Historical drama, epic. The film adaptation of the great epoch-making novel by the famous Soviet writer Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov, which I have not read, but I undertake to correct this flaw, and therefore I will evaluate the picture as an independent work. Why did I suddenly remember about this picture? It's just that I'm reading "The Raised Virgin Land" now (and I watched its 1959 film adaptation no further than last year), and even more so I watched the Gerasimov version in snatches as a child when it was played on a box, well, I only saw the 2006 version of Bondarchuk in full (which I liked only with costumes and effects, no more), so right now I decided to watch the full Gerasimov version, made during the lifetime of Mikhail Alexandrovich (who remained modestly pleased with the film adaptation, but also fairly criticized). And the viewing was definitely worth five and a half hours. And here is my brief opinion for you - The hard fate of the Don Cossacks. I want to indicate right away that there are no flaws in the picture, there have never been and never will be, but I have a few technical comments that I will describe in a separate paragraph, but for now let's finish with such a tedious introduction and move on to the merits of this masterpiece and classics of Soviet cinema.
So, here they are: 1. Scenario - the picture covers the time from 1913 to 1920, thereby affecting the events of the First World War (then it was called "German"), the February Revolution of 1917, the Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917, the Russian Civil War of 1917-1922, the Soviet-Polish War of 1920-1921, Peasant uprisings against Soviet power of those same years. The main place of events is the Don, Tatarsky farm (the prototype of which was the famous village of Veshinskaya, where Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov lived). The life of the Don Cossacks and Cossacks is shown against the background of the tragic and great events of that time, and in the center of course is the forbidden love between the main characters of the Cossack Grigory Melekhov and Aksinya Astakhova. The central romantic line goes through a series of the hardest trials, and seething passions, which is so similar to real life, and historical events are just important, but the background. The characters are spelled out, the characters are alive, the people are real, I'm not talking about the magnificent acting, to which Sashka Petrov and his brothers and sisters can go on and on. The finale turned out to be very vital, but that's what it was all about. And the picture also hits emotions very hard, and therefore will not leave anyone indifferent!
2. Entourage - the story literally comes to life before our eyes, because the real participants of those events were introduced into the narrative (ataman Kaledin, Bolshevik Podtelkov, Colonel Chernetsov, and so on). The work of the costumers, who did a great job, was an excellent success, because many uniforms had to be made for mass scenes, and they did not forget about the insignia for the imperial and Austrian army, White and Red, and even "allies" were designated. A real Cossack farm served in kind. And all this immerses the viewer so much into the atmosphere of the Don Cossacks that you are amazed.
3. People - both white and red, both Cossacks and nonresidents, in short, all are shown by ordinary people with their fears, weaknesses and virtues. There is no conscious "dehumanization" of one side and the elevation of the other to the absolute. Both sides have broken firewood (and the "allies" too). On each side there are both good people and not so good, fanatics and idealists who are ready to go under bullets for the sake of their ideas. It just so happened that the Russian people followed the Bolsheviks, who did build a better world and the best and fairest society in the world, and the Cossacks had only to accept it. Moreover, the Cossacks themselves were not united and often ran from one side to the other (which is personified by Grigory Melekhov, who is not only the main character, but also the image of a typical Cossack of that time). Each of the heroes is worthy of regret, there are openly negative characters, but even they have a clear and clear motivation.
4. Strong dramatic scenes - first of all, these are scenes of executions. First, the Russian officer at the time of General Kornilov's speech, the execution of revolutionary Cossacks led by Fyodor Grigoryevich Podteklov, the execution of the Bolshevik Daria Melekhova and of course the execution of Pyotr Melekhov by Mikhail Konev. The executed Bolsheviks, who determined the victory of the Soviet Government, stand out here in particular. It was they who showed with their courage and honor that there is a better fate than living under the boot of a capitalist, and time judged their rightness and eternal glory. Even when they were dying, they believed in the victory of communism and in a better world that would surely come. They themselves showed cruelty, but this is war. "Either we bury them or they bury us." In addition to these scenes, there are no less strong and tearing to tears, but I will not dwell on them, otherwise the review will turn out in five parts. Moving on.
