A young woman's carefree life in Leningrad is abruptly ended when she is assigned to teach in Altai, a town that hasn't progressed far beyond the Middle Ages. Her feelings of revulsion and longing are beautifully visualized in striking images of the wilds of Altai and "civilized" Leningrad. Alone was planned and photographed as a silent film; the sound track was added after the film was completed. This track includes a few words of dialogue but depends largely on the music of Dmitri Shostakovich. Georges Sadoul wrote, "This is the best film score he ever wrote and incorporates not only certain musical themes used for dramatic effect but also natural sounds (such) as a typewriter, a telegraph and a radio." Alone received only a limited release outside of the Soviet Union, and while it is considered, together with Road to Life, the most important early Soviet sound film, it is only rarely seen today. Elena Kuzmina's performance as the young teacher is superbly natural and unforced, and the conception, based on a true story, rings surprisingly modern (for example, Elena Kuzmina shares her name with her character). Alone is repeated Saturday, April 6.