Russian

Third part of the Elusive Avengers trilogy. Danya, Yasha, Ksanya and Valeri have joined the Cheka and take an active part against White Guards who have stolen an imperial crown of great value from a museum.Read More »

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Children of the old herdsman Banaya been living in the city. However, the younger son, who had come on vacation, Bakai, wants to leave in the pasture, despite the fact that the boy had become accustomed to the city and loves school.Read More »

“Red Apple” – a chronicle of a few days in a small family, a story about the difficulties of human contacts, the complexity of love. The image of red apples – strong and clear, profound and lucid. Okeyev’s “apple” bears a special meaning. Juices of the earth and sun, it is a lyrical symbol of happiness and harmony. (kyrgyzfilm.kg)Read More »

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Dovzhenko’s “film poem” style brings to life the collective experience of life for the Ukranian proles, examining natural cycles through his epic montage. He explores life, death, violence, sex, and other issues as they relate to the collective farms. An idealistic vision of the possibilities of Communism made just before Stalinism set in and the Kulack class was liquidated, “Earth” was viewed negatively by many Soviets because of its exploration of death and other dark issues that come with revolution.—Jeff WalkerRead More »

The Russian Descendant of the Snow Leopard is based on a famous Kirghizian folktale. Apparently the Kirghizian folks had plenty of time to tell this story: to print a full synopsis would result in a novelette. Essentially, the story involves a proud group of highland hunters called the Snow Leopards, who in order to survive a brutal winter must request help from the Lowland people. The price for this assistance is the hand of the Snow Leopard’s daughter, who is promised in marriage to a wealthy Lowland trader. During the Springtime wedding celebration, the trader becomes fascinated by a stranger who wins all the athletic contests. This “male” contestant turns out to be a woman, who has arrived to seek freedom for her imprisoned husband. The subsequent romance between the trader and the beautiful stranger results in disaster and bloodshed for both the Snow Leopards and the Lowlanders. Originally titled Potomok Belongo Barssa Descendent of the Snow Leopard won a Silver Bear award for director Tolomus Okeyev at the Berlin Film Festival.Read More »

A self-pitying but popular playwright drives to Vladimir to relax with a doting female student and another writer. He’s convinced his writing is of no lasting value, but he still has an ego, about his work and his masculine appeal. He’s drawn to a museum guide he sees on his first afternoon, and when she appears at dinner, he tries charm. She reads widely, knows his work, loved it once and now finds it trivial; and she says so. He’s stung. The next day, they walk through a cemetery where she talks of a dead peasant’s poems and he grabs an idea of hers as the theme for a new play. She remains indifferent; he’s baffled. So that night he spies on her. All is revealed.Read More »

Sixteen-year-old Lilja and her only friend, the young boy Volodja, live in Russia, fantasizing about a better life. One day, Lilja falls in love with Andrej, who is going to Sweden, and invites Lilja to come along and start a new life.Read More »

Synopsis:
Little moments in the course of a very brief romance make up the bulk of this tender, lyrical film, the only one ever directed by Gennady Schpalykov, better known as a screenwriter. On a bus filled with young people going for an outing to the theater, Victor (K. Lavrov), a scruffy geologist, and Lena (I. Gulaya), a young factory worker, strike up a conversation. He has traveled to many interesting places, she is young, recently divorced, and has a child. When she invites him to join the group at the theater, he says that he’s too grungy to go there. However, after he gets off the bus, he rushes around getting himself cleaned up, somehow manages to make it into the sold-out theater, and finds Lena. They leave during intermission, and he walks her home. The next day, she brings her daughter along to meet him where he has been staying, and they share a nice lunch together, until he abruptly leaves.Read More »

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The Castle (Russian: Замок, translit. Zamok) is a 1994 film directed by Aleksei Balabanov. It is the first notable screen version filmed in Russia of Kafka’s unfinished novel of the same name. It is a sophisticated and ambiguous parable of an individual desperately trying to preserve his identity while struggling against sinister and invisible bureaucrats who rule the village from inside the titualr castle. This funny, somewhat bizarre, and distinctive movie won official selections to film festivals in Montreal and Rotterdam, and two national Nika Awards.

The film was also noted for its original soundtrack by Sergey Kuryokhin and costumes/sets design in bruegelian style. The stars of the film include Nikolay Stotsky, Svetlana Pismichenko, and Viktor Sukhorukov.Read More »