Machekha (1973)

Based on a story by Mariya Khalfina. Shura Olevantseva leads a happy life with her children and her loving husband Pavel. One day she hears the news that the woman, who once loved her ... See full summary »

Director:

Oleg Bondarev

Writers:

Mariya Khalfina (story) (as M. Khalfina), Edgar Smirnov (screenplay) (as E. Smirnov)

Stars:

Tatyana Doronina, Leonid Nevedomsky, Nadezhda Fedosova

Cast

Credited cast:
Tatyana Doronina	...	Shura Olevantseva
Leonid Nevedomsky	...	Pavel Olevantsev
Nadezhda Fedosova	...	Anfisa Vasilayevna
Vladimir Samoylov	...	Viktor Vikentyevich
Yelena Kosteryova	...	Sveta Olevantseva (as Lena Kosteryova)
Aleksandr Dalyokiy	...	Yurka Olevantsev (as Sasha Dalyokiy)
Tamara Sovchi	...	Polina
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
O. Antipyuk
Aleksey Bakhar	...	Lyosha (as L. Bakhar)
Marina Gavrilko	...	tyotka Darya (as M. Gavrilko)
Khlopkova	...	Alyonka Olevantseva (as Ira Khlopkova)
Svetlana Konovalova	...	zhena Mikheicha (as S. Konovalova)
Lidiya Korolyova	...	(as L. Korolyova)
Vera Kuznetsova	...	Yekaterina Alekseyevna (as V. Kuznetsova)
Viktor Markin	...	Selskiy vrach (as V. Markin)

Storyline

Based on a story by Mariya Khalfina. Shura Olevantseva leads a happy life with her children and her loving husband Pavel. One day she hears the news that the woman, who once loved her husband, died and that Sveta, Pavel's daughter about whom he knew nothing, is now an orphan. It wasn't easy for Shura to welcome Sveta into her home. It was even more difficult to win her heart, and to give her back the joy of childhood and the belief that she's not alone.

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Genres:

Drama

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User Reviews

More to this movie than meets the eye

The fact that Tatyana Doronina has the lead in this movie may lead the casual observer to assume that this a borderline schlocky tearjerker, which was more or less her stock in trade. A summary of the main plot may encourage that assumption, too - Sasha Olevantseva, a housewife on a collective farm, has just moved with her husband and two children into a brand new apartment, which if you lived in Russia in the fifties was a dream come true. A letter comes from a village in the far north, announcing that her husband had fathered a child with another woman, and the child's mother has died. Will you take the child, or turn her over to an orphanage? They adopt the child, which is when the drama starts.

But the story is not so simple. The movie is in fact a very nuanced performance with a variety of sub-themes floating around in the background. On the one hand, the village believes that Sasha is simple-minded for even agreeing to take the child - even her bear of a husband begins to think so, and her own witch of a mother considers it to be a confirmation of Sasha's stupidity and encourages Sasha's own son to pick on the girl. On the other hand, the village officials suspect that Sasha, like a typical stepmother, must be abusing the child. And the child herself is a cipher - totally unresponsive while Sasha does her best to make her feel loved, despite the opposition she personally has to face on all sides. A good movie. Unfortunately, English subs don't seem to be available for the movie any more.

Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

June 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

A mostohaanya

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mosfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Sovcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1