Devchata

The Girls
A 1962 film poster by Vladimir Kononov
Directed by	Yuri Chulyukin
Written by	Boris Bednyj
Starring	Nadezhda Rumyantseva Nikolai Rybnikov Lyusyena Ovchinnikova
Music by	Aleksandra Pakhmutova
Cinematography	Timofey Lebeshev
Production company	Mosfilm
Release date	1961 (1961)
Running time	98 minutes
Country	Soviet Union
Language	Russian

The Girls (Russian: Девчата, translit. Devchata) is a 1961 Soviet romantic comedy directed by Yuri Chulyukin based on a screenplay by Boris Bednyj.

Devchata is a romantic comedy set in an isolated Russian logging camp, c. the late 1950s. A pig-tailed young girl - Tosya (Nadezhda Rumyantseva)- arrives from school with a cooking degree, and joins a group of other women who work in jobs supporting the loggers. Tosya's naivete is reflected in the first exchange we see, where the official who shows her to her quarters seems exasperated when he finds that she has not brought a pillow. Tosya is assigned as a cook for the camp.

Once in her dorm-like room, she cheerfully prepares herself a meal of tea and a giant loaf of bread slathered with jam; all of it from her roommates' food stockpile. When the four other girls return after a day at work, they are generally taken by Tosya's youth and good nature. However, one woman is upset that she is eating her food without permission, and a fight ensues.

It is in this scene that we first see another characteristic of Tosya: her fierceness. When the dorm-mate makes some rude comments, Tosya throws a boot at her head without hesitation. This trait is also exhibited a short time later, when Tosya enters the dance hall (the girls call it the "club"). At first, no one will dance with her (probably because she is so short), but eventually she begins to dance with another very tall girl who is also passed up by several young men.

Meanwhile, two groups of loggers engage in a friendly dispute (one has just lost their position as the most productive in the camp, and their portraits are being taken down from a "wall of honor" by an official, who replaces them with pictures of the rival group). They leaders of the two groups play checkers, and in order to concentrate, Ilya (their leader of the group who has just been honored with their portraits being hung on the wall) calls out for the music to be turned off. A very tall and imposing companion carries out his order. However, Tosya, who is now enjoying her dance, marches over to the phonograph and puts the music back on. Ilya calls for the music to be turned back off, and Tosya, to the amusement of the onlookers, seems prepared to fight this giant in order to keep the music playing.

Impressed by Tosya's tenacity, Ilya approaches her and asks her to dance. After telling him to first throw away his cigarette and take off his hat, she proclaims that she doesn't want to dance with "your type."