The Defense of Volotchayevsk
About The Defense of Volotchayevsk
In 1918 a Japanese squadron sits in the Vladivostok roadstead. Colonel Ushijima tells an American journalist he has come only to gather forget-me-nots that grow in the Suchan district. White lieutenant Grishin arranges the pretext by killing a Japanese watchmaker, and the troops land. The rest of the picture follows Far Eastern partisans through the fighting at Volochaevka.
Cast & crew
More about The Defense of Volotchayevsk
Sergei and Georgi Vasilyev wrote and directed it at Lenfilm. A thaw moved the winter exteriors from the Leningrad area to Kirovsk in Murmansk Oblast. It opened on 20 January 1938. A second listed date is 10 August 1938. Dialogue is in Russian and Japanese. It was the brothers' second sound feature.
Themes
Background
The landing at Vladivostok belongs to the Japanese intervention in the Russian Civil War. The title points to the February 1922 fight for Volochaevka, while the opening is set in 1918.
Making
The winter scenes were shifted to Kirovsk after the ground thawed near Leningrad.
Look
Aleksandr Sigaev was chief cameraman. Apollinary Dudko also photographed.
Music
Dmitri Shostakovich wrote the score.
Preservation
Restored at Mosfilm in 1967, with some roles re-voiced.
Notes
- Varvara Myasnikova plays Masha. Nikolai Dorokhin plays Andrei. Lev Sverdlin plays Colonel Ushijima. Yuri Lavrov plays Lieutenant Grishin.
- Boris Chirkov plays a sly old man. Boris Blinov plays the sailor Bublik. Vasily Merkuryev plays a drunken docker. Sergei Filippov is one of the partisans.
- In the 1967 Mosfilm restoration, Klara Luchko re-voiced Masha and Yevgeny Matveyev re-voiced Andrei.
Scenes
- Ushijima tells the journalist he is in Siberia for Suchan forget-me-nots.
- Grishin kills a Japanese watchmaker so the squadron has a reason to put troops ashore.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (1937. Волочаевские дни.webm)
