''The Theme'' (russian: Тема, Tema) is a

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Gleb Panfilov Gleb Anatolyevich Panfilov (russian: Глеб Анатольевич Панфилов, link=no; born 21 May 1934 in Magnitogorsk) is an internationally acclaimed Russian film director noted for a string of mostly historical films starring his wif ...

. It tells the story of an egotistical playwright who thinks of himself as an artist, but who allows the system to make him write conformist plays. The film was heavily censored on its release in 1979. The full version was not released until 1986; this version was awarded the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The win ...

at the

37th Berlin International Film Festival The 37th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 20 February to 3 March 1987. The Golden Bear was awarded to the Soviet Union film ''Tema'' directed by Gleb Panfilov. The retrospective was in honour of Armenian-American film and ...

Plot

Popular playwright Kim Yesenin ( Mikhail Ulyanov) with his mistress (

Natalya Seleznyova Natalya Igorevna Seleznyova (russian: Ната́лья И́горевна Селезнёва; born 19 June 1945) is a Soviet and Russian theater and film actress. Biography She first took the stage at the age of six, participating in the Red A ...

) and friend (

Yevgeni Vesnik Yevgeny Yakovlevich Vesnik (russian: Евге́ний Я́ковлевич Ве́сник; 15 January 1923 in Petrograd – 10 April 2009 in Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian actor. The son of Yakov Vesnik, the first director of the Kryvorizhstal ...

) arrives in

Suzdal Suzdal ( rus, Суздаль, p=ˈsuzdəlʲ) is a town that serves as the administrative center of Suzdalsky District in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, which is located on the Kamenka River, north of the city of Vladimir. Vladimir is the a ...

on his

Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catch ...

, in the search of historical themes for his new play, inwardly tormented by his own bias and experiencing a spiritual crisis. In Suzdal, he runs into a family of an old teacher Maria Alexandrovna (Yevgeniya Nechayeva) with venerable, traditional notions of morality and honor. Kim tries to woo the art historian and local museum guide Sasha (

Inna Churikova Inna Mikhailovna Churikova (russian: Инна Михайловна Чурикова; born 5 October 1943) is a Soviet and Russian film and theatre actress. Biography Churikova was born in Belebey, Bashkir ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. In ...

), a pupil of Maria Alexandrovna, but she just plainly imparts to him about how mediocre and immoral his plays are. Later Kim Yesenin is a secret witness to a farewell conversation of Sasha with her lover, nicknamed as "The Hirsute" (

Stanislav Lyubshin Stanislav Andreyevich Lyubshin (russian: link=no, Станислав Андреевич Любшин; born 6 April 1933) is a Russian actor, film director, and People's Artist of the RSFSR (1981). Life Stanislav Lyubshin is a Russian actor whos ...

). The Hirsute is a frustrated scientist and writer, planning to emigrate to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

(in the scene of parting with The Hirsute, Sasha shouts: "What are you going to do in this America?!"). At night, Yesenin is trying to depart for Moscow, but changes his mind midway, turns around and crashes his car on the slippery road. In the final scene, severely wounded, he gets to a phone booth and calls Sasha. Without being able to communicate anything sensible to her Yesenin loses consciousness. Lieutenant Sinitsyn (Sergey Nikonenko) who happens to pass by, picks him up onto his

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: Long-distance ...

which has a sidecar attached - and on this frame the picture ends. The subsequent fate of Yesenin is unknown.

Cast

* Mikhail Ulyanov as Kim Yesenin, writer *

as Sasha Nikolaeva, museum guide *

as Gravedigger, dissident, Sasha's friend *

as Igor Paschin, writer * Yevgeniya Nechayeva as Maria Alexandrovna *

as Svetlana, Yesenin's disciple *

Sergey Nikonenko Sergei Petrovich Nikonenko (russian: Серге́й Петрович Никоненко; born 16 April 1941 in Moscow) is a Russian actor. He performed in more than eighty films since 1961. Selected filmography * 1967 ** ''The Red and the Whit ...

as Sinitsyn, policeman

References

External links

* * 1979 films 1970s Russian-language films Films about writers Golden Bear winners Films directed by Gleb Panfilov Films set in Russia Films set in the Soviet Union Soviet romantic comedy-drama films Russian romantic comedy-drama films 1970s romantic comedy-drama films Censored films 1979 comedy-drama films {{comedy-drama-film-stub