Fate of a Man

The film debut of famed director, Sergei Bondarchuk, Fate of a Man tells the gripping story of a man who lost everything. Based on the book of the same name by Mikhail Sholokhov, the film follows the life and times of Andrei Sokolov during WWII.

Once the war beings, a driver, Andrei, leaves his family to go serve on the front. In the very first months of the war, he is captured and taken prisoner by German troops. Amid terrible conditions and great hardship, Andrei manages to avoid execution and escape his German captors. However, life back with his own people is not any easier. He learns that his wife and daughter were killed during an air raid on his native Voronezh. Then, once he returns to the front, he learns that his son died in battle. 

Nevertheless, alone and without a family, Andrei soldiers on. When the war is finally over, he decides there’s no point returning to Voronezh – there’s nothing there waiting for him. And so, he moves to the Urals, hoping to build some kind of new life. And there, he meets a little boy, Vanya, who has also lost his entire family during the war years.

• 1950s
• English subtitles
• Russian Literature
• Soviet Union
• WWII