# Forum General General Discussion  UPDATED: Greatest Hits of Russian Cinema +100 Films / Movies

## Hanna

A list of highly recommended Russian-language films made in Russia or USSR / Soviet Union. *The original Excel spreadsheet can be downloaded at Rapidshare:*  http://rapidshare.com/files/282564472/rusfilms.xls.html  Please feel free to download for personal use     
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## Оля

> --There are hardly any musicals. Actually I added some...  ok (???) or are there any better?

 I have no idea what is the film "Soul" you mentioned in the list.
There was a very good director *Ян Фрид*; all his films were musical, and they were perfect. Many of them were quite popular. Here are the titles of his most famous films: _1977 — Собака на сене
1979 — Летучая мышь 
1980 — Благочестивая Марта 
1981 — Сильва 
1989 — Дон Сезар де Базан 
1992 — Тартюф_ 
Also, I'd say that one way or another, we can call "musicals" many Russian films, i.e. "Office Romance" and especially "Irony of Fate". There were, of course, many others. But, however, the classical musical (like "Singing in the Rain" or "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg") is not quite a Russian genre. It applies to the theater, too, and even much more than to the cinema.   

> --Are there any Russian language films from other Russian speaking countries that could be included?

 To be honest, the word combination "other Russian speaking countries" sounds strange to me.  ::  I don't think directors in those countries would shoot any films in Russian, even if they like Russia and Russians and Russian language. There are too many geopolitical conditions about that. Some exceptions could be in Ukraine, but I don't think they have money for making movies now. All the more so about Belarus.

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## Basil77

Talking about 90th in Russia, there are very good (i.m.o.) TV series (they are about 90th but released in 00th): 
[video:2td4ynex]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsHfgQwDamk[/video:2td4ynex]

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## Lampada

*Дама с собачкой*:    viewtopic.php?f=47&t=17555&p=212371&hilit=%D0%94%D  0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B0+%D1%81+%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%B0%D  1%87%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B9#p212371
****************   *Пёс Барбос и необычный кросс*:  
1/3   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG1tyhVX5PA 
2/3   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueq_DEQaNiA  *Самогонщики*   
муз. Н. Богословского   сл. В. Лифшица 
Без каких-нибудь особенных затрат
Создан этот самогонный аппарат,
А приносит он, друзья, доход,
Между прочим, круглый год! 
Я, признаться откровенно, очень рад
Лечь под этот электронный агрегат,
Чтобы капал самогон мне в рот
Днем и ночью круглый год! 
А вот люди меж собою говорят:
За такой вот хитроумный аппарат
Просидеть мы можем без забот
За решеткой круглый год! 
3/3   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxPbdD4KDCI 
*****************************   *Белое солнце пустыни* viewtopic.php?f=47&t=13104&p=212291&hilit=%D0%91%D  0%B5%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B5+%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BD%D1  %86%D0%B5+%D0%BF%D1%83%D1%81%D1%82%D1%8B%D0%BD%D0%  B8#p212291

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## Hanna

Thanks for the recommendation of films by Ян Фрид. I'll check it later and add to the list, and update.  
About "other Russian speaking countries"... well I just meant it in exactly the way that we talk about "other French speaking countries" when we talk about French language cinema. For instance, there are French speaking films made in Switzerland,  Belgium, Africa.. Same thing with German and a few other European languages.  
So I thought maybe there had been some good Russian speaking film made in Belarus or Kazakhstan, for instance.. If so it would have been nice to put that on the list.  But if like you suggest, there is no money, then perhaps they don't have movie industries yet. Also sooner or later there will be Russian speaking films from the Baltic states, because the EU would support such a project financially (e.g. films in "minority langauges" lol)  
About that film, Soul - Yeah there definitely was such a film although I haven't seen it myself. I just wanted to find a Russian film with LOTS of singing, and I knew that the singer Sofia Rotaru had been in some films. So I checked IMDB and that's how I found out about that film.   _Lord,  I don't know how normal honest people survived the 1990s in Russia!  It seemed like such a crazy time. Every time we turned on the TV there were dramatic news about Russia. Respect to everybody who lived through that!_

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## Оля

> About other Russian speaking countries... well I just meant it in exactly the way that we talk about "other French speaking countries" when we talk about French language cinema. For instance, there are French speaking films made in Switzerland,  Belgium, Africa..

 Of course, I understand what you meant, Johanna. But firstly, in Switzerland, Belgium, Algeria, Canada, French language is an official language, and in some of those countries it's the principal one. And there is no any state campaign directed against French language in those countries.
Secondly, when I wrote that "other Russian speaking countries" sounds strange, I didn't actually mean that I didn't know which countries you meant. But it just really sounds strange... I'm afraid I can't explain it better. Maybe it's because all those ex-USSR countries are quite new, and we Russians are not yet used to the conception of "other Russian speaking countries". And also because people in those countries know Russian only because they lived in the USSR, that is the older generation is meant; but young people in the majority don't know good Russian or don't know it at all, so those countries stronlgy tend to stop being "Russian speaking" in time. It doesn't apply to Belarus and Ukraine, though.   

> Also sooner or later there will be Russian speaking films from the Baltic states, because the EU would support such a project financially (e.g. films in "minority langauges" lol)

 Well, obviously you guys have no idea about relations between Russia and Baltic states... Russian language is being fervently exterminated in Baltic countries, and if you ask something in Russian in a shop, you can get no answer, and it would be at best. They shoot social TV clips there, and Russian speaking people look negative in those clips. All that is done to cultivate hostility to Russian language. To imagine that some director would start to shoot there a film where characters would speak in Russian, is just impossible.
Actually, I don't think all those new countries have its own cinema in the full sense of the word, at least. Time is needed for that, and much of time, and a lot of good, gifted, talented directors. For this, good schools and institutes are needed (the best ones were in Russia during Soviet times, and everyone strove to Moscow if they wanted to achieve something). Those institutes can't be created and become the best if you have only five or ten years. Also, money is needed, and many other conditions.

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## Basil77

> _Lord,  I don't know how normal honest people survived the 1990s in Russia!  It seemed like such a crazy time. Every time we turned on the TV there were dramatic news about Russia. Respect to everybody who lived through that!_

 Well, it were hard times, but I feel myself in real danger only once, then this mess took place: 
[video:24znf6o0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hCJjfXZ_7M[/video:24znf6o0] 
I was stupid 16 y.o. who was wandering along the Moscow streets and drinking beer with several friends when all this started. At first it was "cool", but when we saw several wounded people and even corpses, our only wish was to get out of there as fast as possible. Luckily my mom didn't know that I was in Moscow that day, in that case she could get a heart attack.

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## Hanna

Gosh, you were near that!   ::  
The failed "revolution". I guess you can tell your mother now!  
Haha, well at that same time I was at university... Studying political philosphy among other things. It sure felt strange to read Marx and Althusser, and write essays on Socialism as the USSR was literally falling apart in every sense of the word...  _(I did not love the USSR, but I had a lot of respect for it, and I had been hoping that it would reform to become more social democratic and less oppressive.)_ 
In retrospect it seems that so many things were done wrong in the 1990s. For starters it seems you guys (all Russians) got ROBBED by the oligarchs in full view of your government. It's no wonder people got upset at Gorbachev'. I can't remember what triggered the revolution attempt. But it's hard to understand in retrospect why people liked Yeltsin so much. He seems to have allowed some seriously bad things to happen while he was president.  
I am going to write a comment about the Russian language problems in the Baltic States that Olya mentioned. But I'll put it in the Political Discussions section.

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## Hanna

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- *"Soul" Film that Olya hadn't heard of... *  
Gosh absolutely everything can be found on Youtube!!  *Funky synth music from 1982 -- yeah baby!*   :: * Very retro!!* 
[video:2hlenu85]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57X8xPb7mqE[/video:2hlenu85]

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## alexB

> [Personally I noticed the following: 
> --There are hardly no films from the 1940s or 1950s..  Very few 1990s. 
> It would be nice to get a few more titles - that way the list could be: * "101 Greatest Hits of Russian Cinema"* 
> .

 You may often hear these days, at least from people of older generation, that today’s films are, to say the least, no good and there were days when they _were_ good, meaning right the 50s that you noticed as neglected in the list and maybe the 40s too. Personally I pretty much share their disapproval of what’s being done in the field today, but for very few exceptions. I can’t put my finger on it, but I can’t watch today’s movies, as simple as that, I can’t stomach them.  Sperk was curious early on as to the meaning of the expression “душа не принимает”, this is just the case – it doesn’t. But whereas I could watch the old movies back in the Soviet times and they seemed very good to me then, now I suddenly find it I can’t watch them either.  I didn’t notice then but now I see there’s no step a character makes that’s not ruled by the soviet ideology. There’s no place there for simple human emotions, if you love somebody you have to remember that your priority is to love your motherland and the Communist Party, when someone dies on a battlefield he cannot die without taking his comrades’ word to consider him a communist and before you go to bed you have to make sure you have done everything you could for the five-year plan to be successfully fulfilled ahead of schedule. So the films left for me to watch are the ones that ideology touched but lightly, comedies of the 60s – 70s. That was where producers through sarcasms and innuendoes could more or less express their true feelings.
Here are some additions to the list. They must be comedies too or somewhere close. *Добро пожаловать, или посторонним вход запрещён.* 1964г. Элем Климов. *Золотой телёнок*. 1968г. Михаил Швейцер. *Начало.* 1970г. Глеб Панфилов. *Забытая мелодия для флейты*. 1987г. Эльдар Рязанов. 
And one more thing - *Здравствуйте, я ваша тётя*  is the stupidest film ever, in my point of view of course.

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## Оля

> Начало. 1970г. Глеб Панфилов.
> Забытая мелодия для флейты. 1987г. Эльдар Рязанов.

 Oh yes, I second that! I LOVE these two films! (only "Начало" is not a comedy, no...)
I also have recollected another very good Russian film, "*Чучело*". 
P.S. And another one! "*Дом, в котором я живу*". It was shot in 1957, but I don't think "there is no place there for simple human emotions", as alexb wrote; I believe quite the contrary. Another film shot in the very same year, "The Cranes Are Flying" also doesn't seem to be an ideological film. Oh, and also "*Судьба человека*" that was shot in 1959! I don't remember if there is any piece of Soviet ideology there - maybe there are some... which is doubtful, anyway - but I only remember true poignant human emotions there, and fantastic acting... This is very true that there were many ideologocal Soviet films at that time; but most of them are forgotten now.

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## paulb

I noticed Andrei Rublev (1966) was not on the list.  
There's a Ukrainian film I enjoyed quite a bit called Friend of the Deceased (1997). It has a little bit of Ukrainian in it but the rest is in Russian. 
Also, Akira Kurasawa made a very good film entirely in Russian: Dersu Uzala (1975). 
I'm sure this one has been brought up in other discussions, but I just recently enjoyed watching Eastern Promises. It's a film about the Russian mafia in London. It is not a Russian film in any sense, but it has a good amount of Russian language in it.

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## Hanna

Thanks for the tip about "Friend of the deceased" sounds interesting. I'd like to know more about Ukraine, but I don't want to watch any film where the speech is in Ukrainian, for fear of confusing myself... (since I am struggling with the Russian as it is...)  
I saw Eastern Promises on cable TV  - I didn't like it too much. 
Akira Kurasawa - Japanese??  In 1975 that's surprising! Has anyone seen this film?

