Asya, a lame collective farmer, is in love with the father of her unborn child. However, he does not reciprocate, leaving her forced to choose between a loveless marriage to another suitor, or single motherhood.
Acting
Iya Savvina's face does 90% of the storytelling.
Direction
Konchalovsky's debut: restrained cruelty, no melodrama.
Cinematography
Bleached rural landscapes that judge everyone equally.
Director
Andrei Konchalovsky
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shelved by Soviet censors for two years for 'pessimism'—apparently showing poverty accurately was politically inconvenient. Released only after Khrushchev's thaw cooled further.
This was Konchalovsky's thesis film at VGIK, made under Mikhail Romm. The 'Klyachina' of the title was a real woman he researched in Ryazan province.
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