LOST EVERETT FILM TO BE SCREENED AFTER 15 YEARS
A 1991 film by Oscar-winning director SERGEI BONDARCHUK will finally get its premiere on Russian state television next week (begs06NOV06).
AND QUIET FLOWS THE DON, starring British actor RUPERT EVERETT, was shot in 1991, but after its Italian producer went bankrupt, the bank underwriting the project seized the only available copy as compensation.
The lost film, an adaptation of the novel by Russian author MIKHAIL SHOLOKHOV, tells the story of GRIGORY MELIKHOV, played by Everett, a tragic Cossack hero who becomes embroiled in a love affair against the backdrop of revolution and civil war in Russia.
Bondarchuk died in 1994 without retrieving the film from the bank, but Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN last year (05) revealed state television had bought the rights to the film.
Bondarchuk’s son, FYODOR, has since edited the 160 metres of film his father shot, adding a Russian soundtrack and turning it into a seven-part mini-series.
However, Bondarchuk’s widow IRINA SKOBTSEVA is desperate the film’s tragic history shouldn’t be forgotten.
She says, "(My husband) was ready to make this film for so long that he understood exactly how he wanted the scenes to look. He believed in the producer and that everything would be all right.
"The whole story surrounding the film has been so difficult that even I don’t know all the details. But I do know that lots of people feel that it played a tragic role in the death of my husband."
Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)
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