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## Hanna

Thanks for the tips from AlexB and Olya!
Those will go on that list. I will update in and re-upload.  
It was very interesting to read Alex' view on Russian film making past and present. *    
			
				Добро пожаловать, или посторонним вход запрещён. 1964г. Элем Климов.
Золотой телёнок. 1968г. Михаил Швейцер.
Начало. 1970г. Глеб Панфилов.
Забытая мелодия для флейты. 1987г. Эльдар Рязанов.
			
		  Brilliant, thanks!  
Several people have mentioned political /ideological messages in Soviet films..* 
I honestly don't think it's a problem in the films I've seen from the 1960s and onwards... 
I think the directors were simply avoiding politics as much as they could.  
And as a comparison, if you watch Hollywood films there is also politics in it. It's just more subtle and woven into the film in such a way that people don't instantly notice it.  
The 1980s were prime for films with a pro-US political  messages. I don't know if you have watched such films post 1991 in Russia - but if not, believe: Many of the big hits of the 1980s were pure politics... Of course with a good story and good music.  
Back in school, in Sweden, we did a review of popular current films for a "citizenship skills". The idea was to look for political messages in films from East and West. That was a very good exercise. 
Even today there is plenty of politics coming out of Hollywood. Consumerism, general pro-US worldview and plenty of national stereotyping.  
Personally I enjoy independant films (lower budgets) for this reason.

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## Lampada

> ...Akira Kurasawa - Japanese??  In 1975 that's surprising! Has anyone seen this film?

 Thanks to our friend Birubir ( http://www.youtube.com/user/birubirFilms ) it's all on the Youtube:   http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... type=&aq=f

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## Оля

> Броненосец Потёмкин	1925	Battleship Potemkin	I don't remember it well, but maybe "historical"
> Чапаев	1934	Chapaev	
> Летят журавли	1957	Cranes are Flying one of The Great Patriotic War films
> Дама с собачкой	1960	The Lady with the Little Dog	drama
> Пес барбос и необычный кросс	1961	Barbos and the Extraordinary Cross	a comedy; a short film
> Я шагаю по Москве	1964	Walking the Streets of Moscow	
> Тридцать Три 	1965	Thirty Three	
> Неуловимые мстители	1966	The Elusive Revengers Adventures 
> Фильм, Фильм, Фильм	1968	Film Film Film! cartoon
> ...

 Also, I don't know why it stands in your list that "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" is a Mystery.   ::

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## Winifred

может быть добавить фильм  “Сказ про то, как царь Пётр арапа женил” (мелодрама, 1976 г.) ? Владимир Высoцкий играл главную роль, он играл дедушки Пушкина. мне это ужасно понравилась.  
Maybe, add the film "How Peter the First Married Off His Moor" (melodrama, 1976)?  Vladimir Vysоtsky played the leading role, he played Pushkin's grandfather.  I enjoyed it immensely!

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## Dogboy182

> To be honest, the word combination "other Russian speaking countries" sounds strange to me.  I don't think directors in those countries would shoot any films in Russian, even if they like Russia and Russians and Russian language. There are too many geopolitical conditions about that. Some exceptions could be in Ukraine, but I don't think they have money for making movies now. All the more so about Belarus.

 I've been in Bishkek for the last 2 months. I work with Kyrgy Nationals everyday and we watch a lot of TV in our downtime.  
I can tell you there are quite a number of Movies and TV shows that are made in Russian though, a lot of them have Kyrgyz language mixed in as well. I don't think thats grounds to disqualify the movies though, since there are thousands of movies that have foriegn languages spoken in them. Does Arnold saying "hasta la vista" in terminator make it a non-english movie?  
I think the situation is just one that, outsideof Kyrgyzstan, nobody really cares. When I was living in America, you never really heard about Canadian or Australian movies. You had to go out and find them. So I doubt that movies from other Russian speaking countries would have a lot of distribution
inside of Russia when you can just watch a Russian movie instead. 
Anyways, long story short, they do exhist.

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## Winifred

Also, _Ilya Muromets_, director: Alexander Ptushko, 1956  
Тоже _Илья Муромец_, режиссёр: Александр Птушко, 1956 г  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Muromets_(film)

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## Hanna

*Thanks Olya* for helping with the categories! 
I'm going to update that spreadsheet so that the finnished version is the first thing that people see when they open this topic.  
That summary is probably very obvious to most Russian people... 
But to those who don't speak Russian this information would be very hard to find out... So it's a very useful list. I'll make sure that the latest version is available on Rapidshare.  *@Winifred* - I'm adding the film that you  mention, thanks!   ::   *@Dogboy*- ur British right? What are you doing in Kirgistan?? I'm very curious!   ::

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## Lampada

> ...*@Dogboy*- ur British right? What are you doing in Kirgistan?? I'm very curious!

 He is American.    
Неужели учишь киргизский?

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## Оля

To be honest, I don't think that cartoons and children's films should be in the general list of greatest hits. It only confuses, especially cartoons. Probably there should be three lists.

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## Hanna

> To be honest, I don't think that cartoons and children's films should be in the general list of greatest hits. It only confuses, especially cartoons. Probably there should be three lists.

 Yeah, that's a good point. I'll remove those. (= chidrens plus cartoons).

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## Zubr

Как же это возможно, чтобы фильм «стачка» не принадлежал к такому списку?

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## it-ogo

"Посредник" http://www.kinopoisk.ru/level/1/film/43169/ 
Just a personal opinion. 
This film was understood and accepted by few people, but it is in my top 3 ever. It's a perfect masterpiece of the highest art. IMHO.  ::

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## Оля

> Как же это возможно, чтобы фильм «Стачка» [s:2xkpa4dl]не принадлежал к такому списку[/s:2xkpa4dl] не вошел в этот список?

 It's not famous among Russians.   ::  I, for one, have never heard of it (to my shame, since the director is Eisenstein...* ) 
* if that's the film you meant, he he..  ::

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## Tom

I've spent a lot of money at RussianDVD.com, and I have about 50 Russian movies in my collection.  Many of them are on the list in the first post of this thread.  But I'm surprised that one of my absolute favorites is not listed: 
Водитель для Веры         2004             A Driver for Vera 
I've lent this DVD to several of my English-speaking friends, and they all rate it as one of the top 100 movies they've ever seen, in any language. 
Did it get good reviews in Russia?

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## studyr

Best Russian films by rating.

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## Оля

> I've spent a lot of money at RussianDVD.com, and I have about 50 Russian movies in my collection.  Many of them are on the list in the first post of this thread.  But I'm surprised that one of my absolute favorites is not listed: 
> Водитель для Веры         2004             A Driver for Vera 
> I've lent this DVD to several of my English-speaking friends, and they all rate it as one of the top 100 movies they've ever seen, in any language. 
> Did it get good reviews in Russia?

 A good movie, but nothing more than that for me. There were many films that touched me much more than this one.

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## Basil77

Just checked the list above. My opinion: well, it's some kind of collection of Russian movies of various genre, most of them are worth to be here but at least twice amount of the same or best quality are not named. For example, I suggest to exchange "33" (not the best movie, although one of my favorite actors, Evgeniy Leonov plays there) to "Полосатый рейс". Suggestions for adding to the list (that came in mind first): "Офицеры", "Гусарская баллада", "Освобождение".

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## Оля

> For example I saw just one film with one of my favorite actors Evgeniy Leonov: "33".

 But in the list also there are: "Кин-Дза-Дза", "Джентельмены удачи", "Осенний марафон", "Убить дракона".   ::

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## Basil77

> Originally Posted by Basil77  For example I saw just one film with one of my favorite actors Evgeniy Leonov: "33".   But in the list also there are: "Кин-Дза-Дза", "Джентельмены удачи", "Осенний марафон", "Убить дракона".

  Оль , я уже исправился, но ты меня опередила. Принял за список выдержку из него, где Йоханна уточняет жанровую принадлежность  ::  . Извиняюсь, пьян, стыд...    ::

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## Оля

> Оль , я уже исправился, но ты меня опередила.

 Вообще-то и правда в списке очень неудобно искать, так как он не упорядочен по алфавиту.  ::

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## Hanna

Oops I just updated the sheet actually, and I just saw this comment by you Basil!  *Yeah, well as you can imagine, I don't really know what I'm talking about!*  
I am certainly no expert on Russian films -  I've seen perhaps a third of these films, well over a decade ago apart from a few that I found online and watched since.  
The idea of the list is to help people who are starting with Russian and would like to use films to get familiar with the langauge, or just to for increasing their existing skills. They may not know what to watch.  
It's really hard to research anything relating to Russia unless you know Russian.. 
So this is to help people who don't have the skills to do their own research.   *Feel free to grab the list from Rapidshare (in Excel, see first post) and add some more film or delete any real miss. If you then send it back to me, I'll do a jpg and add it.* 
Actually it would be great if someone did that!!!
I do not claim any "copyright" lol on this list, so just grab it and do what you like with it! 
I'm really pleased just to have a good summary of some good films to watch.

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## alexB

> For example, I suggest to exchange "33" (not the best movie, although one of my favorite actors, Evgeniy Leonov plays there) to "Полосатый рейс".

 О чём ты говоришь? Это же Данелия! Чурикова, Крамаров, Мкртчан, Невинный, про Леонова вообще говорить не стоит! Там что ни слово – то комедийная жемчужина. Другое дело – иностранцы вряд ли поймут юмора, здесь нужен уровень носителя. Я б Мкртчану за один только его эпизод, с  несколькими словами и жестами, Оскара прописал. 
Полосатый рейс? Он может нравиться разве лишь как воспоминание о веселом, ушедшем детстве. Где смеяться взрослому человеку? «Красиво плывут в полосатых купальниках»! Обхохочешься! Дурацкая мартышка и тигры, которым плевать на всех, кто там вокруг изображает ужас и путается под ногами.
Уж если так хочется видеть фильм в списке, предложи его народу, а он уж сам решит. Места до сотни ещё много.

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## Hanna

Ollie - the list is now sorted alphabetically, have a look to see if it's more convenient...

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## Оля

> Ollie

 He he, I like this spelling...   ::     

> - the list is now sorted alphabetically, have a look to see if it's more convenient...

 Yes, but "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" is still indicated as a Mytery there.  ::

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## Basil77

> Originally Posted by Basil77   For example, I suggest to exchange "33" (not the best movie, although one of my favorite actors, Evgeniy Leonov plays there) to "Полосатый рейс".   О чём ты говоришь? Это же Данелия! Чурикова, Крамаров, Мкртчан, Невинный, про Леонова вообще говорить не стоит! Там что ни слово – то комедийная жемчужина. Другое дело – иностранцы вряд ли поймут юмора, здесь нужен уровень носителя. Я б Мкртчану за один только его эпизод, с  несколькими словами и жестами, Оскара прописал. 
> Полосатый рейс? Он может нравиться разве лишь как воспоминание о веселом, ушедшем детстве. Где смеяться взрослому человеку? «Красиво плывут в полосатых купальниках»! Обхохочешься! Дурацкая мартышка и тигры, которым плевать на всех, кто там вокруг изображает ужас и путается под ногами.
> Уж если так хочется видеть фильм в списке, предложи его народу, а он уж сам решит. Места до сотни ещё много.

