Thread: Russian Movies

Is anyone interested in talking about Russian Cinema?
If you are, what are your favorite films? actors? directors?
My favorites:
comedies:
Обыкновенное чудо / Ordinary miracle
Кавказская пленница / Prisoner of the Caucasus, or Shurik's New Adventures
Бриллиантовая рука / The Diamond Arm
Иван Васильевич меняет профессию / Ivan Vasilievich changes his occupation
Покровские ворота / Pokrov Gates
Тот самый Мюнхгаузен / The Very Same Munhgauzen
Кин-дза-дза / Kin-Dza-Dza
Двенадцать стульев / Twelve Chairs
Здравствуйте, я ваша тетя! / Hello, I am your aunt!
Джентльмены удачи / Gentlemen of luck
Операция Ы и другие приключения Шурика / Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures

dramas:
Солярис / Solaris
Москва слезам не верит / Moscow does not Belive in Tears
Зеркало / The Mirror
Свой среди чужих, чужой среди своих / At Home Among Strangers, a Stranger Among his own
Звезда пленительного счастья / The Star of Fascinating Happiness
Кавказский пленник / Prisoner of the Mountains
Вор / The Thief
Любовник / The Lover

about love:
Обыкновенное чудо / Ordinary miracle
Ирония судьбы или С легким паром! / Irony of fate or with light steam!
Вокзал для двоих / A Railway Station for Two
Москва слезам не верит / Moscow does not Belive in Tears
Жестокий романс / A Cruel Romance
Служебный роман / Business romance
Я шагаю по Москве / I am Walking Along Moscow
Чародеи / Wizards
Труффальдино из Бергамо / Truffaldino from Bergamo

War:
Александр Невский / Alexander Nevsky
Баллада о солдате / Ballad of a Soldier
Война / War
Кавказский пленник / Prisoner of the Mountains
Отец солдата / Father of The Soldier
Сто дней до приказа / 100 Days Before The Command
Торпедоносцы / Torpedo Bombers

Action:
Брат / Brother
Белое солнце пустыни / White Sun of the Desert
Д'Артаньян и Три Мушкетера / D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers

Horror:
Вий / Viy or Spirit of Evil

I am a big Andrei Tarkovsky fan!

Nostalghia, Mirror, Andrei Rublev and Stalker are some of the finest works of cinema that i've seen.

I haven't seen many other films by Russian directors because Russian films are hard to get in England, but i've just ordered Russian Ark and Of Freaks and Men which I'm looking forward to watching.

Marcus, all those films are very original works of art.
On my DVD page I have some links specificaly for UK.

I've recently started to translate my actor pages,
so far Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, Aleksandr Abdulov, Yevgeni Leonov & Nikita Mihalkov.
All 4 are very good, and they also directed movies. Actually I listed them in order of how many films they directed, Mihalkov is most known in America as a director.
Tell me what you think. If you like it. I'll do my best to translate the rest.

I tried to watch Kin-dza-dza yeterday but I fell asleep half way through it. It started out promisingly but then... Was it supposed to be a comedy? I thought it was like a "разговор слепого с немым"

But I also rewatched Джентльмены удачи and that was goooood

Originally Posted by astarz41

I tried to watch Kin-dza-dza yeterday but I fell asleep half way through it.

I had the same experience but I thought it was prob. because I wasn't Russian and didn't understand it. Maybe not

I resently saw the move (from 2002 i think) Tycoon - about the "moneymaking" buissness of the company "Инфокар". I suppose I enjoyed it a bit, not to bad at all...

Anyone else seen it?

Kin-Dza-Dza is not "every one's cup of tea", but I really like it.
You got to watch it with an open mind, it is not only Sci-Fi, but a Comedy, a farce really, about social-economocal (soviet) relationships. You have got to know what life was and still is in Russia to really enjoy this movie.
By the way Tycoon is a very good representation of "business" in Russia.

Originally Posted by Zhenya

I resently saw the move (from 2002 i think) Tycoon - about the "moneymaking" buissness of the company "Инфокар". I suppose I enjoyed it a bit, not to bad at all...

Anyone else seen it?

If "Tycoon" is "Олигарх", why it is not "Oligarch"???

Originally Posted by astarz41

I tried to watch Kin-dza-dza yeterday but I fell asleep half way through it. It started out promisingly but then... Was it supposed to be a comedy? I thought it was like a "разговор слепого с немым"

If you like a kinda soup drama then Кин-Дза-Дза is not for you. There are a lot of metaphors and sophisticated jokes. It's really funny when you think about things you see. It's a movie which you can see one more time and open something new for yourself. May be you have to be ready to understand this sort of movie (for example "Паспорт"). When you will be in trouble just put this disk on tray and look at screen.

Originally Posted by waxwing

I had the same experience but I thought it was prob. because I wasn't Russian and didn't understand it. Maybe not

Trust me. It's not a "Russians only" movie.

Originally Posted by Scorpio

Originally Posted by Zhenya

I resently saw the move (from 2002 i think) Tycoon - about the "moneymaking" buissness of the company "Инфокар". I suppose I enjoyed it a bit, not to bad at all...

Anyone else seen it?

If "Tycoon" is "Олигарх", why it is not "Oligarch"???

