Noi vivi (1942)

Soviet Union, 1922: Kira, a young woman whose merchant family was impoverished by the revolution, moves from the Caucasus to Petrograd to study engineering. She is taken in by the Dunaiev family, whose son Victor is attracted to her and begs her to moderate her anti-Bolshevik views. Kira, however, meets Leo, a mysterious young stranger, and soon falls in love with him. Denounced by Sjerov, a fanatical young student, both Kira and Leo are targeted: Kira is arrested, while Leo, who is in fact the son of a tsarist admiral executed by the revolutionaries, manages to escape. During Kira’s arrest, Andrej, a political commissar, defends her. He falls in love with her and works to secure her release, despite Sjerov’s opposition and the suspicions his actions arouse. After her release, Kira renews her relationship with Leo, and the two decide to flee abroad by sea, now convinced they have no future in their own country. Their attempt fails, however, when their boat is intercepted and sunk. They manage to survive, but Leo contracts tuberculosis during the ordeal and needs to be sent to a sanatorium in Crimea. To obtain treatment for him, Kira turns to Andrej for help and resigns herself to becoming his mistress.