 На вкус, как говорится, и цвет... Я вот Данелию не особо перевариваю.  И не считаю, что классно сделаные смешные эпизоды оправдывают совсем за уши притянутый сюжет. Даже в фильмах с Лесли Нильсоном общая сюжетная линия не выглядит так идиотски. Ваш долбаный арт-хаус - не моя фишка, мне всё больше мэйн-стрим подавай.  ::

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## Оля

Among classical Soviet films, I'd like to suggest some more: _1975 — Звезда пленительного счастья
1982 — Полёты во сне и наяву_ 
Also, I like a lot these two Post Soviet films: _2000 — Приходи на меня посмотреть
2002 — Любовник_
(By the way, the both are Oleg Yankovsky films, he plays the leading role in the both of them) 
Also, I'd like to say some words about Russian Great Patriotic War films... 
Mostly, foreigners who saw some of those films say they are too "depressive". That's what I hate. 
But....... What do you want a film about war to be???? A comedy? A romance? A detective? I don't understand people who don't like to see war on the screen, who feel boring or "depressive" seeing that, and who don't want to watch things which can "upset" them; who don't want to weep over anything but a milksoppy love story or a lapdog's or a kitten's death! They don't want to understand that there were real people who lived and died at war, and it did not look like an adventure, or like a story about one person, or two persons, a man and a woman, where people around didn't matter.
I HATE the film "The English Patient" where the main character is presented like a big hero who accomplishes "feats" in the name of "love". Listen, *he gave secret maps to fascists*!!! Having got those maps, fascists captured a city, took many prisoners, tortured people, cut off their fingers!!!...
The only opinion about that film I came across on the internet was "this is a great film about true love"... F*ck it!!!!! It looks like western viewers really have no idea about true feats. A true feat is to save a thousand people and not one person, even if that one is your beloved and those thousand are nobodies to you.
Moreover, the hero in "The English Patient" sacrificed a thousand of human lives for only a *chance* of saving the woman. That makes his action even more disgusting. Why do people like this film? For me, it's just a beautiful snivel in a beautiful wrapping. 
Here are some Russian forceful war films I'd recommend to watch:  _Проверка на дорогах
Офицеры
Летят журавли
Баллада о солдате
Восхождение (very forceful)
Судьба человека
А зори здесь тихие
Расскажи мне о себе (the only one which is not very famous, but it touched me a lot)
Иваново детство_ 
Also (famous films, too; not quite "war" films, but also about the subject) _Дом, в котором я живу
Военно-полевой роман
Белорусский вокзал
20 дней без войны_

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## Hanna

Done! 
And I learnt some new words while I did it...  
I added films suggested by *Basil77, iti-ogo, Winifred, PaulB, Olya, Zubr, Tom* *Thanks for making suggestions!*  ::  
Many of the films added are award winning, Oscar nominated etc. 
Have a look again, there are now 104 films on the list!   *If there is anything on the list which ought not be there because it's poor quality or anything else is wrong with it, do make a comment.* _(I don't know much about this subject really, I'm just doing it because I wanted to and it seemed like a worthwhile thing to do. I have not actually seen the majority of these films.)_   _ I added some keywords because I want the list to be picked up by the search engines. So I am going to repeat again that this is a list which contains all the greatest films and movies from Russian cinema over the last century. Did you get that bots? It's a list in English of the greatest movies and films from the Russian-speaking cinema of Russia, USSR and the Soviet Union_

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## CoffeeCup

Concerning the movie "A Man from Boulevard des Capucines" ("Человек с бульвара Капуцинов", " Chelovek s bulvara Kaputsinov" – 1987, by Alla Surikova): The movie genre is comedy-western (not drama). There was some short description in the films thread. 
I insist one movie must be added to the list "At Home Among Strangers, Stranger at Home" ("Свой среди чужих, чужой среди своих"). This movie is worth being not only in the top 100 but in the top 10 or even may be in the top 1   ::  . Even more this movie deserves its own genre "Eastern".

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## Оля

> I insist one movie must be added to the list "At Home Among Strangers, Stranger at Home" ("Свой среди чужих, чужой среди своих").

 I second that.  ::  
Johanna, you didn't add "Звезда пленительного счастья" (mmm... historical?) and "Полёты во сне и наяву" (drama).
Also, the film "Любовник" (2002) is not a romance at all, it's a drama.

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## rockzmom

Group.... two thinks for everyone to chime in about...  *1st item:*
Olya made a wonderful posting about "war' movies and I also commented on them in the BIG catch all movie thread. I want to throw this out to everyone and see what you all think. Of the few "war" movies  I have watched, to me they are "dramas" set in a "war time" not a film about a "war" or a film which 90% of it is with soldiers and takes place on a battle field.  
SO, using the example of "The Cranes are Flying" I would never consider this a "war" film and if I am looking for a film to watch off of this list, I would probably skip over this film because, well... as Olya has correctly stated, I would not want to watch a movie which would upset me too much (unless I really was in the mood). On the flip side, if I were a real war buff and selected this film because I saw it was a "war" film on the list, I would probably be disappointed. 
That leaves us in a dilemma. How can we categorize these films so people will "want" to watch them and not be mislead and also stay true to "Russians" and how they view and know the films?  
Right now, Johanna only has one category for each film. On the BIG movie thread, I have more than one for some of them. Once again using the example of "The Cranes are Flying," I have this one listed as (Drama/Romance/War), how does this sit with all of you? Johanna, how would you feel about having more than one category for some of the films? 
Does anyone else have a better or other solution to this?   ::   *2nd item:*
Personally, would love to see one more column added to note if it won or was nomitnated for any awards or not.  Just a simple:
Award Winner/Nominated
Yes  
would be great to know when helping to decide upon a film to select to watch and to know a little more something about the film. Johanna, you even noted it in your last comment. You can leave off the "no" if they did/were not. 
What does everone think about that?

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## Hanna

*Great ideas rockzmom!*  ::  
Actually, it was quite hard for me to make this list bearing in mind that I only know a few hundred words of Russian PLUS I haven't actually seen most of the films on the list myself. It took some time to find the most appropriate (and internationally used) translation for some of the films. 
But I thought it would be very helpful to have a list like this and I will use it myself.  
I completely agree that the director should be on the list. 
Possibly also any national or international awards that it has won (many of these won several... ) However finding out about that for 105 films is quite a job!  
I just didn't think of using two categories with "/" in between --- but that's a really good idea. 
From the point of view of somebody who is learning Russian, it is useful to know whether subtitles exist for the film. But that is fairly advanced. 
Just bear one thing in mind: If the list has too many columns, then it won't fit on the page (it will get too wide). Unless the font is reduced further. 
I think it would be A LOT faster if somebody who speaks better Russian than me and has actually seen most of the films on the list would download the list from http://rapidshare.com/files/281542471/rusfilms.xls.html and make some updates.  The list is in Microsoft Excel format, so it helps if you have basic skills in Excel (for re-sorting the list etc.) It's very easy to add another column for "Director" and any other suitable category. When you are finished you can just upload it again to Rapidshare. I can then grab it and make another picture. If somebody wants to help but doesn't know Excel I can add the columns to make it super-easy to update and re-sort it after the updates.   
If nobody is able to help with this then I'll simply update with the film that was suggested by Coffeecup and the ones that Olya mentioned which I had missed.

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## Hanna

One idea came to mind:  *It's a real shame about some great films that don't have subtitles.*  _For me, I will have to leave them until my Russian gets better. But Rockzmom for instance would miss out completely._  
I suppose that there are Russian subtitles for ALL  of these films (in order to help deaf Russians or whatever). So one idea would be to grab the Russian subtitles, open them in "SubtitleEdit " (software) save as text and then run it through an online translator, then save it again in subtitle format...  But the quality from Google, Yandex etc  would be HORRIBLE and I haven't actually tested this, there might be technical restrictions although it ought to work.   *Another option is if somebody who is learning English is interested in a project:* Fan-subbing a film of their choice.   ::  
Creating subtitles appears to be quite easy - it's done by teenagers all the time. I am sure there are lots of guides online. If Russian subs already exist then it's particularly easy, you just use the existing timings on those subtitles - all you'd have to do is enter the translation.  
The benefit for the potential translator would be that a native English speaker from this site could then help to correct his English - so it would be like an exercise that he'd learn A LOT from; how to say a whole range of everyday phrases from a film. Pretty useful practice. After they were finished, the subs could be uploaded international subtitle sites where they would benefit lots of people.

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## Dogboy182

Oh. I realize its a tad late. But yeah, I'm from the US, but Ive been working  in England for 3 years now. I was sent to Kyrgyzstan in july to help our people out there for a bit. But I'm back in England now, got back last week. 
I'm going to be transferring to Moscow here pretty soon.Though, I don't see how posting a picture of me would prove me to be American or British... ?  ::

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## tom_r

> One idea came to mind:  *It's a real shame about some great films that don't have subtitles.*  _For me, I will have to leave them until my Russian gets better. But Rockzmom for instance would miss out completely._  
> I suppose that there are Russian subtitles for ALL  of these films (in order to help deaf Russians or whatever). So one idea would be to grab the Russian subtitles, open them in "SubtitleEdit " (software) save as text and then run it through an online translator, then save it again in subtitle format...  But the quality from Google, Yandex etc  would be HORRIBLE and I haven't actually tested this, there might be technical restrictions although it ought to work.   *Another option is if somebody who is learning English is interested in a project:* Fan-subbing a film of their choice.   
> Creating subtitles appears to be quite easy - it's done by teenagers all the time. I am sure there are lots of guides online. If Russian subs already exist then it's particularly easy, you just use the existing timings on those subtitles - all you'd have to do is enter the translation.  
> The benefit for the potential translator would be that a native English speaker from this site could then help to correct his English - so it would be like an exercise that he'd learn A LOT from; how to say a whole range of everyday phrases from a film. Pretty useful practice. After they were finished, the subs could be uploaded international subtitle sites where they would benefit lots of people.

 I think that is a great idea. I've just recently started watching Russian movies for the benefit of learning Russian, but I'd love to watch them with English subtitles just for enjoyment. 
I think something like this thread would work well. Here, *gRomoZeka* was translating the subtitles for a kids film called "Каникулы Петрова и Васечкина." Part 1 was posted on You Tube, but it doesn't look like it has been worked on since last year. 
In regards to your comment about using an electronic translator, I tried it, "HORRIBLE" is an understatement. I ripped the subtitles myself (I couldn't find them online anywhere) for the movie above ("Каникулы Петрова и Васечкина") and its prequel, saved it as a text file and ran it through Google Translate. I think it has something to do with how the sentences are broken up into different lines in the subtitle file, Google thinks they are separate phrases. 
As an English speaker, I can help with making the end result sound better in English.

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## rockzmom

I know our very own Olya has already done a few movies and Basil tired a cartoon recently.

