Producer
Vera Andreyevna and Grigory Petrovich are an elderly couple who have had a long and happy life together. One day in the market Vera Andreyevna runs into an untidy and half-drunk old man whom she recognizes with difficulty. It is Alyosha, who was in the same orphanage with her and who had been her first love. Reminiscences overwhelm them and stir their hearts. Alexei Ivanovich, who had lived a far from easy life, undergoes an amazing change. He begins to look younger and more orderly. Vera Andreyevna feels she is a woman again, a woman who has to make her choice.
Assistant Director
This lavish Soviet/Czech co-production is based on Fyodor Dostoyevsky's famous novel, The Gambler, which tells the story of a Russian living in Germany, in a gambling resort. This film is set at the turn of the century, and was filmed in Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad), Czechoslovakia. Played by Nikolai Burlyayev, the gambler succumbs completely to his addiction, using up every resource he has (human, spiritual and financial) in his wagering, finally becoming a rootless drifter.
