Russian films worth watching
Moskva slezam ne verit (Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears), 1980
Drama
Synopsis
Katerina, a provincial girl, comes to Moscow to find her fortune. She makes good friends and finds romance but ends up humiliated and betrayed with a baby to care for. Twelve years on, she is a successful and strong woman, but still single. Her heart never recovered from her first affair. Until one day she encounters her true love, Gosha, who’s guiding principle is a ‘man must be in charge.’
Trivia
–It is one of the six Russian films which have won an Academy Award.
–Director Vladimir Menshov had great trouble finding an actor to play Gosha. At one point, he was so desperate that he considered playing the role himself, but finally Aleksey Batalov agreed to take it on.
–Ronald Reagan is said to have watched the film several times prior to meeting Mikhail Gorbachev in order to ‘understand the Russian soul.’
Sibirski Tsirulnik (The Barber of Siberia), 1998
Romance, drama
Synopsis
The young American adventurer, Jane Callahan, arrives in Imperial Russia in the late 19th century where she is hired by an engineer to charm powerful General Radlov and convince him to back the inventor’s project – a lumber cutter called the ‘Barber of Siberia.’ Instead Jane falls in love with a young student of a military academy in Moscow, Andrey Tolstoy. They bask in wild romance, but Jane’s relations with the General run out of control after he proposes to her.
Trivia
–Kim Basinger, Jodie Foster, Andy McDowell and Sharon Stone were considered for the role of Jane. Eventually Julia Ormond took it.
–Oleg Menshikov plays the 18-year-old Andrey. At the time of shooting the actor was almost twice as old as his character.
–Scenes of ‘maslenitsa’ festivities were shot in February on a frozen pond. A sudden thaw threatened to drown all the props, so the crew had to use liquid nitrogen to keep the ice strong enough.
Ivanovo Detstvo (My Name Is Ivan), 1962
War drama
Synopsis
12-year-old Ivan makes a perfect spy for his regiment fighting against the Nazis in Ukraine. Ivan’s family has been murdered by the Germans and he is full of hatred and thirst for revenge. Although he is physically still a child, he acts and thinks like an adult soldier. Only in his dreams can Ivan live the experience of a proper childhood that was stolen away from him by war.
Trivia
–This is Tarkovsky’s debut feature film. It was a challenge for the young director to produce as it was his second attempt to adapt the story. The first one ended in spectacular failure with all footage declared beyond re-use.
–In the initial script, Ivan survives the war. But the idea was fiercely opposed by the author of the original short story, Vladimir Bogomolov. In Tarkovsky’s film Ivan is shot by Nazis – an adult’s death for the man-boy.
–In real life, many boys as young as Ivan did volunteer to the front and served as spies.
Gostya iz budushchego (Guest from the Future), 1985
Sci-Fi family adventure
Synopsis
Young Kolya discovers a time machine hidden in the basement of an ordinary Moscow building. He sneaks into the utopian late 21st century, a world of marvellous technology, peace and space exploration. