This immensely powerful film represents the directorial debut of Sergey Bondarchuk who also takes the main role of Andrey Sokolov. It is based upon a short story by Mikhail Sholokhov who received a Nobel Prize under Krushchev and became a hardliner under Brezhnev.
Already evident here is Bondarchuk's astonishing sense of the visual and his skill with actors. As with subsequent films he does have a tendency to 'overcook it' but that is a minor criticism.
The film is aided by Venyamin Basner's marvellous score and great camerawork by Vladimir Monakhov.
Zanaida Kirienko is as touching here as she is in 'Quiet flows the Don' and there is a chilling performance by Juli Averin as a German Kommandment. A highlight of the film is when he spares Sokolov's life because of the latter's capacity for drinking large amounts of vodka on an empty stomach! Excellent scene.
Sokolov loses so much in the course of the film but gains 'compensation' at the end. Bondarchuk is excellent in the role.
It is difficult to find a sub-titled version of this but the story is so gripping and the film so visually impressive that somehow it doesn't seem to matter. Fully deserving of the Grand Prize at the 1st Moscow International Film Festival which also honoured Bondarchuk six years later for his monumental 'War and Peace'.
Review of The Destiny of a Man
