by Clarke Fountain
synopsis
The grim lives of Russians living with alcoholism and its aftermath is the subject of this drama. In the story, Arkady (Sergei Shakurov) has just come out of an involuntary stay at an alcohol rehabilitation clinic. As a result of his drinking, he has lost his wife and children. It is New Year's Eve, and as he exits a train at a stop near Leningrad, Jeanne (Natalya Gundareva), an inebriated celebrant, picks him up for an evening's companionship. He takes pity on her alcoholic inability to get in to work the next day and goes in to do her job for her. Meanwhile, he's really more attracted to a single mother living in the apartment next door to Jeanne's, which is why he didn't sleep with her the night before.
