Dogs’ Feast (1990) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

The film takes place in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) during the late Soviet era. The story opens at a grim train station on New Year's Eve and unfolds in modest urban homes, all set against the city's cold, industrial winter atmosphere.

• leningrad
• soviet union
• setting
• winter
• train station

The movie is set in the final years of the Soviet Union, specifically during a winter around the late 1980s or early 1990s. This period of political and social upheaval serves as a backdrop for the characters' personal struggles.

• soviet union
• 1980s
• 1990s
• late soviet era
• historical setting

Zhanna is a disheveled alcoholic who works cleaning toilets and dreams of finding love and happiness. Despite her chaotic life and struggles with addiction, she maintains a stubborn spark of humanity and clings to the possibility of a better life.

• zhanna
• main character
• alcoholic
• protagonist

Arkady is Zhanna's partner, a man who maintains sobriety as both a strength and emotional shield. He carries a hardened past, including time in prison, which contributes to his guarded and emotionally distant nature.

• arkady
• character
• sobriety
• prison
• backstory

Sasha is a flirtatious neighbor who becomes involved with Arkady. She represents a temporary escape from the stagnation in his relationship with Zhanna, but ultimately proves to be an unreliable source of genuine connection.

• sasha
• neighbor
• affair
• character

Alcoholism is a central theme that defines the characters' existence. Zhanna's perpetual drinking and Arkady's fragile sobriety create a relationship bound by cycles of hope and relapse. The film explores whether tenderness can survive within a life governed by addiction and compulsion.

• alcoholism
• addiction
• theme
• drinking
• sobriety

Betrayal emerges through Arkady's affair with Sasha, which destabilizes his bond with Zhanna. This infidelity exposes how illusion and desire can erode trust, highlighting power imbalances and the fragility of care in their already strained relationship.

• betrayal
• affair
• infidelity
• trust
• relationship

The film traces a descent into self-destruction as hope flickers and relationships falter. Zhanna's decision to turn on the gas represents a fatal sense of inevitability and wasted potential, reframing their bond as a tragedy of unfulfilled longing and damaged self-worth.

• despair
• suicide
• tragedy
• hopelessness
• ending

The fading Soviet Union's harsh, cold environment underscores the characters' feelings of isolation and longing. The bleak, industrial atmosphere of Leningrad sets a tone of desolation that reflects the characters' internal struggles and the broader social decay of the era.

• soviet
• atmosphere
• tone
• isolation
• leningrad

Their relationship is defined by tenderness strained by fatigue and addiction. Zhanna tries to salvage something meaningful from their turmoil while Arkady maintains emotional distance despite his sobriety. Their bond reflects the limits of love amid addiction and emotional abuse.

• relationship
• couple
• zhanna
• arkady
• love

The film explores alcoholism, betrayal, and despair as interconnected themes. It examines how addiction creates cycles of hope and relapse, how infidelity erodes trust, and how these struggles lead to tragedy. The story questions whether genuine connection is possible when individuals are governed by compulsion and damaged self-worth.

• themes
• alcoholism
• betrayal
• despair
• meaning