Three Poplars in Plyuschikha, aka Three Poplars on Plyuschikha Street, is a 1968 film from the Soviet Union directed by Tatyana Lioznova.
Anna, called "Nyura", is a middle-aged mother of two who lives in a sleepy farming village by a river. Her marriage has gone stale. When they were newlyweds Grisha was tender and romantic, but for whatever reason over the years his attitude towards his wife has curdled into bored indifference. He isn't abusive, but he's curt and unfriendly. Nyura is lonely and yearns for affection.
Meanwhile, the family supplements its income by butchering pigs and selling ham in Moscow. Grisha sends Nyura into the city to sell their ham. Nyura has a second mission, to talk some sense into Grisha's sister Nina, who is divorcing her husband (Grisha disapproves). Nyura arrives in Moscow and, after selling her ham, hails a taxi driven by a taciturn fellow named Sasha. Sasha is amused at Nyura's chatterbox ways, and soon they form a connection. Will Nyura find a second love?
Tropes:
- Chick Flick: The protagonist is a lonely, neglected housewife who suddenly finds herself attracted to a rumpled cab driver.
- Cock-a-Doodle Dawn: A crowing rooster wakes Nyura from her romantic dream, not only breaking the moment but establishing the rural setting.
- Country Mouse: Nyura the farm wife goggles at the big city of Moscow. When she sees a city woman walking down the sidewalk with her sleeves rolled up, she does the same.
- Diabolus ex Machina: After Sasha has been waiting outside for a full half-hour, a hesitant Nyura finally decides to go meet him. She rushes to the door—and can't open it because it's locked. She yanks at the door and sobs, forgetting the keys, which are sitting right next to her on her suitcase.
- Downer Ending: Nyura can't muster up the nerve to go meet Sasha and go to the movies with him. She winds up going back home to a husband who will continue to be indifferent to her.
- Dream Sequence
- The film opens with Nyura meeting a handsome man in the forest and kissing him—while an older couple scowls at her. It's a dream, and the older couple are her husband's deceased parents.
- Nina says that her man would carry her around if she asked. Nyura later dozes off in Nina's apartment and has a depressing dream in which Nina's lover carries her away, while Grisha yells at Nyura and throws the ham money in her face.
- Extremely Short Timespan: One day, as a lonely wife goes to the big city and suddenly has romantic feelings for a cab driver.
- Flashback: A flashback to Grisha and Nyura's wedding, and specifically to the moment when they rode back to the village in a cart decorated with flowers, shows how charming and romantic Grisha used to be, when they were young.
- Housewife: Nyura, whose marriage has gone stale and who is treated as little more than a servant by a husband who no longer shows affection.
- Male Gaze: The camera follows Sasha's eyes as he sneaks a peek at the shapely legs of a hot woman who rides in his cab. Later he does the same with Nyura.
- Orbital Kiss: Between Nyura and her lover in the forest in what turns out to be a Dream Sequence.
- The Place: Sasha waits for Nyura at the Three Poplars cafe, which is right outside Nina's apartment building in the Plyuschina neighborhood.
- Romantic Rain: Nyura and Sasha wind up sitting in his cab for a while, talking, while rain pours outside and streams down the windows of the cab. It turns into a romantic moment.
- Sympathetic Adulterer: Although she never commits adultery. But Nina's temptation to go off on a date with another man is made understandable by her husband being cold and unfriendly towards her.
