A bold study on the dangers of prostitution in the Soviet Union in the 1920s. It's sort of dramatic fiction that tells the story of Lyuba, which after irremediable events, loses his honor, being obliged to exercise the oldest profession in the world to survive. She hopes for better days and a new opportunity. The film also shows us the story of two other women who also need hope.
Direction
Frelikh's unflinching gaze on women's bodies as economic battlegrounds.
Cinematography
Stark shadows and cramped rooms that suffocate hope beautifully.
Acting
Yarosh's Lyuba: devastation played without the comfort of sound.
Director
Oleg Frelikh
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released during NEP era when limited capitalism returned to USSR, making its critique simultaneously urgent and politically complicated.
Nearly lost until 1960s rediscovery; original intertitles were replaced with softer versions in some prints.
SU
