Valentina Karavayeva

Valentina Karavayeva had her career ruined when her face was injured in a car crash. Weaving scenes from Russian war classics, Valentina’s personal soliloquies and contemporary footage, director Paradzhanov has created a wonderfully stylish portrait of a quintessential romantic artist.

Four love stories connected by newsreels of the late 60s. Each short story begins with an epigraph taken from the Song of Songs of the Old Testament. The stories are interconnected by documentary shots and numerous interviews taken on the streets from passers-by who are asked the same question: “what does it mean to love?”.

In a romantic and philosophical tale of magic and love, a mischievous Sorcerer turns a bear into a young man. Unhappy in his new state, the former bear, with the help of the magician and his beautiful wife, is looking for a princess to kiss in order for his wish to be granted. Certain that all princesses are a vain, spoiled lot, he approaches the first one he sees. But the princess herself is gentle, kind and beautiful, and she and the young man fall in love with each other at the first sight. Unable to bring her pain, he runs away without explaining. As the Princess takes brave actions to find her beloved, new characters enter the story, including the King's ambitious Prime Minister and a hunter looking for a bear fur to complete his collection. How will this complicated plot be resolved?

One of the anthology films about Soviet citizens resisting the Nazi invaders during World War II, the feature consists of two stories, one about a teenage woman telephone operator who sacrifices herself, the other about a farm girl tending a sick pig who deals with two paratroopers seeking shelter.

La tumultuosa vida de un joven operador de telégrafos durante los años de guerra.