Dauria (film)

Dauria

Directed by	Viktor Tregubovich
Written by	Konstantin Sedykh
Starring	Vitali Solomin Petr Shelokhonov Yefim Kopelyan Vasily Shukshin Yury Solomin
Cinematography	Yevgeny Mezentsev
Music by	Gennady Portnov
Production company	Lenfilm
Distributed by	RUSCICO
Release date	1971 (1971)
Running time	182 minutes
Country	Soviet Union
Language	Russian

Dauria (Russian: Даурия) is a 1971 Soviet historical adventure drama set in Siberia, Russia. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Konstantin Sedykh^[1] and directed by Viktor Tregubovich.

While the movie was criticized by some Soviet critics for its historical inaccuracies, its epic scope and intense battle scenes won wide praise and has been credited with affecting the political landscape of Siberian Russia.

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Plot

Epic film about traditional life of Cossacks in the Siberian province of Dauria at the time of the communist revolution. Focused on a Cossack village that is living like one big family under the guidance of a strong leader - Ataman (Kopelyan).

Young Cossack Roman Ulybin (Solomin) is in love with beautiful Dashutka (Golovina). Roman is asking his father, Severian Ulybin (Shelokhonov), to send a Matchmaker (Shukshina) before it's too late. But father Severian has no money, while wealthy crook has already hired the Matchmaker, and his son gets married at the lavish traditional wedding with singing, dancing and drinking in the Russian style.

So, frustrated Roman Ulybin leaves his father's home to follow his big brother Vasili, a Communist leader who promises happiness after the revolution. But, after the revolution, people suffer a cascade of troubles. Good old traditional life is destroyed by chaos, lawlessness and crime. Greed and envy blinds many people, and they forget their good traditions and life as good neighbors. Cossack leader Ataman is brutally beaten and humiliated by executioner. Roman's father, Severian, is murdered in a wrongful dispute, and Roman is too late to reconcile with his father.

Cast

Vitali Solomin as Roman Ulybin. The son of Severian
Petr Shelokhonov as Severian Ulybin. The father of Roman
Yefim Kopelyan as Ataman Kargin, the leader of Cossacks
Vasily Shukshin as Vasili Ulybin, the leader of Communists
Yury Solomin as Semen, a Communist agent
Mikhail Kokshenov as Fedot, the neighbor of Ulybins
Arkadi Trusov as Grandfather Ulybin
Vera Kuznetsova as Ulybina. The wife of Severian
Viktor Pavlov as Nikifor, a hard core Cossack
Svetlana Golovina as Dashutka, the love interest of Roman Ulybin
Zhenya Malyantsev as Roman's little brother
Fyodor Odinokov as Dashutka's father
Lyubov Malinovskaya as Dashutka's mother
Yuri Nazarov as a runaway prisoner
Vsevolod Kuznetsov as Cossack Platon Volokitin
Lidiya Fedoseyeva-Shukshina as Matchmaker
Zinovi Gerdt as Tsarist General Semenov
Georgi Shtil as Anarchist Revolutionary
Igor Yefimov as Cossack
Dmitri Masanov as Cossack
Vladimir Losev as Cossack
Sergei Polezhaev as White Russian officer
Aleksandr Demyanenko as Executioner
Igor Dmitriev as Executioner

Crew

Director: Viktor Tregubovich
Writers: Konstantin Sedykh, Yuri Klepikov, Viktor Tregubovich
Cinematographer: Yevgeny Mezentsev
Composer: Gennady Portnov
Production Designer: Grachya Mekinyan

Production

Produced by Lenfilm studios.
Filming dates 1969–1971.
Filming locations: Siberia, Trans-Baikal region, Narva, Estonia, Lenfilm studios, Leningrad, Russia.
Over 5 hundred extras took part in filming.
Leading actors took horseback riding classes for several months before and during filming.
A unique stunt was performed for the character of Severian Ulybin: live horse with a mannequin in a Cossack costume jumped down from 70-meters-high cliff into the cold river.

^[2]

Release

1971 theatrical release, Soviet Union
1975 theatrical release in Finland and other European nations
1985 VHS release, Soviet Union
2002 DVD release, worldwide

Reception

Attendance: 47 million, theatrical, in the Soviet Union.

DVD release

2002 DVD released by RUSCICO. It is based on the shorter 182 minute version, which was edited for European release in 1975. Dubbing for DVD in three languages was made by professional actors in English, French, and Russian. Subtitles in Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, French, English, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish.
Defects on DVD include errors in sequence of scenes and wrong listing of scenes in the DVD cover booklet. There are some mistakes and discrepancies between English and Russian versions of the DVD.