Cold Summer of 1953 (1987)

Холодное лето пятьдесят третьего

After Stalin's death, a mass amnesty releases criminals, and a gang terrorises a remote village where two political exiles live.

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Year
1987
Director
Alexander Proshkin
Starring
Valery Priyomykhov, Anatoly Papanov, Viktoria Tsyplakova
Genre
Drama, Crime
Running time
1 h 36 min
Language
Russian, English subtitles
Studio
Mosfilm

About the film

Summer 1953. In a village on the White Sea, two men are serving exile: Luzga, a former army officer, and Kopalych, a gentle engineer. Both were sent there as 'enemies of the people'.

When a gang of released criminals takes over the village, only the two exiles stand up to them. The film is tense, quiet and brave, and was one of the first to talk openly about the camps.

It is also the last film of Anatoly Papanov, who died shortly after finishing it.

Did you know?

  • It was Anatoly Papanov's last film role.
  • It was made in the first years of glasnost, when films about the Gulag became possible.
  • Valery Priyomykhov was also a screenwriter and director.

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