Historical drama. The film adaptation of the novel of the same name by the Russian and Soviet writer Konstantin Fedorovich Sedykh. And since I am not familiar with the original source (because I have not read it), therefore I will evaluate the painting as an independent work. In general, I stumbled upon excerpts from this picture by chance when I was watching the TV channel "Spas", on which Soviet classics are very often played, which I have never even heard of, so I recommend all viewers to pay attention to this channel, which appreciates the Soviet heritage, unlike the first channels, which have long since fallen by the muzzle in the mud and every year they only plunge into it more. So, my brief opinion about the painting "Dauria" - "The Quiet Don" of the Trans-Baikal Cossacks. Despite my good perception of the picture, in addition to the pros, there were also some disadvantages that should be identified, and which influenced the final assessment. And this should end such an important introduction and get to the point.
So, the pros:
1. Scenario - the picture tells us about the life of the inhabitants of a small Cossack village in Transbaikalia in the period from 1914 to 1918, which fell to the share of the First World War, the Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917 and the Civil War that followed, in which the Cossacks were divided into white and red, and in the center of the story the fate of a young Cossack Roman Severyanich Smybin, in love with the beautiful Cossack Daria, who was married to another. Everything is mixed up here, and love, and war, and fratricide, and intrigue, and betrayal, as well as the selfless devotion of the red heroes to the ideals of the revolution, and the brutality of the Semenov gangs that staged terror in Transbaikalia. There is a story behind the characters, everyone can be understood, the dialogues are simple and understandable, and very clearly convey the essence of the opposing sides. The characters and types are spelled out thoroughly, because all the characters are real people, with their strengths and weaknesses. But the finale surprised me a little, but we'll talk about it below.
2. Life, atmosphere, costumes and scenery - especially for filming, Lenfilm studio built a real pre-revolutionary Cossack village, in which all the actors lived for almost two years, in order to look more natural in the frame. Everyday life, uniforms, various little things only give the picture a sense of realism. The viewer is literally transported to that turbulent time, and watches the events taking place. From a historical point of view, it looks great (if you suddenly notice flaws, then comrades military historians - you are welcome in the comments). The final result was worth all the effort.
3. Characters - ataman Yelisey Kargin (Yefim Kopelyan), sergeant Nikifor Chepalov (Viktor Pavlov), Vasily Smybin (Vasily Shukshin), Semyon Nagorny (Yuri Solomin) and so on. Not only are they charismatic characters in themselves, but it is interesting to observe their relationships, because everyone has an idea, moral guidelines, life experience, understanding of the current situation and a forecast for the future, and in the conditions of a raging civil war it is very difficult to take up arms against his brother, uncle, son, father, and so on. Someone is trying to keep neutrality, trying to prevent bloodshed in the village, someone is ready to sacrifice everything for the victory of one of the parties, and someone is simply trying to survive in this turbulent time, but all the characters, sooner or later will have to make a difficult choice in this war, otherwise this choice will be made for you, but you will be responsible for all the consequences.
4. Fights, battles - they are staged and filmed quite well, because all parties to the conflict are fighting fiercely, and everyone intends to bury the enemy as deep as possible underground. Each side has authoritative commanders, followed by fighters to the death. Yes, there is indecently little blood in the picture, yes, again the fall from the alleged "hit" of a bullet, and the modern viewer, spoiled by the "Avengers" and other blockbusters, is unlikely to find this watchable, I'm not saying exciting. But for Soviet (and Hollywood) movies of the past years, we make a discount on the time of release, and here it should do the same.
So, the cons:
1. Provison in the middle - the fact is that the first series ends in August 1914, and the second series begins already in 1918, when some of the heroes find themselves in the ranks of the Red Guard, and some in the gangs of ataman Semenov. Creators! And does it mean that the viewer should not know what happened to the characters for five whole years? How did Roman Ulybin end up among the commanders of the Red Guard? What, it wasn't even possible to indicate it in text? Seriously? Fellow viewers, you'll forgive me, maybe it's all described in detail in the book, I repeat I haven't read the book, but I'm looking at the picture, and everything should be clear to me from the picture. It's not here. Sad!
2. Ataman Semenov performed by Zinovy Gerdt - I respect Zinovy Efimovich, he is a great actor with an inimitable voice, but here his intelligent appearance does not fit the role of a tough tyrant Semenov, I'm sorry. I didn't even believe it was Semenov until I started checking. We could have invited Arkady Tolbuzin (Colonel Kudasov from The Elusive Avengers), and it would have been more convincing.
3. Open ending - I know that the original book has a sequel (called "Father's Land"), but in the picture everything ends with an open ending, from which it is unclear what happened next. And since there was no sequel, the fate of the heroes remained unknown. It is not good to do this, given the great popularity of the painting in the USSR.
A little about the main characters:
1. Roman Ulybin, performed by Vitaly Solomin, is a young and dashing Cossack who became the commander of a red partisan detachment fighting with Semenov's gangs for peace and justice in Russia. A daredevil, not devoid of charisma and a certain amount of charm, whose role was played by the magnificent actor Vitaly Methodievich Solomin. Bravo!
2. Vasily Ulybin, performed by Vasily Shukshin, is Roman's own uncle, who became a "shameful stigma" in the family and village before the revolution, and after the revolution became the commander of the Red Guard fighting Semyonov's gangs. A brave, determined commander and a fairly authoritative leader, whose role was played by a good actor Vasily Makarovich Shukshin. Bravo!
3. Yelisey Kargin, performed by Yefim Kopelyan, is a village chieftain who keeps order in the territory entrusted to him, even in conditions of civil war, tries to support the villagers and does not join any of the parties to the conflict, for which he is punished. A bold and firm ataman in his decisions, a role that was successful for Yefim Zakharovich. So, Burnash turns out to be good. Bravo!
As already mentioned, the picture was accepted by the Soviet audience with a bang, despite the solid timing (almost three hours), but there was no continuation, and in fact it was needed, so the fate of Roman Ulybin and other heroes remained unknown. Pity!
My rating is 8 out of 10 and my recommendation for viewing!
