Inna Gulaya Movies

This story is based on the actual experiences of Czech writer Jaroslav Hasek during World War I and the Russian Revolution that followed. They later also served as the basis for The Adventures Of The Brave Soldier Svejk, his most well known work. The story starts with Hasek as a soldier in the Austian-Hungarian Army assigned to serve Archduke Ferdinand. When the Archduke is assassinated, World War I breaks out in Europe. When Hasek later finds himself in Moscow in the middle of the Revolution, he is reunited with a girl he had met earlier, and he goes through a series of humorous encounters despite the grim backgrounds of the battles that surround him. He returns to Prague to a hopeful future as an author who witnessed, first hand, some of the most turbulent military and political changes of the early 20th century. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Little moments in the course of a very brief romance make up the bulk of this tender, lyrical film, the only one ever directed by Gennady Schpalykov, better known as a screenwriter. On a bus filled with young people going for an outing to the theater, Victor (K. Lavrov), a scruffy geologist, and Lena (I. Gulaya), a young factory worker, strike up a conversation. He has traveled to many interesting places, she is young, recently divorced, and has a child. When she invites him to join the group at the theater, he says that he's too grungy to go there. However, after he gets off the bus, he rushes around getting himself cleaned up, somehow manages to make it into the sold-out theater, and finds Lena. They leave during intermission, and he walks her home. The next day, she brings her daughter along to meet him where he has been staying, and they share a nice lunch together, until he abruptly leaves. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi