Thread: Films & TV: Russian & Non - Q&As/Reviews/Links all in here!

Originally Posted by rockzmom

And in Russian movies, how are Americans portrayed?

Being a child there was one subject (among many others) which fascinated all the children: the cowboy character. The cowboy was a guy who wore cowboy boots with spurs, cowboy leather vest along with the leather hat. And, of course, the cowboy had a pair of cowboy colts. Most of time cowboys spent in a saloon sipping whiskey and having philosophical conversations with each other. But when a problem met the cowboy, he immediately became sober and shot three or four dozen of enemies merely while the sweat droplet falls from his face to his boot. But the world crushed when I'd started to learn English and found out that a cowboy is not that magnificent guy but only a little boy who takes care about cows.

There is a good portrait of what Russians think the cowboys are.
The easy-line comedy "A Man from Boulevard des Capucines" ("Человек с бульвара Капуцинов", " Chelovek s bulvara Kaputsinov" – 1987, by Alla Surikova) shows us a probable way of the cinema entering to the wild west.

After the movie had been released the one word quote "inflation" filled the air. Twenty years has come but this quote is still valuable. Only in the last year the using of this quote was interchanged with "crisis". I hope the crisis not staying for a long and the "inflation" returns.

Originally Posted by rockzmom

American movies and television portray Russians (almost always) as mobsters, spies or thugs? Why never as the heroes?
...
the same stereotypes as not "nice" people.

There is the movie shot in 1987. I still can't understand how this movie was able to appear on the Earth. The American movie where the main character was a Russian spy who fought with Americans from Pentagon and won ( !!! ) at the end of the movie. More over the character was pictured as the heroe ( !!! ).

Any guess ... ?
...

"No way out" with Kevin Costner as the Russian spy in 1987.

Originally Posted by CoffeeCup

Originally Posted by rockzmom

American movies and television portray Russians (almost always) as mobsters, spies or thugs? Why never as the heroes?
...
the same stereotypes as not "nice" people.

That's true! I agree with rockzmom! Yesterday I just watched another american movie about Russian bastards and... Italians (especially Sicilians) are most often mafiosi in american movies

Originally Posted by rockzmom

I have also posted the FIRST episode or pilot. It took me a while to find this one and I did so for my girls so they could understand how the whole series started

It turns out I saw a couple of the episodes several years ago but I had no clue those four were aliens and so their behavior looked weird.
I wouldn’t mind seeing the whole thing but I doubt I can find a version not spoiled by the Russian only sound track.

- This is a small office and you’re behaving like a big hose-monkey.
- You’re not so bad yourself, woman.

Funny, but what is the hose-monkey here? There is one definition in the Urban Dictionary

1. hose monkey
Generally applies to men.
To be in the habit of continually playing with one's "hose" like a monkey...
Also applies to most types of useless or ineffective behavior.
See "wanker"
That guy is such a useless hose monkey.

but I doubt it fits in here. Or does it?
In the multilingual part the Dr. Solomon’s Russian is relatively good whereas the kid’s one barely discernable.

Originally Posted by alexB

Originally Posted by rockzmom

I have also posted the FIRST episode or pilot. It took me a while to find this one and I did so for my girls so they could understand how the whole series started

It turns out I saw a couple of the episodes several years ago but I had no clue those four were aliens and so their behavior looked weird.
I wouldn’t mind seeing the whole thing but I doubt I can find a version not spoiled by the Russian only sound track.

I download it from here, but as it's 23.92 GB (25680108136 Bytes) I stopped all files and download just 3-4 simultaneously:

Coffee Cup, StudyR, E-learner and others...

I know I owe you some responses and I once again apologize for not keeping up to date on this thread.

