How Dark the Nights Are on the Black Sea

How Dark the Nights Are on the Black Sea (Russian: В городе Сочи тёмные ночи, romanized: V gorode Sochi tyomnye nochi, lit. In the city of Sochi, the nights are dark) is a 1989 Soviet romantic comedy film directed by Vasili Pichul. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.

How Dark the Nights Are on the Black Sea
Original French film poster
Directed by	Vasili Pichul
Written by	Mariya Khmelik
Produced by	Mark Levin
Starring	Aleksei Zharkov Natalya Negoda Anastasiya Vertinskaya Alexander Lenkov
Cinematography	Yefim Reznikov
Edited by	Yelena Zabolotskaya
Release date	1989 (1989)
Running time	115 minutes
Country	Soviet Union
Language	Russian

Plot

The story takes place across various cities, including Moscow, a northern provincial town, and Sochi. The characters are ordinary people—doctors, performers, vendors, and laborers—facing the aftermath of the Perestroika era. The main protagonists are Lena, a 24-year-old former student (played by Natalia Negoda), who was abandoned by her lover and is trying to rebuild her life, and Stepanich, a 45-year-old plumber (played by Alexei Zharkov), who is a seasoned con artist skilled at gaining people’s trust and disappearing with large sums of money.

The narrative also includes their acquaintances, colleagues, and family members, whose paths continuously intersect.

Cast

• Aleksei Zharkov as Stepanych, seasoned conman
• Natalya Negoda as Lena
• Anastasiya Vertinskaya as Lena's mother
• Alexander Lenkov as Lena's father
• Anna Tikhonova as Jeanne, shopgirl
• Grigori Manukov as Oleg Strelnikov
• Aleksandr Negreba as head of theatre
• Aleksandr Mironov as policeman
• Vatslav Dvorzhetsky as Fedor Fedorovich Strelnikov
• Andrei Sokolov as Boris, Stepanych's son
• Igor Zolotovitsky as Gubanischev
• Levan Mskhiladze as Sasha, Lena's former groom
• Maria Yevstigneyeva as Marina, Lena's former friend
• Yuri Nazarov as Glazier, criminal
• Boris Smorchkov as Jeanne's father
• Inna Ulyanova as lady in the restaurant
• Yervant Arzumanyan as Ashot Aramovich, theatre director
• Alexandra Tabakova as Masha
• Andrey Fomin as playwright
• Nadezhda Markina as Sonya, Oleg Strelnikov's wife

External links

• How Dark the Nights Are on the Black Sea at IMDb