In the wealthy noble family of Popelsky, the only son Petrik is blind from birth. His mother Anna Mikhailovna, infinitely loving and pitying the boy, educates him as a rare fragile flower. And only Uncle Maxim, who fought under the banner of Garibaldi in his youth, is trying to accustom the boy to independence. The boy begins to recognize the world by touch, and one day his fingers find the keys of a piano. But, still not knowing the price of his talent, he leaves with the tramps "to seek the truth." And now only love can reconcile him with the world of the sighted.
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This movie is based upon the book of the 19th Century Russian writer - Korolenko. I found it to be very inspiring and well acted. Imagine: a blind boy born into an upper class aristocratic family in 19th Century Russian Empire ( actually the place is in Ukraine) . He is under constant control of his overbearing and protective mother. Basically a very empty life, then he meets a little girl, who forces him to rethink his life and introduce him to music. The music becomes his outlet and his foundation in live. As time goes by, he realizes that still has a lot of limitation due to his blindness. Now comes his uncle - a crippled man, but a man of high spirit. He is a former freedom fighter with Italian Garibaldi, who challenges our boy ( and young man now) to leave his comfy life and go travel with a band of blind musicians to understand the true nature of life. Our man experiences the same hardship as his blind companions ( hunger, bad weather, beating from local police), yet after his return home, not only he a better musician, but he able now to compose wonderful music. I think it is a great shame, this movie was never shown outside Russia, and in my opinion it is classical. If you can understand Russian, and you can find it, do see it.