AllMovie

Dedicated director Viktor Nikolayevich Sorokin (Sergei Yursky) tries to help a school of orphans change from juvenile delinquents into productive members of society in this engaging children's comedy. His efforts are met with resistance before he manages to get through to the rebellious children. The kids battle the adults with hilarious hi-jinx before they heed the lessons taught by the director. The story was written by two former students who benefited from their stay at the institution, but the film fails to represent the accuracy of the book. The title of the feature is an abbreviation for the school that was named in honor of Fedor Dostoyevsky. The film is significant because of the lack of heavy-handed ideology that permeates many Soviet features of the era.