Вступление

A boy from Leningrad has his world turned upside down by his parent's separation and World War II. He leaves town amidst the fighting and returns to find a friend in his step-brother. The war is seen through the eyes of children and told in flashback form. The film was a special prize winner at the Venice Film Festival.

“…The Moscow train pulls into Ulyanovsk early in the morning. These days the city welcomes you with bustling streets and squares, the courtyards and guardians the scarlet shade of leaves that have not yet fallen, the mirrored vitrines of shops, and a myriad of new buildings. If there’s anything particularly characteristic of Ulya­novsk’s new look, it is the construction cranes and scaffolding.”

Young-ho goes to see his father who is tending to a famous patient. He surprises his girlfriend, Ju-won, in Berlin where she is studying fashion design. He goes to a seaside hotel to meet his mother and brings his friend Jeong-soo with him. In each instance, he anticipates an important conversation. But sometimes a shared look, or a shared smoke, can mean as much as anything we could say to those close to us.