although catherine deneuve be not the star of this film and anything with her in it be surely worth see . the main actor sandrine bonnaire and oleg menshikov and and sergei bodrov and jr. acquit themselves quite well in this tale about a soviet emigre ( menshikov ) who commitsthe terrible error of return to the soviet union after world war ii and bring his french wife ( bonnaire ) and their young son . the rest of the movie be largely about their difficult life and her all consuming desire to return to france after they quickly discover that life in the soviet union be grim and that they be suspect . deneuve appear a a fellow travel french actress who eventually make it possible for bonnaire to return home after she spend six year in prison for help a young man she befriend to escape the country . bonnaire be startlingly good and menshikov a the deluded doctor who bring hisfamily back to the soviet union be also excellent .