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Road to Life

Play trailer 1:58 Poster for Road to Life 1932 1h 38m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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ROAD TO LIFE, the 1931 landmark Soviet film by acclaimed director Nikolai Ekk and first Soviet sound film ever produced, is now available in a new 4K restoration. Acclaimed film historian Jay Leyda writes of the film: "Road To Life keeps a high place in Soviet film history, for its fusion of technical, dramatic and political achievements." After first premiering in the USA at the Filmarte Theater in Los Angeles and the Cameo Theater in New York City in January of 1932, the film went on to achieve critical success and claim its place in the halls of Essential Cinema. In the years following the Revolutions, Soviet society faced a growing problem: "Wild Boys": roving bands of homeless children who had lost their parents after a long period of civil war and famine. One particular group of Wild Boys, led by Mustapha (Yvan Kyrlya), infamous for being captured countless times only to cleverly escape over and over, finds itself incarcerated following a raid on their hideout. The authorities want to jail the young miscreants, but an idealistic comrade, Sergeyev, (Nikolai Batalov) objects and convinces the rest to allow an experiment to take place: enroll the wild children in a labor commune where they will learn a trade and work, as an alternative to prison, to reform them into productive, law-abiding citizens. All seems to go according to plan at first, but Sergeyev soon realizes the true challenge of breaking the Wild Boys of their old ways.

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Road to Life

Critics Reviews

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Andor Kraszna-Krausz Close Up 01/20/2021
Ekk's story of The Way into Life of the Besprisonis (i.e., the uncared-for children), shown in the hands of a new, free art of education, acquaints us with a very impressive, typical part of Soviet work. Go to Full Review Harry Alan Potamkin National Board of Review Magazine 03/25/2020
This, remember, is the first Soviet talkie; Potemkin was not the first Soviet film. And yet Road to Life is for the talkie what Potemkin was, in part, for the mute film -- the fulfillment of a first period. Go to Full Review Read all reviews
Road to Life

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Cast & Crew

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Nikolay Ekk

Director

Nikolay Batalov

Nikolai Sergeiev

Iyvan Kyrlya

'Dandy' Mustapha

Mihail Dzhagofarov

Nikolai 'Kolka' Rebrov

Mikhail Zharov

Tomka Zhigan

Aleksandr Novikov

Vasha Busa
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Road to Life

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Road to Life

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Movie Info

Synopsis ROAD TO LIFE, the 1931 landmark Soviet film by acclaimed director Nikolai Ekk and first Soviet sound film ever produced, is now available in a new 4K restoration. Acclaimed film historian Jay Leyda writes of the film: "Road To Life keeps a high place in Soviet film history, for its fusion of technical, dramatic and political achievements." After first premiering in the USA at the Filmarte Theater in Los Angeles and the Cameo Theater in New York City in January of 1932, the film went on to achieve critical success and claim its place in the halls of Essential Cinema. In the years following the Revolutions, Soviet society faced a growing problem: "Wild Boys": roving bands of homeless children who had lost their parents after a long period of civil war and famine. One particular group of Wild Boys, led by Mustapha (Yvan Kyrlya), infamous for being captured countless times only to cleverly escape over and over, finds itself incarcerated following a raid on their hideout. The authorities want to jail the young miscreants, but an idealistic comrade, Sergeyev, (Nikolai Batalov) objects and convinces the rest to allow an experiment to take place: enroll the wild children in a labor commune where they will learn a trade and work, as an alternative to prison, to reform them into productive, law-abiding citizens. All seems to go according to plan at first, but Sergeyev soon realizes the true challenge of breaking the Wild Boys of their old ways.
Director
Nikolay Ekk
Screenwriter
Nikolay Ekk, Regina Yanshkevich, Aleksandr Stolper
Distributor
Amkino Corporation
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Russian
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 27, 1932, Original
Runtime
1h 38m