Solaris

Coffee Cup and StudyR, I have successfully downloaded a nice copy of Solaris and subtitles (BTW, Studyr, the link you sent to me for the movie... I my security system would not let me open no matter how many hoops I went through telling it it was not a dangerous site ) and I hope to watch it soon.

which obviously is a parody of the certain scene from the certain Russian film.
[quote:3nwumqvn]This is the parody I like more:

[/quote:3nwumqvn]
E-learner, your clip and the other spoof clip from StudyR (with OJ Simpson, yet again) I don't recall this film, so you will have to educate me once again! Where did this first come from?

Originally Posted by CoffeeCup

Originally Posted by rockzmom

American movies and television portray Russians (almost always) as mobsters, spies or thugs? Why never as the heroes?
...
the same stereotypes as not "nice" people.

There [s:h9tg2v67]is the[/s:h9tg2v67] was a movie shot in 1987[s:h9tg2v67].[/s:h9tg2v67] and I still can't understand how this movie was able to appear on [s:h9tg2v67]the[/s:h9tg2v67] this earth. [s:h9tg2v67]The[/s:h9tg2v67] It was an American movie, where the main character was a Russian spy who fought with Americans from the Pentagon and [s:h9tg2v67]won ( !!! )[/s:h9tg2v67] at the end of the movie, he won!!! [s:h9tg2v67]More over[/s:h9tg2v67] Even more amazing,the Russian character was [s:h9tg2v67]pictured[/s:h9tg2v67] portrayed as the hero[s:h9tg2v67]e[/s:h9tg2v67] ( !!! ).

Any guesses ... ?
...

"No way out" with Kevin Costner as the Russian spy in 1987.

I mentioned earlier on this thread about how Russians are portrayed in American films and TV and some of you responded back. I also mentioned how one of my favorite TV shows right now “Life” and this season they have woven into the story line a Russian mob theme. Well… this past week the episode had some “interesting” little moments in it that I wanted to share with you.

I have three clips. You just need to click on the links to watch, no downloading or anything.

Clip one… your typical stereotype. Let me set it up for you. Roman Nevikov, (also note, this actor was born in California and raised in Washington State... how is his accent and mannerisms ?) is the “BAD” Russian Mob boss, yet, he always wears white. Detective, Charlie Crews (also note, in real life, this actor is from the UK and he is using an "American" accent for this role), is a police officer who was set up and went to prison for 12 years for a murder he did not commit, finally was proven innocent got a big settlement, yet went back to work so he could find out who the real killers were. Detective Dani Reese, is his partner.
http://s444.photobucket.com/albums/q...t=336db5af.flv

Clip two, they are going to try and rescue Detective Reese. In this one there is a nice Russian song playing over the scene. Does anyone know this song? Can anyone give me an idea what the song is about?
http://s444.photobucket.com/albums/q...t=4f4e0c0d.flv

Clip three, is a car scene also with Russian music, this time Rap. Is this a popular song? Anyone recognize it?
http://s444.photobucket.com/albums/q...t=5ee0d081.flv

Originally Posted by rockzmom

Clip one… your typical stereotype. Let me set it up for you. ... how is his accent and mannerisms ?)

He pronounces words more precisely and doesn't mess or mesh the words with his tongue - that is obviously correct for most of non native speakers. But in all other points his accent is really wrong: the rolling "r" in "for" - this word is one of the words which are learned as the basis vocabulary and all the Russians pronounce it without the rolling "r"; Sound "t" in "anything" - most Russians pronounce "th" as "s". His English is too fluent to make such mistakes. But I don't know the story line maybe the character was not grow in Russia. Mannerisms are also non Russian (I really begin to believe that the character grew somewhere out of Russia). The mannerisms are more like when in some Russian movies young people are shown as trying to behave like Tupac.

Originally Posted by rockzmom

Clip two, they are going to try and rescue Detective Reese. In this one there is a nice Russian song playing over the scene.

