''A Simple Death'' (russian: Простая смерть, Prostaya Smert') is a 1985 Soviet

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Alexander Kaidanovsky Alexander Leonidovich Kaidanovsky (russian: Алекса́ндр Леони́дович Кайдано́вский; 23 July 1946 — 3 December 1995) was a Soviet and Russian actor and film director. His best known roles are in films such as '' At ...

, based on

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

's ''

The Death of Ivan Ilyich ''The Death of Ivan Ilyich'' (also Romanized ''Ilich, Ilych, Ilyitch''; russian: Смерть Ивана Ильича, Smert' Ivána Ilyicha), first published in 1886, is a novella by Leo Tolstoy, considered one of the masterpieces of his late f ...

''. It was screened in the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films ...

section at the

1987 Cannes Film Festival The 40th Cannes Film Festival was held from 7 to 19 May 1987. The Palme d'Or went to the '' Sous le soleil de Satan'' by Maurice Pialat, a choice which was considered "highly controversial" and the prize was given under the jeers of the public. Pi ...

Cast

* Valeriy Priyomykhov as Ivan Ilyich (voiced by

) *

Alisa Freindlich Alisa Brunovna Freindlich (russian: Алиса Бруновна Фрейндлих, born 8 December 1934 in Leningrad, Soviet Union) is a Soviet and Russian actress. People's Artist of the USSR (1981). Since 1983, Freindlich has been a leading ac ...

as Praskovya Fyodorovna, Ivan Ilyich's wife *

Vytautas Paukste Vytautas (c. 135027 October 1430), also known as Vytautas the Great (Lithuanian: ', be, Вітаўт, ''Vitaŭt'', pl, Witold Kiejstutowicz, ''Witold Aleksander'' or ''Witold Wielki'' Ruthenian: ''Vitovt'', Latin: ''Alexander Vitoldus'', Ol ...

as Mikhail Danilovich, doctor * Mikhail Danilov as narrator *

Karina Moritts Karina may refer to: People * Karina (name), a female given name (including a list of people with the given name) * Karina (American singer) (born 1991) * Karina (Spanish singer) (born 1946) * Karina (Venezuelan singer) (born 1968) * Elda Neyis Mo ...

as Liza * E. Smirnov *

Tamara Timofeyeva __NOTOC__ Tamara may refer to: People * Tamara (name), including a list of people with this name * Tamara (Spanish singer) (born 1984) * Tamara, stage name of Spanish singer Yurena (born 1969) * Tamara, stage name of Macedonian singer Tamara ...

as nanny * Stanislav Churkin as priest * Anatoli Khudoleyev as Pyotr * A. Bukhvalov * Vladimir Starostin * Yuri Serov

References

External links

* 1985 films 1985 drama films 1980s Russian-language films Films directed by Alexander Kaidanovsky Films based on works by Leo Tolstoy Films about death Lenfilm films Soviet black-and-white films Soviet drama films Russian drama films Russian black-and-white films {{USSR-film-stub