One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (film)
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Norwegian: En dag i Ivan Denisovitsj' liv) is a 1970 biographical drama film based on the novel by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn with the same name.
| One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Caspar Wrede |
| Produced by | Caspar Wrede |
| Screenplay by | Ronald Harwood |
| Based on | One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn |
| Starring | Tom Courtenay Alfred Burke James Maxwell Eric Thompson |
| Music by | Arne Nordheim |
| Cinematography | Sven Nykvist |
| Edited by | Thelma Connell |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Kommunenes Filmcentral (Norway) Cinerama Releasing Corporation (UK and US) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom Norway United States |
| Language | English |
Plot
The film stars Tom Courtenay as the title character, a prisoner in the Soviet gulag system of the 1950s who endures a long prison sentence. It tells of one routine day in his life.
Cast
- Tom Courtenay as Ivan Denisovich Shukhov
- Espen Skjønberg as Tiurin
- Alf Malland as Fetiukov
- Frimann Falck Clausen as Senka
- Jo Skønberg as Gopchik
- Odd Jan Sandsdalen as Eino
- Torstein Rustdal as Vaino
- James Maxwell as Captain
- Alfred Burke as Alyosha
- Eric Thompson as Tsetzar
- John Cording as Pavlo
- Matthew Guinness as Kilgas
- Roy Bjørnstad
- Paul Connell
- Sverre Hansen
- Wolfe Morris
- Kjell Stormoen
- Caspar Wrede
Banning in Finland
Finnish film director Jörn Donner tried to get the film to Finland, but the Finnish Board of Film banned the showing of the film. In 1972 Donner complained to Supreme Administrative Court of Finland. The Supreme Administrative Court voted for the banning 5-4 on 28 February 1972. When, in 1972 and 1974, Swedish television showed the film, the Swedish television mast on the Åland Islands was shut down during the movie to prevent Finns from seeing the film.
Director of the Finnish Board of Film Jerker Eeriksson said that the banning of the film was political because it harmed the Finnish-Soviet relationship. Director of the film Caspar Wrede, who then lived in England, refused to campaign against the banning in order to avoid bad publicity abroad.
The film was shown in Finland in 1993 and 1994 in the movie theater Orion in Helsinki, as well as in the cinema club in Vaasa. Finnish television showed the film in 1996 on the TV1 YLE channel.
Bibliography
- Hellman, Ben; Rogachevskii, Andrei (2010). Filming the Unfilmable : Casper Wrede's "One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich". Stuttgart: Ibidem-Verlag. ISBN 9783838200446.
External links
- One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich on IMDb
- One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich at the Swedish Film Institute Database
- Film trailer on YouTube
- "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" on YouTube
- Donner: Solzhenitsyn oli räjähde: The interview of Jörn Donner about the prohibition of the film in Finland.