Road To Life (1931 Film)
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''Road to Life'' (russian: Путёвка в жизнь, Putyovka v zhizn) is a 1931 Soviet
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
written and directed by
Nikolai Ekk Nikolai Vladimirovich Ekk (russian: Николай Владимирович Экк; 14 June 1902 – 14 July 1976) was a Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter. "Ekk" was in fact a pseudonym; his real surname was Ivakin (russian: ...
. The film won an award at the 1932 Venice International Film Festival, which went to Ekk for Most Convincing Director. It was the first
sound film A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...
in 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 ...
, and the first to be win a Best Director award at any film festival.


Plot summary

In Moscow operates one of the countless gangs of street kids – Zhigan's gang. The boys who belong to it have been living on the street for a long time. In December 1923 police forces conduct a raid, and catch about a thousand homeless children. Almost all of them are distributed to
orphanages An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or a ...
. But there are several dozen minors who run away from all the orphanages to which they are sent. For example, Mustafa has escaped 8 times and had to be returned 15 times by the authorities. What is one supposed to do with them? This leads to a decision to send them over to a
house of correction The house of correction was a type of establishment built after the passing of the Elizabethan Poor Law (1601), places where those who were "unwilling to work", including vagrants and beggars, were set to work. The building of houses of correctio ...
, that is, a prison for minors. Sergeev offers another solution: to create a labor
commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...
. The children will work as carpenters, shoemakers, carpenters, remain free citizens, they will feed themselves. But not with theft, instead with work ... Good intentions as always, are good only in theory. In practice, the former street kids do not immediately become honest hard workers ...


Cast

*
Nikolai Batalov Nikolai Petrovich Batalov (russian: Николай Петрович Баталов; 6 December 1899 in Moscow – 10 November 1937 in Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. He performed in a number of notable films between 1924 and ...
- Nikolai Sergeiev *
Yvan Kyrlya Yvan Kyrlya (real name Kirill Ivanovich Ivanov) (russian: Йыва́н Кы́рла; 17 March 1909, Kupsola – July 1943) was a Mari Soviet actor and poet, famous for his role of Mustafa Fert in the first Soviet sound film '' Road to Life'' ...
- Dandy Mustapha * Mikhail Dzhagofarov - Nikolai 'Kolka' Rebrov * Aleksandr Novikov – Vaska Busa *
Mikhail Zharov Mikhail Ivanovich Zharov (russian: Михаи́л Ива́нович Жа́ров; 27 October 1899 – 15 December 1981) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor and director. People's Artist of the USSR (1949) and Hero of Socialist Labour ...
– Fomka Zhigan *
Glikeriya Bogdanova-Chesnokova Glikeriya Vasilyevna Bogdanova-Chesnokova (russian: Глике́рия Васи́льевна Богда́нова-Чесноко́ва) (born 13 (26) May 1904 Saint Petersburg 17 April 1983 Leningrad) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film act ...
– a girl from a gang of Zhigan (not in the titles, the episode was cut and remains in the general plans only) * Mariya Andropova as Maria Skriabina * Vladimir Vesnovsky as Mr. Rebrov * Mariya Gonfa as Lelka, aka 'Maziha' * Bozhak Besprizornykh


Production

The film was shot on the territory of the Bolshevskaya labor commune named after
Genrikh Yagoda Genrikh Grigoryevich Yagoda ( rus, Ге́нрих Григо́рьевич Яго́да, Genrikh Grigor'yevich Yagoda, born Yenokh Gershevich Iyeguda; 7 November 1891 – 15 March 1938) was a Soviet secret police official who served as director ...
(established in February 1924).Хиллиг, Гётц
А. С. Макаренко и Болшевская коммуна
// Постметодика, № 2, 2001 «Громадянська освіта в школі»
Several scenes were filmed on the territory of the Annunciation Monastery in
Sarapul Sarapul ( Udmurt and russian: Сара́пул) is a city and a river port in the Udmurt Republic, Russia, located on the right bank of the Kama River, southeast of Izhevsk, the capital of the republic. Population: History Sarapul is one of t ...
. The arrival of street children in the labor commune, as well as scenes of street rebellion, were all filmed in the village of
Kolomenskoye Kolomenskoye (russian: Коло́менское) is a former royal estate situated several kilometers to the southeast of the city center of Moscow, Russia, on the ancient road leading to the town of Kolomna (hence the name). The 390 hectare ...
. The Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye is also shown in the film. This is the first appearance in film of actors
Rina Zelyonaya Ekaterina Vasilyevna Zelyonaya (russian: link=no, Екатерина Васильевна Зелёная); ( — 1 April 1991, Moscow), better known by her stage name Rina Zelyonaya, was a Soviet actress, singer and comedian. She was named Peopl ...
and
Georgiy Zhzhonov Georgiy Stepanovich Zhzhonov (russian: Гео́ргий Степа́нович Жжёнов, ; 22 March 1915 – 8 December 2005), was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor and writer. He is known for playing the spy Mikhail Tulyev in the "R ...
. Old residents of the city of Dzerzhinsk (
Lyuberetsky District Lyuberetsky District (russian: Любере́цкий райо́н) is an administrativeLaw #11/2013-OZ and municipalLaw #81/2005-OZ district (raion), one of the thirty-six in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It is located in the central part of the oblast ...
) believe that the film tells the story of a labor commune located in the area of the Ugresha Monastery. They say that at Lyubertsy Dzerzhinsky on a single-track is a place where Zhigan killed Mustafa.


Awards

The film's director Nikolai Ekk was named as the best director by a poll of viewers of the 1st Venice International Film Festival (1932).


Legacy

While Genrikh Yagoda served as a
comissar Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English transliteration of the Russian (''komissar''), which means 'commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and Ea ...
, Bolshevskaya commune being dedicated to him brought it certain advantages. After the arrest of Genrikh Yagoda in April 1937, the commune was broken and dispersed, Matvei Pogrebinsky shot himself, his books ("Factory of people", edited under
Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в;  – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...
, and others) were removed from libraries and destroyed. However, the film, due to its high international acclaim, was not withdrawn from circulation, but all mention of the commune itself were excised from the footage.


References


External links

* 1931 films Gorky Film Studio films 1931 drama films Soviet drama films Soviet black-and-white films Soviet teen films Mari-language films {{1930s-USSR-film-stub