
A 1945 Soviet war film which, along with the second part of Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible was harshly criticized by Andrei Zhdanov and banned. A version of the film, released in 1956 during the Khrushchev Thaw, was disowned by director Grigori Kozintsev because the reediting was done without his participation.
Directed by Grigori Kozintsev, Leonid Trauberg, Simple People leans on a strong ensemble — Olga Lebzak, Boris Zhukovsky, F. Babadzhanov — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.
The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about war titles of 1945.
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