Our Honest Bread

  • 100'
  • USSR
  • 1964
Muratova’s black-and-white debut is wholly in keeping with the tradition of Soviet cinema. The honest chairman of a collective farm cannot accept the doctored harvest yields his son has reported to the State. For his noble action the old man is sent into retirement. Outside the main story line, the directors use two highlights, a funeral and a wedding, to portray daily life in the village.
In the background, a funeral procession is moving along. Shadows of people with lots of bicycles. We see wheels and spokes, parts of the whole. Perhaps a metaphor for the circle of life. The black silhouettes of the workers on the kolkhoz look like ghosts. The funeral of the old woman, played by the young Muratova, is connected to the wedding of the young heroes. A crowd dances itself into a frenzy. A lengthy song is sung. An old man and his wife leave for another village.
After this film Muratova parted with her co-director and embarked on her own incomparable career as a director.
Directors
Kira Muratova, Alexander Muratov
Country of production
USSR
Year
1964
Festival Edition
IFFR 2013
Length
100'
Medium
35mm
Original title
Nash chestnyy khleb
Language
Russian
Production Company
Odessa Film Studio
Sales
Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre
Screenplay
Ivan Bondin
Cinematography
Alexander Rybin, Yuri Romanovsky
Editor
Olga Kharkova
Production Design
Mikhail Zayats
Sound Design
Igor Skinder
Music
Leonid Bakalov, Boris Karamyshev
Cast
Dmitriy Milutenko, Oleg Fandera
Directors
Kira Muratova, Alexander Muratov
Country of production
USSR
Year
1964
Festival Edition
IFFR 2013
Length
100'
Medium
35mm
Original title
Nash chestnyy khleb
Language
Russian
Production Company
Odessa Film Studio
Sales
Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre
Screenplay
Ivan Bondin
Cinematography
Alexander Rybin, Yuri Romanovsky
Editor
Olga Kharkova
Production Design
Mikhail Zayats
Sound Design
Igor Skinder
Music
Leonid Bakalov, Boris Karamyshev
Cast
Dmitriy Milutenko, Oleg Fandera