A Girl and Things (1967)

This dialogue-free short film, Devochka I Veshchi (A Girl and Things), was one of Mikhalkov’s first student films, made under the tutelage of Mikhail Romm, himself a legendary filmmaker. It is a modernist (and very Soviet) look at a young girl’s interaction with the world around her and displays many of the strengths of the director’s later work, including his attention to milieu and his sensitivity to young performers.