Soviet grads chase concrete dreams in frozen nowhere. Spoiler: the permafrost wins.
Zhenya Golubeva is a Muscovite who graduated from a construction institute and left for a big construction site in Siberia together with other graduates of IISI. Her and her friends‘ fates will turn out differently.
Acting
Proklova's quiet devastation carries entire frozen sequences.
Cinematography
Siberia shot like a beautiful prison you can't escape.
Director
Vladimir Nazarov
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Part of the USSR's 'youth construction' genre glorifying volunteer labor—though this one lets cracks show.
Director Nazarov reportedly fought censors over Zhenya's ambiguous final scene; the compromise image became iconic.
SU