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## rockzmom

Johanna, some of the things you to want to add to your list, if subtitles are out there, awards additonal genre types, that information I already have on the list of films on page 13 of the BIG film thread. And the links to the Wiki pages for each movie is there as well and that usually has the director's name listed on it. I even have most of the links to find the films, if you want to add that column (but it might make it too wide). 
Example from the BIG movie thread:
"*The Cranes are Flying*", (Летят Журавли, Letyat Zhuravli), 1957 
(Drama/Romance/War)  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cranes_Are_Flying  *Awards*
Winner of Palme d'Or at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival
Winner of Special Mention Award for Tatyana Samojlova at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival
Winner Diploma of Merit, Foreign Actress (Tatyana Samojlova) at the 1958 Jussi Awards (Finland) 
You can download this video (avi-file with English subtitles, DivX or XViD, 25 fps) from Russian Yandex-server. It's very easy.
How to download a movie:
1. Enter the following link: http://narod.ru/disk/7257110000/The_..._subs.avi.html  ________________
So from that information you already can add or update:  
Awards/Nominations        
Yes                                  
Subtitles      
 Yes 
Genre
(Drama/Romance/War) 
and if you want, even include the link...
Film available online http://narod.ru/disk/7257110000/The_..._subs.avi.html 
and from the Wiki link I found: 
Director                     
Mikhail Kalatozov 
If you want the Director column.

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## Оля

> I suppose that there are Russian subtitles for ALL  of these films (in order to help deaf Russians or whatever).

 Believe me, NO. 
Even if _some_ DVD editions _sometimes, accidentally_, have Russian subtitles, those subtitles are abridged, that is they don't correspond 100% to what actors say.

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## fortheether

> Among classical Soviet films, I'd like to suggest some more: _1975 — Звезда пленительного счастья
> 1982 — Полёты во сне и наяву_ 
> Also, I like a lot these two Post Soviet films: _2000 — Приходи на меня посмотреть
> 2002 — Любовник_
> (By the way, the both are Oleg Yankovsky films, he plays the leading role in the both of them) 
> Also, I'd like to say some words about Russian Great Patriotic War films... 
> Mostly, foreigners who saw some of those films say they are too "depressive". That's what I hate. 
> But....... What do you want a film about war to be???? A comedy? A romance? A detective? I don't understand people who don't like to see war on the screen, who feel boring or "depressive" seeing that, and who don't want to watch things which can "upset" them; who don't want to weep over anything but a milksoppy love story or a lapdog's or a kitten's death! They don't want to understand that there were real people who lived and died at war, and it did not look like an adventure, or like a story about one person, or two persons, a man and a woman, where people around didn't matter.
> I HATE the film "The English Patient" where the main character is presented like a big hero who accomplishes "feats" in the name of "love". Listen, *he gave secret maps to fascists*!!! Having got those maps, fascists captured a city, took many prisoners, tortured people, cut off their fingers!!!...
> ...

 Оля,
   What an excellent post.  Thank you for it.  I am not one of those foreigners that want a "happy" war movie.  In the 40's folks in your part of the world went through some really bad stuff.  Tell me about it.  Do not dress it up.  I can take it. 
Scott

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## Оля

> ...Tell me about it.  Do not dress it up.  I can take it.

 I am sorry, Scott, maybe it's my bad English, but you last words sound to me like there is a grain of sarcasm in them. Sorry, if I was too cruel to "western viewers", and of course, I didn't live in the 40's and I, personally, can't tell you or anyone else about that time. But, you know... it's not something political about the western and Russian ideas of WWII movies. It's just another human point of view. In Russian cinema, it's always a story about people, about a human nature, a war _drama_. In American/Western cinema, it's always an _action movie_, an _adventure_, where facts and events are more important than people. I don't like it, and I find it wrong.   

> Of the few "war" movies  I have watched, to me they are "dramas" set in a "war time" not a film about a "war" or a film which 90% of it is with soldiers and takes place on a battle field.  
> SO, using the example of "The Cranes are Flying" I would never consider this a "war" film

 I have already said that before, in other thread, and have said that just in this very post above, and I don't know why, but I'd like to repeat it again.   ::  Russian WWII films are dramas, not action movies, so let's call them "war dramas" henceforth and unto ages of ages.

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## fortheether

> Originally Posted by fortheether  ...Tell me about it.  Do not dress it up.  I can take it.   I am sorry, Scott, maybe it's my bad English, but you last words sound to me like there is a grain of sarcasm in them. Sorry, if I was too cruel to "western viewers", and of course, I didn't live in the 40's and I, personally, can't tell you or anyone else about that time. But, you know... it's not something political about the western and Russian ideas of WWII movies. It's just another human point of view. In Russian cinema, it's always a story about people, about a human nature, a war _drama_. In American/Western cinema, it's always an _action movie_, an _adventure_, where facts and events are more important than people. I don't like it, and I find it wrong.        Originally Posted by rockzmom  Of the few "war" movies  I have watched, to me they are "dramas" set in a "war time" not a film about a "war" or a film which 90% of it is with soldiers and takes place on a battle field.  
> SO, using the example of "The Cranes are Flying" I would never consider this a "war" film   I have already said that before, in other thread, and have said that just in this very post above, and I don't know why, but I'd like to repeat it again.   Russian WWII films are dramas, not action movies, so let's call them "war dramas" henceforth and unto ages of ages.

 Оля,
   No sarcasm at all.  I was trying to say that films that are about bad things like World War II should not sugar coat (dress it up) what happened.  They should tell the truth, the whole truth.  I wasn't asking you to tell me about the 40's.  I was saying that a film about those times should tell the whole story.  I was also trying to say that I can take watching the whole truth.  OK? 
Scott

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## Оля

> I wasn't asking you to tell me about the 40's.  I was saying that a film about those times should tell the whole story.

 Oh, I see now, sorry for misunderstanding. 
Guys, it's incredible, but we somehow forgot many Andrey Mironov's famous films (Andrey Mironov was a great, fantastically popular and terribly beloved by people Soviet actor who died in the age of 46). So, the addition: _Блодинка за углом (Rom-com)
Достояние республики (Drama / Comedy / Musical)
Мой друг Иван Лапшин (Drama)
Обыкновенное чудо (Melodrama / Parable)
Соломенная шляпка (Musical comedy)
Фантазии Фарятьева (Drama)_

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## BappaBa

> I was trying to say that films that are about bad things like World War II should not sugar coat (dress it up) what happened.  They should tell the truth, the whole truth.

 Что-то я не очень понял, он от чьего кинематографа ждет правды? Голливуд уже снял фильм про гуманное использование атомной бомбы? Дважды...

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## Lt. Columbo

фишка в том, что фильмы, каковы бы они не были, кажутся скучными без этого "человеческого фактора". можно, конечно, снять какую-нить ленту и показать все ужасы войны (как "Иди, посмотри"), но без, допустим, любовной интриги, намного сложнее завоевать интерес зрителя.
Когда мы каким-нить образом пережили то, что переживают главные герои, мы словно взаимодействуем с ними и нам интересно, что с ними будет.   ::

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## Оля

> фишка в том, что фильмы, каковы бы они ни были, кажутся скучными без этого "человеческого фактора". можно, конечно, снять какую-нить ленту и показать все ужасы войны (как "Иди и посмотри"), но без, допустим, любовной интриги, намного сложнее завоевать интерес зрителя.

 Странно одно - почему надо считать "человеческим фактором" только любовную интригу?
А если два бойца в отряде конфиликтуют, чуть ли не дерутся, а когда одного из них ранили, и второй его на себе тащит и говорит ему "ты прости меня за всё" - это не человеческий фактор?

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## Hanna

A friend of mine studied "Filmography" or whatever it's called, at University. She once explained this:_ In order for the viewing experience to be emotional, the viewer needs to identify with a character from the film. 
People "identify" with film characters who are:
1) Of the same gender (sex) as themselves
2) Same nationality 
3) Same race_  _Scenery, climate and culture_ also plays in with how people relate to the film. But if the characters are well portrayed, then it doesn't matter.  Not all criteria need to be filled, just one or two - enough so that you can identify with one or more character.  
So supposedly, if you cannot identify with anybody in the film, then you either get bored or you are just watching the film to learn something.  
I can't add much to the debate about the war film debate, but the only war films that ever made me cry as far as I remember were 1) an black/white Russian WW2 film (can't remember the name) and an American Vietnam film from ca 1970s (name escapes me here too).  The WW2 film was good IMHO because it showed practically no actual warfare, just the effect of the war on regular peoples' lives. The Vietnam film was good because clearly conveyed the corruption and meaninglessness of that war and what it did to those who participated.

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## alexB

> ...but the only war films that ever made me cry as far as I remember were 1) an black/white Russian WW2 film (can't remember the name) and an American Vietnam film from ca 1970s (name escapes me here too)...

  

> "You know, you remind me of a poem I can't remember, and a song that may never have existed, and a place I'm not sure I've ever been to. I feel all funny. I'm in love."

   ::   ::

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## Hanna

_Ok Alex, point taken._  * UPDATED!*
I have now updated the Film list after getting some help from Olya. Some films that were not very famous were removed and some new ones were added. Several categories were also changed.  
See post above, or the first page. 
If anybody wants the Excel file for the list (allows you to cut & paste) then just grab it off Rapidshare, see link in the first post of this thread. 
When/if I have time, I will add some additional information such as Director, Awards and availability of subtitles.   *Thanks so much Sperk  for posting the link to the site that lists availability to subtitles.  Great!*  Unfortunately there are several films I'd like to watch that don't have subtitles.   ::

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## Lt. Columbo

ну, я не считаю, что чел. фактор это исключительно любовная интрига, она просто первая пришла в голову (потому что наверное Дом 2 насмотрелся    ::  )

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## Hanna

*UPDATED:*

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## Basil77

Johanna, you had mentioned that there is a lack of films from 90es in the list, and I'v remembered the one that I like (when I saw it on TV couple of days ago). It's Shirly-Mirly (1995) by Vladimir Menshov (the one who got an Oscar for "Moscow don't believe in tears"). It's a very dumb comedy but I love it!  ::

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## Hanna

Thanks for the tip!
I recognise the title but I don't know anything about it. I don't think I've seen it - must have just heard the name. 
But I can't find anything about it on IMDB,  or anywhere really! 
How is this spelled in Russian?

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## Basil77

> How is this spelled in Russian?

 Ширли-мырли

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## starrysky

What, no "В бой идут одни старики"/Only Old Men Are Going to Battle?!   ::   That's my favourite Russian film (although strictly speaking it's Ukrainian, since it was written and directed by the great Ukrainian actor Leonid Bykov).

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## Hanna

Interesting! Well, in my opinion the list should be about films in the Russian language and that the location is less important. Let's see what other people think.. I don't know anything about this film.

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## BappaBa

> although strictly speaking it's Ukrainian, since it was written and directed by the great Ukrainian actor Leonid Bykov.

 Оранжевая чумка?

