The Red Snowball Tree is a full-length Soviet feature film directed by Vasily Shukshin. The motion picture was produced by Vremya creative association at Mosfilm studio in 1973 and released on the 20th of March, 1974.
The film tells the story of a thief and repeat offender Egor Prokudin, who came to visit his regular correspondent and friend Lyuba after finishing his sentence. At first, the elderly parents of Egor’s fiancée strongly opposed the idea of having such a son-in-law. But the former criminal sincerely sought to change his ways, and their relationship improved over time. However, the past caught up with Egor: he was found by his former criminal friends, who encouraged the hero’s return to the gang and killed him when they were refused. Shukshin said the following about Prokudin, ‘My affections are constant, both in literature and in cinema. I am researching the farmer stratum, or, to be more precise, the fate of people from peasant families. What concerns me? Having left the village, my Egor lost everything. He was carried through life like a broken branch in the wind’.
The scene of leaving prison was shot at Correctional Labour Colony #5 in Volgograd region. Principal photography took place in the village of Sadovaya and the town of Belozersk.
After watching the final version of the film, Goskino commission demanded that some episodes be corrected. At this time, Shukshin was hospitalised — his stomach ulcer deteriorated. It is known that he escaped from the hospital room in order make editorial corrections. The Red Snowball Tree topped the box office immediately after its release. The audience was stunned as there was nothing like it in the history of Soviet cinema. Shukshin noted in an interview, ‘I also love my hero in The Red Snowball Tree. Truth be told… Here is a ruined life, his entire life, which took turn for the worse. Egor is not a boy. He is already in his early fifties, and this is the time to assess one’s life path. And while making the assessment, while observing this fate, you come to the most tragic and disheartening conclusion: this is the end! ’.
Sergei Bondarchuk recounted: “I remember one of the first viewings … in the State Planning Committee of the USSR. As it happened, we didn”t know whether we would show the film until the last minute. Everyone was feeling the pressure, especially Shukshin. The viewing still took place. When the film ended, the audience applauded, and many viewers had tears in their eyes. Shukshin kept repeating: “You see, they liked it!”. He was jubilant’.
The film starred Shukshin himself (Egor Prokudin), Lidiya Fedoseyeva-Shukshina (Lyuba Baikalova), Ivan Ryzhov (Lyuba’s father), Alexei Vanin (Lyuba’s brother), Georgy Burkov (Mumbler), and others. Sadovaya resident Euphimia Bystrova played the role of Prokudin’s mother Kudelikha. She did not act while filmed, she simply told the stories of her own sons — that’s how her life experience matched the script.
The film tells the story of a thief and repeat offender Egor Prokudin, who came to visit his regular correspondent and friend Lyuba after finishing his sentence. At first, the elderly parents of Egor’s fiancée strongly opposed the idea of having such a son-in-law. But the former criminal sincerely sought to change his ways, and their relationship improved over time. However, the past caught up with Egor: he was found by his former criminal friends, who encouraged the hero’s return to the gang and killed him when they were refused. Shukshin said the following about Prokudin, ‘My affections are constant, both in literature and in cinema. I am researching the farmer stratum, or, to be more precise, the fate of people from peasant families. What concerns me? Having left the village, my Egor lost everything. He was carried through life like a broken branch in the wind’.
The scene of leaving prison was shot at Correctional Labour Colony #5 in Volgograd region. Principal photography took place in the village of Sadovaya and the town of Belozersk.
After watching the final version of the film, Goskino commission demanded that some episodes be corrected. At this time, Shukshin was hospitalised — his stomach ulcer deteriorated. It is known that he escaped from the hospital room in order make editorial corrections. The Red Snowball Tree topped the box office immediately after its release. The audience was stunned as there was nothing like it in the history of Soviet cinema. Shukshin noted in an interview, ‘I also love my hero in The Red Snowball Tree. Truth be told… Here is a ruined life, his entire life, which took turn for the worse. Egor is not a boy. He is already in his early fifties, and this is the time to assess one’s life path. And while making the assessment, while observing this fate, you come to the most tragic and disheartening conclusion: this is the end! ’.
Sergei Bondarchuk recounted: “I remember one of the first viewings … in the State Planning Committee of the USSR. As it happened, we didn”t know whether we would show the film until the last minute. Everyone was feeling the pressure, especially Shukshin. The viewing still took place. When the film ended, the audience applauded, and many viewers had tears in their eyes. Shukshin kept repeating: “You see, they liked it!”. He was jubilant’.
The film starred Shukshin himself (Egor Prokudin), Lidiya Fedoseyeva-Shukshina (Lyuba Baikalova), Ivan Ryzhov (Lyuba’s father), Alexei Vanin (Lyuba’s brother), Georgy Burkov (Mumbler), and others. Sadovaya resident Euphimia Bystrova played the role of Prokudin’s mother Kudelikha. She did not act while filmed, she simply told the stories of her own sons — that’s how her life experience matched the script.
