It was, probably, the first movie made in the USSR where a whole class as well as their teacher is shown as a mob, destroying the only good person. In this film the whole society is cruel and even if somebody wants to help (Vasiliev), there is no possibility. There is also the adult world that exists separately from the children’s world and it cannot interfere in the action. However this adult world acts in the same way – they laugh at people who have different values and do not tolerate differences.
Rolan Bykov in his diaries calls the class “hydra of the collective”*. Shots of the crowd are made in such a way that it looks like an animal made of a few bodies. Such attitude to a collective was considered blasphemy in Soviet culture, where the collective was the highest value and every pioneer was reminded about it every time he/she raised a hand above the head in the sign meaning that “the public interests are above the personal.”
The hydra has a main head – Mironova or “Iron Pin” as she is called in the class. The girl is a good pioneer and a very honest person, who believes in the communist values. She believes in the collective and tries to do “the right” things. She is a sort of Antigone ready to follow through. But it seems that she acts according to the law of war, which is not acceptable during peace. This mirrors the problems of the Soviet Cold War generations of children educated on principles of heroism from WW2.
Another feature of the hydra in the movie is the influence of fashion and mass culture (“vulgarity” [пошлость] in the definition by Bykov)**. Shmakova, another class leader, is distinctive for her stylish clothes and sneaky character. Other pupils also express a desire to dress nicely and have money. This feature is supported by tracks of contemporary western (Shocking Blue) and Soviet (Alla Pugachëva) music clashing with classical music played by the cadet orchestra.
The hero fighting with the hydra is Heracles. However Lena’s character resembles more a loving Christ, brave Jeanne d’ Arc or simple Ivan the Fool. The problem that Bykov raises is how to remain a hero while fighting with monsters. How not to become a monster after the fight? As Bykov writes in his diary he wrote while making the film:
"The idea of good with fists is a demagogic shapeshifter. The power of good is in the very good, the victory of good is not in suppression, not in destruction, not in capture. Here is another way of victory, good wins when it remains good – this is its victory. The parade of victory for good is impossible." (1983)***
Lena has hard times and often cries, but she is still kind and sincere till the end of the movie. She does not allow the class to boycott Dima and stops it.
The motive of Lena is love****. When Lena appears for the first time we hear music of the song Venus by the Shocking Blue that was extremely popular in the Soviet Union and even got its “Russian” name Shisgara – made of “She is got it”. At some point Lena dresses her hair in a grownup style and goes through the city trying to feel like a beauty, a “goddess”.
The narration of the movie is very simple and symbolical. The scarecrow set on fire in the church ruins resembles a cross. It recalls also the trials of witches and heretics*****. Bold head girl is a symbol of slavery or of walks of shame of French adulterous women after WW2. For a Soviet young audience it would resemble, most probably, someone with typhoid or a war victim. Children’s longing for Moscow is a kind of longing for New Jerusalem or a fairytale king’s palace.
* Rolan Bykov [Ролан Быков], Я побит – Начну сначала! Дневники [Ia pobit – Nachnu snachala. Dnevniki; I’m Defeated – I’ll Start Over. Diaries], comment. E. Sanaeva, Moscow: Astrel, 2010, 191–192, 201.
** Bykov, Я побит, 201.
*** Bykov, Я побит, 253.
**** Bykov, Я побит, 192.
***** Cf. Bykov, Я побит, 254.