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## starrysky

It's a war drama about Russian (I s'pose I should say Soviet   ::  ) fighter pilots in WWII and it's absolutely great. Besides drama it's got wonderful songs and a lot of jokes. As far as know it's loved by many Russian people, so I was a bit surprised not to find it on the list - it is a Soviet film although it was made by the Dovzhenko studio, which is in Kiev, if I'm not mistaken, and the great Ukrainian Leonid Bykov stars in it, besides having written and directed it as well. Bykov has got a wonderful monument to himself in Kiev. My eternal gratitude goes to Ukraine for having produced this man.   ::     
And, you know, I used to think the Ukrainian language was a bit funny (and I do still, in fact, - lots of words sound funny to my Russian ear), but when Vladimir Talashko sings (in Ukrainian) "Нiч яка мiсячна" in this film I always cry . I didn't understand it, of course, the first time I heard it, as I don't understand Ukrainian properly, but I did catch one line (though somewhat vaguely) "Я ж тебе, вірная, аж до хатиноньки Сам на руках однесу".   ::   
Oh, and I see "Карнавальная ночь"/Carnival night is not on the list. It's not exactly my favourite, not in my 30 favourites, actually, but it's got the famous Lyudmila Gurchenko in it and it always gets shown on New Year. It's got this famous song in it - "Пять минут"/"Five minutes". Oh well, I suppose it's not possible to cram everything into just one hundred.   ::  I haven't seen many of the films listed here, but I suppose they're not famous for nothing. Has anyone actually seen "Бумер"? Does it deserve its pIace here? Because I haven't and somehow I've got but a poor impression of it... I'm a bit apprehensive about modern Russian cinema in general and don't watch much of it, though I guess I should. The last things I saw were "The Star" and "The Barber of Siberia". They were great. Guess I might try "Адмирал" and "Девятая рота" one day, as I have read some good reviews...   
Anyway, the list is very interesting but is there a thread called "Your (10/20/30) favourite Russian films" or something? It would be interesting (for me, at least) to see what films are actually the most popular.

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## starrysky

> Originally Posted by starrysky  although strictly speaking it's Ukrainian, since it was written and directed by the great Ukrainian actor Leonid Bykov.   Оранжевая чумка?

 No, I was just wondering about why it's not on the list. Maybe the Ukrinians have appropriated it?   ::  
P.S. Since it's in Russian there can be no objections to it being included here.   ::

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## starrysky

Whoa, just noticed that also missing are "Весна на Заречной улице" and "Девчата".   ::   They are old films to be sure, (and might be called chick flicks   ::  ) but I've always thought them to be very popular. They've got charming Rybnikov in the leading roles. Gosh, it's a pity people tend to forget them. I'd definitely rate them over "Чапаев"...

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## Hanna

Chick flicks with a charming male lead!? 
I don't think I've seen these films bit they sound excellent!  ::   ::  
Olya, Zaya, Lampada - what do you think? 
I think these should be on the list.
Thanks Starrysky!

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## Lampada

So far I agree with Starrysky with everything she's said.  
There are more of my favorites missing there:  "Dima Gorin's Career",  "The Zigzag of Luck" 
Карьера Димы Горина:   http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... type=&aq=f

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## starrysky

Aurright then, I've finally read the whole thread (having just skimmed through it first   ::  ) Some of the discussions were very interesting and I'm constantly making mental notes about what things to watch - lots of interesting stuff it appears to be.   ::   
Two more films are absent which are very famous - *"Операция Ы"* and *"Невероятные приключения итальянцев в России"*. They are both classic Soviet comedies which I never tire of watching.  
I second *"Добро пожаловать, или посторонним вход воспрещен"*. It's a very funny movie, but I don't know if foreign audiences would be entirely able to relate to the characters, because of the film's subject matter, which is Soviet pioneer camps ("пионерлагеря"), which were basically recreation centres for children during the summer holidays. Similar things exist now (there must be a place for children to go bananas and torture the supervising adults, besides school   ::  ), in the USA as well, except they're called something different (summer camps?) and they don't have the ideology - or maybe they've got boy scout ideology? Anyway, the film was directed by Elem Klimov and it's mostly about laughter and childhood memories. I personally have never been to a pioneer camp in my life (and not likely to go there now) but I like this film nonetheless.  
Elem Klimov also directed *"Иди и смотри"*, which has been mentioned here. I haven't seen it myself but read some rave reviews on amazon.com and talked about it with people who saw it. It's about the horrors that the Nazis perpetrated on the occupied Soviet territory. Klimov is actually from Belarus and he fought his way through the entire war and saw it all with his own eyes. So even if the film is rather depressing and scary I do think people should know how it was. I think the film was called "graphic" on amazon. I've had some horrible but enlightening experiences reading about WWII, notably the book called "War's Unwomanly Face" by Svetlana Alexievich and "What the Soviet People Fought For" by Alexandre Dukov. They are AWEFUL, particularly the latter, but people should read and remember it, so it doesn't happen again. We do have this saying about WWII - "No one is forgotten, nothing is forgotten". So, to sum up, war was portrayed in different ways in Russian cinema and while I love such films as "Ballad of a Soldier", "Only Old Men Are Going to Battle", "The Dawns Here Are Quiet", "The Star", even "Hussar's Ballad", which is more of a musical comedy, the 1812 war with Napoleon being just a backdrop, I think "Come and See" is on an entirely different level altogether. Although it's not a hit, as far as I can judge, it doesn't get shown so much on tv (probably because it's so horrible) and is not so well known. 
Фууф, where was I? Yes, thirdly, I'd like to sympathise with you, Johanna, about not all Russian films having subtitles. I think it's a shame. They don't care at all about people with hearing disabilities. Not to mention foreigners learning Russian. Well, Russia is notorious for its lack of care for disabled people, but I hope the situation will improve. The subtitles are hard to come by in French dvds as well, and when there are some, they are completely different from what is spoken on the screen, hence my not-so-perfect listening skills in French. Understanding spoken foreign language is the hardest activity of all, as we were taught in our teacher-training university, and I'm certainly grateful for the dvd era I live in - I've watched so many English/American films with subtitles that I'm fairly confident now. 
The subtitles for "Весна на Заречной улице" (and for other films as well) can be found here  http://subs.com.ru/page.php?id=3897 
And here's the lyrics for the song which plays at the beginning: 
Поёт Николай Рыбников *Когда весна придет не знаю...*
(А. Фатьянов, Б. Мокроусов ) 
Когда весна придет не знаю,
Пройдут дожди, сойдут снега,
Но ты мне улица родная 
И в непогоду дорога.  
На этой улице подростком
Гонял по крышам голубей,
И здесь на этом перекрестке
С любовью встретился своей. 
Теперь я сам не рад, что встретил.
Моя душа полна тобой,
Зачем, зачем на белом свете
Есть безответная любовь? 
Когда на улице Заречной,
В домах погашены огни -
Горят Мартеновские печи,
И день и ночь горят они. 
На свете много улиц славных,
Но не сменяю адрес я,
В моей душе ты стала главной
Родная улица моя. 
(Love it!) 
And I'd also like to second "Карьера Димы Горина". I haven't seen this film, except snippets, hope I will, it gets aired quite often on tv. As I said, I haven't seen many of the films on the list, so I can't really judge about those. I can only say that, for example, "Полосатый рейс" is shown, like, dozens of times throughout the year and everyone in my family knows and loves it and never tires of watching it, so I'd call it a hit, whereas until I read this thread I'd never heard of "Тридцать три". I'll be on the lookout for it now. Or "Чародеи" - once again, haven't seen it yet but I know that it's aired every New Year so it must be quite popular. I wouldn't perhaps vote for "Карнавальная ночь" to be on the list, because it's more of a background, atmosphere-creating film for every New Year.  
Another film that I like very much is *"Морозко"/Morozko* It's a wonderful film for anyone wishing to get a taste of the Russian culture. But since it's actually a children's film perhaps it would be better suited to a children's films/cartoons list. It's immensely popular not only in Russia but in former USSR countries as well. It's got every element of a Russian fairy-tale. I did hear that it wasn't very well received in the States - oh well, I guess it's like Indian cinema - very culturally-specific so either you like it for how different it is or you don't. Though the themes are quite universal - it's very Cinderella-like - wicked stepmother and stepsister, a kind fairy god-mother who saves the day - well, in this instance, Father Christmas. 
God, I do hope I'm not going to bore everybody's pants off with this post.   ::

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## Оля

> Olya, Zaya, Lampada - what do you think?

 The films Starrysky mentioned really are famous.

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## sperk

You can't go wrong with this movie: Белый Бим - Черное ухо  
Бим=a dog's name  http://www.kinopoisk.ru/level/1/film/46068/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077222/

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## starrysky

> You can't go wrong with this movie: Белый Бим - Черное ухо

 А я еще не смотрела этот фильм. Позор на мою седую голову. Но слышала много. Смотреть теперь боюсь - что угодно только не мучение животных. В "Войне и мир" не могла смотреть как бедного волчка на охоте мучили, глаза закрывала. 
eta: Вот еще на него ссылка на ozon.ru http://www.ozon.ru/context/detail/id/2357586/. Отзывы хорошие, подумываю посмотреть... 
Yesterday went to imdb.com to read up on Morozko and spent about two hours perusing the comments. Ужас. Didn't know whether to laugh or cry - such a debate! It's pretty funny, actually. 
Other famous and favourite titles -  *"Человек-амфибия"* which is a romnatic science fiction film http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055844/ *"Три плюс два"* - a rather popular rom com with Mironov http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0131207/ *"Гардемарины"* http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0125111/

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## Hanna

Thanks all! I will update this list soon.... Bear with me... !

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## alexB

Just another addition to the list, I hope everyone will agree, *«Служили два товарища»*. *Vysotskij*  *Высoцкий* played a leading part there, one of his best I think, as to the film itself - it’s superb, awesome, wonderful, terrific and what not, one of my favorites. How come it’s not on the list yet? There are three more very famous in Russian cinema actors engaged in the movie: *Ролан Быков, Олег Янковский и Анатолий Папанов*. If you are really interested in Russian cinema you must know those names, there’s no Russian, dead or alive,  ::   who doesn’t.

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## Оля

> Just another addition to the list, I hope everyone will agree, *«Служили два товарища»*.

 I agree. I love this movie! But I thought it was in the list already.

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## Basil77

I suggest another addition: "Земля Санникова". Not only the film itself is good and there are some brilliant actors, but the song from it is HUGE popular in former USSR and IMHO it has one of the best song lyrics either:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ-hnn1UASQ

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## starrysky

Yeah, good thought. 
"Есть только миг..."
Песня из кинофильма "Земля Санникова"
Автор слов — Леонид Дербенев, композитор — Александр Зацепин 
Призрачно все в этом мире бушующем
Есть только миг, за него и держись
Есть только миг между прошлым и будущим,
Именно он называется жизнь. 
Вечный покой сердце вряд ли обрадует,
Вечный покой для седых пирамид.
А для звезды, что сорвалась и падает,
Есть только миг, ослепительный миг.
А для звезды, что сорвалась и падает,
Есть только миг ослепительный миг. 
Пусть этот мир вдаль летит сквозь столетия,
Но не всегда по дороге мне с ним,
Чем дорожу, чем рискую на свете я
Мигом одним, только мигом одним. 
Счастье дано повстречать иль беду еще,
Есть только миг, за него и держись,
Есть только миг между прошлым и будущим,
Именно он называется жизнь.
Есть только миг между прошлым и будущим,
Именно он называется жизнь. 
And there's a somewhat fishy translation of this song here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Th...just_a_blink.. 
Interesting link in Wikipedia - *List of Soviet films of the year by ticket sales* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...y_ticket_sales

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## starrysky

Just wanted to post a link to a relevant book -- 100 великих отечественных кинофильмов  ::

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## Лизонька

I've been looking for some good Russian films to watch but there's so many here I don't even know where to start! Are all of these "must-sees"?

