''Fate of a Man'' (, translit. Sudjba cheloveka), also released as ''A Man's Destiny'' and ''Destiny of a Man,'' is a 1959 Soviet World War II film adaptation of the short story by

Mikhail Sholokhov Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov ( rus, Михаил Александрович Шолохов, p=ˈʂoləxəf; – 21 February 1984) was a Russian novelist and winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is known for writing about life ...

, and also the directorial debut of

Sergei Bondarchuk Sergei Fyodorovich Bondarchuk (25 September 192020 October 1994) was a Soviet and Russian actor and filmmaker of Ukrainian origin who was one of the leading figures of Soviet cinema in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He is known for his sweeping p ...

. In the year of its release it won the Grand Prize at the

1st Moscow International Film Festival The 1st Moscow International Film Festival was held from 3 to 17 August 1959. The Grand Prix was awarded to the Soviet film '' Destiny of a Man'' directed by Sergei Bondarchuk. Jury * Sergei Gerasimov (USSR - President of the Jury) * Antonin B ...

Plot

With the beginning of the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

, driver-turned-Soviet soldier Andrei Sokolov has to part with his family. In May 1942 he is taken prisoner by the Germans. Sokolov endures the hell of a Nazi concentration camp, but thanks to his courage he avoids execution and finally escapes from captivity behind the front line to his own. On a short front-line vacation to his small homeland

Voronezh Voronezh ( ; , ) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...

, he learns that his wife and both daughters have died during the bombing of Voronezh by German aircraft. Of those close to him, only his son remained, who became an officer. On the last day of the war,

May 9 Events Pre-1600 * 328 – Athanasius is elected Patriarch of Alexandria. * 1009 – Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus revolt in Bari against the Byzantine Catepanate of Italy. * 1386 – England and Portugal formall ...

, Andrei receives news that his son has died. After the war, the lonely Sokolov works as a truck driver away from his native places - in

Uryupinsk Uryupinsk () is a town in Volgograd Oblast, Russia, located northwest of Volgograd on the Khopyor River. Population: Etymology There are two theories of the historical background for the town's name. One is that it is from name of a Tartar p ...

( Stalingrad Oblast). There he meets a little boy Vanya, who was left an orphan: the boy's mother died during the bombing, and his father went missing during the war. Sokolov decides to tell the boy that he is his father, and by doing so he gives himself and the boy hope for a new happy family life.

Cast

as Andrei Sokolov * Pavel Boriskin as Vanya *

Zinaida Kiriyenko Zinaida Mikhailovna Kiriyenko (; 9 July 1933 – 12 February 2022) was a Russian actress and singer. She was Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1965), People's Artist of the RSFSR (1977) and was known for her roles in the films ''And Quiet Flows the ...

as Irina, Sokolov's wife * Pavel Volkov as Ivan Timofeyevich, Sokolov's neighbor *

Yuri Averin Yuri may refer to: People Given name *Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc. *Yuri (Japanese name), feminine Japanese given names, including a list o ...

as Müller * Kirill Alekseyev as German Major *

Pavel Vinnik Pavel ( Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian: Павел; Czech, Slovene, and (although Romanian also uses Paul); ; ; ) is a male given name. It is a Slavic cognate of the name Paul (derived from the Greek Pavlos). Pavel may refer to: People Given ...

as Soviet Colonel *

Lev Borisov Lev Ivanovich Borisov (Russian language, Russian: Лев Иванович Борисов; 8 December 1933, Plyos, Ivanovo Oblast, Plyos – 15 November 2011, Moscow) was a Russian actor. Brother of Oleg Borisov. He was a People's Artist of R ...

as platoon * Georgy Millyar as drunk German soldier *

Yevgeny Morgunov Yevgeny Alexandrovich Morgunov (; April 27, 1927 – June 25, 1999) was a Soviet and Russian actor, film director, and script writer, Merited Artist of Russian SFSR (1978). Early life He started out as a worker in a Moscow factory, but - "a l ...

as fat German soldier (uncredited)

References

External links

* 1959 directorial debut films 1959 films 1959 war films 1950s war drama films 1950s Soviet films 1950s Russian-language films Films about adoption Films based on Russian short stories Films directed by Sergei Bondarchuk Films set in the Soviet Union Films set in Russia Films shot in Russia Eastern Front of World War II films Soviet black-and-white films Soviet war drama films Russian war drama films Soviet World War II films Russian World War II films Mosfilm films Russian-language war drama films Films based on works by Mikhail Sholokhov {{WWII-drama-film-stub