When the Trees Were Tall
Encyclopedia
When the Trees Were Tall is a 1961 Soviet
drama film
directed by Lev Kulidzhanov
. It was shown at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival
.
veteran Kuzma Kuzmich Iordanov has become a heavy drinker with no interest in finding employment of any kind. He joins a collective farm, claiming to be the father of Natasha, a resident there, and is forced to analyze his life when he finds himself falling in love.
of The New York Times
called the film "an odd, fumbling drama" and thought the hero was "the most negative, ground-down and dull protagonist the Soviet Union has sent us in a long time." He added, "Furthermore, the simple story line slides its course crabwise, wedged in between oblique, pretentious photography — some of it fetchingly pastoral — and splintered, meaningless vignettes."
at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival.
Cinema of the Soviet Union
The cinema of the Soviet Union, not to be confused with "Cinema of Russia" despite Russian language films being predominant in both genres, includes several film contributions of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union reflecting elements of their pre-Soviet culture, language and history,...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Lev Kulidzhanov
Lev Kulidzhanov
Lev Aleksandrovich Kulidzhanov was a Soviet film director and screenwriter...
. It was shown at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival
1962 Cannes Film Festival
-Jury:*Tetsuro Furukaki *Henry Deutschmeister *Sophie Desmarets *Jean Dutourd *Mel Ferrer *Romain Gary *Jerzy Kawalerowicz *Ernst Krüger...
.
Plot
World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
veteran Kuzma Kuzmich Iordanov has become a heavy drinker with no interest in finding employment of any kind. He joins a collective farm, claiming to be the father of Natasha, a resident there, and is forced to analyze his life when he finds himself falling in love.
Cast
- Inna GulayaInna GulayaInna Iosifovna Gulaya was a Soviet theatre and cinema actress and Meritorious Artist of the RSFSR.-Life:After graduate school, she joined the studio at the Central Children's Theater. Between 1962-1964, Gulaya studied at Shchukin's Drama Institute....
- Natasha - Yuri NikulinYuri NikulinYuri Vladimirovich Nikulin was a well-known Soviet and Russian actor and clown who starred in many popular films.He was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1973 and Hero of Socialist Labour in 1990...
- Kuzma Kuzmich Iordanov - Leonid KuravlyovLeonid KuravlyovLeonid Vyacheslavovich Kuravlyov is a Soviet/Russian actor and People's Artist of the RSFSR .Leonid Kuravlyov was born in Moscow in 1936. He lost his father when he was still a little boy. In 1941, Kuravlyov's mother was falsely accused and exiled to the Russian North, where they would spend...
- Lenka - Yekaterina Mazurova - Anastasiya Borisovna
- Vasily ShukshinVasily ShukshinVasily Makarovich Shukshin was a notable Soviet/Russian actor, writer, screenwriter and movie director from the Altay region who specialized in rural themes. Upon his death, Shukshin was interred at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.-Biography:...
- Chairman of the Kolkhoz - Lyudmila Chursina - Zoya
- Yelena Korolyova - Nyurka
- Viktor PavlovViktor PavlovViktor Pavlovich Pavlov was a Russian film and television actor.Pavlov was born in Moscow. After graduating from the M. Schepkin Theatre School, he worked in the some of the most popular theatres of Moscow:* 1963-1965 - Sovremennik Theatre...
- Yevgeniya Melnikova
- Arkadi Trusov
- Pavel Shalnov
- Georgi Shapovalov
- Marina Gavrilko
- Danuta Stolyarskaya
- Vera Orlova
Critical reception
Howard ThompsonHoward Thompson (film critic)
Howard Thompson was an US journalist and film critic whose career of forty-one years was spent at the New York Times....
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
called the film "an odd, fumbling drama" and thought the hero was "the most negative, ground-down and dull protagonist the Soviet Union has sent us in a long time." He added, "Furthermore, the simple story line slides its course crabwise, wedged in between oblique, pretentious photography — some of it fetchingly pastoral — and splintered, meaningless vignettes."
Awards and nominations
The film was nominated for the Palme d'OrPalme d'Or
The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...
at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival.