Franchise

The Gorky Collection

The structure of Gorky's autobiography presented director Mark Donskoy with his greatest problem. A series of anecdotes, characters, observations, and philosophical reminiscences, the three volumes are tautly written though loose in form. In the construction of the films, it has been necessary to compress material, combine events by minor violations of chronology, and to except liberally. This is accomplished with great skill, and almost invariably the characters are presented with Gorky's sympathy and grimy clarity.

5.8

Young Maxim grows up under the czarist regime with his grandparents as guardians. Continually demeaned by his martinet grandfather, Maxim is drawn to his warm-hearted grandmother, who instills in him the willingness to pursue his writing muse.

The Childhood of Maxim Gorky

1938

5.9

Picking up where 1938's My Childhood left off, the story covers the years in Gorki's life when the future writer was on his own, looking for a purpose and place in life.

My Apprenticeship

1939

5.5

My Universities is the last installment of Russian director Mark Donskoy's "Maxim Gorki" trilogy. Having endured a painful youth in My Childhood and a torturous sojourn as a serf in My Apprenticeship, future writer Gorki reaches maturity with an insatiable desire for personal and artistic freedom. Gorky goes to work in the shipyards and commisserates with the hard-drinking, philosophical dockworkers.

My Universities

1940