| The Forty-First Сорок первый |
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| Directed by | Grigori Chukhrai |
| Written by | Grigori Koltunov Boris Lavrenyov |
| Starring | Izolda Izvitskaya Oleg Strizhenov |
| Music by | Nikolai Kryukov |
| Cinematography | Sergey Urusevsky |
| Studio | Mosfilm |
| Release date(s) | October 15, 1956 (USSR) |
| Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Language | Russian |
The Forty-First, (Russian: Сорок первый, Sorok pervyy) is a 1956 Soviet film based on the novel of the same name by Boris Lavrenyev. The film was directed by Grigori Chukhrai and starred Izolda Izvitskaya and Oleg Strizhenov. The film is set during the Russian Civil War and tells the story of the romance between a female sniper of the Red Army and an officer of the White Army.
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During the Russian Civil War, in the desert of Central Asia, a detachment of the Red Army is on a reconnaissance mission under the command of Ansenti Yevsyukov (Nikolay Kryuchkov). The only female soldier in the detachment is Maria Filatovna (Izolda Izvitskaya), a sniper who has already killed forty enemy soldiers. As they encounter a detachment of the White Army she tries to shoot the aristocratic Lieutenant Vadim Nikolayevich Govorukha-Otrok (Oleg Strizhenov). He would have been her forty-first victim, but as she misses her target, Govorkha is only taken prisoner. The detachment finds out that Govorukha-Otrok is on a mission to deliver secret information from Aleksandr Kolchak to Anton Denikin.
The Red army detachment attempts to return to headquarters, but is soon struggling with the hostile desert environment. They eventually make it to the Aral Sea, where Maria, Govorukha-Otrok and several other soldiers are taking a boat to reach their base more quickly. In a storm all soldiers die, and Maria and Govorukha-Otrok are left stranded on an island. They find shelter in a fisherman's hut and are forced to wait for the fisherman to return to the island. During this forced wait they come closer and eventually fall in love. When a boat approaches the island, they initially think that the fishermen are returning to the island. When they realize that the boat is from the White Army, Govorukha-Otrok runs along the beach towards the boat but is shot in the back by Maria.
The film was based on the story of the same name by Boris Lavrenyov, which had already been filmed as a silent film by Yakov Protazanov in 1927.
The Forty-First was released on October 15, 1956 in the Soviet Union and attracted 25.1 million viewers. At the Mosfilm Festival of Young Filmmakers in 1956 the film won in the categories Best Film, Best Actor and Best Cinematography and at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 1957 it won an Honorary Diploma.[1] At the 1957 Cannes Film Festival, it also won the Special Jury Prize and was nominated for the Palme d'Or.[2]
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