A man and a woman must deal with the strain and loneliness of separation when he's sent off to war in this melodrama from the Soviet Union. Boris Blinov plays an Air Force pilot who bravely goes into battle during World War II, while his wife (Valentina Serova) keeps herself occupied (and helps the war effort) by taking a job in a factory. The pilot goes Missing In Action after he's shot down behind enemy lines, and most of his friends fear the worst, but his spouse refuses to give up on him, and patiently awaits the day when he comes marching home. Zhdi Menya was part of a series of popular wartime films based on the writings of Konstantin Simonov; the film was revived for a retrospective on Soviet cinema at the 2000 Locarno Film Festival.
by Mark Deming
synopsis
