The Theme

Banned until last year, THE THEME won the Berlin Festival's Golden Bear Award. Now, thanks to glasnost, the film can be shown–eight years after it was made. The simple plot is about Kim, a burned-out Moscow playwright who journeys to the country to rejuvinate his creativity. Upon meeting Sasha, a student of his plays, he becomes enamored and newly inspired. Sasha, though, is in love with a Jewish writer whose politically unacceptable works have forced him to become a gravedigger and to renounce his homeland. This film examines the different levels of love–from the flirtatious to the enduring–with rich Chekovian wit and poignancy. This masterpiece is well worth the wait.