Bezhin Meadow: Sequences from an Unfinished Film (Бежин луг) 56 years old

Bezhin Meadow: Sequences from an Unfinished Film

Bezhin Lug (Bezhin Meadow) was to be a Soviet film about a young farm boy whose father attempts to betray the government for political reasons by sabotaging the year's harvest, and the son's efforts to stop his own father to protect the Soviet state, culminating in the boy's murder and a social uprising. Assigned to Soviet film-maker Sergei Eisenstein, the filming followed the same path as with his previous effort, "Que Viva Mexico", into cost overrun and over-shooting of footage. Furthermore, Eisenstein's usage of forbidden experimental film techniques outraged his government superiors, who ordered the film destroyed before it was even completed. All that survives are the first and last frames of each shot, preserved by Sergei Eisenstein’s wife, Pera Atasheva. The 1967 reconstruction, by Naum Kleiman of the Eisenstein Museum and Sergei Yutkevich of Gosfilmofond, places these frames in order, approximating the original film.

Credits

Bezhin Meadow: Sequences from an Unfinished Film Cast

Name Character
Stanislav Rostotsky He was 45, 79 years old when he died as Boy
Boris Zakhava He was 71, 80 years old when he died as Samokhin, Stepok's Father
Yekaterina Teleshova as President of Kolkhoz
Nikolay Khmelyov He was 66, 44 years old when he died as Peasant
Pyotr Arzhanov as Political Commissioner (as Pavel Ardzhanov)
Viktor Kartashov as Stepok (as Vitya Kartashov)
Nikolai Maslov as Arsonist
Yakov Zajtsev

Bezhin Meadow: Sequences from an Unfinished Film Crew

Name Department
Sergei Yutkevich as Archival Footage Coordinator. He was 63 (80) years old when He died Editing
Sergei Yutkevich as Supervising Editor. He was 63 (80) years old when He died Editing
Sergei Eisenstein as Director. He was 70 (50) years old when He died Directing
Sergei Eisenstein as Writer. He was 70 (50) years old when He died Writing
Ivan Turgenev as Story. He was 149 (64) years old when He died Writing
Isaak Babel as Writer. He was 73 (45) years old when He died Writing
Aleksandr Rzheshevsky as Writer. He was 64 (63) years old when He died Writing
Bezhin Meadow: Sequences from an Unfinished Film poster
Bezhin Meadow: Sequences from an Unfinished Film (56 years)

  • Release day: Monday, March 04, 1968
  • Runtime: 31 minutes