July Rain (1966)

Июльский дождь

Six months in the life of a young Moscow woman who starts to wonder whether her comfortable life is the one she wants.

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Year
1966
Director
Marlen Khutsiev
Starring
Evgenia Uralova, Alexander Belyavsky, Yuri Vizbor, Alexander Mitta
Genre
Drama, Romance
Running time
1 h 43 min
Language
Russian, English subtitles
Studio
Mosfilm

About the film

Lena is 27 and works as an engineer in a Moscow printing house. She has a clever, successful boyfriend, interesting friends and a busy social life. Everything looks right.

One day in a July rainstorm a stranger lends her his jacket. They start a romance by telephone only, and as summer turns to winter Lena begins to see the people around her more clearly.

Khutsiev's quiet, observant film captures the mood of the 1960s generation, with guitar songs by Bulat Okudzhava and Yuri Vizbor and long walks through real Moscow streets.

Did you know?

  • The final scene shows real Second World War veterans meeting on Victory Day outside the Bolshoi Theatre.
  • The singer-songwriter Yuri Vizbor plays one of Lena's friends and sings in the film.
  • Director Marlen Khutsiev also made the classic I Am Twenty (Ilyich's Gate).

If you liked July Rain