Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears

Vladimir Menshov's Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears is the story of the factory worker Katya and her abrupt transformation into adulthood upon the birth of her illegitimate child. The film depicts Katya as the moderate character between two extremes. Antonina, who is loyal, caring, and in a steady marriage through most of the film, and Liudmila, who is somewhat of a gold digger and is constantly scheming to find a wealthy well-to-do husband. These two characters represent the extremes in which Katya fluctuates, the boring or the scheming (the irony being that she reaps the benefits of neither lifestyle and ends up with a fatherless child because of Liudmila's schemes).
The transition in time for the film also gives insight into the collective mentalities of the film concerning both the thaw and the era of stagnation. It is evident at the beginning of the film that all the characters are filled with dreams and hope, and this is amplified by their youth. The second part of the film deals with the realization that all the dreams were ultimately illusions. In this regard Katya has the distinct advantage of finding out early that her dreams were illusory, and this might account for her success (at least socially) in the second half of the film. It would appear that this film impresses itself with idea that the era of stagnation was a time of realization for people and in the case of Katya it would be the triumph of personal happiness over the choices of her past.