AllMovie

Based on a true story about the 1942 bombing of a Red Cross ship carrying wounded men, this gripping interpretation by Arkady Sirenko focuses on the three days when the only survivor of the wreckage fought for his existence trekking through snow and ice to reach a town and safety. When Andrei Bouliguin (Viatchelav Baranov) sets off across the wasteland ahead of him carrying a sack of mail the men on the ship gave him as a last gesture, he is plagued each morning by a Nazi fighter plane that is out to strafe him and his mail bag -- but circumstances contrive to save the soldier each time. The harsh cold, even during this spring season, and the arduous journey, as well as the tension of facing the Nazi plane each day, would have defeated the soldier if he were not inspired by the many letters he must deliver, and the thought of his mother and home. His stubborn persistence in the face of nearly impossible odds epitomizes the persistence of the Soviet people in fighting the Nazi's, and as the soldier comes closer to reaching his goal, parallels with World War II continue.