Nine Days in One Year

Nine Days in One Year is a 1962 Soviet black-and-white drama film directed by Mikhail Romm about nuclear particle physics, physicists and their relationships. The film is based on true events. It is one of the most important Soviet films of the 1960s. It won the Crystal Globe Award in 1962. Plot summary Two young physicists and old friends — the possessed experimental physicist Dmitri Gusev and the skeptical theoretical physicist Ilya Kulikov — conduct nuclear studies at a research institute in Siberia. Dmitri leads the research started by his teacher Sintsov, who has received a deadly dose of radiation as a result of an experiment. Dmitri has also been irradiated. Doctors warn him that further irradiation might kill him as well. Meanwhile, his friend Ilya and Lyolya, a love interest of Dmitri, have developed a romantic relationship. The enamoured couple is getting prepared for the wedding and looking for an opportunity to inform Dmitri. When they finally meet, Dmitri already suspects Lyolya and Ilya and treats them coldly. Caught up in self-contradictions, Lyolya tries to understand Dmitri's true feelings for her, only to learn the terrible diagnosis. Realizing that she still loves Dmitri, Lyolya cancels the wedding to Ilya in order to marry Dmitri. Despite the health warnings, Dmitri continues with his experiments in fusion power. After a number of failures, he turns to Ilya for help. Whilst carrying out of the experiment successfully, Dmitri receives a new radiation dose. He tries to hide this fact from everyone, including his wife Lyolya who is misinterpreting his sudden isolation, though the truth eventually rises to the surface. The research work has been continued by Ilya. Dmitri's health is getting worse, but he decides to fight his illness to the end and agrees to undergo bone marrow transplantation. Production The film's working title was 365 Days. Mikhail Romm assembled a team of people with whom he had never previously worked before.