A teenage boy goes about his life during the fall of communism in the Soviet Union.
Ivan Mirosnikov, a cheeky young man in the Gorbachev era, is trying to figure out what to do with his life (he's not in college, and the 2-year mandatory military service is looming large ahead of him). Meanwhile, he lives with his divorced mother, and works as a courier at a Russian newspaper. Through his job, he meets patronizing Professor Kuznetzov and his rebellious daughter Katya. To annoy the professor, Ivan claims to have an affair with Katya. To his surprise, Katya backs his story up.—pinkro
A minor masterpiece energetically and humorously depicts the economic gloom, psychological emptiness and prevailing insecurity of the late Soviet Union. A young, disconcerting "original" (Fyodor Dunyaevsky) attempts to build a life following his parents' divorce and his own rejection from university. He has only a short period of time remaining before the inevitable army conscription and decides to spend his days courting, after a fashion, Katya (Anastasiya Nemolyayevna), a girl he meets while delivering packages and, in general, causing disruption of every order in a society already wracked by upheaval. Although ending on a note of sweet sadness, the film all the same manages to raise quite a comedic 'monument' to the new 'original' Soviet type it portrays. The film also features one of the great performances of "Autumn Marathon" and "Station for Two" star, Oleg Basilashvili in the role of Katya's father.
