The screen adaptation of the Nobel Prize winning novel ‘Quiet Flows the Don’ by Soviet writer Mikhail Sholokhov will be screened in two parts on February 17 and 24 at the Russian Centre, Colombo.
Produced in 1958, one of the outstanding works of Russian cinema, recreating with a powerful artistic impact and authenticity the dramatic events connected with the establishment of Soviet power in the Don region and the destruction of the age-old lifestyle of the Russian Cossacks.
The 1957 film revolves around a Cossack and a married woman who strike up an unlikely romance in a world in upheaval because of World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution.
Set in the beautiful Don River Valley Sergei Gerasimov’s epic ‘Quiet Flows The Don’ retells the tragic story of a feisty Cossack (Grigori, Pyotr Glebov) who falls madly in love with the wife (Aksiniya, Elina Bystritskaya) of a fellow soldier.
Understanding that their love will be forever condemned by the peasants at the village where they live as well as the authoritative ataman Grigori and Aksiniya struggle with their feelings.
When Aksiniya’s husband returns from military duty the inevitable happens - he is told that his wife’s heart belongs to someone else. Grigori’s parents are enraged yet they quickly manage to marry their son to a local girl from the village (Natalya, Zinaida Kiriyenko). Realizing what has become of his life Grigori leaves with the only person his heart desires: Aksiniya.
Clocking in at approximately 5 ½ hours the picture boasts an unprecedented cast (hundreds of professional and non-professional actors were involved in this project) as well as a large technical crew that assisted with the filming along the Don River. |
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