The Potato Eaters plot
The penniless grandmother Svetlana lives with Grandpa Victor, their son Sergei and the grandchildren in a cramped house in a half-deserted Russian village. They are a contemporary variation on Van Gogh's 'The Potato Eaters' – together with cabbage, spuds are a daily staple. Svetlana is constantly worried about paying back the debts. She is the linchpin of the stressful household, where every ruble has to be turned over, while her husband hangs out drunk all day. The mother of the children is absent.