That's easy to explain. When I was 13 I read George Orwell's 198 4(god how depressing that was), and I encountered the word 'oligarchy' for the first time. I had to look it up in the dictionary. Until recently this word would never have been heard in everyday english discussion. They chose the word 'Tycoon' because they thought everyone would recognise it, although the meaning is not the same.
This usually happens with Hollywood films when they are repackaged for sale in other countries, btw.
Ironically, 'oligarch' is slowly coming into everyday usage via the media now - but only because of Russia

Originally Posted by pgmatg

Kin-Dza-Dza is not "every one's cup of tea", but I really like it.
You got to watch it with an open mind, it is not only Sci-Fi, but a Comedy, a farce really, about social-economocal (soviet) relationships. You have got to know what life was and still is in Russia to really enjoy this movie.

I found the film very difficult to understand. I'm not sure I understood what the director was trying to say. Good one for culture snobs I suppose.

By the way Tycoon is a very good representation of "business" in Russia.

I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but how old are you exactly? 17? With respect, but what do you know about how business is done in Russia? Have you ever run a business in Russia? Have you ever run a business anywhere?
This is like me saying "this is how they perform brain surgery in Switzerland" - what the ...k do I know about surgery?
Mind you, I'm not saying this to start a debate about how business is done in Russia - it just amuses me how people pontificate about things they know bugger all about.

Originally Posted by VendingMachine

By the way Tycoon is a very good representation of "business" in Russia.

I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but how old are you exactly? 17? With respect, but what do you know about how business is done in Russia? Have you ever run a business in Russia? Have you ever run a business anywhere?
This is like me saying "this is how they perform brain surgery in Switzerland" - what the ...k do I know about surgery?
Mind you, I'm not saying this to start a debate about how business is done in Russia - it just amuses me how people pontificate about things they know bugger all about.

Well, you don't have to run a business to understabd how it works.
Also my uncle runs Buisiness in Russia, and he said that Oligarh is a lot more realistic that most people think.

Originally Posted by waxwing

Originally Posted by Scorpio

If "Tycoon" is "Олигарх", why it is not "Oligarch"???

That's easy to explain. When I was 13 I read George Orwell's 1984 (god how depressing that was), and I encountered the word 'oligarchy' for the first time. I had to look it up in the dictionary. Until recently this word would never have been heard in everyday english discussion. They chose the word 'Tycoon' because they thought everyone would recognise it, although the meaning is not the same.

I can understand the reason for name change, but yes, the meaning of the words is entirely different IMHO.
If they should translate the term "oligarch" is its present-day russian context, they should choose not "tycoon", but "corrupt mean and dexterous mega-thief" or something alike. Unfortunately, this is probably too long for film name. But it should be almost exact translation.

Originally Posted by Scorpio

Unfortunately, this is probably too long for film name. But it should be almost exact translation.

What do think about "Приватизатор" or something politically correct like "Денационализатор"? Just imagine that picture - big big poster: "Приватизатор 2: День суда" or "Денационализатор перенагружен".

Has anybody seen The Cuckoo, or Klushka (I think in Russian?) It's about a coward finnish sniper whose chained to rock as punishment, a courtmartialed russian soldier and a sami woman who end up living together during world war 2. Nobody can speak the others language and the movie shows them trying to live together. It's an excellent movie.

Originally Posted by Der Meister

Has anybody seen The Cuckoo, or Klushka (I think in Russian?) It's about a coward finnish sniper whose chained to rock as punishment, a courtmartialed russian soldier and a sami woman who end up living together during world war 2. Nobody can speak the others language and the movie shows them trying to live together. It's an excellent movie.

Yep, I did. The right movie name is 'Кукушка'.

I was impressed when I saw the scene in slow motion camera of the baby chart running down the stairs in Brian Di Palma's The Untouchables. But I was more impressed with Potemkin Battleship:
http://fotolog.terra.com.br/inca:97
http://fotolog.terra.com.br/inca:98
http://fotolog.terra.com.br/inca:99
Specially Odessa's stairway chaos, hundreds of people climbing down, a baby chart, a baby hand stepped by militar boot, a crippled man about to be pressed and escaping at the last minute; the rotten meat filled with worms that the sailors refused to eat; the bullet through the glasses and eye of a person (something also imitated in Godfather); the wind filling the sails; the midst or fog..... In the particular scene of baby chart there's tension also cos the shadows in perpendicular way and camera focusing in the wheels.
I wish I could see Eisentein's work in the future. I saw a film with Russian actors and English, Siberia is the name. Fine work. And we know in USA Konchalovsky had done good work. I enjoyed the tv series of Odyssey with Cuban actor Armand Assante as Ulises.

I've just watched Slave of love (Раба любви ), which I've seen before. But this time around it made much bigger impression upon me. The film is set in a southern Russian town during civil war after revolution. The story revolves around prominent silent film actress, who slowly learns what really is going on around her.
The movie made me think of how so many people, like the heroine of the feature, do live in blissful world of ignorance. But what I really enjoyed is how director Nikita Mikhalkov kept the overtone of the film very lyrical almost all the way through, and in the end to the contrast of what was happening.
Have any of you seen any of his other works? And did you like it?
The movie is far from greatness that some discribe it, but is well worth watching.

I am a big Andrei Tarkovsky fan!

Nostalghia, Mirror, Andrei Rublev and Stalker are some of the finest works of cinema that i've seen.

Finally someone who has the right opinion!!!

I have seen Nostalghia and Zerkalo about 3-4 times in whole....

Tarkovsky was a great poet, artist and thinker. With Tarkovsky cinema reaches the level of art in this otherwise "abused" genre.

Tarkovski the poet and Tarkovski the movie director are 2 different persons :P. The director was the poet's son.