A summary of "Portrait of My Father" by Vadim Trunin

The text was written by a Soviet screenwriter in the second half of the twentieth century. The work tells the coming-of-age story of a Siberian boy, Kolya Burlakov. The book’s most important detail — the search for his father’s roots — takes place against the backdrop of the harsh life of workers in the taiga and tundra. The screenplay won first prize in a prestigious competition for screenplays about Siberia and the Far East. The work was being prepared for production at the Lenfilm studio. The author was awarded the A.P. Dovzhenko Gold Medal for the development of military-patriotic themes in cinema.

Childhood in Martemyanovo

Adult Nikolai Burlakov wakes up early one morning in his native village. He has a disturbing dream about his father. Nikolai goes to the old school. He stokes the wood stove and recalls his Siberian childhood.

Kolya grew up without a father. He was raised by his elderly grandmother. His mother, Natasha, lived in a big city. She visited rarely, but always brought a multitude of things. One day, Natasha brought expensive gifts — a shiny nylon jacket and boots for her son, his mother’s Orenburg downy shawl, and a beautiful album from the Dresden Gallery for his teacher. The neighbors looked at these things with envy. His grandmother harshly criticized her daughter for wasting money on gifts. Kolya hid his mother’s bag under his pillow. He wanted to keep her at home. In the morning, the boy discovered an empty house — his mother had left.

Later, his grandmother angrily threw his mother’s jewelry box into the burning stove. Kolya pulled the wooden box out of the fire. Inside were charred old letters. From these letters, Kolya first learned his father’s name — Volodya.

At school, Kolya often fought with Lyosha Gorbatov. Conflicts arose from a long-standing feud between the boys from Sloboda and Zarechye. A local girl, Masha, often separated the boys. At the school New Year’s party, Kolya’s mother danced a real tango with her son. Soon, the boys were called up for military service. Masha promised to wait for them.

Service in the taiga

Kolya and Lyosha join the railway troops. They’re cutting a new route through the remote taiga. In the winter, Kolya works on a skidder — a heavy tracked vehicle used to transport fallen trees. During the severe frosts, a helicopter flies in every few days. The helicopter drops sacks of mail. The clerk, Sergeant Martynyuk, brazenly refuses to hand over letters out of turn. Kolya gets angry. He turns the tractor so the exhaust pipe points directly at the open office window. Thick smoke fills the room. The clerk, cursing, throws the sack of mail out into the street.

The unit commander punishes Kolya for his misbehavior. He sends Burlakov and Martynyuk to the central base for urgent fuel. A terrible snowstorm begins. The road is quickly covered with deep snowdrifts. The tractor sinks into the snow and breaks down. Martynyuk, the clerk, drinks alcohol from an army canteen. He walks out into the blizzard and falls into the deep snow. A cold wind chills the tractor’s cabin. Kolya takes off his sheepskin coat and padded jacket. He generously douses his warm clothing with fuel oil and burns it right under the tractor’s underbody. The hot fire thaws the frozen parts. With great difficulty, the engine starts. Kolya finds Martynyuk frozen in a snowdrift. He rubs the sergeant with snow and quickly brings him to the first aid station in the village of Rymbay.

At the food warehouse, Kolya encounters an armed guard. The guard commander, who turns out to be Lyosha Gorbatov, comes running at the noise. The meeting between the fellow countrymen is very frosty. Lyosha sternly demands to see their documents.

Work on the gas pipeline

After their military service, the heroes’ paths cross again. Kolya comes to the dorm to see Lyosha Gorbatov. Kolya smashes an empty bottle and hits Lyosha. He forces his fellow countryman to resign from the local motor pool. That night, the two of them arrive in a heavy truck at an unfamiliar house. A vicious dog barks loudly in the yard. Kolya leads Masha away from the disgruntled owner of the house. He shoots after them with a hunting rifle. All three safely drive away in the car.

The heroes are hard at work laying a gas pipeline in the frigid tundra. Kolya and Lyosha operate pipelayers — special powerful machines for lowering steel pipes into deep trenches. Masha delivers diesel fuel in an iron tanker. Lyosha and Masha live together in a separate construction trailer. One evening, Kolya receives an urgent radiogram. The message is short: his ailing mother asks him to come immediately.

Kolya reaches the oil rig on a tracked all-terrain vehicle. The workers advise him to contact the boss, Yanvarev. Over the noisy radio, Kolya asks Yanvarev to send a helicopter immediately. He desperately promises to pay in cash. Yanvarev agrees to help the guy. The boss suddenly asks, "What is your first and middle name?" Nikolai falls silent and walks away from the microphone.

Voice from the record

Some time later, Kolya finds himself on a frozen Siberian river. The ice crossing is closed. A crowd of people have gathered in a wooden office. Kolya hands the workers an urgent paper package from Moscow. The package is addressed personally to Yanvarev. The workers eagerly tear open the thick paper. Inside, neatly tucked away, lies an old gramophone record.

They immediately call Yanvarev over the radio. They quickly find a working record player in the office. The heavy needle drops onto the record. A child’s voice rings out. The child loudly says, "Hello, Dad!" The little boy cheerfully congratulates his father on the Great October Revolution and tells him about a trip to the city recording studio with his grandmother. Kolya shudders. He carefully watches the faces of the people around him. Nikolai carefully makes his way to the door and leaves unnoticed.

The action returns to the present. Kolya emerges from the old school building. It’s already broad daylight outside, and schoolchildren carrying schoolbags are approaching. Nikolai crosses a narrow bridge over a frozen river. He slowly climbs the high bank into the village. Kolya approaches the Gorbatovs’ wooden house. Lesha’s gray-haired father joyfully runs out to greet him. The old man hugs Nikolai tightly and eagerly invites his guest into the house.

The spacious room is very bright and warm. The old man’s wife, Katerina, is busy, as usual, by the lit stove. A plump two-year-old boy sits on a soft rug in the middle of the room. The child is busily drawing with a colored pencil on a smooth sheet of wrapping paper. Kolya sits down on the floor next to him and quietly asks the child’s name. The child answers seriously, "Lyokha." The boy explains matter-of-factly that he is drawing his dad. Kolya scoops the child up in his strong arms and holds him tightly. The child trustingly hugs Nikolai’s neck. He trustingly hugs his neck and quietly falls silent.