Cheer Me Up

In 1917 a village which lies directly on the front line at Marasesti is evacuated. One of the few who decide to stay is an old man together with his 12 year old granddaughter named Mariuca. The girl befriends a Romanian radio operator who had set up an artillery observation post in their yard.

A portrait of the moment in which a previously grand, luxurious lifestyle is revealed to be woefully unstable. Following the parallel experiences of several tenants of a luxury hotel, we witness the ways in which different personalities react when faced with the realization that something very fundamental to their lifestyle is utterly wrong. A man finds himself inexplicably unable to leave his room due to an overwhelming dread that something dire has been neglected. An obliviously decadent movie star spirals into stardom and terrible consequence. A devoted Concierge embarks on a mission to dispatch his beloved hotel with dignity. And the faded ghost of a woman, all too aware of the trajectory of her opulent home, slowly and quietly relinquishes control.

Agreeing to smuggle a package into Saigon, apolitical Frenchman Horcier (Daniel Gelin) is waylaid and robbed by smugglers. After being left in the middle of this Southeast Asian French colony he casts his lots with the insurrectionists.

The Great Patriotic War. Zakhar Deryugin goes to the front, but is captured. Zakhar's sister Katya finds herself in the occupation. Having failed to reach agreement on cooperation, the Germans execute her. Bryukhanov leads a partisan detachment. Deryugin's eldest son is killed by a Fascist bullet while trying to escape, when he and the rest of the children and teenagers are being prepared to be sent to Germany.