''The First Circle'' (, ) is a 2006 Russian

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

directed by

Gleb Panfilov Gleb Anatolyevich Panfilov (; 21 May 1934 – 26 August 2023) was a Russian film director noted for a string of mostly historical films starring his wife, Inna Churikova. Biography In the 1980s Panfilov, a chemist by profession, moved to thea ...

, with ten 44-minute episodes. It is based on ''

The First Circle ''In the First Circle'' (; also published as ''The First Circle'') is a novel by Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, released in 1968. A more complete version of the book was published in English in 2009. The novel depicts the lives of the o ...

'', the novel written by

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Soviet and Russian author and Soviet dissidents, dissident who helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union, especially the Gulag pris ...

Круг — первый, попытка — третья
/ref> based on his experiences in

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

. The series was first broadcast in the Russia on Telekanal Rossiya on January 29, 2006.

Plot

Based on Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's autobiographical novel and set during the fearful times of Stalin's mass arrests, the series takes place in a

sharashka Sharashkas (singular: , ; sometimes ''sharaga'', ''sharazhka'') were secret research and development laboratories operating from 1920s to the 1950s within the Soviet Gulag labor camp system, as well as in other facilities under the supervision of ...

, a prison-laboratory for secret research where Russia's greatest minds are put to government use. While living conditions in this "first circle of hell" are incomparably superior to the Gulag camps, the scientists there face the moral dilemma of cooperating with an inhuman system.Премьера. Монолог в 4-х частях Глеба Панфилова
The action begins when a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official makes an anonymous phone call to the American embassy, trying to warn them about a leak of information that would allow the USSR to build the atomic bomb. In order to identify the traitor, the

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

turns to one of the projects at the sharashka. The character of Gleb Nerzhin ( Yevgeny Mironov), a mathematician who chooses the horrors of the Gulag rather than compromise his conscience, is based on Solzhenitsyn himself. The First Circle is a hard but optimistic story about the victory of the human spirit over totalitarianism.

Cast

* Yevgeny Mironov – Gleb Nerzhin *

Dmitry Pevtsov Dmitry Anatolyevich Pevtsov () (born 8 July 1963) is a Russian actor and politician representing the Medvedkovo constituency of Moscow in the State Duma. While elected as an independent in 2021, Pevtsov became a member of the New People poli ...

– Innokenty Volodin *

Olga Drozdova Olga Borisovna Drozdova (; born 1 April 1965, Nakhodka) is a Russian theater and film actress, director. People's Artist of the Russian Federation (2015). Selected filmography * Queen Margot (1996) as Charlotte de Sauve * Bandit Petersburg ...

– Volodin's wife *

Igor Sklyar Igor Borisovich Sklyar (; born 18 December 1957) is a Russian actor and singer. He has appeared in over 30 films since 1974. He starred in the 1994 film, '' The Year of the Dog'', which won the Silver Bear for an outstanding artistic contributi ...

– Illarion Gerasimovich *

Inna Churikova Inna Mikhailovna Churikova (5 October 194314 January 2023) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actress. Biography Churikova was born in Belebey, Bashkir ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. In the early 1950s, Inna moved with her mother to ...

– Gerasimovich's wife *

Albert Filozov Albert Leonidovich Filozov (; 25 June 1937 – 11 April 2016) was a Soviet and Russian actor. He was a People's Artist of Russia.

– Uncle Avenir * Kseniya Kachalina – Potapov's wife * Galina Tunina – Nadya Nerzhina *

Roman Madyanov Roman Sergeevich Madyanov (; 22 July 1962 – 25 September 2024) was a Soviet and Russian actor. Madyanov's career in cinema began as a child actor when he starred as Huckleberry Finn in '' Hopelessly Lost'' (1973). He was best known in the West ...

– Abakumov *

Igor Kvasha Igor Vladimirovich Kvasha (; 4 February 1933 — 30 August 2012) was a Soviet and Russian theater and film actor. He was a leading actor of Sovremennik Theater. Igor Kvasha was one of the Sovremennik founders along with Galina Volchek, Oleg Yef ...

–

Alexander Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Soviet and Russian author and dissident who helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union, especially the Gulag prison system. He was a ...

– narrator's voice *

Yevgeni Grishkovetz Yevgeni Valeryevich Grishkovetz (; born February 17, 1967, in Kemerovo) is a popular Russian writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings a ...

– Galakhov, writer *

Vladimir Konkin Vladimir Alekseyevich Konkin (, born 19 August 1951, Saratov, USSR) is a Soviet/Russian cinema and theatre actor, who appeared in 45 films.

– Professor Verenev * Nina Shatskaya – Nina * Maxim Shchyogolev – torturer, episode * Boris Romanov – professor Chelnov *

Yevgeny Stychkin Yevgeny Alekseevich Stychkin (; born 10 June 1974) is a Russian actor and director known for his roles in ''God Loves Caviar'' and ''Trotsky (TV series), Trotsky''. Biography Yevgeny Stychkin was born in Moscow. He graduated from the English spec ...

– Pryanchikov

References

External links

Film site
*
Movie Info
Russia-1 original programming Adaptations of works by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Russian television miniseries Films directed by Gleb Panfilov 2006 Russian television series debuts 2006 Russian television series endings {{Russia-tv-prog-stub