What is "chapaev"

Chapaev (, ) is a 1934 Soviet war film, directed by the Vasilyev brothers for Lenfilm.

It is based on a fictionalized biography of Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev (1887–1919), a Red Army commander who became a hero of the Russian Civil War. The plot is based on the novel of the same name by Dmitri Furmanov, a Russian writer and Bolshevik commissar who fought together with Chapaev.

On release (premiered on 6 November 1934 in Leningrad cinema theatre "Titan"), the film became one of the most popular creations in the history of Soviet cinema. Within the first year it was watched by 30 million people in the USSR alone.

It was awarded the accolade "Best Foreign Film" by the US National Board of Review in 1935 and the Grand-Prix of the Paris World Fair in 1937.

In a 1978 poll of cinema critics, the film was considered one of the best 100 films in history.

After the release of the film, Chapaev and his assistants Petka and Anka became Russian folklore characters. This trio, together with their political commissar Furmanov, is present in a large number of Russian jokes.