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## starrysky

I wouldn't advise you to choose those films which were made after the 1990s. Modern Russian cinema is not very good... I liked "The Barber of Siberia", though, that was a big hit. The tv series "Brigada" (drama about criminal world) was a huge hit as well. 
My favourites are older movies, they are all classics: 
Служебный роман (romance/comedy)
Девчата (romance/comedy)
Весна на Заречной улице (love story)
Иван Васильевич меняет профессию (comedy)
Кавказская пленница (comedy)
Операция "Ы" (comedy)
Бриллиантовая рука
А зори здесь тихие (war drama)
В бой идут одни старики (war film -- sad in places but not oppressive and not without humour)
Офицеры (war drama)
Три мушкетера (screen adaptation of Dumas' novel)
Человек-амфибия (sci-fi)
Невероятные приключения итальянцев в России (comedy) 
And so on, and so forth...  
You can also check out this thread -- http://masterrussian.net/mforum/view...t=6276&start=0
Be sure you have the subtitles, though. You can find them at subs.com.ru, for example.

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## Throbert McGee

I can't believe that _Вий_ (1967) isn't on the list! That movie KICKS ASS. 
(Plus, the DVD version has Russian subtitles!)

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## Hanna

Sorry everybody, I have neglected this list. I promised to make some updates, but I didn't.  
The list is OPEN SOURCE though. Anybody can download it from Rapidshare and update it (it's in Excel).  
Alternatively, I  WILL get around to it sometime soon and might do it myself... But just not now. 
There are quite a few good suggestions above. Doesn't matter how long the list gets. The important thing is to: * Provide starting information for people who don't know anything about Russian cinema but would like to watch some.. 
[/*:m:1nr0dbix]Help people pick a film that suits their tastes in terms of genre (Sci-fi, historical, comedy etc), or any particular time period that they are interested in. 
[/*:m:1nr0dbix]Cultural insight; Some films are part of popular consciousness and therefore it's a good idea to watch them. Plus modern Russian films (if they are good) ought to be supported and promoted by people who study Russian and are interested in the country! Watch it and tell your friends! [/*:m:1nr0dbix] * Really, the list OUGHT to have director + availability of subtitles as well..... But it's quite a big job to get that done.   
---------------------------------------------- 
Actually, several of the films that Starrysky mentions are not on the list. If they are really classics they should be on there. I have no idea which ones are considered classics or not; have only seen a completely random selection of Russian films in my childhood and an equally random selection of new and old ones over the last year..  For example several films that I assumed were very famous are totally unknown, per comments here; and the majority of the really famous films were films I never heard of. So I am not really the ideal person to edit a list like this..   I just watched one of the films that Starrysky mentioned; *Amphibian Man*...  *That film ought to be remade in a modern version, I think*, it's such a great story and it could really be elaborated on. The actor who plays Iskander is great; is/was he famous in Russia?  *Three Musketeers* -- Have seen it several times in the past. Once at boarding school in Sweden, with a friend who grew up in Tunisia. She had also seen it on TV there, many times.  It may be one of the most widely spread Russian films from that era... It's a very good adaptation of the books, plus the music is really nice. Plus it could easily be dubbed.

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## Оля

> The actor who plays Iskander is great; is/was he famous in Russia?

 Yes.
I've seem him in several performances at a theatre, and I liked his acting; and one of my friends has even his phone number.  ::

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## Hanna

What's his name? I want to google him and see what he looks like now!

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## Оля

> What's his name? I want to google him and see what he looks like now!

 Владимир Борисович Коренев. By the way, when I saw him in one of his perfomances another time, only then I found out that he was the actor who played Ихтиандр (not Iskander) in the famous movie. Someone told me.

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## starrysky

> *Three Musketeers* -- Have seen it several times in the past. Once at boarding school in Sweden, with a friend who grew up in Tunisia. She had also seen it on TV there, many times. It may be one of the most widely spread Russian films from that era... It's a very good adaptation of the books, plus the music is really nice. Plus it could easily be dubbed.[/size]

 Our "Three Musketeers" in Tunisia?!   ::  Wow, I'm impressed. I've recently seen the French adaptation with Mylene Demongeot (my parents like it -- nostalgia) and thought our version was better. There are almost no close-ups in the French version... no songs either. And I like our film's casting better. If you compare some scenes, like the one towards the end where Athos gives Richelieu the paper that he'd earlier signed giving permission to Milady to kill d'Artagnan, it's clear that our film's more interesting. That moment in the French adaptation was totally flat and undramatic...  
So, yeah, I like "The Three Musketters"... Though it's funny the way Boyarsky sings "pukwa pa" instead of "pourquoi pas". I know some people don't like this film much precisely because of the fact that it's a musical. I, on the other hand, like the score and songs very much. But this film does sometimes look as if it's been made for 5 year olds, so it's probably nostalgia speaking in me also.   

> Amphibian Man... That film ought to be remade in a modern version, I think

 I think it was, actually. With no success. They are shooting a remake of "Алые паруса"/Scarlet Sails" now (that film also had Anastasiya Vertinskaya in the lead role) and I suspect nothing good's gonna come out of it either. Here's the old film on imdb.com -- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054618/. It's an adaptation of a novel by Alexandre Grin. 
Anastasiya Vertinskaya as Assol     
And the new girl playing Assol, Вероника Иващенко...

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## Оля

> Though it's funny the way Boyarsky sings "pukwa pa" instead of "pourquoi pas".

 Until I found out it was "pourquoi pas", it always sounded to me as _куклафа_ only. And not only to me. Try to google the word "куклафа"  ::

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## gRomoZeka

> But this film does sometimes look as if it's been made for 5 year olds, so it's probably nostalgia speaking in me also. (about "Three Musketeers"

 Yes, one probably has to watch it well before his/her teens to really LOVE this movie (as we all do  :: ). I remember singing the song "Пара-пара-порадумемся.." for hours on end when I was 6, we dreamed about riding horses and tried to fence with sticks. 
Some people find funny (in a bad way) that Borarsky looks too old to be 18, but he's very charismatic, and it's impossible to imagine d'Artagnan without his voice. I still enjoy songs from this film. And I respect Soviet actors for (often) singing with their own voices.   *What a song! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo43SrtpQuM*
Nostalgia indeed. I'm almost crying right now.   ::  
PS. Yeah, and of course http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CRn9kNzck4 )) 
PSS. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bB9IFKlv-s
Sorry, I can't stop.   ::  I just remembered how much I loved this movie. This one is a really good song too.

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## starrysky

Yes, the music is absolutely gorgeous... Though, my mum, for example, doesn't appreciate it quite as much as I do, which is totally beyond me. I also tear up at "Констанция" and I even like the songs about Richelieu, "Lilon-lila", etc. 
А какой там Табаков в роли короля -- умора.   ::  Или это -- "Вторая часть Мерлезонского балета!"   ::

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## Hanna

Yeah I was just a kid when I saw that. A lot of the plot was lost on me... I should re-watch it!  Anyway, I liked the costumes and the songs! They used to show it on TV in Sweden in between Christmas and New Years. Every year  (They might still show it, people are SO conservative about these "TV traditions"!) 
Our big seasonal films were *"Fanny and Alexander"* a Bergman film which has a Christmas theme;  English *"Ivanhoe"* (very good!), an incredibly boring film about Christ...(forgotten the name) plus *"Kaspar Hauser"* (A classic German film) and Russian *Three Musketeers* on consecutive afternoons... and occassionally also Russian "Irony of fate" or "Fortune's Gentlemen" probably because they have a seasonal theme.  *But isn't it silly to feel nostalgic about TV?* The interesting thing back then was that everyone watched the same thing at the same time.  
I have heard that in America it is tradition to watch an adaption of* "A Christmas Tale" by Dickens* (hope I remember the title right). Here in the UK the big TV tradition is the* Queen's Christmas address to the British Commonwealth.  * 
Nowadays, hardly anyone watches the same things anymore, so TV watching is simply not a tradition or shared experience anymore.   *Have you got any interesting new or old TV traditions in Russia?*

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## Hanna

> Originally Posted by Johanna  What's his name? I want to google him and see what he looks like now!   Владимир Борисович Коренев. By the way, when I saw him in one of his perfomances another time, only then I found out that he was the actor who played Ихтиандр (not Iskander) in the famous movie. Someone told me.

 Thanks! I DID google him, but alas, I think he lost his very special looks as he grew older... 
Interesting to hear about the remake. Regardless of the reviews I will check out that remake film of "Amfibian man" anyway... I just love the plot of the film... I know I have read a book on the same theme. but it's very different from this film and probably not Alexandre Grim's book. The whole concept is very intriguing and it's got a bit of a "Swan Lake" element to it too.... They can't live together...

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## Throbert McGee

> I have heard that in America it is tradition to watch an adaption of *"A Christmas Tale" by Dickens*

 "A Christmas Carol" is the correct title of the Dickens story. But while it's true that adaptations of the Dickens story are rather traditional viewing during the Christmas season, in more recent years the 1983 comedy _A Christmas Story_ has completely eclipsed the moralistic Dickens tale, and is often chosen in polls as "America's most beloved Christmas movie." (From what I hear, it's also very popular in the UK and Australia.) 
Set in a middle-class Indiana town sometime in the late 1930s or at the very latest 1940 (the Pearl Harbor attack clearly hasn't happened yet), it's a lighthearted, nostalgic story about a nine-year-old boy and his dream of getting an "air rifle" from Santa Claus.   Original cinema trailer for _A Christmas Story_. Some of the film's dialogue ("You'll shoot your eye out, kid!", "_Fra-jee-lay_ -- that must be Italian!", and the Chinese waiters singing "Fa-ra-ra-ra-ra", etc.) have entered into the "modern folk idiom". 
P.S. Two other "American TV traditions" for Christmas are, without a doubt, 1946's highly sentimental It's a Wonderful Life by "populist" director Frank Capra, and 1965's A Charlie Brown Christmas.  
P.P.S. And some younger Americans, especially men under 40, would argue that the original Die Hard belongs on the list, although traditionalists wouldn't agree! But what's not to like about Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman trying to kill each other?

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## Лизонька

> I wouldn't advise you to choose those films which were made after the 1990s. Modern Russian cinema is not very good... I liked "The Barber of Siberia", though, that was a big hit. The tv series "Brigada" (drama about criminal world) was a huge hit as well. 
> My favourites are older movies, they are all classics: 
> Служебный роман (romance/comedy)
> Девчата (romance/comedy)
> Весна на Заречной улице (love story)
> Иван Васильевич меняет профессию (comedy)
> Кавказская пленница (comedy)
> Операция "Ы" (comedy)
> Бриллиантовая рука
> ...

 Cool, thanks! I've always generally loved classic cinema better than modern cinema anyway. I'll try and see which ones I can find.  ::

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## Throbert McGee

> Back in school, in Sweden, we did a review of popular current films for a "citizenship skills". The idea was to look for political messages in films from East and West. That was a very good exercise. 
> Even today there is plenty of politics coming out of Hollywood. Consumerism, general pro-US worldview and plenty of national stereotyping.

 Regarding the issue of national stereotyping, note this South Park clip where "Chef" instructs the boys on the difference between prejudice against an American classmate whose parents were born in China, and prejudice against actual Chinese people:  "You see, children, it's NOT okay to make fun of an American because they're black, brown, or whatever, but it IS okay to make fun of foreigners, because they're from another country!"   ::

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## Basil77

> My favourites are older movies, they are all classics:
> Служебный роман (romance/comedy)
> Девчата (romance/comedy)
> Весна на Заречной улице (love story)
> Иван Васильевич меняет профессию (comedy)
> Кавказская пленница (comedy)
> Операция "Ы" (comedy)
> Бриллиантовая рука
> А зори здесь тихие (war drama)
> ...

