Film-screen version of Sholokhov's story "The Fate of Man". Actors and roles

In 1956 in the newspaper "Pravda" was published Sholokhov's story "The Fate of Man." The work caused a wide resonance. The violent reaction was caused not only by a touching plot, but also by the image of the hero himself. The former prisoner of war in the post-war years was automatically ranked as "enemies of the people." In just three years the situation in the country has changed. During Stalin's lifetime, Sholokhov would not have published a story. And, of course, the films "The Fate of Man" would not have appeared on the screens.

Actor Sergei Bondarchuk in 1956 was already quite famous. Popularity came to him thanks to the pictures "Young Guard", "Taras Shevchenko". But after the take-off in his career, there was a lull. Then the actor decided to do directing. The noisy story of a man who knew all the horrors of the war was a good material for his debut work.

The film "The Fate of Man" (1959)

Actor Sergei Bondarchuk at first did not inspire confidence in the Soviet classic. Sholokhov doubted that this polished, urban man would be able to translate on the screen the image of Andrei Sokolov - a simple villager. But when the performer of the main role in the film "The Fate of Man" - actor Bondarchuk - once during filming, dressed in the clothes of his hero, knocked on the writer's door (the film was created in the native land of the prose writer), he opened the door and did not recognize him at once. Then he smiled and showed no more mistrust.

The script for the film was written by Yuri Lukin. Fyodor Shakhmagonov became its co-author. Two years before the premiere of the film "The Fate of Man", actor and director Sergei Bondarchuk presented the script to the artistic council. And almost immediately received the go-ahead for the shooting.

"The fate of man": actors and roles

The main character in the adaptation of Sholokhov, the director initially decided to play himself, without even considering other candidates. The desire to fulfill this role became for him for a while the main goal of life. The wife of Andrei Sokolov was played by Zinaida Kiriyenko. A year before the release of "The Fate of Man" actress played in another adaptation of Sholokhov - "Silent Don".

The role of the campfire Müller was decided to be entrusted to Yuri Averin. Sokolov's neighbor - Pavel Volkov. On the role in the film "The Fate of Man" the actors were mostly chosen quickly. Problems arose in the search for a young artist who could play the adoptive son of the protagonist.

Pavlik Boriskin

Bondarchuk revised a large number of candidates, but no boy was suitable for the role of Vanyushka. Once the director went to the House of Cinema during the demonstration of a children's film. There he hoped to see a boy who could create on the screen a touching image of an orphan. Sergei Fedorovich was not mistaken. Even before the beginning of the film, he drew attention to Pavlik Polunin, who came to the House of Cinema, accompanied by his father. On the same day, the director spoke with the boy's parents and received their consent.

Pavel Boriskin was born in 1953. Parents divorced in 1958, during the filming of the film "The Fate of Man." The actor was raised by Yevgeny Polunin, who married the boy's mother a few years later and gave him his surname. Vanya played several other films: "Annushka", "The First Date", "Zare meet. Several times I tried to enter VGIK. But it was unsuccessful. Paul Polunin changed several professions, today resides in Zheleznodorozhny, he works as a taxi driver.

Sokolov and Müller

The culmination scene in the story, according to critics, is not Sokolov's meeting with Vanyushka, but his moral duel with Muller. The camp commandant summons a Soviet prisoner and offers him a drink for the victory of the German army. Sokolov, before the war, as the audience knows, abusing alcohol, responds: "Thank you, but I'm not a drinker." And after, when the campfireer offers him "to mark" his own doom, without hesitation, drinks a glass of vodka.

This scene, like no other, characterizes the hero Bondarchuk. But it is worth saying a few words about the actor who played the negative hero.

Yuri Averin

The actor played a few roles in the movie. At the same time, until the early 1960s, the Germans predominantly played. The actor made his debut in the movie in the "Immortal Garrison". Then he played in the films "History Lesson", "Daughter of Strathion". In each of these paintings the image of a German officer was embodied. Later played on the screen, as a rule, images of negative characters.

Other actors

In the film about a simple Soviet man who had enough "fry for the most nostrils", played Paul Vinnik and Eugene Teterin. The first embodied on the screen the image of a Soviet officer. The second played a writer. Pavel Vinnik debuted in the film "Brave People", performed in the cinema more than a hundred roles. Eugene Teterin for his forty-year career has played many diverse characters: both Soviet soldiers, and Germans, and Shakespeare's hero.

Lev Borisov played the role of platoon in the film "The Fate of Man." Soviet prisoners were played by Victor Markin, Evgeny Ivanov, Vladimir Kudryashev, Andrei Puntus, Nikolai Pechentsov, Nikolai Oparin.

The film aroused great enthusiasm among the audience. He entered the gold fund of the national cinema. A few decades after the release of the film about the truthfulness of Sholokhov's book, and, consequently, the reliability of the film shot on it, they began to argue. But such doubts did not extinguish the audience's love. "The fate of man" was and remains one of the most heartfelt stories about perseverance, heroism and mercy.