Hopelessly Lost is a 1973 Soviet adventure film directed by Georgiy Daneliya based on Mark Twain's 1884 novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Cinematography by Vadim Yusov. It was entered into the 1974 Cannes Film Festival.

Plot

The story follows young Huck Finn and his friend, Jim, an escaped enslaved man. Huck once lived with his father, a vagrant and drunkard who soon abandoned him. Authorities then placed Huck with the kind widow Douglas, who taught him good manners and provided him with a stable life. However, Huck's father returns to town, demanding $300 for his son, and, upon being refused, kidnaps Huck and locks him in a shack by the Mississippi River, hoping for ransom. Huck secretly cuts an escape route through the wall and plans to flee. His father, upon learning that neither the widow nor anyone else intends to pay, returns from town and, in a drunken rage, mistakes Huck for a death angel and tries to stab him, forcing Huck to sleep with a rifle for protection. Fearing for his life, Huck escapes, staging his own murder to avoid pursuit. On the opposite bank of the Mississippi, he meets Jim, who has also run away from the widow. Together, they build a raft and set off for Cairo, where Jim hopes to gain freedom and buy his family's freedom. However, they accidentally pass Cairo, and Huck, conflicted over helping an enslaved person escape, briefly abandons Jim but ultimately apologizes, reuniting with him.