This Russian psychological drama examines the bitter feelings of World War II veterans confronting the coldness of the postwar world. Four veterans, who have not seen one another since the war, meet for the funeral of a fifth. They discover that though they are all just the same, the world has changed. For most of the film, they discuss the various changes that irk them. In one scene, when one of them has a heart attack, they ask a man with a car to drive them to the hospital with the sick man. The driver refuses in a callous way, and they are so infuriated that they beat him up. This film was very well received by the older generation when it was first screened, and it would appear that it accurately describes the discontents of a whole generation. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi