Harvest Time – Vremya Zhatvy (2004)

Directed by: Marina Razbezhkina | 67 minutes | drama | Actors: Lyudmila Motornaya, Vyachelav Batrakov, Dima Yakoviev, Dima Jermakov, Sergei Starostin, Svetlana Yefremova, Inna Nikiforova

‘Harvest Time’ is Marina Razbezhkina’s debut as a director of feature films. For this she made documentaries. With ‘Harvest Time’ she puts her name on the map in one go. A wonderful debut, with picturesque images, magnificent camera work and a storytelling power that is almost moving.

‘Harvest Time’ is a fairly simple story at first glance, but there is more depth and background to it than you would expect at first glance. The disintegration of the banner that has such an important narrative role in the film and the continued eating by the mice also symbolizes the decline of the old Soviet Union. It strongly appeals to the feelings of many who fondly remember the ‘good old days’ when the Soviet Union still existed and its ideals were still lofty.

At first, everyone in the story seems happy, the population is hard at work in the fields and is classically prodded and rewarded to even greater achievements by awarding awards for the most productive worker. Subtle humor reveals how the rural population lived and how these official awards were au fond laughable ceremonies. In this film, winning the prize for the winner has dramatic consequences. For the story form, the well-known voice-over form was chosen in which one of the sons looks back on life in the 1950s in the kolkhoz. Mother Antonina eventually suffers heavily from the burden of the won banner. The mice eat it and she begins to spend all her time constantly repairing the banner, which also makes the banner smaller and smaller. In the end she goes completely nuts and wants to try to win a new banner by working even harder. Her husband, who lost both legs in World War II, is initially happy and does circus tricks for his sons. However, he begins to drink more and more and eventually dies. A beautiful role by Vyachelav Batrakov.

Does this all sound dramatic? Shouldn’t this film be seen because it’s all heavy? On the contrary, the atmospheric and melancholy story is told with a lot of humor at the same time and is filmed in truly beautiful images. Brilliant filtered light and magnificent landscapes make this film a true gem, partly due to the convincing acting of all the actors (not professionals!). The mere use of the photogenic images of the Russian landscapes makes this film a journey for the imagination. Atmospheric images, beautiful melancholy.

The director has managed to bring the film to a close by introducing the mother’s move to the city. The family has since passed away, the son sees from heaven that a girl unknown to him, when emptying an apartment, finds a chest full of photos and propaganda material from bygone times. The movers advise her to throw away that old junk anyway, ‘what should you do with that old mess’? Thus, for old and cherished memories, only the rubbish tip threatens in the end. However, the banner gets a new purpose and is thus saved from total oblivion. The girl now uses it as a headscarf. Another symbol for the changed times in Russia. The youth no longer recognize the banner as such and simply see it as a beautiful headscarf. The collective memories of the symbols of the past are fading. An absolutely stunning debut. Touching, bittersweet and breathtakingly beautiful!