USSR

There is a mysterious place in the midst of the Ukrainian steppes, the Zvenyhora, or the Ringing Mountain. According to folk legends it harbors invaluable treasures of the Scythians. The entire chain of historic events that left their trace on the face of Ukraine – the Varangians, the nomad invaders, the struggle against the Polish gentry, the Haidamaka uprising, the First World War and the Bolshevik Revolution – are connected by one image of a Ukrainian old man, ageless, ingenuous, enterprising, cunning and indestructible – Dovzhenko’s personification of Ukrainian identity itself. The old man’s entire life is devoted to hunting for the illusive hidden treasures, which, as the film unfolds increasingly appear as a metaphor of Ukraine’s national soul and its – yet unlocked – spiritual potential. In the process, the old man is torn between his grandson Pavlo, epitome of the Ukrainian nationalist cause, and Tymishko, forward-looking, proletariat-oriented Bolshevik. The old man, instigated by Pavlo attempts to derail the Bolshevik train of progress. He is captured by Tymish’s comrades-in-arms, forgiven and taken on board the train speeding away towards the bright new day.Read More »

A married couple have a small apartment in Moscow. When an old friend of the husband’s arrives in the city, he is unable to find lodgings. Kolia, the husband, invites his friend to move in with them. While Kolia is away on business, sensual Liuda and attractive Volodia fall in love and have an affair. After his initial outrage, the husband calms down. Kolia winds up on the sofa, and the three settle into a menage-a-trois until the wife finds herself pregnant. The two men are trying to decide what to do, but Liuda is strong enough to make her own decisions. Considered a landmark film because of humor, naturalism, and its sympathetic portrayal of the woman.Read More »

An unexpected romance occurs for a female Red Army sniper and a White Army officer.Read More »

A young schoolboy tries to help the girl he likes to pass a math test.
Elem Klimov’s student work.Read More »

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Set in the bleak aftermath and devastation of the World War I, a recently demobbed soldier, Timosh, returns to his hometown Kiev, after having survived a train wreck. His arrival coincides with a national celebration of Ukrainian freedom, but the festivities are not to last as a disenchanted.Read More »

Dr. Henry Jekyll experiments with scientific means of revealing the hidden, dark side of man and releases a murderer from within himself.Read More »

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In the heady days just prior to the collapse of the Soviet system in Russia, a satirical, anarchistic comedy such as this was just the sort of film to attract huge audiences. Told with the rapid-fire imagery and insistent soundtrack of a music video, it tells the story of Aleksandra (Tatyana Drubich), a self-centered 20-year old girl who escapes from her tiny apartment after she has been locked into by her father it to make her study for her exams. Instead, she parties with her boyfriend Vladimir (Alexander Abdulov) who is perfectly happy to make love to her until he discovers she is pregnant. Nearby, Mitya (Mikhail Rozanov), a suddenly rich fifteen year old boy, shares a flat with his crazed roommate, an Abyssinian given to brewing his own alcoholic beverages. Somehow, Mitya hears of Allesandra’s predicament and offers to marry her – which pleases her parents a great deal (after all, he’s rich). Most of the fun in this movie comes from in-jokes at the expense of the government’s sacred cows, and jokes at the expense of the movie itself and its characters. ~ Clarke Fountain, RoviRead More »

A 1973 Soviet twelve-part television series, directed by Tatyana Lioznova and based on the novel of the same title by Yulian Semyonov. The series portrays the exploits of Maxim Isaev, a Soviet spy operating in Nazi Germany under the name Max Otto von Stierlitz, depicted by Vyacheslav Tikhonov. Stierlitz is tasked with disrupting the negotiations between Karl Wolff and Allen Dulles taking place in Switzerland, aimed at forging a separate peace between Germany and the Western Allies. The series is considered the most successful Soviet espionage thriller ever made, and is one of the most popular television series in Russian history.Read More »

“1918. Workers from Petrograd come to Altai region to establish the first agricultural commune. In spite of the hostility of the local White Army cossacks the workers build houses, cultivate land. The poor peasants are turning towards the commune. However, White Army cossacks take vengeance on the members of the commune.”
kinoglaz.frRead More »