User reviews

Set in 1920s St Petersberg when the book was written, this film was done in the 60s. This film is about the poor abandoned children growing up to be street wise, non trusting of anybody, mischievous, loveless. However their is one school master of an orphanage named after Dostoyevsky who is very compassionate and extremely patient to all these cases of children/kids picked off the street whose parents where either dead from suicide or execution amongst other things, is aware of the hope that lies beneath the rude and seemingly ungrateful kids who never new any better. The school master realizes, here is the part I like, that if he stops treating them as rascals as they have been all their lives, and shows that he is going to trust in them to have the place organized in the form of a republic with leaders and all, through fair voting, then he will gradually gain their respect.

This film is a fascinating allegory of communist Russia. Set in the 1920's, the action takes place in the Dostoevsky school for street kids. Thanks to the forward thinking headmaster, the unruly kids are allowed to create their own self-determining soviet within the school emulating the Communist ideal. In this way they slowly take responsibility for their actions. There is even a new boy who represents capitalism. By using bread as currency the new boy makes slaves out of the younger kids whilst bribing the oldest ones to turn a blind eye. This is a comedy with a message.