There Was an Old Couple
{{Short description|1965 film}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name = There Was an Old Couple
(Жили-были старик со старухой)
| image = There_Was_an_Old_Couple.jpg
| caption = Film poster
| director = Grigori Chukhrai
| producer =
| writer = Yuli Dunsky
Valeri Frid
| starring = Ivan Marin
Vera Kuznetsova
Lyudmila Maksakova
Georgi Martynyuk
Galina Polskikh
| music =
| cinematography = Sergei Poluyanov
| editing =
| distributor =
| released = {{film date|df=yes|1965}}
| runtime = 103 minutes
| country = Soviet Union
| language = Russian
| budget =
}}
There Was an Old Couple ({{langx|ru|Жили-были старик со старухой|Zhili-byli starik so starukhoy}}) is a 1965 Soviet drama film directed by Grigori Chukhrai. It was entered into the 1965 Cannes Film Festival.{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2912/year/1965.html |title=Festival de Cannes: There Was an Old Couple |accessdate=7 March 2009|work=festival-cannes.com}}
Plot
In a small village by a river, two elderly retirees find themselves homeless after their house burns down. Lacking the strength or will to rebuild their wooden cabin, they decide to move to Vorkuta, a northern Siberian town where their daughter lives, despite their son being in a more stable situation. Upon arrival, they learn that their daughter, a mother to a young boy, has left her husband to pursue a relationship with another man. When she returns, her father, deeply offended by her actions, drives her away.
Left behind with their alcoholic son-in-law and grandson, the couple attempts to adapt to their new living situation. The grandfather, who is deeply rooted in the Stalinist ideology of his youth, begins to confront the harsh realities and lasting consequences of that era in the remote Siberian town.
Cast
- Ivan Marin as The Old Man, Gusakov
- Vera Kuznetsova as The Old Woman, Gusakova
- Lyudmila Maksakova as Nina
- Georgy Martyniuk as Valentin
- Galina Polskikh as Galya
- Anatoli Yabbarov as Sectarian
- Viktor Kolpakov as Paramedic
- Nikolai Kryuchkov as Director of the Sovkhoz
- Nikolai Sergeyev as Accountant
- Giuli Chokhonelidze as Engineer
- Yelena Derzhavina as Irochka (as Lenochka Derzhavina)
- Nikolay Khlibko as episode
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=0059946|title=There Was an Old Couple}}
{{Grigori Chukhrai}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:There Was An Old Couple}}
Category:1960s Russian-language films
Category:Soviet black-and-white films
Category:Films directed by Grigori Chukhrai
Category:Russian-language drama films
{{1960s-USSR-film-stub}}