Dmitriy Sutyrin
Конец 1943 года. Подразделение советских солдат во главе с молодым, ещё не нюхавшим войны, младшим лейтенантом останавливается в глухой деревеньке, стоящей в стороне от главных дорог. Её жители за всё время войны ни разу не видели немцев, поэтому внезапное появление здесь отборных диверсантов СС стало для всех полной неожиданностью.
Lenfilm's most recent major production spins a kind of historical fantasy based on real incidents that's full of ominous implications for today. One night, a patrol rushes into the chambers of the Russian prince Pavel, son of the Empress Catherine; the Empress has died, and Pavel is to be anointed the new Tsar. Thought to be feeble-minded at best and crazy at worst, Pavel soon lives up to his enemies' fears: he dismisses long-serving courtiers, demands that peasants only work three days a week, and declares that state officials should start their days at 5 am. Soon, it seems that everyone who can is trying to hatch some kind of plot against him - including his own sons. Sumptuously designed, POOR POOR PAVEL constrasts the imperial splendor of the court with the sordid atmosphere of conspiracies and backstabbing that comes to define these characters' lives.
During the next duty, patrolman Vera Sedova single-handedly prevents a tragedy at the college, but a student dies in the process. She claims that the guy had a sawed-off gun, however, no weapons were found. The policewoman is cursed by her parents and the public. The only one who becomes humanly sorry for Vera is the appointed lawyer Ilya Nesterov. Ilya is more and more immersed in the case and is convinced that his client may be right.
