A Russian YouthMalchik russkiy

Synopsis

The First World war was a tragedy that launched a series of severe tests for the Russian people: revolution, civil war, famine, political repression, the Second World war. And all this fell on one generation of people. What courage and patience those people must have had in order to survive all the upheavals of the 20th century? What was their character like? What they must've been thinking and feeling? These questions are asked by the authors of the film "A Russian Youth". The film tells the story of a simple village boy who goes to the front of the First World war with a naive youthful dream of fame and medals. In the first battle he loses his sight. He is left to serve as a listener - he must listen carefully through huge metal funnels and raise an alarm in case of enemy airplanes' approach. Back then the basis of the Russian Empire army was wormed of peasants and working class - people with a characteristic appearance, who lived lives of hard physical labor. Many non-professional actors in the film were looking for on the streets, in factories, among the cadets of military schools, in an orphanages - The film features the music by Sergei Rachmaninoff, who created the Third piano Concerto in 1909 op30. With the power and energy of this piece, the composer predicted the coming upheavals of the 20th century. One can hears Rachmaninoff's premonition about the fate of the people in the lyrical shrill melody. Three decades later, at the beginning of the Second World war, Rachmaninoff will create "Symphonic dances" op.45, an even more grand and vigorous work. After which he no longer wrote.