The House I Live In (1957): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1957, The House I Live In is a drama film directed by Lev Kulidzhanov, running about 95 minutes. “The camera captures a sensitivity seldom seen in this stirring drama from Soviet Russia” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. 1935. Two families — Davydov's with three children and the newlyweds Lida and Dmitri Kashirin's — enter the new house on the outskirts of Moscow into a common communal apartment. The children grow up, and they and the adults around them are looking for their place in life, looking for answers to the questions of who to be and what to be, quarreling, making peace, building relationships, destroying them. Six years later, the peaceful lives of characters, with their joys and misfortunes, quarrels and reconciliations, and complex personal relationships, are blown up by a war that connects everyone at once, forcing them to see the meaning of their days, their attitudes to each other and their life values in a different way. For some of them, war is a fatal trait.

Who’s in it. The House I Live In stars Valentina Telegina as Klavdiya Davydova, Nikolai Yelizarov as Pavel Davydov, Vladimir Zemlyanikin as Seryozha Davydov and Yuri Myasnikov as Seryozha Davydov in childhood, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 6.6/10, The House I Live In has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch The House I Live In page.

If you liked it. Fans of The House I Live In tend to enjoy The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Schindler's List and The Godfather Part II.