Krylja

Wings, Shepitko’s controversial second feature, cleverly dramatises the awkwardness of the post-war generation gap and adaptation to civilian life which was widely criticised by the authorities at the time. It features an outstanding performance by Maya Bulgakova as a once famous fighter pilot and loyal Stalinist Nadezhda Petrovna, now a 41-year-old provincial schoolmistress whose authoritarian values are detested by both her pupils and her daughter. She longs to be back in the airforce where she was universally respected and moral issues were more straightforward. (Independent Cinema Office)