Time, Forward!

The film is set in May 1930, on a vast construction site in the Ural Mountains during the height of Stalin’s Five-Year Plans, and it follows a single, grueling day in the shaping of the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Plant. News arrives that concrete workers from Kharkiv have set a record for the number of concrete batches mixed in a single shift. Two teams, led by Ishchenko, Aleksandr Yanvaryov and Khanumov, Vladimir Kashpur, are determined to beat the mark, while the site manager Margulies, Sergei Yursky must balance ambition with quality and careful planning. A visiting writer, Ogniyev, arrives seeking inspiration from this monumental project, and Margulies gradually gives the green light to Ishchenko’s bold attempt, signaling a day packed with intense labor and personal tests.

As the shift unfolds, Ishchenko’s wife goes into labor, forcing him to rush to the hospital and confront the clash between work duty and family urgency. Two disruptive members of his team are expelled for shirking, underscoring the fragile cohesion of the crew. Stormy weather and a sudden shortage of cement threaten the timetable, prompting foreman Korenev, Leonid Kuravlyov to pursue supplies by any means necessary.

Just as Ishchenko’s team nears the Kharkiv record, word arrives that workers at the Kuznetsk site have raised the bar to 402 batches. Undeterred, the team pushes on, and Khanumov, who began as a rival, lends a hand to automate part of the process. Despite bureaucratic hurdles, the effort culminates in a claimed world-record 415 batches by the end of the shift. A commission arrives to test the concrete’s quality, leaving Margulies and the workers uncertain whether their triumph will be officially recognized.

As night falls, Margulies, exhausted but still on site, walks with Shura Soldatova, Inna Gulaya, the enthusiastic worker whose posters keep morale high. Their relationship reveals a growing romance, and Shura impulsively proposes marriage. Margulies responds in his characteristic restrained manner, acknowledging their bond and offering a quiet, sincere acceptance that brings a personal victory to an exhausting day. The film closes on a note of tempered triumph, where professional achievement and intimate connection intersect against the backdrop of a nation in the throes of rapid transformation.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 10:44