5. The life of the Don Cossacks - the customs, customs, life of the Don Cossacks can be traced throughout the entire timekeeping. The very way of thinking of these people is amazing. There is a clear difference between the elderly - the most respected and the first people in the farms and villages and the young Cossacks who passed the trenches of the First World War and saw two revolutions and the agitation of the Bolsheviks. Now the Cossacks are gradually recovering from the losses they suffered after the Civil War (although there are enough mummers who cannot be called "Cossacks", because a Cossack is a Russian warrior devoted to the Motherland and the Orthodox Faith, and not a clown who wears glitter and smashes monuments to the Soviet past and puts up new monuments to accomplices of fascism, like Krasnova). Yes, the Soviet government hit the Cossacks hard, but this is only the fault of the Cossacks and Comrade Sverdlov, who with his directive almost brought the Bolsheviks to the brink of defeat in 1919. The spirit of the Cossacks survived, and they continued to serve Russia during the difficult years of the Great Patriotic War and beyond. These Cossacks are honored, because they did not betray the Motherland, no matter what it was called.
6. Fights and battle scenes - the film devoted time to fights and battle scenes, which for 1957 look just great, but in our century - not so much. But even so, emotions, passions and thirst for victory are felt at these moments. Scary moments are not shown, but there is blood.
Now about some remarks. The picture needs restoration (in normal and without abbreviations, as it has already been done with crooked hands), because at the moment there is not enough high resolution (I'm not talking about 4K). The sound should also be edited, because it sounds either too loud or too quiet, which makes almost a third of the characters' replicas impossible to hear and understand. And it will not be superfluous to reissue the picture in blu-ray format, so that a new generation of viewers can get acquainted with this immortal classic of Soviet cinema.
A little about the main characters: 1. Grigory Melekhov performed by Pyotr Glebov is a Don Cossack, in the future a centurion, a full cavalier of St. George, who fought in the First World War, and then in the Civil War for the Reds and whites, and then in the Polish company for the Reds. An experienced commander and a dashing slashman who rushes about either choosing a side or loving Aksinya. A kind of symbol of a Cossack of the Civil War era, who was superbly played by Pyotr Petrovich Glebov.
2. Aksinya Astakhova performed by Elina Bystritskaya is the love of Grigory Melekhov's life, ready to follow him into fire and water. A strong-minded Cossack woman whose image strongly resembles our Russian women, without whom we would not have gone far. Elina Bystritskaya played this heroine as much as Nonna Mordyukova played her heroines superbly. Bravo!
I undertake to read Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov's novel without fail!
By the way, today there are four film adaptations of this great novel: 1930, 1957, 2006 and 2015, but it is Gerasimov's version that is considered the best, even despite some disapproval from the writer himself. Well, at least I am glad that Mikhail Alexandrovich did not live up to Bondarchuk's version, where all the money was poured exclusively into costumes and effects, completely forgetting about the script and the rest. And after watching two versions out of four, I tend to Gerasimov 1957 as the most accurate and the most emotional. And the word "epic" is one hundred percent suitable here!
As a result, we have an epoch-making film adaptation of a great novel, with a great script, great costumes and scenery, great music, and great acting!
My rating is 10 out of 10 and my recommendation for viewing!
So, here they are: 1. Scenario - the picture covers the time from 1913 to 1920, thereby affecting the events of the First World War (then it was called "German"), the February Revolution of 1917, the Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917, the Russian Civil War of 1917-1922, the Soviet-Polish War of 1920-1921, Peasant uprisings against Soviet power of those same years. The main place of events is the Don, Tatarsky farm (the prototype of which was the famous village of Veshinskaya, where Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov lived). The life of the Don Cossacks and Cossacks is shown against the background of the tragic and great events of that time, and in the center of course is the forbidden love between the main characters of the Cossack Grigory Melekhov and Aksinya Astakhova. The central romantic line goes through a series of the hardest trials, and seething passions, which is so similar to real life, and historical events are just important, but the background. The characters are spelled out, the characters are alive, the people are real, I'm not talking about the magnificent acting, to which Sashka Petrov and his brothers and sisters can go on and on. The finale turned out to be very vital, but that's what it was all about. And the picture also hits emotions very hard, and therefore will not leave anyone indifferent!
2. Entourage - the story literally comes to life before our eyes, because the real participants of those events were introduced into the narrative (ataman Kaledin, Bolshevik Podtelkov, Colonel Chernetsov, and so on). The work of the costumers, who did a great job, was an excellent success, because many uniforms had to be made for mass scenes, and they did not forget about the insignia for the imperial and Austrian army, White and Red, and even "allies" were designated. A real Cossack farm served in kind. And all this immerses the viewer so much into the atmosphere of the Don Cossacks that you are amazed.
