Heartwarming, kind, bright and engrossing, if slightly melancholic and nostalgic, drama.Breathtaking performance by Yevstigneev in rather unusual role (I mean, rare to this excellent actor, which is actually one of my favorites) of a man who keeps loving the only woman, against all odds. He maintains his profound feeling thru the years and puts up with the fact that she's got married and eventually become a mother of grown-ups. He is contented with the status of "just" a devoted friend.This movie has plenty of essential elements that made many earlier Russian pictures so alluring (and, perhaps, not merely for strictly Russian audience): lively and believable acting by the consummate cast, graceful dialogs, solid script and elegant direction (much kudos to Nikolai Lyrchikov).One of the best examples for those who want to tell the differences between the Soviet movies and Russian contemporary cinema.