Anniversary of Ilyich's Gate, or I Am Twenty
On January 18, 1965 the film by Marlen Khutsiev "I am twenty" was released on the wide screen in the Soviet Union.
There are many films of difficult fate in the history of Soviet cinema. But this film stands out from the general number of "brothers in a difficult life" by the fact that the persecution against it was organized not by a single party or government official, even of a very high rank, but by the whole leader of the nation at that time - Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev. And by the fact that this film was proclaimed as the manifesto of a whole generation, later called the "Sixtiers".
The film, entitled "Ilyich's Gate", which became the cinematic personification of the "thaw", was ready for release in 1963. However, due to the sharply negative attitude of the Main Communist and, at the same time, the creator of еру "thaw" towards it, this movie was forced to wait two years for its time.
Only after the “faithful Leninists” ate the main, at that time, successor of Lenin's case - the “voluntarist” Khrushchev, the film, exposed to ostracism on his initiative, could go on a wide screen. But - with significant cutbacks and with another name - "I am twenty". It took a quarter of a century and Gorbachev's perestroika so that the Soviet audience could see this film in its originally conceived version and under its original name.
However, even in a truncated form, Khutsiev’s film was able to impress the jury of the 1965 Venice Film Festival, which awarded the film its special prize. Nevertheless, despite such international recognition, the film did not receive any widespread popularity in foreign box office. And this is understandable: what would, for instance, Americans, be able to understand in this film? But in this case it is not a rebuke to the mental ability of Americans at all. In the same way, I dare to suggest, our young compatriots can understand little in this film. Again, it is not a rebuke to youth as well. Simply, to fully understand the meanings of this film, one must have a romantic perception of communist ideas, knowledge of the most cruel abuse of these ideas by the Bolshevik leaders, and hope for the country's ability to return to realizing these ideas in practice, not in words. And an understanding of the utopianism of these hopes. It is these features that make up the essence of the generation, called the "Sixtiers".
However, the audience ratings on IMDB and Kinopoisk sites indicate that among younger viewers there are enough people who appreciate this film by Marlena Khutsiev: 71% of users of these sites rated "Ilyich's Gate, or I Am Twenty" 8 or higher.
Based on the above success indicators, the rating of this film according to FilmGourmand was 8.594, which allowed him to take 281st Rank in the Golden Thousand.
