THE USSR-RUSSIA-TRANSIT

The three men presented by Andrej Titov demonstrate three different ways of dealing with their former identity in times of change and of adjusting to the new situation. The most successful in this respect is Oleg Konovalov, whose thriving business activities allow him to concentrate on his passion for collecting. Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev stare forth in a dignifi ed manner from a series of identical portraits hanging in the businessman’s house, offi ce and garage, while other insignia of the bygone system pile up in every corner. Konovalov fi nds life diffi cult to bear in a country whose former power is so diminished. When his collection is presented at an exhibition, the only visitors are war veterans and elderly women. Together they break into song: ‘Lenin, lead us into a happy future.’ Michail Rvačjov, the owner of a country estate, is pleased to have a rural retreat and the chance to pursue his own personal visions. He plans to deploy state-of-the-art technology on his land, and to build houses for his employees. Even after a fi re destroys his barn and along with it the entire potato harvest, he sticks by his motto that life must go on regardless. Ultimately his mountain of debts leads to the loss of all his property; his dream of building a church with seven golden domes on the next hill will never come true. The unemployed Viktor Bočkarev lives from hand to mouth, and scrapes an income from repairing TV sets, radios and tractors. When his wife leaves him, saying she’s had enough of his lyrical outpourings, he takes up contact with outer space. Although he labours under the burden of responsibility that comes with his new mission as protector of planet earth, he is at least kept busy – sending out signals at night, for instance, or presenting page-long notes of his observations to the city authorities.