About the film
After the Civil War, Fyodor Sukhov is walking home across the Karakum desert to his wife. Along the way he is asked to protect the abandoned wives of the bandit Abdullah, who will stop at nothing to get them back.
Sukhov is calm, kind and very good with a rifle. With the help of a stubborn customs officer, Vereshchagin, and a mysterious local, Said, he turns a desert fort into the setting for one of the best 'Eastern' westerns ever made.
The film is dry, funny and full of action, and its lines are quoted constantly in Russia. It is a perfect choice if you like classic westerns.
Did you know?
- Russian cosmonauts traditionally watch it before every space launch.
- Pavel Luspekayev played Vereshchagin while seriously ill, often in great pain.
- The film was nearly shelved by studio bosses and was saved after Leonid Brezhnev reportedly enjoyed it.
