Plague, passion, and pickaxes: Soviet newlyweds dig up love while digging up bones.
Immediately after their wedding, a young family of archaeologists comes to Central Asia for excavations. The plague epidemic that broke out there separates the newlyweds for a while and forces the girl's mother to turn to her ex-husband for help.
Acting
Kozyreva's volcanic mother steals every scene she's in.
Production
Authentic Central Asian locations elevate the romantic sweep.
Director
Aleksandr Stolper
Evgeniya Kozyreva
Elena Andreevna
Izolda Izvitskaya
Anna Burova
Aleksandr Mikhajlov
Evgeny Burov
Ivan Dmitriev
general Novozhilov
Irina Skobtseva
Claudia Novozhilova
Svetlana Kharitonova
Masha
Nina Doroshina
Nina
Viktor Sharlakhov
Gulyaev
Takhir Sabirov
Sakhat
Evgeni Leonov
Koshelev
Boris Bityukov
officer
Daniil Netrebin
(uncredited)
Aleksey Dobronravov
(uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released during Khrushchev's Thaw, the film's class-crossing romance and emotional frankness broke from Stalinist heroic conventions.
Izolda Izvitskaya, who played Anna, became a tragic icon herself — her later suicide in 1971 haunts retrospective viewings of her fragile performances.
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