There Was A Lad

Vasily Shukshin, Gorky Film Studios, 1964; 101m

Shukshin, the preeminent Soviet writer of the "rural" school (derevenschik), directs his own story about the progress of the affable country lad Pashka Kolokolnikov. Or, rather, several stories: Shukshin revels in the rhythms of folksy storytelling, its love of bizarre tangents and inspired fibs. He does so even while saluting his fellow Moscow intellectuals with the casting of poet Bella Akhmadulina in a small role as a reporter. Leonid Kuravlev, who plays Pashka, also stars in Panfilov's debut.