Soviet office politics, but make it tractor design. Yes, really. It's better than it sounds.
The gifted designer-designer German Baklanov does not want to be a pawn in the hands of his boss, but wants independent, creative work. He forces the management of the Design Bureau to announce a competition for the development of a new tractor model, and he heads one of the creative groups.
Acting
Kamorniy's simmering idealism against Gluzskiy's weathered pragmatism.
Writing
Surprisingly witty dialogue about tractor aesthetics.
Production
Authentic Soviet industrial design spaces, gloriously beige.
Director
Viktor Zhyvolub
Yuriy Kamorniy
Герман Бакланов, молодой художник-конструктор (дизайнер)
Mikhail Gluzskiy
Иван Флягин — нач. КБ тракторного завода
Antonina Leftiy
Людмила Неверова, инженер-конструктор, передовик произв.
Andrei Prachenko
Алфимов Виктор, друг Бакланова, молодой спец.
Nina Grebeshkova
Баранова Лариса, зам. начальника КБ
Anatoliy Solovyov
Кротов, директор тракторного завода
Vladimir Kadochnikov
Economy expert
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released during late Brezhnev stagnation, the film's workplace conflict subtly mirrored Soviet intellectuals' frustration with bureaucratic control over creative fields. Tractor design was oddly symbolic.
Director Zhyvolub was primarily a documentarian; this rare fiction feature uses actual Kharkiv Tractor Plant locations and real designers as extras.
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