One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is a 1970 biographical drama film based on the novel by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn with the same name. Plot The film stars Tom Courtenay as the title character, a prisoner in the Soviet gulag system in the 1950s who endures a long prison sentence. It tells of a routine day in his life. Cast Tom Courtenay as Ivan Denisovich Shukhov Espen Skjønberg as Tiurin Alf Malland as Fetiukov Frimann Falck Clausen as Senka Jo Skønberg as Gopchik as Eino Torstein Rustdal as Vaino James Maxwell as Captain Alfred Burke as Alyosha Eric Thompson as Tsetzar John Cording as Pavlo Matthew Guinness as Kilgas Roy Bjørnstad Paul Connell Sverre Hansen Wolfe Morris Kjell Stormoen Caspar Wrede Reception Roger Greenspun, in a respectful but unenthusiastic review for The New York Times, spoke highly of the cinematography, the "intelligent exploitation of realistic locations," and "estimable performances" by Courtenay and Skjonberg, but said that the movie carries "the aura of an almost official view of high quality, as if this were how an important movie made from an important novel ought to look."