''Breakthrough'' () is a 1986

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

disaster film A disaster film or disaster movie is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject and primary plot device. Such disasters may include natural disasters, accidents, offensive (military), military/terrorism, terrorist att ...

directed by Dmitri Svetozarov. The film shows a major accident that occurred during the construction of a tunnel leading to the fictional station Petrovskaya of Leningrad Metro. It is based on a similar accident in 1974, in the tunnel between stations Lesnaya and Ploschad Muzhestva, playing up its unique design and geological conditions.

Plot

The film depicts a major accident that occurs during the construction of a transit tunnel leading to the fictional “Petrovskaya” station in the Leningrad Metro. Lenmetrostroy’s chief, Poluektov, decides to route the tunnel through an underground river. During drilling, a quicksand flow breaks through the frozen soil and begins to flood the transit tunnel rapidly. Realizing that they cannot hold back the water, the workers flee down the tunnel toward the airtight gate. Along the way, the foreman, Osmorkin, falls behind, weakened by exhaustion. The mine supervisor, Martynov, orders two workers to go back and search for Osmorkin but to no avail. By this time, the tunnel is half-submerged. Nonetheless, Martynov and a worker named Vyazigin set out in an inflatable boat to find Osmorkin. They rescue him and return to the gate, which they manage to close just in time. When Poluektov arrives on-site, he orders an evacuation, warning that the gate won’t hold under the pressure. The Lenmetrostroy leadership decides to evacuate the nearby residential areas with military assistance. During a meeting, Poluektov, following the advice of engineer Kostyra, approves the construction of a concrete barrier and the controlled flooding of the tunnel. Meanwhile, sinkholes form on the surface, causing buildings to collapse. Martynov convinces Poluektov that one barrier won’t be enough, prompting the chief to give him two hours to build a second one. Several tense hours pass as they await the tunnel's flooding. Afterward, the exhausted workers finally head home.

Cast

* Oleg Borisov — Head of Lenmetrostroi Boris Savelyevich Poluektov * Andrei Rostotsky — Martynov, head of the mine *Yuri Demich — Deputy. Chief of Lenmetrostroi Yurasov *Mikhail Danilov — Marchuk *Alexander Susnin — foreman Osmyorkin * Yury Kuznetsov — sinker Vyazigin * Andrey Krasko — Drifters Alexander and Bronislav Kostromins *Vladimir Baranov — sinker Sherstobitov *Valery Kravchenko — Morozov, the engineer of the mine electric locomotive *Natalia Akimova — wife of Martynov (daughter of Poluektov) *Yuri Soloviev — engineer Kostyrya *Ivan Agafonov — Comrade Serov, from the regional party committee

References

External links

* Soviet drama films Russian-language drama films Russian disaster films 1980s disaster films Lenfilm films 1980s Soviet films 1980s Russian-language films {{1980s-USSR-film-stub