It Was in May () is a 1970 Soviet war drama film directed by

Marlen Khutsiev Marlen Martynovich Khutsiev (4 October 192519 March 2019) was a Georgian-born Soviet and Russian filmmaker best known for his cult films from the 1960s, which include '' I Am Twenty'' and '' July Rain''. He was named a People's Artist of the US ...

that depicts first weeks after the war had ended.

Plot

In May 1945, shortly after the end of the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

, a group of Soviet reconnaissance soldiers takes up temporary residence on the farm of a wealthy German pig farmer named Rashke, who lives there with his much younger wife and teenage son. Rashke appears friendly, even servile, toward the Soviet soldiers and their leader,

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

Nikolaev, but he and his family leave the farm each night to sleep elsewhere. One day, Nikolaev crashes his motorcycle en route to a nearby town and is helped by fellow soldiers stationed in an abandoned mansion. Spending the day with them, he discusses the war, their dreams of postwar life, and the well-organized German farms around them. Late that night, they wander into a deserted

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

and are haunted by the silent barracks and dark corridors, filled with remnants of the camp’s former inmates. In a room with unusually thick walls, large furnaces, and ceiling vents, they speculate that it was once a boiler room. The next day, back at the farm, Rashke's son accuses one of the soldiers of killing one of their pigs. When the other soldiers react angrily, revealing that the accused soldier is a survivor of a village burned to the ground, Nikolaev orders them to calm down. Later that evening, as Rashke and his family leave, three emaciated former camp prisoners appear. One, a Polish man named Stefan, recounts how his wife Katarzyna had been forced to work for Rashke until exhaustion and hunger drove her to madness, leading Rashke to send her to the camp where she was executed. Stefan describes the gas chambers and

crematorium A crematorium, crematory or cremation center is a venue for the cremation of the Death, dead. Modern crematoria contain at least one cremator (also known as a crematory, retort or cremation chamber), a purpose-built furnace. In some countries a ...

he was forced to build, where countless women and children perished, their ashes spread over the surrounding fields as fertilizer. Another former prisoner, a German engineer who speaks Russian, recalls his wife receiving a bill to pay for the state expenses of her communist brother’s execution. Reflecting on prewar life, he speaks bitterly about the betrayal of ordinary Germans by their country. A third prisoner, also German and haunted by memories of guard dogs, mutters bitterly in German. Shaken by these stories, the soldiers attempt to capture Rashke, but he disappears, leaving them to confront the war's lingering horrors. The film opens with wartime newsreel footage and closes with peaceful postwar city scenes, underscored by

Sonny Bono Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono ( ; February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American singer, songwriter, actor, and politician. In partnership with his second wife, Cher, he formed the singing duo Sonny & Cher. A member of the Republican Pa ...

’s song “Mama” arranged by

Paul Mauriat Paul Julien André Mauriat ( or ; 4 March 1925 – 3 November 2006) was a French orchestra leader, conductor of Le Grand Orchestre de Paul Mauriat, who specialized in the easy listening genre. He is best known in the United States for his mill ...

, creating a poignant contrast with the grim story.

Cast

* Aleksandr Arzhilovsky as Lieutenant Nikolayev *

Pyotr Todorovsky Pyotr Yefimovich Todorovsky (, , 26 August 1925 – 24 May 2013) was a Russian film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer. His son Valery Todorovsky and grandson Pyotr Todorovsky Jr. both became film directors. Biography Early years ...

as Vladimir Yakovenko *

Sergey Shakurov Sergey Kayumovich Shakurov (, ; born 1 January 1942) is a Soviet and Russian actor of theater. He has appeared in more than ninety films since 1967. Life and career Sergey Shakurov was born in Russian-Tatar family in Moscow. His father was Mis ...

as Margoslin * Viktor Uralsky as Golub *

Eugenija Pleškytė Eugenija Pleškytė (6 January 1938 – 3 November 2012) was a Lithuanian actress. In 2009, she was awarded the Golden Crane award by the Lithuanian Film Academy for her contributions to Lithuanian cinema. References External links * ...

as Gerta *

Vladimir Gostyukhin Vladimir Vasilyevich Gostyukhin (, , born 10 March 1946) is a Soviet and Russian, Belarusian film and stage actor. Selected filmography Actor * 1977: ''The Ascent'' as Rybak * 1980: '' The White Crow'' * 1980: ''Fox Hunting'' as Belov * 198 ...

as Nyrkov * Vaclovas Blėdis as Rashke * Igor Klass as Avdey

References

External links

* 1970s war drama films 1970 films Soviet war drama films Studio Ekran films Soviet black-and-white films Soviet World War II films Eastern Front of World War II films Soviet television films Films directed by Marlen Khutsiev 1970 television films 1970s Soviet films 1970s Russian-language films Russian-language war drama films {{1970s-USSR-film-stub