This is a subtle and surprising adaptation of the Chekhov novella, a small gem of a film that deserves rediscovery. Disgraced nobleman Vladimir (Alexander Kaidanovsky) is sent by a radical group to assassinate Orlov (Pavel Kadochnikov), an important Tsarist official. To gain access to the target, Vladimir gets hired as a servant for Orlov’s son (Georgy Taratorkin). There he has to tread carefully and not to reveal his noble origins and knowledge of French. While witnessing Orlov, Jr.’s affair with the young and impressionable Zinaida (Yevgeniya Simonova), Vladimir gradually starts feeling sympathy for that used and abused woman. What follows is neither a romance nor a political thriller but rather a story of a man at a turning point. Director Vytautas Zalakevicius, best known for the somber Lithuanian classic Niekas nenorejo mirti (Nobody Wanted to Die), offers here an understated and mature work where pauses and glances often speak louder than words.