The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin

A warmly comic, character-driven story set in wartime Ukraine that finds humor and human connection in the absurdity of bureaucratic neglect and small-town romance.

Set in a small Ukrainian village during the outbreak of war with Germany in 1941 Private Chonkin, not overly endowed with intelligence, is left to guard a downed military aircraft. The authorities appear to have forgotten about him so this leaves him free to work his chams on the village postmistress, Njura, untill the local militia are tipped off.