''Twenty Days Without War'' (russian: Двадцать дней без войны, translit=''Dvadtsat' dney bez voyny'') is a 1976

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 ...

based on a story by

Konstantin Simonov Konstantin Mikhailovich Simonov, born Kirill Mikhailovich Simonov (russian: link= no, Константин Михайлович Симонов, – 28 August 1979), was a Soviet author, war poet, playwright and wartime correspondent, arguabl ...

, directed by Aleksey German and starring

Yuri Nikulin Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin (russian: Юрий Владимирович Никулин; 18 December 1921 – 21 August 1997) was a Soviet and Russian actor and clown who starred in many popular films. He is best known for his roles in Leonid ...

and

Lyudmila Gurchenko Lyudmila Markovna Gurchenko ( née Gurchenko; russian: link=no, Людмила Марковна Гурченко; 12 November 1935 – 30 March 2011) was a popular Soviet and Russian actress, singer and entertainer. She was given the honorary titl ...

. The film describes how the romantic views of war as pictured in the Soviet war film industry were actually far different from the harsh realities of front line warfare.

Plot

Major Lopatin (played by actor

) is a military journalist during World War II, who goes back to his hometown of

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...

(

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

) in Middle Asia at the end of 1942 to spend a 20-day leave following the Battle of Stalingrad and to see the shooting of a film based on his wartime articles he has written. There he is romantically involved with a woman named Nina (played by Ludmila Gurchenko). Lopatin realizes that the romanticized views of warfare on the

home front Home front is an English language term with analogues in other languages. It is commonly used to describe the full participation of the British public in World War I who suffered Zeppelin raids and endured food rations as part of what came t ...

are vastly different from the realities he had encountered.

Production

The film was based on the novel and screenplay of

(1915-1979), a military journalist who wrote the famous poem "Wait for me" during World War II in 1941. The film was mostly shot in black and white, or very muted color, as looking aged to be visually closed to that wartime.

Cast

as Major Vasily Nikolaevich Lopatin, military journalist *

as Nina *Rashid Sadykov as Usman Yusupov, secretary of the Central Committee *

Alexei Petrenko Aleksei Vasilyevich Petrenko (russian: Алексей Васильевич Петренко; 26 March 1938 – 22 February 2017) was a Soviet and Russian film and stage actor. He played Grigori Rasputin in Elem Klimov's historical drama '' Agony ...

as Yuri Stroganov, pilot Captain * Angelina Stepanova as Zinaida Antonovna, artistic director of the theater *

Mikhail Kononov Mikhail Ivanovich Kononov (russian: Михаи́л Ива́нович Ко́нонов) (25 April 1940 – 16 July 2007) was a Soviet and Russian actor. People's Artist of Russia (1999). Biography He first appeared on stage at school. In 1963 ...

as Pasha Rubtsov, voenkor *

Yekaterina Vasilyeva Yekaterina Sergeyevna Vasilyeva (russian: Екатерина Серге́евна Васильева; born 15 August 1945 in Moscow) is a Soviet and Russian theater and film actress. She performed in more than ninety films since 1967. Vasilyeva ...

as Rubtsov, widow of Pasha *

Nikolai Grinko Nikolai Grigoryevich Grinko or Mykola Hryhorovych Hrynko ( uk, Микола Григорович Гринько; russian: Никола́й Григо́рьевич Гринько́; 22 May 1920, Kherson – 10 April 1989, Kyiv was a Soviet ...

as Vyacheslav (voiced by

Innokenty Smoktunovsky Innokenty Mikhailovich Smoktunovsky (russian: Иннокентий Михайлович Смоктуновский; born ''Smoktunovich'', 28 March 19253 August 1994) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. He was named a People's Artist ...

) *

Lyusyena Ovchinnikova Lyusyena Ivanovna Ovchinnikova (russian: Люсье́на Ива́новна Овчи́нникова; 10 September 1931 – 8 January 1999) was a Soviet film actress. She appeared in more than 30 films between 1959 and 1993. She is an Merit ...

as Ksenia Sergeevna, former wife of Lopatin *

Liya Akhedzhakova Liya Medzhidovna Akhedzhakova (russian: link=no, Лия Меджидовна Ахеджакова; born 9 July 1938) is a Soviet and Russian film, stage and voice actress who received the title of People's Artist of Russia in 1994. She received two ...

as woman with clocks *Dmitry Bessonov as Vedeneev, Ksenia's new husband *Zoya Vinogradova as Vera, actress *

Lyudmila Zaytseva Lyudmila Vasilyevna Zaytseva (russian: Людмила Васильевна Зайцева; born 21 July 1946) is a Soviet and Russian film actress, People's Artist of the RSFSR (1989) and laureate of the State Prize of the USSR (1983). Her movie ...

as Lidiya, actress playing a female sniper *Vladimir Mishanin as soldier on the train *Nikolay Mikheev as Colonel, film consultant (voiced by Igor Efimov) *Yuri Soloviev as commander *Vera Karpova as stepmother Nina (uncredited) *Oleg Korchikov as the driver (uncredited) *Arkady Trusov as guest-singer (uncredited)

References

External links

* {{Aleksei Yuryevich German 1976 films 1976 drama films Soviet drama films Russian drama films 1970s Russian-language films Lenfilm films Eastern Front of World War II films Films set in 1942 Films directed by Aleksei Yuryevich German