Asia, a lame collective farm cook is pregnant. She lives in a dark hut with her great grandmother, grandmother, mother, and niece. She is in love with a shallow, stupid driver Stepan who treats her contemptibly and has no intention of ever marrying her. A man named Chirkunov arrives from the city and offers Asia his hand in marriage and a comfortable life in a city apartment. But Asia does not love him. The film was delayed for several years and released only in a heavily censored version in 1971. The original version of the film was released in 1987.
About the film
Details
- Running time
- 1 hr. 33 min.
- Country, year
- Russia, 1967
- Genre
- Drama
- Language
- Russian
- Subtitles
- Lithuanian, English
- Age rating
- N/A
Credits
- Director
- Andrej Končialovskij
- Screenplay
- Jurij Klepikov
- Cinematography
- Georgij Rerberg
- Music
- Viačeslav Ovčinnikov
- Cast
- Ija Savina, Liubov Sokolova, Aleksandr Surin, Genadij Egoryčev, Ivan Petrov, Liudmila Zaitseva
- More information
- www.imdb.com
Festivals and awards
- Nika Award for Best Director and Best Screenplay, nominated for Best Actress and Cinematographer
- FIPRESCI Prize
Director
Andrej Končialovskij
Andrei Mikhalkov-Konchalovskii was born in Moscow in 1937. His early studies throughout the 1950s were devoted to music at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1965 he completed his course of studies in film directing at the All-Union State Filmmaking Institute. He has appeared as an actor in such films as My Name Is Ivan and Lenin's Guard, and co-wrote the screenplay for Tarkovsky's masterpiece Andrei Rublev. His diploma film was quickly followed by his famous Story of Asya Klyachina. Despite official disapproval of that film, he continued a successful directing career in the Soviet Union and, in the 1980s, in the United States. He returned to Russia in the 1990s. Director received numerous major awards and was nominated for Oscar three times.
