Timid old woman Pelageya Nilovna observes the revolutionary activities of her son Pavel Vlasov and gradually comes to realize that his cause is a great and noble one. She involves herself in the movement and finds joy and great courage in her new life as a revolutionary. Based on Gorky's novel, filmed in the silent era by Pudovkin.

Second entry in Ukrainian director Mark Donskoy's "Maxim Gorki" trilogy. Picking up where 1938's My Childhood left off, the story covers the years in Gorki's life when the future writer (Alexei Lyarsky) was on his own, looking for a purpose and place in life.

1957 film directed by Mark Donskoy

Во время Великой Отечественной войны простая украинская женщина Олёна Костюк становится партизанкой. Попав в руки врага, она перенесла нечеловеческие муки, пытки, смерть своего новорожденного ребёнка, убитого фашистом, но не выдала товарищей.