Two Comrades Were Serving

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Two Comrades Were Serving
Rolan Bykov and Oleg Yankovsky
Directed by	Yevgeni Karelov
Written by	Yuli Dunsky and Valeri Frid
Starring	Oleg Yankovsky, Rolan Bykov, Anatoli Papanov and Vladimir Vysotsky as Alexander Brusentsov
Distributed by	Mosfilm, Creative Union "Comrade"
Release date(s)	1968
Running time	93 min
Country	USSR
Language	Russian
IMDb profile

Two Comrades Were Serving (Russian: «Служили два товарища») is a 1968 Soviet film directed by Yevgeni Karelov, script by Yuli Dunsky and Valeri Frid. The film is about the Russian civil war, in particular, the battle for the Crimean peninsula.

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Trivia 3 Cast 4 Quotes 5 External links

[edit] Plot summary

Two comrades and soldiers of the Red Army, Andrei Nekrasov (O. Yankovsky) and Ivan Karyakin (R. Bykov) were sent by their regimental commander (A. Papanov) on a reconnaissance mission to film the White Army fortifications on the way into Crimea (Perekop). After filming, the engine on their airplane stalled and they were forced to land in unfriendly territory.

As the culmination of a series of misadventures, the friends were going to be executed as spies by their own side. The Colonel appears in time to stop the firing squad.

The second part of the film narrates the assault on Perekop and the Red Army invasion of the Crimea.

The film also features Vladimir Vysotsky as Brusnetsov, a cynical and disillusioned officer in Wrangel's Army. He shot Nekrasov down at the end of the film. Karyakin hums his friend's favorite song - "The bullet whizzed and aha!..". Vysotsky's character is killed during the evacuation to Constantinople.

The film's focus is the friendship between two decidedly different characters. Nekrasov is war-weary while Karyakin is an idealistic and energetic officer.

[edit] Trivia

Both screenwriters had been in Stalinist camps and drew on their experience for much of the dialogue.

The theme song was included on Lubeh's 1995 album, Kombat.

[edit] Cast

• Oleg Yankovsky, Andrei Nekrasov
• Rolan Bykov, Ivan Karyakin
• Anatoli Papanov, Colonel
• Nikolai Kryuchkov
• Alla Demidova, Commissar
• Vladimir Vysotsky, Alexander Brusentsov
• Iya Savvina, Alexandra
• Nikolai Burlyayev
• Pyotr Krylov
• Rostislav Yankovsky
• Roman Tkachuk
• Nikolai Parfyonov

[edit] Quotes

• Nekrasov's song in full:
  Two comrades were serving, aha!..
  Two comrades were serving, aha!..
  Two comrades were serving in the same regiment.
  Two comrades were serving in the same regiment.
  
  The bullet whizzed and - aha!..
  The bullet whizzed and - aha!..
  The bullet whizzed and my friend is down...
  The bullet whizzed and my friend is down.
• Colonel: Comrades, what is Crimea? Nothing, a little spot. I can close it with my palm on the map. But of course only a very stupid fool can say anything like that.
• Alexandra: Is that you?
  Alexander Brusentsov: That's a stupid question. The only thing more stupid would be to answer: yes, it's me.
• [Karyakin and Nekrasov are about to be executed because of a mistaken identity. The Colonel drives up.]
  Colonel: What's going on?
  Ivan Karyakin: We're being executed!
  Colonel: The execution is canceled!
  Soldier: We don't mind.
  Andrei Nekrasov: We mind even less.

[edit] External links

• Two Comrades Were Serving at the Internet Movie Database