Theydonotshowwarinthisfilm,theyshowpeopleandtheirdreamsandhopesruinedbythewar.Itisnotjustanother"warfilm",butitrisestothelevelofatrueTragedy.Notapropagandistorasobstory.ManycriticscomparethisfilmtoanotherfamousRussianwardrama,TheCranesAreFlying.IstillthinkthatTheHouseILiveinisbetter,though,ifyou'veseenTheCranesandlikedit,mostprobablyyou'lllovethisoneeither.Bothfilmswereshotin1957andtreatthewarthemefromthesimilarhumaneperspective.Iwouldn'tcutasingleshotfromthefilm,allofthemarejustinplace.IdonotknowifitcanbefoundoutsideRussia,ifyes,don'tmissit.
ManycriticspointedoutresemblancesbetweenDom,VKotoromYaZhivu(TheHouseILiveIn)andthebetter-knownSovietfilmTheCranesareFlying.SetintheyearspriortoandduringWWII,thestorycentersonthevariousresidentsofaco-ophouse.Thoughthedirectorsnevershowthewaritself,itstragicimpactisfeltthroughoutthefilm.AnddespitethepotentialforSovietpropaganda,whatsticksinthemindistheuniversalityoftheexperiencesenduredbytheleadingcharacters.Dom,VKotoromYaZhivuwasoneofRussian'sentriesinthe1958BrusselsFilmFestival.