Plot:
World War II veteran Kuzma Kuzmich Iordanov has become a heavy drinker with no interest in finding employment of any kind. He joins a collective farm, claiming to be the father of Natasha, a resident there, and is forced to analyze his life when he finds himself falling in love.

New York Times Review:
THAT way-out or way-up title, “When the Trees Were Tall,” is about as lucidly earthbound as the new Russian drama ever gets. A pretty teen-ager is talking to her long-lost father. At least she thinks that’s who he is. The chap is actually an impostor, a foxy ne’er-do-well. “That’s the way I remember you,” insists the girl. “When the trees were tall.”

The import, which arrived last Saturday at the Cameo, is an odd, fumbling drama indeed, especially coming from Lev Kulidjanov, the brilliant young director of “The House I Live In” several seasons back.

In the first quarter of the new film, a string-bean actor named Yuri Nikulin shuffles around his home area in Moscow, bemoaning fate, refusing to work and rightfully earning his reputation as the neighborhood sad sack. The bachelor next pops up as the reappearing papa of Inna Gulaya, an energetic worker of a collective farm. A tender relationship develops between these two, as the girl is simultaneously courted by a spunky village lad (Lev Kuralev) in the most appealing scenes of the film.

Mr. Nikulin sheepishly confesses his impersonation to the girl, who couldn’t care less, and finally makes the motions of going to work. And this, more than anything else, seems the movie’s main concern: Will he or won’t he turn a finger? Our hero—or theirs—is the most negative, ground-down and dull protagonist the Soviet Union has sent us in a long time.

Furthermore, the simple story line slides its course crabwise, wedged in between oblique, pretentious photography—some of it fetchingly pastoral — and splintered, meaningless vignettes. The two young people are so right and convincing—especially in one idyllic barn scene—that they deserve the picture all by themselves. Also, the musical score is a good one—for them, at least.

Mr. Nikulin is an actor with sad, expressive eyes. Still, it’s hard to care about a hero who piously dodges responsibility for nearly two hours. “All people are hypocrites,” he whines at one point. Perhaps. But he’s the laziest one of this lot.

1.37GB | 1h 29m | 704×528 | avi

https://nitro.download/view/2189BDB325ECA86/Kogda_derevya_byli_bolshimi.avi
https://nitro.download/view/B55DE569E6C12C4/Kogda.derevya.byli.bolshimi.srt

Language(s):English
Subtitles:English

The post Lev Kulidzhanov – Kogda derevya byli bolshimi AKA When the Trees Were Tall (1961) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Plot Synopsis
This Russian adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment packs nearly every pivotal event from the mammoth novel into its 200 minute running time. Georgi Taratorkin stars as Raskolnikov, the impressionable student who believes himself to be above the law-and commits murder to prove his theory. Innokenti Smoktunovskiy, best known for his brilliant interpretation of the title character in the Russian Hamlet (1964), costars as police inspector Porfiry, who humbly but diligently wears down Raskolnikov’s alibi. Most cinemadaptations of Crime and Punishment end with the protagonist’s arrest; this one retains Dostoyevsky’s lengthy post-prison epilogue, in which Raskolnikov learns at long last how to be a human being.

All Movie Guide

Comments from IMDb
Anyone with a love of Dostoyevsky’s classic novel cannot fail to be enraptured by this marvellous film. It captures the heart and soul of that complex tale more closely than any other version. Perhaps this is because it is Russian, for there are those who believe non-Russians require a leap of imagination to grasp the meaning of Crime and Punishment. And I believe that Dostoyevsky himself would have liked this film!

The picture is visually stunning and the casting is immaculate. Some of the performances are quite breathtaking; Georgi Taratorkin is totally convincing as the haunted, conflicted Raskolnikov, depths of emotions playing in his dark, expressive eyes; Maya Bulgakova tugs at the heartstrings as the wretched Katerina Ivanovna; Innokenti Smoktunovsky puts in a masterly performance as Porfiry, playing him with a regretful, fatherly air whilst Tatyana Bedova is simply sublime as a beautiful, fragile, holy Sonia.

It is a darkly claustrophobic film and flicking the pause button can seem like coming up for air – but that’s the point – that’s just how reading the novel feels! The film has been described as lumbering – but I longed for it to last even longer!

The print isn’t the best quality and the subtitles are sometimes difficult to read – but persevere if you can…it’s worth it…it’s a masterpiece.

http://nitroflare.com/view/652F663DC2C8C2F/Crime_and_Punishment_%28Lev_Kulidzhanov%2C_1969%29_-_Part_1.avi
http://nitroflare.com/view/708B87ADCF8F184/Crime_and_Punishment_%28Lev_Kulidzhanov%2C_1969%29_-_Part_1.srt
https://nitro.download/view/D683F3DB1FDF1FE/Crime_and_Punishment_(Lev_Kulidzhanov,_1969)_-_Part_2.avi
http://nitroflare.com/view/0BAE0CF5AF2FE67/Crime_and_Punishment_%28Lev_Kulidzhanov%2C_1969%29_-_Part_2.srt

https://rapidgator.net/file/60cf95f0ea720485a8fc4e78b904e2e5/Crime_and_Punishment_(Lev_Kulidzhanov,_1969)_-_Part_1.avi
https://rapidgator.net/file/3fde820ed69531b2c4a82251cef4d44e/Crime_and_Punishment_(Lev_Kulidzhanov,_1969)_-_Part_2.avi
https://rapidgator.net/file/126e533e43e7f280685dd89082d0bb27/Crime_and_Punishment_(Lev_Kulidzhanov,_1969)_-_Part_1.srt
https://rapidgator.net/file/332e07c6892aef5216245d3ea78f6420/Crime_and_Punishment_(Lev_Kulidzhanov,_1969)_-_Part_2.srt

Language(s):Russian
Subtitles:English [SRT]

The post Lev Kulidzhanov – Prestuplenie i nakazanie AKA Crime and Punishment (1969) first appeared on Cinema of the World.