SocalSam This is a movie that you must see if you want to see science and the process of fail-success. The tension is built up with the exposure of two scientists, one of whom marries another scientist. The set varies between the nuclear test lab, which is likely a real life decommissioned ammunition bunker and production factory. External scenes are the usual woodsy and natural tableau seen in these Soviet propaganda films. Food is abundant, as is booze. Each night seems to be a party. People are a little more cheerful than I think the population was. The apartments that the scientists live in seems larger than what one thinks of in the Soviet Union. Camera work is sharp, with each image having a depth of field that you don't see in US films. Acting is focused, the actor eyes all seem to be lasers looking into the depth of quantum mechanics. During a visit to relatives, the scientist hitch a ride on a steam train with only flatcars, their feet hanging over the sides of the cars. There was no attempt to hide the primitive technology that resided in parallel with this insanely advanced technology drive. If you are science nerd see this movie.

Kirpianuscus ...who I love it. for performances, off course, Batalov and Smoktunovsky are, always, the good choice. for the director, in same measure. for image and splendid cinematography. but, first, for human virtues in the right light. it is a film about science and love and happiness and dedication. simple, dramatic, seductive, bitter. portrait of profound solitude. and need to escape from yourself. a poem. support for reflection. about limits. about hope. about the force to escape from the circle of appearances. and the courage to assume yours limits, ideals, fights.

Armand first virtue - Russian flavor, result of precise recipes. than - brilliant performance , nothing new when the cast is represented by Batalov and Smoktunovsky. but, more important, the script. it is a Soviet story but root is not science, not a love story, not the sacrifice of a remarkable man for humanity benefit but the existence like huge puzzle. images, music, the light, the force of shadows, all are ingredients of an universal tale and about reasons of small and ordinaries gestures. and it is not a surprise because a great director and a magnificent cast are wise parts for a form of poem in images, not exactly an art film but a film of ideas, behind propaganda command, before Perestroika wave.so, must see it !

vr0791 I am Russian, I am a scientist, and, probably, that's why I like it. This film together with the book by brothers Strugatsky "Monday begins on Saturday" forms a manifestation of the Russian science spirit, as it was in good old Soviet era days. May be, the very special atmosphere of leading Soviet research institutes, the atmosphere of creativity and self-sacrifice, is one of a few positive contributions that communists have brought to the Russian culture. At least, the film of Mikhail Romm brings us to the wonderland, where people believe in what they do. Romm tells us a sad and beautiful story about an island of freedom, the island which is nowadays lost under the waters of "real life".