General Information

Original Title

Chrezvychainoe proisshestvie, 1 chast'

Author/Creator

Ivchenko, Viktor, director.

Language

Russian.

Published

Soviet Union : Kinostudia Dovzhenko, 1958.

Physical Description

VHS (74 min.)

Contents/Summary

Summary

The film is based on a historical incident of 1954 involving the Soviet tanker "Tuapse" (in the film called "Poltava"). When the tanker is captured by the Taiwan military the Soviet sailors declare a collective hunger strike in protest. They refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the Taiwan government or renounce their Soviet citizenship. The crew is isolated in a villa and decently treated at first, but not allowed to send messages outside. Yet the sailors succeed in informing the Soviet Union about their situation, and survive months of provocations, ranging from offers of high salaries and visits to brothels to physical torture and starvation. One of the sailors pretends to defect to the other side and starts playing a double game, sending messages to the others with crossed fingers. After 13 months the Soviet government succeeds in bringing the sailors home. A typical Cold War film, bordering on absurdity.

Bibliographic Information

Title Translation

Extraordinary Accident - part 1

Holdings

Item Type	Current Location	Call Number	Status	Shelving Location	Public Note
VHS	OSA Film Library	FL Record 0200	Available	-	-