In the middle of 1870-th in small provincial town young woman doesn't want to spend her life ordinary way. She is romantic and she wants to be involved in revolutionary process. (There used to take place a historical movement named "narodnichestvo" in 1870-th in Russia. Educated part of urban society (mainly students) left towns for villages and tried to explain peasants about their human rights and democracy). She tries to run away from home but the only way for her to escape is to get married. So her revolutionary friends from Petersburg decide to rescue her by sending a young man who must pretend to be her boyfriend and marry her. So when young man comes to her farther in order to make a proposal she sees him for the first time in her life but they both have to pretend to be deeply in love
So romantic, idealistic and so naive they were! I mean young men and women who wanted to change the world and make it better place! The movie is based on real historical facts. There was a revolutionary group in Petersburg named "chaikovtsy" in 1869-74. They taught students to lead propaganda among peasants, printed some revolutionary books. Nothing terrorist or too criminal (comparing to other Russian revolutionary organizations of those times). Almost all of them were arrested and prosecuted in famous "Process of 193" in 1878. It is just some historical reference. Don't get too scared! It is not movie about revolution. It is about love, which came unexpectedly and changed a great lie into something opposite and wonderful
A little bit ironic, a little bit blue I gave that movie 8 of 10!