academic Theatre's founders, and is based on Lev Tolstoy's homonym short story. In spite the many differences between the literary oeuvre and its film adaptation it is a remarkable work that is outstanding for its depiction of the cruel realities of Russian society -the harsh life condition of its main character and his family in contrast to the wealth of his mistress;
