Zerkalo dlja geroja

Perestroika in film: dealing with Stalinism, the motivational burnout of the contemporary generation of the 80s, sequences capturing a concert of the famous rock band Nautilius Pompilius, etc. The film is primarily about the intergenerational clash of values and life attitudes, embodied by the father, who experienced active years of life in late Stalinism, and his son, who grew up in the (relative) comfort of Brezhnevism. Prologue: the father reproaches his son for his indifference toward the surroundings and the deteriorating fate of their homeland. The son counters with the cowardice and hypocrisy of the Stalinist generation, who passively witnessed the devastation of the same country during their youth and adulthood. Plot: the son falls into the year 1949, forced to relive one day of the past reality. He sees two things - the sad but factual impossibility of changing things for the better back then, and the undeniable effort and sacrifice of the generation of that time (building industry on green grass before the war, suffering millions of losses during the war, and being forced to rebuild the destroyed industry after the war). Epilogue: the son reconciles not only with his father but, more importantly, accepts the Stalinist era as it was. That is where the film differs from many of its peers - Stalinism is not condemned a priori (although its shortcomings do become evident), but it is also shown in its positive aspect (not in the sense of justifying purges, trials, etc., but in emphasizing that Stalinism was not only about purges and trials but also about the tremendous effort and sacrifice of ordinary people who lived their lives as best they could). The film flows rather slowly, playing more on details and subtle shifts in meanings, making it more suitable for viewers interested in Russia and its history. (15.01.2015)