One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (film)
| 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 Espen Skjønberg James Maxwell |
| Music by | Arne Nordheim |
| Cinematography |
Sven Nykvist Hans Nord |
| Distributed by | Norsk Film A/S |
Release dates |
|
Running time |
Germany: 105 min Norway: 104 min USA: 100 min |
| Country | UK / Norway |
| Language | English |
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is a joint Norwegian-British film, based on the novel by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn with the same name and released in 1970. The Norwegian title is En dag i Ivan Denisovitsj' liv. The movie 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 subsequently 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 at the Internet Movie Database
- One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich at the Swedish Film Institute Database
- Film trailer on YouTube
- Donner: Solzhenitsyn oli räjähde: The interview of Jörn Donner about the prohibition of the film in Finland.