Youngun,

Welcome to MR! I must confess that you have selected my two most favorite topics to write about! I simply adore films and music. Since I joined MR, I have come to appreciate the Russian cinema and wish I had studied it when I was in film school. However, maybe it would not have had the same affect on me as it does now... who knows?

One of the most rewarding series that I watched was the 12 part 17 Moments of Spring and you can read about my thoughts and review of it here. In that LARGE thread, I also asked a number of questions about the series.

Now, don't get all worried if your Russian isn't that good. People on this forum know that I don't know ANY Russian and that I am really clueless about Russian history and culture. So the series was even more of a challenge for me and I just stuck with it and it was more than worth the effort! Here is a link to it on YouTube with English subtitles that can be turned off.

All that being said, if you like military and spy and intrigue, along with simply fantastic acting and cinematography, than you should make the effort to watch this series.

Another one which was a series (only 5 of them) that I also enjoyed was, The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed I believe I also posted questions in the large thread about the series as I was watching it. Here is a link to it on YouTube with English subtitles that can be turned off.

So, if you are into the war time films, but not the blood and guts, but more of the intellectual, great story line with actors who actually CAN act... these two are a must for you. If you start out and think, "oh no this is way over my head," don't panic. Give it a rest and come back to it. I stopped and stared 17 so many times I can not begin to tell you. But then I just decided one day that I was going to watch all the episodes. Some of them I had to rewatch to understand or ask questions on the forum to understand what I wasn't getting. And then when I finished, I was so pleased that I had accomplished it and also so glad that I had as these two series really are that good.