Dead Man's Letters

Name: Dead Man's Letters
Genre: Drama, Science Fiction
Released: 1986-12-12
Duration: 1 h 23 min
Rating: 7.8
Cast: Rolan Bykov, Vatslav Dvorzhetsky, Vera Mayorova, Iosif Ryklin, Evgeniy Platokhin

Remember your humanity and forget the rest.

Письма мертвого человека (1986)

1:23 (83 min)

Drama, Science Fiction

Soviet Union

7.8/10
34 439

—
no scores

6.9/10
136

7.5/10
4500

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All about film

Video 2

Photo 19

Actors and characters

Watch film Dead Man's Letters — Dead Man's Letters (1986) DEUTSCH TRAILER [HD]

2:33

Photo 19

Production

Lenfilm, Pervoe Tvorcheskoe Obyedinenie

Release date

12 December 1986

Director

Konstantin Lopushansky

Scenario

Konstantin Lopushansky

All team (20)

Actors

Rolan Bykov

Professor Larsen

Vatslav Dvorzhetsky

Pastor

Vera Mayorova

Anna

Iosif Ryklin

Humanist

Evgeniy Platokhin

Vrach

Svetlana Smirnova

Tereza

Vyacheslav Vasilyev

Dosimetrist

All actors and roles (7)

Short description

In a desolate world following the nuclear apocalypse, a scholar helps a small group of adults and children survive in the basement of a former museum of history. In his mind, he writes letters to his only son that will never be read and tries to find shreds of hope in his new reality.

What's left behind the scenes

The film was released less than six months after the Chernobyl disaster, and for its time, it was very sharp and shocking: people could imagine the events of the film happening in their own lives, as the Cold War was still ongoing.
The film's theme reflects the popular theory of nuclear winter during the Cold War.
The script was originally longer, with more scenes and characters, but the debut director discarded a great deal during filming and became confused by the material toward the end (at least two 90-minute episodes had been shot); therefore, the final edit of the film was completed by Semyon Aranovich and Aleksei German.
Zinovy Gerdt voiced the role of Bykov, which caused extreme dissatisfaction from the latter. Bykov even intended to sue the film crew, but then changed his mind, achieving that the role was ultimately re-voiced by him.
Many film scholars believe that the main character is based on Academician Andrei Sakharov: Larsen possesses the same humanistic position and willpower, and is also a Nobel laureate.