''The Story of a Crime'' (russian: История одного преступления, translit. ''Istoriya odnogo prestupleniya'') is a 1962

Soviet 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 nation ...

animated

Short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

directed by

Fyodor Khitruk Fyodor Savelyevich Khitruk (russian: Фёдор Савельевич Хитрук; 1 May 1917 – 3 December 2012) was a Soviet and Russian animator and animation director. Biography Khitruk was born in Tver (Russian Empire), into a Jewish ...

and based on a screenplay by Michael Volpin. It was produced by

Soyuzmultfilm Soyuzmultfilm ( rus, Союзмультфи́льм, p=səˌjʉsmʊlʲtˈfʲilʲm , ''Union Cartoon'') (also known as SMF Animation Studio in English, Formerly known as Soyuzdetmultfilm) is a Russian animation studio based in Moscow. Launched in ...

. The score is by , with sound editing by George Martynuk. It was the first film by Khitruk, whose role in the

history of Russian animation The history of Russian animation is the visual art form produced by Russian animation makers. As most of Russia's production of animation for cinema and television were created during Soviet times, it may also be referred to some extent as the histo ...

led him to be recognized as a People's Artist of the USSR and a

Meritorious Artist Merited Artist of the Russian Federation (russian: link=no, Заслуженный артист Российской Федерации, ''Zasluzhenny artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii'') is an honorary title in the Russian Federation. The title is ...

, and to receive the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

and the

Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" The Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" (russian: Орден «За заслуги перед Отечеством», ''Orden "Za zaslugi pered Otechestvom"'') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was instituted on 2 March 1994 by P ...

. The film is a hybrid of

Traditional animation Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until computer animation. Proc ...

and

Cutout animation Cutout animation is a form of stop-motion animation using flat characters, props and backgrounds cut from materials such as paper, card, stiff fabric or photographs. The props would be cut out and used as puppets for stop motion. The world's e ...

Plot summary

Noises at night made by rude neighbors cause the very friendly and peaceful Vasily Mamin to commit a crime. The cartoon serves as an explanation as of why such a brutal crime is committed at the beginning. It is a flashback at how Mamin spent his last 24 hours before the crime. The character is having a drastic change in his life, but if we think about on our self, is it wrong?

Voice cast

* Zinovy Gerdt as ''Narrator''

Awards

* 9th International Short Film Festival in Oberkhauzen (

Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

), 1963 * Diploma and ''The Golden Gates'' Prize of the 7th International Cinema Festival in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, 1962

External links

*
''The Story of a Crime''
at animator.ru
Dazzling animations
at

Tampere Film Festival The Tampere Film Festival ( fi, Tampereen elokuvajuhlat) is a short film festival held every March, mostly at the Finnkino Plevna movie theatre, in Tampere, Finland. It is accredited by the film producers' society FIAPF, and together with the shor ...

web page
The Spirit Of Genius: Feodor Khitruk
by

William Moritz William Moritz (May 6, 1941 – March 12, 2004), film historian, specialized in visual music and experimental animation. His principal published works concerned abstract filmmaker and painter Oskar Fischinger. He also wrote extensively on other v ...

Konstantin Bronzit, Alesha Popovich and Tugarin the Serpent (Alesha Popovich i Tugarin Zmei) (2004)
at Kinokultura.com 1962 animated films 1962 films Soviet animated short films Soyuzmultfilm Films directed by Fyodor Khitruk {{1960s-short-animation-film-stub