The Passport

Mistaken for his brother who is emigrating from the Soviet Union, an ordinary man is forced to assume another identity to avoid prison and save his brother’s family from being trapped behind closed borders. Arriving in Israel under false papers, he hopes for quick help from a distant relative, only to find himself stranded in a foreign country—without documents, money, or allies—caught in a chain of misunderstandings and absurd situations as he struggles to find a way back home.

The film was released at a turning point, just before the collapse of the Soviet Union. It captures the uncertainty and bureaucratic absurdity of the late Soviet years, when borders were starting to open but the old system was still holding on.

The film’s central theme is emigration by accident rather than desire. The protagonist has no intention of leaving his country, yet circumstances force him to cross borders under a false identity. This makes the film less about escape and more about how easily a person’s life can be derailed by the state.

Israel is portrayed in an intentionally distorted and ironic way. The paranoid uncle, convinced that he is constantly being watched, reflects how Soviet fear and suspicion persist even outside the USSR. The film suggests that emigration does not automatically free a person from psychological control.

Mistaken identity functions as a metaphor throughout the film. Names, passports, and stamps become more important than the individual, emphasizing how personal identity in the late Soviet system was defined almost entirely by documents.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, emigration from the USSR—especially to Israel—was legally possible but emotionally and administratively traumatic. The film reflects this reality by presenting emigration as chaotic, humiliating, and deeply disorienting.

Rather than portraying life abroad as a dream or reward, the film focuses on displacement and isolation. The protagonist finds himself without home, status, or protection, suggesting that crossing a border often meant losing one’s place in the world rather than gaining a new one.

By treating emigration as an absurd trap rather than a heroic journey, the film offers a rare and honest reflection of how many people experienced this period: caught between collapsing systems, unsure where they belonged, and unable to return to the life they had lost.