Alexander Solzhenitsyn's popular novel of life in a Soviet prison camp was brought to the screen the year after the author won the Nobel Prize for literature. Set in the early 1950s, it depicts 24 hours in the life of a prisoner (Courtenay) who is in the eighth year of a 10-year term in one
of Josef Stalin's Siberian labor camps. Over the course of the day, Courtenay conspires to get extra food and to avoid punishment, while also engaging in competitive wall-building with a fellow prisoner. The film accurately captures the bleakness of the camp and serves as a worthy tribute to the
indomitable spirit of its subjects, yet fails to bring the audience closer to the ch...
Released:
1971
Rated:
G
Length:
108 mins