Farewell (1983 film)

Farewell (Russian: Прощание), Proshchanie)
Directed by Elem Klimov
Written by German Klimov,
Larisa Shepitko,
Rudolf Tyurin
Starring Stefaniya Staniyuta
Lev Durov
Alexey Petrenko
Leonid Kryuk
Vadim Yakovenko
Yuri Katin-Yartsev
Music by Vyacheslav Artyomov,
Alfred Schnittke
Cinematography Vladimir Chukhnov,
Aleksei Rodionov,
Yuri Skhirtladze,
Sergei Taraskin
Edited by Valeriya Belova
Production
company
Distributed by Sovexportfilm
Release dates
 1983
Running time
 112 minutes
Country Soviet Union
Language Russian

Farewell (Russian: Прощание) is a 1983 Soviet film based on Valentin Rasputin's novel Farewell to Matyora and directed by Elem Klimov.

Plot

The existence of the village of Matyora, located on a small island of the same name, is threatened with flooding by the construction of a dam to serve a hydroelectric power plant. The villagers oppose their displacement and the loss of their traditions, but are eventually forced to bid farewell to their homeland.

Production history

While scouting locations in June 1979 for her planned adaptation of the ecological fable, original director Larisa Shepitko died in a car accident along with four members of her shooting team. After a delay the project was finally completed in 1981 by her widower Elem Klimov and although shelved for a further two years, was eventually given a limited release in the Soviet Union in 1983. Originally chosen to open the 1984 Berlin Film Festival, it was initially refused an export licence until three years later when it was screened in Berlin.

External links