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breakingnews
The six-hour long film follows the fates of a Don Cossack family over a decade. Deadly World War, the Bolshevik Revolution and the Civil War take their toll on the Melekhovs, overturning their traditional life and leaving them with no foundation or clear guidelines. The global turmoil is mirrored in protagonist Grigory Melekhov who cannot choose whom to side with and is also divided between two women.
–The original version was cut to just 107 minutes for international distribution.
–It’s the second and most successful adaptation of the Nobel Prize-winning novel by Mikhail Sholokhov. Sholokhov was the only writer in the Soviet Union to receive the award with the government’s approval.
–Sholokhov’s authorship of the novel was disputed very much like the authorship of Shakespeare’s plays. Critics say the 22-year-old had neither the experience nor the education to write such a strong novel.
| Pyotr Glebov | Grigory Melekhov |
| Elina Bystritskaya | Aksinya |
| Zinaida Kirienko | Natalya |
| Daniil Ilchenko | Panteleymon Melekhov |
| Nikolay Smirnov | Pyotr Melekhov |
