The Pokrovsky Gate

     When most people think of coming-of-age novels, they think of immature teenagers maturing and eventually becoming much more responsible young adults. However, The Pokrovsky Gate is an unusual coming-of-age story because it follows 43-year-old Lev Khobotov as he learns to become an independent person and separate himself from his controlling ex-wife. This happens in three stages: the initial infantile stage, an in-between stage where his ex-wife and girlfriend hold an equal influence on his life, and his eventual freedom.

            When the story first starts, Khobotov is unable to do basic things necessary for survival. It is mentioned that Khobotov had previously paid double for a room in a country house, fried an iron, broken a razor, and forgotten to update his passport, and it is shown that he stuck his hand in hot water while cooking an egg and knocked down toiletries while blow drying his hair. He is completely incompetent at basic things, and during this period in his life, all of Khobotov’s movements throughout the city are controlled by his ex-wife Margarita; even his love interests are monitored. However, at one point, Khobotov meets a woman, Lyudochka, with whom he was infatuated, and this leads him to go on secret dates with her to movie theaters, skating rinks, and parks. This starts the second stage of his transformation because he equally splits his time between life with Lyudochka and life with Margarita. This also marks the point in Khobotov’s life where he stands up to Margarita for the first time; when several family friends are invited, Khobotov stands up for himself by saying that he does not want to go and has better things to do. Although he still gets forced to go to the dinner, Khobotov later stands up to Margarita more successfully when he does not go home from the ice rink when ordered to. The final break with Margarita occurs when he is shoved into an ambulance and forced to get surgery after his appendix ruptures. Even though the surgery was necessary, Khobotov did not want to be handled so ruthlessly at such a low point in his life, and when he finally recovered, he reunited with Lyudochka and escaped with her before Margarita could pick him up and take him home. This marks the final point in his transformation because he finally gained the freedom to date who he wanted and accept the responsibilities associated with adult life.

Overall, this film frames coming of age as the period of time when people finally take control of their lives. Coming of age in this film is when someone can finally make decisions for themselves and take accountability for anything that happens as a result of their actions. Furthermore, The Pokrovsky Gate shows an extreme version of someone not taking accountability for themselves, and the film makes the audience feel something close to pity for that person. Although The Pokrovsky Gate is not intended to be a cautionary film, it brings awareness to what happens when someone cannot grow up. It seems to present coming of age as a turbulent time that everyone must go through, but this awkward transition phase ultimately betters a person. Overall, despite Khobotov being an adult at the start of the movie, The Pokrovsky Gate is a coming-of-age novel that shows a character grow and escape the control of an overbearing “parent” to become their own person.