Тату - "Зачем я ..." (Tatu - "For what I ...") Tatu is the very recognizable Ruassian group which consists of two girls. Tatu reached top-lists not only in Russia but also in Europe and Japan (There are not so many Russian bands which have such records). The song is about two persons who are in love to each other and were involved in some criminal story with drugs and some mobs are chasing them so these two persons are about to be killed.

Originally Posted by rockzmom

Clip three, is a car scene also with Russian music, this time Rap. Is this a popular song? Anyone recognize it?

Серега - "King Ring" (Serega - "Король Ринга") I have not mix the languages the original song title is English (King [of boxing] ring). Serega is also a well known singer in Russia (but maybe not outside Russia). Some times ago there was a TV show "King of boxing ring" where singers and actors and other popular people tried to be boxers. This song was released by Serega after his participating in this show.

Originally Posted by rockzmom

which obviously is a parody of the certain scene from the certain Russian film.
[quote:1r9gdfa0]This is the parody I like more:

E-learner, your clip and the other spoof clip from StudyR (with OJ Simpson, yet again) I don't recall this film, so you will have to educate me once again! Where did this first come from?[/quote:1r9gdfa0]
You must have missed the link to this scene from the original film.
Here is the whole film.
Here is a Wikipedia article.

It was mentioned often enough on Soviet TV that somebody somewhere named this film the greatest film of all time, but I don't remember the whole film ever being translated by TV. I haven't seen it, except for that particular scene, until now.

Originally Posted by Lampada

One more: White Sun Of The Desert (English subtitles).

"White Sun of the Desert (Russian: Beloe Solntse Pustyni/Белое солнце пустыни) (1969), a classic 'Eastern' or Ostern film of the Soviet Union.
White Sun of the Desert is one of the most popular Russian films of all time. Its blend of action, comedy, music and drama have made it wildly successful and it has since achieved the status of a cult film in Soviet and Russian culture. The film has contributed many sayings to the Russian language. Its main theme song, Your Excellency Lady Luck (Ваше благородие, госпожа Удача, music: Isaak Schwarz, lyrics: Bulat Okudzhava) became a huge hit.
The film is ritually watched by cosmonauts before many space launches.

Plot.
A soldier of the Red Army named Sukhov has been fighting in the Russian Civil War in Russian Asia for many years. Just as he is about to return home to his wife, Sukhov is chosen to guard and protect the harem of a guerilla leader (Abdulla). Abdulla is wanted by the Red Army and left his harem behind because the women hindered him. Sukhov's task proves to be more difficult than he imagined... "

Lampada!

I have finally finished watching this film!! You only suggested back on Dec. 27th!
Thankfully, I downloaded then and did not wait as now it is not available from the YouTube links.

The film was very good and I am certain if I knew Russian it would have been even better! As they kept panning back to the ocean at the end, I was really expecting Pasha to come swimming out having somehow survived the explosion. I was also saddened to have both Gyulchatai and Petrukha murdered; yet, how poetically and tenderly Sukhov placed Petrukha’s face towards Gyulchatai.

Originally Posted by rockzmom

Clip one… your typical stereotype. Let me set it up for you. Roman Nevikov, (also note, this actor was born in California and raised in Washington State... how is his accent and mannerisms ?) is the “BAD” Russian Mob boss, yet, he always wears white.

Yes, his accent is a little off (99,9% of Russians who have an accent pronounce "th" as "s" and "z" - NOT as "t" and "d"). The mannerisms are more or less ok, but the image as a whole seems wrong. He doesn't look like a Russian mobster (at least he doesn't fit the Russian stereotype for Russian mobster). He looks more like a Russian stereotype for a Latino druglord (slicked back black hair, white clothes, etc.). Real Russian thugs don't dress all in white. It's a bit girly to their taste. His appearance is also not typical (though. of course, it's not unbelievable)

And... just don't laugh.. Imho, the most non-Russian thing about his appearance is his nose.. Something in the bone structure.

Originally Posted by rockzmom

Clip one… your typical stereotype. ... Roman Nevikov,... how is his accent and mannerisms ?