 
Btw, imho  Служебный роман (romance/comedy)
Девчата (romance/comedy)
Весна на Заречной улице (love story)
Иван Васильевич меняет профессию (comedy)
Кавказская пленница (comedy)
Операция "Ы" (comedy)
Бриллиантовая рука
А зори здесь тихие (war drama)
В бой идут одни старики (war film -- sad in places but not oppressive and not without humour)
Офицеры (war drama)
Три мушкетера (screen adaptation of Dumas' novel)
Человек-амфибия (sci-fi)
are worth seeing but  Невероятные приключения итальянцев в России(comedy)
is a pile of sh!t.  ::  I love "dumb" comedies such as the ones with Leslie Nilson, "Hot Shots", "Space Balls" or "Shirly-Myrly", but imho "dumb" humor must be smart, if you know what I'm talking about. And when dumb people are trying to make "dumb" jokes it turns into such pornography as "Невероятные приключения итальянцев в России".

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## Throbert McGee

> I love "dumb" comedies such as the ones with Leslie Nilson, "Hot Shots", "Space Balls" or "Shirly-Myrly", but imho "dumb" humor must be smart, if you know what I'm talking about. And when dumb people are trying to make "dumb" jokes it turns into such pornography as "Невероятные приключения итальянцев в России".

 Basil77, надеюсь что фильм "Airplane!" тебе уже совершенно известен? У нас он считается "дедушкой" всех остроумно-дурачливых комедий. (I mean to say: "it's the granddaddy of all smart-dumb comedies." -- did that come out correctly?)   "Oh, stewardess! I speak jive!"  Montage of funny dialogue from "Airplane!"

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## Basil77

> Basil77, надеюсь что фильм _Airplane!_ тебе уже совершенно известен? У нас он считается "дедушкой" всех остроумно-дурачливых комедий. (I mean to say: "it's the granddaddy of all smart-dumb comedies." -- did that come out correctly?)   "Oh, stewardess! I speak jive!"

 Oh, yes! I love it. Especially episodes with "autopilot"   ::  .

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## Throbert McGee

> Originally Posted by Throbert McGee  Basil77, надеюсь что фильм _Airplane!_ тебе уже совершенно известен? У нас он считается "дедушкой" всех остроумно-дурачливых комедий. (I mean to say: "it's the granddaddy of all smart-dumb comedies." -- did that come out correctly?)   "Oh, stewardess! I speak jive!"   Oh, yes! I love it. Especially episodes with "autopilot"   .

 Здорово! Значит, по крайней мере ОДИН человек поймёт и поймает смысл*, если я напишу: "Shirley you can't be serious!"    * Is there a better way to express "*get* the joke" по-русски?

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## Basil77

> Здорово! Значит, по крайней мере ОДИН человек поймёт и поймает смысл*, если я напишу: "Shirley you can't be serious!"    * Is there a better way to express "*get* the joke" по-русски?

 Можно ещё сказать: "по крайней мере до одного человека дойдёт" (что достаточно грубо) или "по крайней мере один человек будет в теме", что нейтрально, но несколько отдаёт слэнгом. "Поймает смысл" звучит несколько коряво для меня, ибо не всегда калька с английского бывает удачна. Лучше тогда уж "уловит смысл".
And btw, don't call me Shirley!  ::

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## Throbert McGee

I'm intrigued by the title of the film _Shirly-Myrly_, because it sounds so much like the Turkish phrase _şüli büli_ (which might not be the correct spelling) that means "so-so" or "not too good, not too bad". After some Googling, I think that maybe the expression's origin is in Hungarian, and not Turkish -- does anybody know? 
(When I was a 9-year-old boy living in Ankara, Turkey, I learned the phrase as "Shirley-Burly".)

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## Basil77

> I'm intrigued by the title of the film _Shirly-Myrly_..

 It means nothing in Russian. Gibberish. Just a pare of funny sounding words. The movie called so because the main caracter constantly [s:627v15oj]sings[/s:627v15oj] mumbles some kind of song wich starts with these words (all other "words" in the song are also gibberish). Btw I love that movie!  ::

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## Оля

I agree with Basil77 about the film "Невероятные приключения итальянцев в России".
I don't even know if I think it's "dumb" or not. I just think there is no "je ne sais quoi" in that film.

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## Basil77

> I agree with Basil77 about the film "Невероятные приключения итальянцев в России".
> I don't even know if I think it's "dumb" or not. I just think there is no "je ne sais quoi" in that film.

 Оля, солнце, мы и так все тут знаем, что ты у нас полиглот, каких поискать. Ну зачем же остальных то мучать? Не очень-то удобно каждый раз юзать гуглтранслятор, когда ты хочешь блеснуть своим знанием языков.  ::

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## gRomoZeka

Or, god! I positively _hate_ 'Shirly-Myrli". I think it's way worse than "Приключения итальянцев в России". Not only it's dumb, it's depressing as well, and its weak attempts at "cool" humour are pathetic. Which is more, this film will be always associated in my mind with the sh*ttiest period in the post-Soviet history.
Er.. Sorry for all the hatred.   ::

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## Basil77

> Or, god! I positively _hate_ 'Shirly-Myrli". I think it's way worse than "Приключения итальянцев в России". Not only it's dumb, it's depressing as well, and its weak attempts at "cool" humour are pathetic.

 Я согласен, многие шутки туповаты и пошловаты, но я этот фильм обожаю. Один Угольников в роли Жан-Поля Пискунова чего стоит!  ::  А Табаков в роли Суходрищева? Я смотрел фильм раз 10, но каждый раз, когда слышу его: "Этого п#дора в Химках видал, деревянными членами торгует!", тихо сползаю от смеха под стол. Фильм однозначно не для семейного просмотра с детьми, но с друзьями под пиво смотрится "на ура".  ::    

> the sh*ttiest period in the post-Soviet history.

 Тут согласен на 100%.

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## Оля

> Оля, солнце, мы и так все тут знаем, что ты у нас полиглот, каких поискать. Ну зачем же остальных то мучать? Не очень-то удобно каждый раз юзать гуглтранслятор, когда ты хочешь блеснуть своим знанием языков.

 Да я совсем не хотела блистать.  ::  Мы как раз недавно это выражение тут в какой-то теме обсуждали, я думала, все читали. Если я не ошибаюсь, оно, хоть и французское, но вовсю используется в английском. А написала я его потому, что не знаю, как иначе сказать по-английски "_изюминка_".   ::

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## Basil77

> ..Мы как раз недавно это выражение тут в какой-то теме обсуждали, я думала, все читали. Если я не ошибаюсь, оно, хоть и французское, но вовсю используется в английском. А написала я его потому, что не знаю, как иначе сказать по-английски "_изюминка_".

 Прошу прощения, я, наверное, это обсуждение пропустил.  ::  Просто для меня французский не намного читабельнее китайского, и я каждый раз, когда вижу фразу на французском впадаю в ступор. Если, к примеру, фраза написана на испанском, я ещё могу догадаться, как она звучит, даже не понимая смысла, а это уже кое-что. С французским же в лучшем случае я могу только догадаться, что это за язык, но не более. Я всегда удивлялся как, например, "eau" можно прочитать как "о", а "peugeot" как "пежо". Так что, наверное, к французскому у меня идиосинкразия  ::  . Ещё раз прошу прощения за своё необоснованное замечание в твой адрес.  ::

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## Hanna

> Originally Posted by gRomoZeka     
> 			
> 				the sh*ttiest period in the post-Soviet history.
> 			
> 		  Тут согласен на 100%.

 Well, serious respect to you for having lived through it! It looked so depressing on TV even..  Can't imagine what that was like for real. Very disillusioning and sad.   *"Приключения итальянцев в России"*  Sounds like serious high class entertainment....   ::  What's the plot? Which year is it from? Is there any singing?

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## alexB

To like it you'd have had to live in the Soviet Union, be from 10 to 15 years of age and be a boy.  ::

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## Throbert McGee

> "Поймает смысл" звучит несколько коряво для меня, ибо не всегда калька с английского бывает удачна. Лучше тогда уж "уловит смысл".

 I didn't 100% understand the Russian here. What does коряво generally mean?

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## Throbert McGee

> Если я не ошибаюсь, оно, хоть и французское, но вовсю используется в английском. А написала я его потому, что не знаю, как иначе сказать по-английски "_изюминка_".

 Оля, you're totally correct that "_je ne sais quoi_" is more or less universally understood in spoken English, even among uneducated people who don't know any foreign languages at all. (Although the less educated may have no idea how to spell the phrase, and they end up writing something like "jenny sickwah", etc.) And I don't speak French, but in America we pronounce the phrase more or less like _же нэ сэй [s:35znb91t]КУА[/s:35znb91t] КВА_.  
I guess that *изюминка* is the normal way to say "that certain special quality that makes something good, though I can't define it" in Russian? 
Another French phrase that you'll sometimes hear even from less-educated English speakers is _savoir faire_. And then there's _Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?_ (Хотите ли вы лежать со мной сегодня вечером?), which a lot of us learned NOT in French class, but from the classic disco song Lady Marmalade.   ::

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## Basil77

> To like it you'd have had to live in the Soviet Union, be from 10 to 15 years of age and be a boy.

 Oh yes, when I watched the movie (we are talking about "Italian's adventures", aren't we?) for the first time (I was about 12, lived in the USSR and of course I was a boy! lol), I liked it very much, especially the moment when the main female character goes topless  ::   But I'v ocasionally rewatched it several years ago on TV and was shocked by it's stupidity and how could Ryazanov be a director of such a sh!t movie.

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## Basil77

> Originally Posted by Basil77  "Поймает смысл" звучит несколько коряво для меня..   I didn't 100% understand the Russian here. What does коряво generally mean?

 Generally it means crooked or sloppy. Here I used it in the meaning "unnatural".   

> And I don't speak French, but in America we pronounce the phrase more or less like _же нэ сэй КУА_.

 It looks a little familiar than it's written in cyrillic. It reminds me _Же не манж па (сис жур)_  ::

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## alexB

> Oh yes, when I watched the movie (we are talking about "Italian's adventures", aren't we?) for the first time (I was about 12, lived in the USSR and of course I was a boy! lol), I liked it very much, especially the moment when the main female character goes topless

 Yes, that of course, (you seem to be a kindred spirit except that I don’t like Ширли Мырли and Полосатый рейс but adore 33  ::  ) and the motorcycle. Was it Honda or what? We, boys, were crazy about the motorcycle. At the time when the best we could dream of was Czechoslovakian JAWA we saw that people out there had something more to choose from and the thought that we couldn’t have it and wouldn’t be able to, maybe never, pierced through our minds and left there nothing but sorrow.  ::

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## Basil77

> *"Приключения итальянцев в России"*  Sounds like serious high class entertainment....   What's the plot? Which year is it from? Is there any singing?

 It's just a bad remake of It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World
Some info about it: In English in Russian
As far as I remember there isn't any singning.

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## starrysky

> Невероятные приключения итальянцев в России(comedy)
> is a pile of sh!t.  I love "dumb" comedies such as the ones with Leslie Nilson, "Hot Shots", "Space Balls" or "Shirly-Myrly", but imho "dumb" humor must be smart, if you know what I'm talking about. And when dumb people are trying to make "dumb" jokes it turns into such pornography as "Невероятные приключения итальянцев в России".

