The First World War was a tragedy that launched a series of severe tests for the Russian people: revolution, civil war, famine, political repression, the Second World war. And all this impacted on one generation of people. What courage and patience those people must have had in order to survive all the upheavals of the XXth century? What was their character like? What they must've been thinking and feeling? The authors of the film "A Russian Youth" put exactly these kind of questions.
The film tells the story of a simple village boy who goes to the front of the First World War with a naive youthful dream of fame and medals. In the first battle he loses his sight. He is left to serve as a listener - he must listen carefully through huge metal funnels and raise an alarm when enemy airplanes are approaching.
Back then the basis of the Russian Empire army was formed by peasants and working class - people with a characteristic appearance, who lived lives of hard physical labor. Many non-professional actors in the film were found in the streets, in factories, among the cadets of military schools...
The film features the music by Sergei Rachmaninoff, who created the Third piano Concerto in 1909 (op.30). With the power and energy of this piece, the composer predicted the coming upheavals of the XXth century. One can hears Rachmaninoff's premonition about the fate of the people in the lyrical shrill melody. Three decades later, at the beginning of the Second World War, Rachmaninoff creates "Symphonic dances" (op.45), an even more grand and vigorous work. After which he no longer created anything...