During the Great Patriotic War, Lazarev(Vladimir Zamanskiy) was a sergeant who, once defected to the German army, now surrendered to young Mitka(Gennadi Dyudyayev) in the person of the Russian partisans. While most of them are cautious about him, not even offering a cigarette (probably for the best as they stunt your growth) and throwing him in the same cell with a young man who claims he's been gangpressed on a German firing squad, their leader Ivan Lokotkov (Rolan Bykov) sees some promise to use Lazarev. "Trial of the Bridge" is generally a second chance film. (Is it just me or does Lazarus ' title sound like Lazarus?) This is part of the intellectual debate that runs through the film, most of which takes place on the run with the partisans, making it more difficult for them to discern who is on whose side. They are not so much interested in abstract concepts like nationalism in any case, with a healthy disdain for authority, but in defending their ground, so do not laugh at the man who runs after his cow. Because his face is one of many memorable images in this endearing and suspensive film, including an expert use of close-ups.
Review of Trial on the Road
