Only 'Old Men' are Going to Battle

.One of the best Russian films about the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. The “old men” in this squadron were no older than twenty, but those “wet behind the ears”, a reinforcement fresh from flying schools with accelerated training, were not allowed to go to battle for quite a while… They were yet to experience everything – the heat of the battle, the joy of the first victory over the enemy, the grandeur of a brotherhood strengthened with blood, the first love, and the bitterness of a loss…And there came the day when, on hearing the command “only ‘old men’ are going to battle”, it was them who rushed to their planes…Only during its first year at the theatres, the film was seen by 44.3 million viewers – a record in the history of world cinema. When this war musical was released (1973), audiences thronged at the theatres, asking for a “spare” ticket, and the old, long-forgotten “Darkie” song became very popular again. Incidentally, the character nicknamed Darkie had a real-life prototype – Leonid Bykov’s childhood friend, Victor Shcheglov.

Awards: Best Actor Award to L. Bykov at the 7th All-Union Film Festival in Baku, 1974Prize of the Central Committee of the Union of Czechoslovakian Friendship at the 19th IFF in Karlovy Vary (Czechoslovakia), 1974Top Prize at the “Films for Freedom” IFF in Conome (Yugoslavia), 1974A. Dovzhenko Silver Medal to director/actor L. BykovT. Shevchenko State Prize of the Ukrainian SSR for Cinematography to L. Bykov, director and lead actor in the films “Only ‘Old Men’ Are Going to Battle” and “One-Two, Soldiers Were Going…”, 1977

Special features: Interview with actor V.Talashko / Featurettes: “L. Bykov’s Will” / “Two lives” / filmographies / stills and working moments

Title: ONLY “OLD MEN” ARE GOING TO BATTLE
Collection: War
Studio: Dovzhenko Film Studio
Year of release: 1973
Genre: drama
Director: Leonid Bykov
Script: Leonid Bykov, Yevgeny Onopriyenko, Alexander Satsky
Camera: Vladimir Voitenko
Music by: V. Shevchenko
Cast: Leonid Bykov, Sergey Podgorny, Sergey Ivanov, Rustam Sagdullayev, Yevgenia Simonova, Olga Mateshko, Vladimir Talashko, Victor Miroshnichenko, Alexei Smirnov, Alim Fedorinsky, Vano Yantbelidze, Alexander Nemchenko, Valery Pashchenko
Running time: 87 min.

Color Format System Sound Subtitles Zone
Colored 16:9 NTSC PAL MONO: RussianDOLBY DIGITAL 5.1: Russian Russian, English, French, German, Spanish, Italian