To kill all possibilities that this guy is Russian - He pronounces his own Russian name with tremendous accent. People can have any accent for a non native language but using their own names they are speaking automatically in the mother tongue.

Originally Posted by CoffeeCup

The mannerisms are more like when in some Russian movies young people are shown as trying to behave like Tupac.

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

He looks more like a Russian stereotype for a Latino druglord

Now I also vote for the "Latino druglord" stereotype as more convenient.

So what you all are saying is this guy can't even pronounce his own name correctly!

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

And... just don't laugh.. Imho, the most non-Russian thing about his appearance is his nose.. Something in the bone structure.

So, gRomoZeka, what type of nose should he have???

I just can't believe that in all of LA they could not find a REAL Russian actor for this role!!! But then again, they have a British actor playing an American for the lead!

Originally Posted by alexB

Originally Posted by Оля

Originally Posted by Waterlaz

"Дни Турбиных" (Days of the Turbins)
"Собачье Сердце" (Heart of a Dog)
"Бег" (Flight)

I also like "Собачье Сердце" a lot. I think everyone does. A classical film.

Waterlaz’s choice of movies:
"Собачье Сердце" (Heart of a Dog)
is almost my choice.

Heart of a Dog", (Собачье сердце, Sobachye serdtse), 1988
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_a_Dog

Waterlaz, Оля & Alex... after a little technical difficulty (I had only downloaded half of "Heart of a Dog" from Youtube before it was taken off the site) I have now managed to finish watching the entire film. For anyone who wants to watch this film, you can watch it and/or download with RealPlayer for free (no subtitles) at:

Part 1:
http://www.guba.com/watch/3000012924...78d56532c5010a

Part 2:
http://www.guba.com/watch/3000013241...d6e248a8bb11fe

Оля (my subtitle queen), I found a couple of sites with subtitles, yet no matter how I linked the files together, 25 FPS, 23.97 FPS, whatever, they never matched up. It was not so bad as I had the first half of the movie already watched and only needed to watch the second half. If you know of a good link for the subtitles that will work with this version of the movie that I have posted (or a version of the movie with the subtitles already in them), please let everyone know!

This film was very good indeed and I would like to rewatch it completely at some point with subtitltes all matched together. I had thought that the "dog's inner voice" would be heard more once the transformation had taken place, not just the urge to attack cats. The idea that the dog’s own personality did not overpower that of the human’s or that there was not more inner conflict between the two was also interesting as the dog seemed to be kind and sweet while we knew that the human was a third striker, so to speak. A lot of the politcal "house" stuff was lost on me and I can only try to relate to that as sort of a tenant’s association?

Originally Posted by rockzmom

Heart of a Dog", (Собачье сердце, Sobachye serdtse), 1988
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_a_Dog

Here it's in English: http://lib.ru/BULGAKOW/dogheart_engl.txt

What an interesting thread, I must say! Finally, I am through with all 10 pages posted here
So, about the "Heart of a dog". I find this movie a real masterpiece. It's made very close to the book which I read and re-read many times. I wonder what your opinion is, Rockzmom.

Originally Posted by iriroma

What an interesting thread, I must say! Finally, I am through with all 10 pages posted here
So, about the "Heart of a dog". I find this movie a real masterpiece. It's made very close to the book which I read and re-read many times. I wonder what your opinion is, Rockzmom.

Iriroma, You get a for making it through all 10 pages! You are welcome to post comments, ask questions and suggest films or books of any origin. I do not think anything is off limits at this point!!!

