MovieChat Forums > Kukushka (2002) Discussion > How old is Ivan?

How old is Ivan?

posted 20 years ago by syarzhuk
9 replies | jump to latest

How old is Ivan? Judging by his looks, his rank (Captain), him calling about the "politruk" that ratted on him "a boy" - he must be 45, 40 at the very least.
However, he tells this story how his father - a taxi driver for "Taxi Park named after Uritsky" drove Yesenin and he, then a "mal'chonka" (little kid), asked Yesenin for an authograph. Yesenin died in 1925. The first taxis only arrived in Moscow in mid-1925 (see http://www.infoservices.com/moscow/899.htm )so that encounter could only happen in 1925.
Let's assume Ivan was 10 then (though it's hard to call a 15-year old a "mal'chonka"). That means in 1944 he would be 29 at the most!

[–] csudi 20 years ago

He might look older because he weared away in the war. You wouldn't look nicer either, after months in a battle and unshaved...:) But I see your point. I think the actor was chosen based on him being able to play a Russian captain and maybe his private history wasn't chosen so carefully. Directors sometimes are not warned that the fanatics would start calculating events, years and all....

[–] Colkitto 19 years ago

One can't really judge by rank or the term "boy" in the context of WWII. Promotion could be rapid among junior officers because of their high casualty rate, and a recent, raw recruit would seem a "boy" to anybody who had been in the Army a few years even if their age difference wasn't that great.

[–] stvorina 19 years ago

eheheh man... you are right!!!

[–] bbarlow 18 years ago

In those old Battle of Britain movies, the wing commander was always called the "old man" event though he was about 29. War old is different than peace old.
That said, I think Ivan was supposed to be in his 40s, and no one thought to check the dates that close.

[–] dorian06 18 years ago

especially since the Russian army used to take recruits in quite young... in most of Pushkin's short fiction the grizzled, old and rugged men who come back from the war tough and changed are usually in their mid twenties or early thirties.

[–] dungeness 18 years ago

I thought the film must have been set in 1940 as I seem to remember it said that it was supposed to be set at the end of the Russian Finnish War from 1939-1940. If he was a kid in 1925, this makes him even younger!

In the Making Of Featurette, the producer did say that they didn't spend long before they got on with the making of their films, as they never knew what would happen next year, & also Ivan, I believe, is quite a wellknown Russian actor, so perhaps no one cared about the age thing.

I am so pleased there are others who take notice of things like this. I used to think it was just me, as I always seem to notice these little inconsistent practicalities, particularly ages, distances travelled, food never eaten, etc.

However, I felt this film did not really strive to be realistic so did not really mind too much. I loved it!!

(Errmm - didn't she look the same even after the children ....)

[–] yudkin 17 years ago

No. You are quite mistaken. The film is set in September of 1944 before Finland went out of the Second World War. Finland participated in that war as a an ally of nazy Germany.

[–] Marshall-87 17 years ago

Dungeness...

Count me as another who becomes
perturbed at inconsistancies. I've
learned to point them out sparingly
else I get ire from the family.

It really bugs me in a novel. I
remember someone took a train "south"
from Washington DC to Baltimore.

Marshall

[–] thegreatgazoo-1 13 years ago

Go watch Sunset Blvd.

Bill Holden is 31!!! during the filming and looks at least 45-50 maybe. During peacetime yet.

So Ivan looking 40+ even if he's supposed to be late 20's is no big deal if he spent 4 years fighting on the eastern front.