Could One Imagine?

Ilya Frez's 1981 Soviet film is about the love between two high school students and the adults around them intervening in it. Katya moves to a new district, meets her classmate Roman and the two attach quickly. The problem is not with the teenagers but with the families: something happened years earlier between Roman's father and Katya's mother, and that past drives Roman's mother into jealousy and obstruction. The only person trying to help is their teacher, whose own relationship is in trouble. It is adapted from a short novel by Galina Shcherbakova. The mark the film left in the Soviet Union was considerable, with the casting and Alexey Rybnikov's score both decisive. It is one of the few films of its era that does not condescend to the emotional seriousness of the young. Who it's for: viewers who like Soviet-era melodrama and stories about adolescence. Who it's not for: anyone wanting a light romance with a happy ending; the closing is quite heavy.