Nastya, a modest, not very pretty shop girl with an unlucky love life, dreams of becoming like Botticelli’s Venus. Suddenly a miracle occurs. In her new appearance Nastya experiences many happy events, worries and disappointments which she hadn’t experienced before. Although it all takes place in her imagination she gains insights into herself and other people and starts to feel more grown up and confident somehow.
Just as with Shpalikov’s case, this is the only directorial work of an outstanding dramatist and scriptwriter. However it was unlucky to be released in a jubilee year when the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution was being celebrated with utmost pomp. Compared to the revolutionary heroes filling screens, the day-dreams of a Volodin’s shop girl looked inappropriately provoking and even seemed like defiance. Consequently the film was accused of concentrating on narrow subjects and very few copies were released to screens. Later on together with A. Adabashyan and G. Danelia, Volodin wrote a new script for the story which G. Danelia used to shoot his film «Nastya». It did not however match up to the original..
Source : http://festival-spb.ru
