The story is set in the former USSR. From the very first images the viewer is plunged into a retro world. Very quickly the camera goes into a building and follows two characters using a dolly shot. The drumming accompanying their footsteps tells us they are heading to their destiny. They make their way towards a door flanked by two imposing Stalinesque statues. One of the statues looks on to the two characters: a solider and a cosmonaut. Thus it only takes a few images to lay out what is at stake in this film – the conquest of space.
Suddenly the military music is replaced by elevator music. This musical disconnect reflects the one existing between the characters as the solider and cosmonaut are joined by an old woman who works as an usher in the elevator. She seems intimidated. We immediately assume she is impressed by the solider but we soon realise it’s the cosmonaut she admires! The camera zooms in and we are shown her private thoughts, able to see her dreams. And she dreams of becoming a cosmonaut! Who says that, at her age, it is too late to fulfil your dreams? That is the theme of this short film, in which this female character takes centre-stage.
Compared with the other two characters she exudes charm, and her poetry and clumsiness immediately get the viewers rooting for her. When it is the turn of the elderly lady, Macha, and her pal Vassily to prepare for their own mission to space, we find ourselves really hoping they make it! While the official cosmonaut keeps running into difficulties despite having all the best equipment, Macha and Vassily seem to have fun during their tests. Their DIY spirit brings to mind Wallace and Gromit in A Grand Day Out or Marty and Doc in Back to the Future. The music turns into something of a polka as events border on slapstick!
This short film fuels the hope that even the wildest dreams can come true. By the end, viewers have smiles on their faces, and their heads in the stars!
