It's a unique story related with a particular period of political upheaval, and at the same time it's a general story about a nostalgia that all of us sympathize with. It's a Nostalgia for the days that we didn't have to worry about severe competitions, untrustworthy policies, unfair present and ambiguous future. It was the time we could find a peace of mind from the passivity and obedience. We were not ready enough to deal well with an unexpected freedom. We're also not ready to accept numerous choices and the results that we're responsible for.

We don't even know how to explain clearly, if someone asked us why that time was better to us. We just know it was better. We're still not sure about the present. However, sometimes we found ourselves surprisingly living well in the present without any distinct understanding about it.

A bunch of children strolling around during the first day of school : the beginning and the end of the movie are similar in form, but not in substance. Indeed, the whole movie is about how the Russian society was before 1991 and how the USSR collapse impacted people's lives.

We follow Borya, Olga, Andrei and others through their childhood and present lives : it's funny how they were similar during the first period but how they differ now; through the film, you understand that although the perestroika allowed people to leave freer, it also gave them a sense of instability, or as one of the characters say, a sense of inutility.

This movie may appeal to people interested in contemporary Russian history, but also those who are into psychology issues. There is a lot of thinking coming after you've seen Olga looking blankly at the window...

Documentaries are rarely powerful enough to let me watch to the end. Firstly, the voice over usually has an I-know-all, scholarly tone of voice that makes me cringe. Secondly, when famous scientists are invited to say a few words, they are commonly limited to (indeed) a few words, since too many long words may tick off the average viewer. Should I go on??

This time I gladly make an exception to my rule. The chosen format is perfectly suited to bring the mixed message across. It does not "feel" like a documentary at all. The idea to round up a handful of average people, and letting them picture their own past, is very good. This is mostly due to the fact that a real cross section of the Russian people does the talking, supported by photos and film fragments, partly from their past and partly from television.

The concept was not immediately clear from the start, and it required some time to take off. The talking heads (in the positive sense) were filmed in their own environment (home, school, their business, etcetera),and were just themselves telling us about their past and present ideas. This works perfectly, also providing us with some insight in the circumstances these people live(d) in.

All in all, I'm glad that I overlooked the fact that this film was announced as a "documentary". This is a format for which new terminology should be invented.