AllMovie

In this standard story of unrequited love disrupted by war - and peace, Sasha Netuzhilin (Nikolai Burlyayev) is fighting on the front lines in the spring of 1944 when he meets and falls in love with Lyuba Antipovna (Natalia Andreichenko). Sasha's feelings are noted, but not returned because Lyuba is already in a solid relationship with a Soviet army officer. She eventually becomes pregnant, and the officer dies - leaving her in difficult straits indeed. Years later, Sasha accidentally runs into Lyuba on the streets of Odessa, she is a lowly vendor of piroshki (pastry turnovers), and is obviously very poor. Sasha himself is married but that does not stop his old feelings from returning in full force even though Lyuba seems as neutral as ever. This film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Picture in 1984, and had an attendance of 14,000,000 when it was released in the USSR.