A devil is at work in the Ukrainian village of Sorochintsy, terrifying residents and travellers alike. Among them a farmer whose daughter is not allowed to marry her lover because her quarrelsome stepmother is against it.
In an Eastern European country, a strong political struggle breaks out over the possibility of accepting aid from the Marshall Plan or signing a cooperation treaty with the Soviet Union.
1939-1940 Finnish war. In the very first days, a group of female volunteers goes to the front. Young nurses and nurses in the hospital and on the front line selflessly help doctors to save the wounded soldiers, with weapons in their hands, take part in the fight against the enemy. In severe trials, the friendship and love of the film's characters is tempered and strengthened.
Early XIX century. Gloomy home lender Gobseck in a suburb of Paris — a silent witness of human tragedy and ruined lives. The power of money equalizes people of different classes and positions, forcing the usurer to ask humbly for a loan. But mountains of rotting goods, gold and silver scrap do not bring happiness to Gobseck. From his own greed he loses his mind and dies..
Working with children led Barskaya to create superb direct sound and an inspired style of shooting. Don’t look for conventional cinematic syntax here. The film is chaotic in the way that Soviet films still knew how to be, and Langlois couldn’t help but be seduced by its rebellious spirit, its anarchy and love of children, comparable to Vigo’s Zero de conduite.
As well as being a film made with and for children, it offers a complex take on Western society. Pre-Nazi Germany is not named as such but is carefully reconstructed, possibly under advice from Karl Radek, and children offer a playful reflection of class struggle – doubly excluded, as proletarians and as minors. “They play in the same way that they live”, one intertitle says. The interaction between their comical games and the yet more ludicrous ones played by adults is developed on several levels.
