Niekas nenorejo mirti
No one wanted to die
At the end of 1965, the young Lithuanian director Vitautas Zalakiavichus
came to Moscow with his new film No One Wanted to Die. Everybody knew that Zalakiavichus’ film would be about the ‚Forest
Brothers‘, the anti-communist partisans who operated in Lithuania (and other Baltic states) during and after World War II.
But no one expected an anti-Soviet film. At first sight No One Wanted to Die is a typical Soviet film. Communists and peasants
are good; Forest Brothers are bad. The plot is about the revenge of the sons of a village chairman, who is killed by guerrillas.
But the main miracle of this film is the choice to make it as a Western, which allowed Zalakiavichus to tell the truth about
the ‚Forest Brothers‘. The film‘s title states a perfectly clear message, given to the audience with typical Western landscapes
and brutal masculine protagonists. (Sergey Lavrentyev)
Director's Biography
Vitautas Zalakiavichus, 1930-1996, Litauen. Studierte
erst Mathematik, dann Film an der Moskauer Filmschule. Sein Durchbruch gelang ihm mit Adam Wants to Be a Man (1956), No One
Wanted to Die brachte ihm internationalen Erfolg.
Filme (Auswahl): Adam Wants to Be a Man (1956), No One Wanted to Die (1966), That Sweet Word: Liberty! (1973), The Beast Emerging from the Sea (1992).
Filme (Auswahl): Adam Wants to Be a Man (1956), No One Wanted to Die (1966), That Sweet Word: Liberty! (1973), The Beast Emerging from the Sea (1992).
Special 2011
Vitautas
Zalakiavichus
USSR 1966
black & white
107 minutes
OV with English subtitles
Screenplay
Vitautas Zalakiavichus
Cinematography
Jonas Gritsius
Editing Izabele
Pinaityte
Music Algimantas
Apanavicius
With Regimantas Adomaitis, Juozas Budraitis,
Algimantas Masiulis, Donatas Banionis