There Will Be No Leave Today (1959)

Soldiers undertake the perilous task of removing a stockpile of World War II bombshells discovered during roadworks under the ground of a small village.

Directors:

Aleksandr Gordon (as A. Gordon), Andrei Tarkovsky (as A. Tarkovsky)

Writers:

Aleksandr Gordon (screenplay) (as A. Gordon), Irina Makhovaya (screenplay) (as I. Makhovaya)

Stars:

Oleg Borisov, Aleksey Alekseev, Pyotr Lyubeshkin

Cast

Credited cast:
Oleg Borisov	...	Captain Galich (as A. Borisov)
Aleksey Alekseev	...	Col. Gvelesiani (as A. Alekseev)
Pyotr Lyubeshkin	...	Vershinin (as P. Lyubeshkin)
Oleg Mokshantsev	...	Vishnyakov (as O. Mokshantsev)
Vladimir Marenkov	...	Vasin (as V. Marenkov)
Igor Kosukhin	...	Tsignadze (as I. Kosukhin)
Leonid Kuravlyov	...	Morozov (as L. Kuravlev)
Stanislav Lyubshin	...	Sadovnikov (as S. Lyubshin)
Aleksei Smirnov	...	Vasili Makarovich (as A. Smirnov)
Nina Golovina	...	Wife Galich (as N. Golovina)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Aleksey Dobronravov	...	Doctor Kuzmin (as A. Dobronravov)

Storyline

Soldiers undertake the perilous task of removing a stockpile of World War II bombshells discovered during roadworks under the ground of a small village.

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Plot Keywords:

soviet military | dud | bomb disposal | soldier | remnant | 

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

9 May 1959 (Soviet Union)

Also Known As:

Aujourd'hui nous ne quitterons pas nos postes

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vsesoyuznyj Gosudarstvennyj Institut Kinematografii (VGIK)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was commissioned by Soviet Television for VGIK students to make a film to be aired on Victory Day, the anniversary of the Capitulation of Nazi Germany in WWII, May 9, 1959. It was aired each year on this day for at least 4 years beginning with the initial 1959 broadcast. The film was made by several students at VGIK, including Andrei Tarkovsky, as well as a few professional actors and local residents of the town of Kursk, and the Soviet Army supplied props and extras. It was filmed in Kursk between October 1958 and January 1959 and edited at VGIK between January and April 1959. The film was lost after it stopped being broadcast in the 1960s, but the camera negatives were discovered in the mid-1990s.

User Reviews

Surprisingly good!

I finally got a copy of There Will Be No Leave Today (It has German subtitles, which helped a little since I know some German, but the dialog does not matter that much).

The film is about solders who have to remove WWII bombs which where found under a public road and drive them outside the town where they will be blown up.

It surprised me how good it was. There is very little of the Tarkovsky touch here and the camera movements and the editing are quite traditional (but still very well done). It could almost have been made in Hollywood.

What surprised me the most though was how good Tarkovsky was in directing a thriller. I was biting my nails midway though the film. See it if you possibly can.