Stepmother (1973)

Мачеха

A woman agrees to raise her husband's daughter by another woman, a child he never knew existed.

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Year
1973
Director
Oleg Bondarev
Starring
Tatiana Doronina, Vladimir Samoilov, Nadezhda Fedosova, Lena Kosteryova
Genre
Drama, Family
Running time
1 h 28 min
Based on
The novella by Maria Khalfina
Language
Russian, English subtitles
Studio
Mosfilm

About the film

Pavel and Shura live in a village with their children. One day Pavel learns that a woman he once knew has died and left a daughter, his daughter, who now has nobody.

Shura makes the hard decision to take the girl into the family. Winning the trust of a frightened, grieving child turns out to be much harder than opening the door.

Tatiana Doronina gives a warm, strong performance in one of the most loved Soviet family dramas. It is a film about the idea that a mother is the one who loves you.

Did you know?

  • Tatiana Doronina was one of the biggest stars of Soviet theatre and film.
  • The music is by Grigory Ponomarenko.

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