And Quiet Flows the Don (Russian: Тихий Дон, 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."