Bonus (film)

Bonus (Russian: Премия, romanized: Premija) is a 1975 Soviet drama film directed by Sergey Mikaelyan. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Alexander Gelman.

Plot

At a meeting of the Communist Party committee of a construction trust (Russian: строительного треста), one of the supervisors, Vasily Potapov, makes a surprise announcement. He and his team refuse to receive the bonus awarded for the alleged overfulfillment of plan targets. According to Potapov, the trust’s management routinely lowers targets so that the trust appears to exceed them easily. Potapov supports his argument with compelling economic data, gathered in collaboration with planner Dina Milenina, showing that the real issue lies with inefficient internal organization, not the uncontrollable factors that management blames.

Initially, the trust’s director, Batarcev, dismisses Potapov’s claims and tries to brand him as a "troublemaker" to deflect from the scandal. However, the Party Secretary Solomakhin unexpectedly sides with Potapov, sparking a debate among the committee members about the ethics of keeping the bonus. Just as Potapov’s argument gains traction, a phone call reveals that some of his team members have already accepted the bonus, leaving Potapov disillusioned. Nevertheless, Solomakhin insists that Potapov’s exit does not erase the issue.