Looking for My Destiny (1974)
This film has several main characters, but perhaps the central one is a woman named Nadezhda. The plot lines of the work revolve around this figure. She proves essential to everyone, even those who, like her younger sister, don't initially realize it. And besides, she is HOPE.
It's not as if everything is going well for Nadezhda. She's raising her little son alone; her sister Vera committed suicide, and her younger sister, Lyuba, is going through a difficult time. She considers seeking support from a priest who has just arrived in their town, Father Alexander, but he himself isn't completely sure he made the right choice.
The film begins at the moment when Nadezhda appears on his path. She fights for Alexander's fate sensitively, kindly, but also firmly. And she's not alone in her efforts to instill in him new thoughts and different aspirations.
The film's director, Aida Manasarova, explains:
"If we consider the film's theme to be solely atheistic, this isn't the first time I've encountered it, as I worked as second director on the film 'Miracle Worker,' directed by V. Skuibin. But we wanted to make a film about more than just religion and the struggle against it. Our film is a protest against a passive attitude toward life. Its characters are people who seek, who believe in reason.
You could say that the film's theme is the search for true values in life. This is a crucial issue for a person's moral and civic development.
We were also interested in the social aspect—the relationship between the individual and society, the individual's place in society, and the discovery of one's self through the whole. A place for religion in a person's consciousness typically appears when they don't find attention from others, when they become lost in their own thoughts and ultimately become confused. Such is Father Alexander—a vulnerable, insecure man. He is played by actor Eduard Martsevich. The history teacher, Karyakin, a remarkably charming man, is played by Georgy Zhzhenov. Nadezhda embodies our image of a true Russian woman—strong and kind. Galina Polskikh played the role. Perhaps our greatest challenge was finding the actress for the role of seventeen-year-old Lyuba. We searched for a long time, until finally a girl appeared on our set who, after reading the script, exclaimed, "That's me!" And so Elena Safonova began her work.
Year of release: 1974
Genre: drama
Duration: 01:35:02
Director: Aida Manasarova
Cast: Georgy Zhzhenov, Eduard Martsevich, Galina Polskikh, Elena Safonova, Semyon Morozov, Konstantin Sorokin, Maya Bulgakova, Evgeny Shutov, Antonina Pavlycheva, Sergey Yakovlev, Anatoly Vedenkin, Vera Altayskaya, Alexander Lebedev, Vladimir Pitsek, Marianna (Marina) Strizhenova, Valentina Berezutskaya, Manefa Sobolevskaya, Inna Vykhodtseva, Larisa Danilina, Svetlana Stepanova, Vera Burlakova, Alexandra Kharitonova, Liya Akhedzhakova, Lyubov Kalyuzhnaya, Vyacheslav Gostinsky