Ivane Perestiani is seized by the police. Despite the efforts of his brother, he is sentenced to Siberia, where it is always snowy. He spends his days trying to keep warm at the fire of twigs, and reading the scrawled statements of defiance left by those who have gone before. Then comes the February Revolution. He is freed! He returns home to his family, and all is joyous.... until the question of whether Russia should continue to fight in the war comes up. He is in favor of it. His son is not.
This was the hot button debate of the government in this period, after the Tsar was kicked out and the Duma was split among various parties. Eventually Kerensky's government fell because he kept Russia in the War -- at least that was the standard interpretation back when I was studying the era in college. Opinions have probably changed in the last half century. Questions of politics -- and whether the soldiers' deaths served any real purpose -- aside, Yevgeni Bauer's movie is definitely on the side of the revolutionaries, and all in favor of loving families. Perestiani gives a strong performance.
This was the hot button debate of the government in this period, after the Tsar was kicked out and the Duma was split among various parties. Eventually Kerensky's government fell because he kept Russia in the War -- at least that was the standard interpretation back when I was studying the era in college. Opinions have probably changed in the last half century. Questions of politics -- and whether the soldiers' deaths served any real purpose -- aside, Yevgeni Bauer's movie is definitely on the side of the revolutionaries, and all in favor of loving families. Perestiani gives a strong performance.