| How Dark the Nights Are on the Black Sea | |
| Director: | Vasili Pichul |
| Producer: | Mark Levin |
| Starring: | Aleksei Zharkov Natalya Negoda Anastasiya Vertinskaya Alexander Lenkov |
| Cinematography: | Yefim Reznikov |
| Editing: | Yelena Zabolotskaya |
| Runtime: | 115 minutes |
| Country: | Soviet Union |
| Language: | Russian |
How Dark the Nights Are on the Black Sea (ru|В городе Сочи тёмные ночи|V gorode Sochi tyomnye nochi, lit. In the city of Sochi, the nights are dark) is a 1989 Soviet romantic comedy film directed by Vasili Pichul. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.[1]
The story takes place across various cities, including Moscow, a northern provincial town, and Sochi. The characters are ordinary people—doctors, performers, vendors, and laborers—facing the aftermath of the Perestroika era. The main protagonists are Lena, a 24-year-old former student (played by Natalia Negoda), who was abandoned by her lover and is trying to rebuild her life, and Stepanich, a 45-year-old plumber (played by Alexei Zharkov), who is a seasoned con artist skilled at gaining people’s trust and disappearing with large sums of money.
The narrative also includes their acquaintances, colleagues, and family members, whose paths continuously intersect.