Film Description: Directed by Felix Mironer and Marlen Khutsiev in 1956, this was one of the most popular movies in the Soviet Union. It deals with the struggles of an inexperienced young teacher from the city to teach Russian literature in a night school to young adult students who are steelworkers by day. During the course of the movie, a cross-class romance springs up between the teacher and one of her students. It is an example of “positive” propaganda, in that it does not rely on fostering fear of the enemy but, instead, shows the positive effects of the Soviet system.
This scene shows the teacher finally visiting the student who loves her at the factory where he works. Through marveling at the industrial might of the factory she realizes that she loves him as well. This scene, in which words are sparse and unimportant, paints a heavily idealized and romantic picture of industrial labor. The factory is shown not only as a site where other things are made but an object of admiration. The teacher is almost as much attracted to the factory itself as she is to the her beloved student, whom we only see at the end of the clip as he pours molten steel.