''Optimistic Tragedy'' (russian: Оптимистическая трагедия, translit. ''Optimisticheskaya tragediya'') is a 1963

Soviet film The cinema of the Soviet Union includes films produced by the constituent republics of the Soviet Union reflecting elements of their pre-Soviet culture, language and history, albeit they were all regulated by the central government in Moscow. M ...

directed by

Samson Samsonov Samson Iosifovich Samsonov (russian: Самсо́н Ио́сифович Самсо́нов; 23 February 1921 – 31 August 2002) was a Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter, he was granted the honorary title of People's Artist of ...

. It is based on the play ''

An Optimistic Tragedy ''Optimistic Tragedy'' (russian: Оптимистическая трагедия) is a play written by Vsevolod Vishnevskiy in the Soviet Union in 1933 with a dedication to the 15th anniversary of the Red Army. The play is set in St. Petersbur ...

'' by

Vsevolod Vishnevsky Vsevolod Vitalyevich Vishnevsky (russian: Все́волод Вита́льевич Вишне́вский, – 28 February 1951) was a Soviet and Russian writer, screenwriter, playwright and journalist. Early life He was born in 1900 in Sain ...

Plot

During

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

of 1917, the Marine squad, led by

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

leader Vozhak starts the revolt. The Central Committee of the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

Party sends a woman Commissar to form

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

battalion from the marines to take part in the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

Cast

Margarita Volodina Margarita Vladimirovna Volodina (russian: Маргари́та Влади́мировна Воло́дина; born 1938 in Leningrad) is a Soviet film and stage actress. Her first husband was film director Samson Samsonov. In 1994 she went to he ...

as Commissar * Boris Andreyev as Vozhak *

Vyacheslav Tikhonov Vyacheslav Vasilyevich Tikhonov (russian: Вячесла́в Васи́льевич Ти́хонов; 8 February 1928, in Pavlovsky Posad – 4 December 2009, in Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian actor whose best known role was as Soviet spy, ...

as Aleksey *

Vsevolod Sanayev Vsevolod Vasilyevich Sanayev (Все′волод Васи′льевич Сана′ев; 25 2, o.s.February 1912 in Tula, Russian Empire – 27 January 1996 in Moscow, Russia) was a Soviet film and stage actor popular in the 1960s–1970s. Sanay ...

as Sipliy *

Erast Garin Erast Pavlovich Garin (russian: Эра́ст Па́влович Га́рин; – 4 September 1980) was a Soviet and Russian actor, director and screenwriter. He was, together with Igor Ilyinsky and Sergey Martinson, one of the leading comic ...

as Vozhachok *

Vsevolod Safonov Vsevolod Dmitrievich Safonov (russian: Все́волод Дми́триевич Сафо́нов; 9 April 1926 – 6 July 1992) was a Soviet actor of theatre and cinema. He was awarded the title People's Artist of the USSR Prize (1974). Biography ...

Oleg Strizhenov Oleg Aleksandrovich Strizhenov (russian: Олег Александрович Стриженов; born 10 August 1929 in Blagoveshchensk) is a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. People's Artist of the USSR (1988). Life and career Strizhenov ...

as First officer *

Gleb Strizhenov Gleb Aleksandrovich Strizhenov (russian: Глеб Александрович Стриженов) (July 21, 1925 – October 4, 1985) was a Soviet stage and film actor. Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1974). He was the older brother of Oleg Strizhe ...

* Valentin Belokhvostik *

Ivan Bondar Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

Production

The film ''Optimistic Tragedy'' is based on the 1933 play ''

'' by

, set during the Russian Revolution.

directed the film. It was shot in Sovscope 70 on black and white film stock. The prints were split into three films for exhibition in

Kinopanorama 70 Kinopanorama is a three-lens, three-film widescreen film format. Although Kinopanorama was initially known as ''Panorama'' (russian: панорамный фильм, ''panoramnyy film'') in the Soviet Union the name was later revised to include its ...

in some theatres.

Release

The film was entered into competition at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival. The

Kino International The Kino International is a film theater in Berlin, built from 1961 to 1963. It is located on Karl-Marx-Allee in former East Berlin. It hosted premieres of the DEFA film studios until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Today it is a protec ...

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

opened on 15 November 1963 with a grand opening premiere of the film.

Reception

''Optimistic Tragedy'' was a Soviet blockbuster of 1963, with 46 million tickets sold. The film was named Best Film of the Year and Margarita Volodina was named Best Actress of the Year by readers of the Soviet film magazine '' Sovetsky Ekran''. Richard Porton, in his 1999 book ''Film and the Anarchist Imagination'', describes ''Optimistic Tragedy'' as "ingloriously

didactic Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is an emerging conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to ...

" and "typical of Soviet attempts to rationalize the brutal assault on the Kronstadt communards".

References

External links

* 1960s war drama films 1963 drama films 1963 films Soviet war drama films 1960s Russian-language films Russian Revolution films Films directed by Samson Samsonov Mosfilm films Soviet films based on plays {{1960s-USSR-film-stub