3. People - both white and red, both Cossacks and nonresidents, in short, all are shown by ordinary people with their fears, weaknesses and virtues. There is no conscious "dehumanization" of one side and the elevation of the other to the absolute. Both sides have broken firewood (and the "allies" too). On each side there are both good people and not so good, fanatics and idealists who are ready to go under bullets for the sake of their ideas. It just so happened that the Russian people followed the Bolsheviks, who did build a better world and the best and fairest society in the world, and the Cossacks had only to accept it. Moreover, the Cossacks themselves were not united and often ran from one side to the other (which is personified by Grigory Melekhov, who is not only the main character, but also the image of a typical Cossack of that time). Each of the heroes is worthy of regret, there are openly negative characters, but even they have a clear and clear motivation.
4. Strong dramatic scenes - first of all, these are scenes of executions. First, the Russian officer at the time of General Kornilov's speech, the execution of revolutionary Cossacks led by Fyodor Grigoryevich Podteklov, the execution of the Bolshevik Daria Melekhova and of course the execution of Pyotr Melekhov by Mikhail Konev. The executed Bolsheviks, who determined the victory of the Soviet Government, stand out here in particular. It was they who showed with their courage and honor that there is a better fate than living under the boot of a capitalist, and time judged their rightness and eternal glory. Even when they were dying, they believed in the victory of communism and in a better world that would surely come. They themselves showed cruelty, but this is war. "Either we bury them or they bury us." In addition to these scenes, there are no less strong and tearing to tears, but I will not dwell on them, otherwise the review will turn out in five parts. Moving on.
5. The life of the Don Cossacks - the customs, customs, life of the Don Cossacks can be traced throughout the entire timekeeping. The very way of thinking of these people is amazing. There is a clear difference between the elderly - the most respected and the first people in the farms and villages and the young Cossacks who passed the trenches of the First World War and saw two revolutions and the agitation of the Bolsheviks. Now the Cossacks are gradually recovering from the losses they suffered after the Civil War (although there are enough mummers who cannot be called "Cossacks", because a Cossack is a Russian warrior devoted to the Motherland and the Orthodox Faith, and not a clown who wears glitter and smashes monuments to the Soviet past and puts up new monuments to accomplices of fascism, like Krasnova). Yes, the Soviet government hit the Cossacks hard, but this is only the fault of the Cossacks and Comrade Sverdlov, who with his directive almost brought the Bolsheviks to the brink of defeat in 1919. The spirit of the Cossacks survived, and they continued to serve Russia during the difficult years of the Great Patriotic War and beyond. These Cossacks are honored, because they did not betray the Motherland, no matter what it was called.
6. Fights and battle scenes - the film devoted time to fights and battle scenes, which for 1957 look just great, but in our century - not so much. But even so, emotions, passions and thirst for victory are felt at these moments. Scary moments are not shown, but there is blood.
Now about some remarks. The picture needs restoration (in normal and without abbreviations, as it has already been done with crooked hands), because at the moment there is not enough high resolution (I'm not talking about 4K). The sound should also be edited, because it sounds either too loud or too quiet, which makes almost a third of the characters' replicas impossible to hear and understand. And it will not be superfluous to reissue the picture in blu-ray format, so that a new generation of viewers can get acquainted with this immortal classic of Soviet cinema.
A little about the main characters: 1. Grigory Melekhov performed by Pyotr Glebov is a Don Cossack, in the future a centurion, a full cavalier of St. George, who fought in the First World War, and then in the Civil War for the Reds and whites, and then in the Polish company for the Reds. An experienced commander and a dashing slashman who rushes about either choosing a side or loving Aksinya. A kind of symbol of a Cossack of the Civil War era, who was superbly played by Pyotr Petrovich Glebov.
2. Aksinya Astakhova performed by Elina Bystritskaya is the love of Grigory Melekhov's life, ready to follow him into fire and water. A strong-minded Cossack woman whose image strongly resembles our Russian women, without whom we would not have gone far. Elina Bystritskaya played this heroine as much as Nonna Mordyukova played her heroines superbly. Bravo!
I undertake to read Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov's novel without fail!
By the way, today there are four film adaptations of this great novel: 1930, 1957, 2006 and 2015, but it is Gerasimov's version that is considered the best, even despite some disapproval from the writer himself. Well, at least I am glad that Mikhail Alexandrovich did not live up to Bondarchuk's version, where all the money was poured exclusively into costumes and effects, completely forgetting about the script and the rest. And after watching two versions out of four, I tend to Gerasimov 1957 as the most accurate and the most emotional. And the word "epic" is one hundred percent suitable here!
As a result, we have an epoch-making film adaptation of a great novel, with a great script, great costumes and scenery, great music, and great acting!
My rating is 10 out of 10 and my recommendation for viewing!