''The Ballad of Siberia'' (in ), also known as ''Symphony of Life'', produced by

Mosfilm Mosfilm (russian: Мосфильм, ''Mosfil’m'' ) is a film studio which is among the largest and oldest in the Russian Federation and in Europe. Founded in 1924 in the USSR as a production unit of that nation's film monopoly, its output incl ...

and released in 1948, was the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

's second color film (after ''

The Stone Flower "The Stone Flower" ( rus, Каменный цветок, Kamennyj tsvetok, p=ˈkamʲɪnːɨj tsvʲɪˈtok), also known as "The Flower of Stone", is a folk tale (also known as ''skaz'') of the Ural region of Russia collected and reworked by Pave ...

''). It was directed by

Ivan Pyryev Ivan Aleksandrovich Pyryev (russian: Ива́н Алекса́ндрович Пы́рьев; – 7 February 1968) was a Soviet-Russian film director and screenwriter remembered as the high priest of Stalinist cinema. He was awarded six Stali ...

and starred

Vladimir Druzhnikov Vladimir Vasilievich Druzhnikov (russian: Влади́мир Васи́льевич Дру́жников; 30 May 1922 – 20 February 1994) was a Soviet actor. He appeared in more than 40 films between 1945 and 1992. He was a People's Artis ...

and

Marina Ladynina Marina Alekseyevna Ladynina (russian: Мари́на Алексе́евна Лады́нина; June 24 .s. 11 1908 in Skotinino, Smolensk, Russian Empire – March 10, 2003 in Moscow, Russian Federation) was a popular Soviet film and theatre ...

. It is a Soviet style

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

movie, full of songs, such as "The Wanderer", describing the development of

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Synopsis

Pianist Andrei Balashov (

) after being wounded at the front during the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sout ...

loses the opportunity to earnestly pursue music due to a hand injury. Without saying goodbye to his friends and his beloved Natasha (

), he goes to Siberia. He works on the construction of a plant, and in the evenings sings in a

teahouse A teahouse (mainly Asia) or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment whic ...

. By chance, weather conditions force the plane with Andrey's friends, Boris Olenich (

Vladimir Zeldin Vladimir Mikhailovich Zeldin (russian: Владимир Михайлович Зельдин; 10 February 1915 – 31 October 2016) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. A centenarian, he was among the longest-serving stage performers an ...

) and Natasha, who are flying to a competition abroad, to land at the airport near the building of the plant. Andrey meets them and it changes his life. He travels to the Arctic and inspired by the heroic labor of the builders to write a symphonic

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

"Ballad of Siberia", which receives universal recognition.

Cast

as Andrei Nikolayevich Balashov *

as Natasha Pavlovna Malinina * Boris Andreyev as Yakov Zakharonovich Burmak * Vera Vasileva as Nastenka Petrovna Gusenkova * Sergei Kalinin as Kornei Nefedovich Zavorin *

Yelena Savitskaya Yelena or Jelena is a feminine given name. It is the Russian form of Helen, written Елена in Russian. Notable people called Yelena * Yelena Afanasyeva (born 1967), former Russian athlete who competed in the 800 metres *Yelena Vladimiro ...

as Kapitolina Kondratyevna *

as Boris Olenich * Mikhail Sidorkin as Sergei Tomakurov *

Grigoriy Shpigel Grigory Oyzerovich Spiegel (russian: Григо́рий О́йзерович Шпи́гель; 24 July 1914 — 28 April 1981) was a Soviet and Russian actor and voice actor. Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1974). Biography He worked as a pleater at ...

as Grigori "Grisha" Galadya

Songs

It is a musical movie, with songs both old and new. The most notable songs are: * "The Song of the Siberian Earth" (words by

Yevgeniy Dolmatovsky Yevgeny Aronovich Dolmatovsky (; 5 May 1915 – 10 September 1994) was a Soviet and Russian poet and lyricist. He was born and died in Moscow. Examples of his songs * Ballad of the Siberian Land (music by Nikolai Kryukov) - 1947 :The theme son ...

, music by Nikolai Kryukov) * "The Hymn to Siberia" (words by Yevgeniy Dolmatovsky, music by Nikolai Kryukov) * " The Wanderer" (in )

Influence

This film was so successful that a second color musical film, ''

Cossacks of the Kuban ''Cossacks of the Kuban'' () from Mosfilm is a color film, glorifying the life of the farmers in the kolkhoz of the Soviet Union's Kuban region, directed by Ivan Pyryev and starring Marina Ladynina, his wife at that time.Utagoe Movement and

Utagoe coffeehouse refers to the type of coffeehouses that featured the customers' joining in singing songs together, which was very popular in Japan in ca. 1955–1975. Utagoe coffeehouses were usually associated with the leftist movement at that time, called th ...

in the 1950s, eventually leading to the

Karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...

phenomenon in the 1970s.Utagoe Cafes in Tokyo

References

External links

* 1947 films 1940s Russian-language films Soviet musical films Films set in Siberia 1948 musical films 1948 films Films directed by Ivan Pyryev {{musical-film-stub