Synopsis

After living for 20 years in Berlin, Olga Delane returns to her family in Siberia. Members of her familiy and the village community comment on her modern, single life in the city, and tell her about their own none-too-happy marriages. Their relationships are traditional and practical: the man is the head of the household, the woman takes care of the housekeeping – and in fact, everything else. And what about love? “Love, marriage, it’s only a custom,” an elderly woman says. “If your husband hits you, take a frying pan and hit him right back,” she advises. “If you give in once, he will always beat you.” In the end, children and family are what life is about, the interviewees all agree. At times amusing and moving, the elegantly filmed scenes paint a picture of a hard farming life with little room for romance. But when all the unhappily married uncles and aunts are dancing cheerfully together at a village celebration, Olga is left alone on the sidelines.