Review by Magnet5176

Ah, this movie brings back memories! I used to watch it quite often growing up in Russia, and it's still my mother's all-time favorite. It's a story of two friends and a woman that is loved by both of them. Their friendship is so great that it is not broken up by that love, and when the woman chooses one of them, the other accepts it and remains "a friend of the family."

Now, it is also a story that is told against the background of Soviet history. The friends are army officers, and the turbulent times throw them from the Civil War in the early 20s to the Soviet conflict in Finland, from China to the Urals. It's funny that dependent on the political climate of the time, the Soviet TV used to cut one or another part of the movie - for example, when they were unfriendly with the Chinese, the Chinese plot was simply cut out of the film, but then reappeared later.

Against the background of this historical time line, the main character and his wife have a son, who grows up and falls in love just before the WWII starts. He also goes to the army just like his dad and gets killed, and so does his wife. Both of them die quite heroically, and the main character and his wife end up raising the grandson. The friend of the family keeps reappearing throughout the movie, coming to the rescue in the most difficult situations.

All and all, it's a very sweet movie with quite an interesting historical context. It made me cry many times, especially in the end, when the little grandson announces he wants to be an army officer, too. It's a very touching story.