| The Village Teacher | |
| Native Name: | ru|Сельская учительница |
| Director: | Mark Donskoy |
| Music: | Lev Shvarts |
| Cinematography: | Sergey Urusevsky |
| Editing: | A. Soboleva |
| Runtime: | 100 min. |
| Country: | Soviet Union |
| Language: | Russian |
| Studio: | Gorky Film Studio |
The Village Teacher (ru|Сельская учительница|Selskaya uchitelnitsa) is a 1947 Soviet drama film directed by Mark Donskoy.[1] [2] [3]
The film tells the story of a teacher young Varya, who is going to teach peasant children in one village, which treats her coolly upon her arrival. Suddenly an acquaintance and former lover of Varya, a bolshevik Martynov, arrives in town marries and Varys. The revolution begins.[4]
Before the revolution, Varvara met him at a graduation ball and later moved to a remote Siberian village. There, slowly but surely, the "city girl" wins the hearts of the locals, who are tough people engaged in gold mining. Among her students is a very talented boy, Prov Voronov, who aced all his exams to enter the gymnasium. However, the gymnasium director rejects the talented student, stating that the children of the poor will never sit at the same desk as the children of aristocrats. Varvara Vasilyevna believes that the time will come when Prov will be able to continue his education.
Martynov returns from exile, still in love with Varvara after all these years. The two marry and celebrate their wedding, but soon Martynov is arrested again. World War I follows, then the October Revolution. The new government opens up new opportunities for all people, and Varvara helps her most capable student, Prov Voronov, travel to the city to continue his education at a vocational school.
Martynov dies while serving as a commissar, and Varvara faces difficult trials in her struggle against the kulaks. The film ends with a reunion of Varvara Vasilyevna's former students after the Great Patriotic War. The now older and respected teacher is visited by the grown-up Prov Voronov, who has become a renowned scientist.