The Sandpit Generals (1971)

Many years ago in 1974, when I was a schoolgirl, I saw a movie, which impressed me greatly, turned my soul upside down and determined my future life. It was Hall Bartlett's movie The Sandpit Generals. Up to now I can't forget that impression. I was shocked and fascinated and felt indissoluble ties with its characters - those homeless teenagers who, in spite of appalling conditions didn't lose their human dignity. They fought for their life, their future, their love.

And music, that fascinating music! It penetrated into the depth of the heart, and the heart itself began sounding in unison with this doleful and courageous melody.

Since 1974 I've seen the movie more than one hundred times. When I feel grief or despair, "The Generals" gives me hope, courage and desire to struggle. I think the movie is a real masterpiece of world cinematography and it isn't my opinion only. It is one of the most beloved movies in Russia, and is still being demonstrated in the cinemas. One can hardly imagine what a success it was. In 1974 the movie was called the best film by the young people of the Soviet Union. Here in Russia everyone loves and remembers unforgettable " Generals".

Due to my naivety and the lack of information about Hollywood I was perfectly sure that The Sandpit Generals enjoys the same popularity in the USA. Only in 1998 I learned that the movie was completely unaccepted in the US, it simply wasn't demonstrated there. Reading brief and sarcastic remarks of American critics I felt such indignation and insult. One of them, commenting the awarding of the Prize at Moscow festival, wrote that the Jury must have been taken aback by abundance of blue-eyed blonds among Brazilian waifs. I'm perfectly sure that this idea had never occurred to any member of the Jury, neither to me. I still wonder what percentage of blonds should be there. Perhaps Hall Bartlett died without knowing how dear his movie was to millions and millions of Soviet people. The Sandpit became a kind of a cult for the whole generation.