“It is  a film  from an ex tended  series. It  is hard to say  who is  the main c haracter of “ The Soviet E legy.” Th ere are more  than a  hundred f aces of o ur compat riots. Bu t, of course,  it is no t by chanc e that it is the desti ny of a fa mous po litical fi gure, Bo ris Nik olayevitch Yelt sin, that be ars a spe cial accen t in the film.  Though  he got to power following quit e typical wa ys, his uncomm on char acter put s him out of  the ordinary, and i n the author ’s opinion it may be dete rmined by his u ncommon huma n nature. Our hero exis ts with in the  tragic pat tern of th e soviet soci alist life. H e is a cha racter of a dra ma, of which h e is one of t he authors . “The Soviet  Elegy”  can hardl y be called a  documen tary film in th e proper sens e. Of co urse, t he author guar antees the a ccuracy of chronology, but he insist s on an artist ic mode o f thinking , not on a p olitical o r historic al investiga tion.”　　“It is a film fr om an exte nded series.  It is hard to  say who is the main character of “ The Soviet