''Hail, Mary!'' () is a 1970 Soviet

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Iosif Kheifits. It was entered into the

7th Moscow International Film Festival The 7th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 20 July to 3 August 1971. The Golden Prizes were awarded to the Italian film '' Confessions of a Police Captain'' directed by Damiano Damiani, the Japanese film '' Live Today, Die Tomorrow ...

where Ada Rogovtseva won the award for Best Actress. The film is based on the life of Maria Fortus.

Plot

The film is set in 1919. In the vastness of the former

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

rages on. In Europe, the

World War A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...

has just ended and the winning countries are to organize a military intervention in Russia to help the

White movement The White movement,. The old spelling was retained by the Whites to differentiate from the Reds. also known as the Whites, was one of the main factions of the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. It was led mainly by the Right-wing politics, right- ...

in the struggle against

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

power. In one of the southern ports come on board ships of the Entente troops, including those from

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The young underground fighter Maria gets the job to campaign among the Spanish sailors and soldiers. This is where she meets Pablo, a sailor. They begin to fall in love. The Civil War is over. In Russia, Soviet power has taken hold. But here people dream of a world-wide revolution. After a long separation, Maria and Pablo meet again and together go to Spain as Comintern agents, to prepare a local revolution and at the same time to conduct intelligence activities there. They end up having a son. But the happiness does not last long - the Nazis kill Pablo. In Spain,

erupts. Maria's son, a fighter pilot, dies in a dogfight. Having lost her husband and son, Maria returns home, where she works as an instructor in a Soviet intelligence school.

Cast

* Ada Rogovtseva as Maria Tkachyova *Angel Gutierrez as Pablo Luis Alvarez * Vitali Solomin as Seva Chudreev * Vladimir Tatosov as Ignacio Mures * Valentina Vladimirova as Maria's mother *Alexander Barinov as Pavlik, Paulito, son of Maria and Pablo, Soviet pilot-internationalist *Tatiana Bedova as Olya / Nadezhda Kosheverova, agent *Avgust Baltrusaitis *L. Bayon *Oleg Belov as Riccardo Rivas

References

External links

* 1970 films 1970 drama films Soviet black-and-white films Soviet drama films Russian-language drama films 1970s Russian-language films Films directed by Iosif Kheifits 1970s Soviet films Lenfilm films {{1970s-USSR-film-stub