It is nice to know that the book of Heart of a Dog is so close to the movie as many times a reader is clearly disappointed when a book is made into a film. It is extremely difficult to live up to ones expectations as each person has their own interpretations as to what characters look, sound, smell, walk, even their gestures are like in real life; even though an author may have spent thousands of words creating these visual clues for the reader. In one’s mind, we each take our own spin with the clues the writer has painted for us and then when we see it on film think, “NO! That can’t be correct. This is not how I envisioned it.” Then the script writer and director has the additional disadvantage of having to take a manuscript that may be loved by millions and turn it into a living breathing work of art all the while knowing, he or she will be judged harshly, no severely (as in tarred and feathered), if just one change is made or one hair is out of place, a scene added or a favorite scene deleted. And finally, the actors, who are sometimes unduly criticized, before they have even shot one scene just because “us readers” cannot imagine them as the character from our beloved book.

With all that said, what did I think of this film, Heart of a Dog, in which I have NOT read the book?

Aesthetically, visually, I thought the film was very well shot and the character development well done. It seemed that there was a hierarchy within the film and everyone needed to stay within their station and the actors did a marvelous job of creating this division with mannerisms and expressions (remember for me, as I don’t understand Russian, verbal cues are harder for me. Yes I can hear the different tonal qualities; however as I am also trying to keep up with the subtitles, which I know are sometimes lacking in translation so I look to the actors motions to fill me in and I tend to tune out the voices) so an actor must really be at the top of their game to make it work for me.

From the opening of the movie I was a bit lost at first. It took me a moment to realize that we were at the dog’s perspective. Once I caught on I was pulled in and wanted to know, where this journey was going. How did a dog think and what did this dog think? I found his thoughts intriguing. The line, “And the cinema is a woman's one consolation in life.” hit home with me. This was not some; Disney type film with stupid comical lines, this film was going to have a message of sorts and I wanted to try to find out what it was.

I also noticed the galoshes and the comments about the rugs which reminded me of the discussions on another thread!

The other things that surprised me were the use of names and how instead of Dr. Philipovich, he is always referred to as Philip Philipovich and the mention of Isadora Duncan. I had not known about her ties to Russia (I had to Google that one).

I had no clue what the good doctor had in store for Sharik until it was happening and as I mentioned earlier, I was disappointed that once Sharik transformed, I had thought that his "dog's inner voice" would be heard more, not just the one reference of his urge to attack cats. The idea that Sharik’s own personality did not overpower that of the human’s or that there was not more inner conflict between the two was also interesting and yet disappointing to me at the same time. Sharik was smart and had a keen mind and observed things about humans. He seemed to almost understand us better than we do. Yet, when he became human, he lost that part of him as the human, the “third striker” so to speak, took over and had more influence over Sharik’s personality.

The ending of the film I thought was a plausible one. I had not assumed they would have been able to save the Sharik’s organs; but, I will suspend belief. This spared them the agony and turmoil of having to kill a “human” and allowed Sharik to return back into his old self and apparently live a comfortable life with Philip Philipovich.

I must confess, watching these films with subtitles, does make me regret that I do not understand your language, history or culture, as I know I am missing so much more than what I am actually seeing and understanding.

The other things that surprised me were the use of names and how instead of Dr. Philipovich, he is always referred to as Philip Philipovich...

"Phillipovich" is his patronymic, so combination Dr. Philiipovich is absolutely impossible. If anyone would like to use a honorific it should be Dr. Preobrazhensky (Dr. + his last name). But it would sound way too formal and it's not always appropriate (honorifics in Russian used more rarely than in English). First name + Patronymic is the most common respectful form of address (to your superior, to a stranger, to an older person, etc.)

...and the mention of Isadora Duncan.

Yes, it's funny how things work. I didn't know much about her either. All I knew about Isadora Duncan for a long long time was that she was a wife of a very famous Russian poet Sergei Yesenin. I didn't even know she was American, I thought she was French or something (like all dancers, you know ).

Thank you for your long reviews. They are very interesting to read.

Originally Posted by rockzmom

I must confess, watching these films with subtitles, does make me regret that I do not understand your language, history or culture, as I know I am missing so much more than what I am actually seeing and understanding.

I think it is time for you to begin learning Russian!