Iyulskiy dozhd (1967)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Marlen Khutsiyev

Writers:

Anatoli Grebnev (writer)
Marlen Khutsiyev (writer)

Release Date:

September 1967 (Soviet Union)

Genre:

Drama

Cast

Yevgeniya Uralova	...	Lena
Aleksandr Belyavsky	...	Volodya
Yuri Vizbor
Aleksandr Mitta
Alla Pokrovskaya
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
B. Belousov
Vitali Belyakov
Viktoriya Beskova		(as V. Beskova)
Yu. Bordukov
I. Bylinkin
Galina Dashevskaya
D. Druzhinina
S. Frez
Zinoviy Gerdt
Igor Golovin
B. Gurov
Yuri Ilchuk
Igor Kashintsev
V. Khabazin
Yevgeniya Kozyreva
G. Molodtsov
V. Sharynina
N. Shishov
V. Shurupov
I. Vasilyeva
M. Volkova

Also Known As:

Июльский дождь (Soviet Union: Russian title)
July Rain (International: English title) (informal literal title)

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Mosfilm

A delicate illustration of the middle 1960-s turning point mood.

The movie has rather a loose plot of a perished love as a background for displaying the Moscow life in the 60-s. It's mostly a set of shrewd observations with a clear premonition and question mark at the end.

It shows the time of the choice of a future way for the country. In fact the choice was already made in October 1964, when conformist climbers and unprincipled egotists (Volodya) took a lead of the Soviet society and eventually destroyed it. The most charming and human figure of the movie is Alik, played by the famous Russian bard Yuri Vizbor. Alik represents the honest and skeptical part of Soviet society, that didn't have much hope for the bright future and tried to enjoy the life, avoiding ranting and bargaining with the conscience.

One of the most brilliant films of the ending Khruschiov's "thaw", reflecting its hopes and vague apprehensions. The vivid scenes of Moscow 60-s intellectuals life are portrayed with a slight irony and melancholy, that makes the movie an enjoyable souvenir for a couple of Soviet generations.