There Was an Old Couple

There Was an Old Couple (Жили-были старик со старухой)
Film poster
Directed by	Grigori Chukhrai
Written by	Yuli Dunsky Valeri Frid
Starring	Ivan Marin Vera Kuznetsova Lyudmila Maksakova Georgi Martynyuk Galina Polskikh
Cinematography	Sergei Poluyanov
Release date	1965 (1965)
Running time	103 minutes
Country	Soviet Union
Language	Russian

There Was an Old Couple (Russian: Жили-были старик со старухой, romanized: Zhili-byli starik so starukhoy) is a 1965 Soviet drama film directed by Grigori Chukhrai. It was entered into the 1965 Cannes Film Festival.

Plot

In a small village by a river, two elderly retirees find themselves homeless after their house burns down. Lacking the strength or will to rebuild their wooden cabin, they decide to move to Vorkuta, a northern Siberian town where their daughter lives, despite their son being in a more stable situation. Upon arrival, they learn that their daughter, a mother to a young boy, has left her husband to pursue a relationship with another man. When she returns, her father, deeply offended by her actions, drives her away.

Left behind with their alcoholic son-in-law and grandson, the couple attempts to adapt to their new living situation. The grandfather, who is deeply rooted in the Stalinist ideology of his youth, begins to confront the harsh realities and lasting consequences of that era in the remote Siberian town.

Cast

• Ivan Marin as The Old Man, Gusakov
• Vera Kuznetsova as The Old Woman, Gusakova
• Lyudmila Maksakova as Nina
• Georgy Martyniuk as Valentin
• Galina Polskikh as Galya
• Anatoli Yabbarov as Sectarian
• Viktor Kolpakov as Paramedic
• Nikolai Kryuchkov as Director of the Sovkhoz
• Nikolai Sergeyev as Accountant
• Giuli Chokhonelidze as Engineer
• Yelena Derzhavina as Irochka (as Lenochka Derzhavina)
• Nikolay Khlibko as episode

External links

• There Was an Old Couple at IMDb