 Ooooo, such strong opinions about such a simple comedy!   ::   Yeah, I happen to like it, I think it's fun, simple, slapstick comedy. At least there is nothing gross about it and it's not boring, imho. But then I also like (or liked as a kid) "Problem Child", "Home Alone", etc.  
I don't think it's quite so dumb as many American comedies tend to be, like, I dunno, "Scary movie", maybe. Or "American pie" or "Along Came Polly".

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## BappaBa

> how could Ryazanov be a director of such a sh!t movie.

 Фильм совместный СССР-Италия, и там два режиссера. Наверняка на матрешках, Льве Толстом и КГБ настояли итальянцы.
А мафиозо там классный. "Розарио Агро еще никто не обзывал беременным!" =)

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## starrysky

> А мафиозо там классный. "Розарио Агро еще никто не обзывал беременным!" =)

   ::   Точно. 
"Розарио Агро еще никто не убивал!"
"От Розарио Агро еще никто не уходил!"
"Мафия бессмертна!" 
Или Евстигнеев: "Не надо, я сам, я сам!" 
eta: Еще цитаты: 
-- Давайте выйдем из машины и почтим память бабушки. 
-- На, подавись, скотина! 
-- Не ешь меня, я невкусный! 
-- Не зли меня! Убью! 
-- Первый, я окунь. Докладываю со дна Невы. Клад наш. 
-- По матрешкам! 
-- Синьоры, перед вами Невский проспект, это центральная магистраль города. Русские писатели воспевали Невский проспект… 
-- Уйди, животное! 
"Не машина, а подводная лодка, смотри, как тут красиво, как в аквариуме!" (Джузеппе) 
"Не открывай окно, болван!" (Антонио) 
"Осторожно, рыбку задавишь!!" (Джузеппе)  
"Невероятные приключения итальянцев в России" на http://www.kinopoisk.ru/level/1/film/46421/

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## Basil77

> Ooooo, such strong opinions about such a simple comedy!    Yeah, I happen to like it, I think it's fun, simple, slapstick comedy. At least there is nothing gross about it and it's not boring, imho. But then I also like (or liked as a kid) "Problem Child", "Home Alone", etc. 
> I don't think it's quite so dumb as many American comedies tend to be, like, I dunno, "Scary movie", maybe. Or "American pie" or "Along Came Polly".

 I'v just expressed my personal opinion. Tastes differ, you know   ::  
My opinion (I hope you'll excuse me if it doesn't match yours  ::  ) about the movies you have mentioned above: 
Problem Child didn't see it, sorry 
Home Alone great, love this one! (but I don't recommed to let your children watch it!   :: )
Scary movie I like it   ::  classic example of "dark" humor (I'm talking about the 1st part, the 2nd and 3rd ones are trash)
American pie an anhem of stupidity, a piece of sh!t   ::  
Along Came Polly didn't see it, sorry

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## alexB

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x56...came-polly_fun 
Those are the funniest moments of the “Along Came Polly”. Very funny, hah?  That’s what passes for humor quite often these days. You smear somebody with sh*t, preferably of the human origin, or strew it around a playground and let people walk over it and you are a shoo-in for an Oscar for the best comedy of the century. All the expletives of the world are powerless to express my disgust towards that film as a whole and especially towards that redheaded freak of an actor, what’s his name, Philip Seymour Hoffman, the most repulsive scumbag ever to defile a TV or whatever screen there is.  ::   Alec Baldwin is not quite a gentlemen in the film, either.

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## Lampada

> ... All the expletives of the world are powerless to express my disgust towards that film as a whole and especially towards that redheaded freak of an actor, what’s his name, Philip Seymour Hoffman, the most repulsive scumbag ever to defile a TV or whatever screen there is.   Alec Baldwin is not quite a gentlemen in the film, either.

 This is funny, I did not see this movie, but Philip S. Hoffman is my most favorite actor.  Talented as hell and then some.  He is amazing in "Doubt" (nominated for Oscar) or "Capote" (won Oscar).  Just totally love him.  I did hate that brat he portrayed in "Scent of a Woman".

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## starrysky

> I'v just expressed my personal opinion. Tastes differ, you know

 I know they _do_. Just expressed my surprise -- it seems there is some negativity about this film which is quite beyond me...    

> Problem Child didn't see it, sorry

 Now, there you are really missing a lot! (just joking). It's "Трудный ребёнок" -- was shown by СТС quite often. It also has some gross humour, the second part in particular.    

> Scary movie I like it  classic example of "dark" humor (I'm talking about the 1st part, the 2nd and 3rd ones are trash)

 I was "fortunate" enough to see the 2nd part... I really think it was a traumatic experience for my tender, vulnerable teenage psyche! Ha-ha. I should've sued the producers. I really think such films might just addle your brains...    

> Those are the funniest moments of the “Along Came Polly”. Very funny, hah? That’s what passes for humor quite often these days.

 Yes, that film is quite disgusting in places. I wonder if anyone would've lost anything if it had never been made.   

> The movie earned a "Rotten" 27 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.[1] The film was a financial success, making $170,360,435 in the worldwide box office.

 (if it was a success, then it was only because of Jennifer Aniston and Ben Stiller) 
OK, sorry for the offtopic, I'll just stop discussing American comedies here, full stop.

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## Seraph

Some of the films mentioned above can be viewed at the Youtube channel of VelikayaRus.  One of most recent is БИТВА ЗА МОСКВУ.  Here is a list of selections in playlist/series; 
10. ВЕСНА НА ЗАРЕЧНОЙ УЛИЦЕ 
52. ДОРОГОЙ МОЙ ЧЕЛОВЕК 
29. НЕБЕСНЫЙ ТИХОХОД 
64. БЛАГОЧЕСТИВАЯ МАРТА 
77. ГАРАЖ 
84. ИЩИТЕ ЖЕНЩИНУ 
93. АНТОН ИВАНОВИЧ СЕРДИТСЯ 
85. САМАЯ ОБАЯТЕЛЬНАЯ... 
56. ВОКЗАЛ ДЛЯ ДВОИХ 
34. МЕСТО ВСТРЕЧИ ИЗМЕНИТЬ НЕЛЬЗЯ 
09. ОГОНЬ, ВОДА И МЕДНЫЕ ТРУБЫ 
75. ОСВОБОЖДЕНИЕ 
14. ВЫСОТА 
62. ДВОРЯНСКОЕ ГНЕЗДО 
59. АФОНЯ 
97. ТАЙНА ЗОЛОТОЙ ГОРЫ 
76. ОНИ СРАЖАЛИСЬ ЗА РОДИНУ 
78. ЧЕЛОВЕК С БУЛЬВАРА КАПУЦИНОВ 
92. ПРЕСТУПЛЕНИЕ И НАКАЗАНИЕ 
04. МОРОЗКО 
57. СЛУЖЕБНЫЙ РОМАН 
40. ОТВЕТНЫЙ ХОД 
71. ЩИТ И МЕЧ 
53. ДЕЛО БЫЛО В ПЕНЬКОВЕ 
94. МОСКВА СЛЕЗАМ НЕ ВЕРИТ 
47. СЕРДЦА ТРЕХ 
28.КАМЕННЫЙ ЦВЕТОК 
49. БЕГ 
24. СНЕЖНАЯ КОРОЛЕВА (м/ф) 
17. ГАРДЕМАРИНЫ, ВПЕРЁД! 
80. ЖИВЁТ ТАКОЙ ПАРЕНЬ 
35. СЕКРЕТНЫЙ ФАРВАТЕР 
82. ОБРЫВ 
83. ДОБРО ПОЖАЛОВАТЬ... 
05. ФИНИСТ-ЯСНЫЙ СОКОЛ 
96. ИМ ПОКОРЯЕТСЯ НЕБО 
89. ДЕЛОВЫЕ ЛЮДИ 
61. ЯРОСЛАВ МУДРЫЙ 
63. СОБАКА НА СЕНЕ 
86. СТАРИКИ-РАЗБОЙНИКИ 
72. ДВА КАПИТАНА 
36. АЛЕКСАНДР НЕВСКИЙ 
30. ДВЕНАДЦАТЬ СТУЛЬЕВ 
43. ФОРМУЛА ЛЮБВИ 
51. ДОЖИВЕМ ДО ПОНЕДЕЛЬНИКА 
38. КАРНАВАЛЬНАЯ НОЧЬ 
27. АЛЕНЬКИЙ ЦВЕТОЧЕК (м/ф) 
50. ВАСИЛИЙ БУСЛАЕВ 
69. ЗЕМЛЯ САННИКОВА 
66. ЗОЛУШКА 
68. ЖЕНИТЬБА БАЛЬЗАМИНОВА 
44. ГУСАРСКАЯ БАЛЛАДА 
25. СНЕГУРОЧКА (м/ф) 
03. КОНЁК-ГОРБУНОК (мультфильм) 
01. СКАЗКА О ЦАРЕ САЛТАНЕ 
МОИ КЛИПЫ 
60. ЭКИПАЖ 
42. ЦАРЕВНА-ЛЯГУШКА (м/ф) 
81. КОНЁК-ГОРБУНОК 
37. МИНИН И ПОЖАРСКИЙ 
67. БЕРЕГИСЬ АВТОМОБИЛЯ 
95. СТЕПАН РАЗИН 
08. САДКО 
58. АДЪЮТАНТ... 
12. КОРОЛЕВСТВО КРИВЫХ ЗЕРКАЛ 
26. ВОЛШЕБНАЯ ПТИЦА (м/ф) 
16. ПИРАТЫ ХХ ВЕКА 
87. ТАНКИСТЫ 
39. ИЛЬЯ МУРОМЕЦ 
90. МЕДВЕДЬ 
91. ЗАЙЧИК 
21. ВЕЧЕРА НА ХУТОРЕ БЛИЗ ДИКАНЬКИ 
19. ВОЛШЕБНАЯ ЛАМПА АЛАДДИНА 
79. ПРИКЛЮЧЕНИЯ БУРАТИНО (м/ф) 
06. РУСЛАН И ЛЮДМИЛА  
22. НОЧЬ ПЕРЕД РОЖДЕСТВОМ (м/ф) 
74. ТОТ САМЫЙ МЮНХГАУЗЕН 
13. АЛЫЕ ПАРУСА 
45. В НЕКОТОРОМ ЦАРСТВЕ (м/ф) 
18. КУБАНСКИЕ КАЗАКИ 
20. МАЙСКАЯ НОЧЬ, ИЛИ УТОПЛЕННИЦА 
15. ПОЛОСАТЫЙ РЕЙС 
33. СКАЗКА О ЦАРЕ САЛТАНЕ (м/ф)

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## Dmitry Khomichuk

I recommend some serials:
Спецназ/Спецназ 2 - КиноПоиск.ru - Все фильмы планеты - КиноПоиск.ru - Все фильмы планеты
Последнее путешествие Синдбада/Возвращение Синдбада - КиноПоиск.ru - Все фильмы планеты - КиноПоиск.ru - Все фильмы планеты
Русский перевод - КиноПоиск.ru - Все фильмы планеты

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## Hanna

I want to tell everyone that there is a really good subtitle site called http://subs.com.ru/ were subs are available for several hundred Russian films!

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