And Quiet Flows the Don (, translit.Tikhiy Don) is a three-part Soviet epic film directed by Sergei Gerasimov based on the novel of the same title by Mikhail Sholokhov. The first two parts of the film were released in October 1957 and the final third part in 1958. The film tells the story of Russia's involvement in the World War I, the October Revolution, the Russian Civil War, the fate of ordinary people, the crumbling ideals of the Don Cossacks and the personal tragedy of the protagonist, Grigori Melekhov (anglicised Gregory Melehoff). The protagonist is described by Gerasimov as in fact "a man without a road, doomed by history."

Plot

The young Cossack Grigori Melekhov is in love with a married Cossack woman called Aksinya Astakhova and she reciprocates, but those around him are against it, viewing it as a shameful union. The situation is aggravated after the return of Aksinya's husband from military training, and the husband beats his wife. Grigori is wed to another woman, Natalia Korshunova. Grigori and Aksinya decide to run away from their families, but their new life is cut short by the start of the First World War. Aksinya tells Grigori she is pregnant, though Grigori doubts his paternity.