Ex. 1 Read the text. The late PyotrTodorovsky, once nominated for an Oscar, was probably the first Soviet director to break a cardinal rule when it came to prostitution in Russia

The late PyotrTodorovsky, once nominated for an Oscar, was probably the first Soviet director to break a cardinal rule when it came to prostitution in Russia. His 1989 hit, “Intergirl,” forced perestroikaera society to admit that sex workers did, indeed, exist.

“Intergirl” was a grim movie. Starring Yelena Yakovleva, it focused on sex workers that catered to foreigners in Leningrad in the 1980s. Yakovleva’s character, Tatyana, works as a nurse and supplements her income by turning tricks at a local hotel.

Tatyana’s mother, a prim Soviet teacher, has no idea as to her daughter’s main source of income. Although Tatyana is able to escape abroad by marrying one of her Swedish clients, she does not meet a happy end. Her naive mother, who attempts suicide when investigators reveal the true nature of Tatyana’s work, is akin to a symbol of everything that went wrong in the final years of the Soviet Union, as hard-working idealists often found themselves unable to survive.

Todorovsky was also remembered for melodramas such as “The Mechanic Gavrilov’s Beloved Woman” and, of course, “Wartime Romance,” which was the film that earned him an Oscar nomination in 1985. In the former, he directed the exuberant Lyudmila Gurchenko, while the latter film starred screen legends Inna Churikova and Natalia Andreichenko. Churikova earned a Silver Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival for her role.

It has been said that Todorovsky was an expert on both love and war. “Wartime Romance” portrayed a classic love triangle made all the more intense by the painful legacy of WWII. “The Mechanic Gavrilov’s Beloved Woman” was a wry study in both hope and despair, as Gurchenko’s character must figure out if she has been jilted by Gavrilov right before they were due to get married.

With his last film, “Riorita,” he returned to the theme of the war – but also delved into the much more controversial legacy of the gulag.

Todorovsky’s death on May 24 was the end of yet another chapter in Russian filmmaking. This was a director who knew praise, who knew criticism – and who knew the way to your heart.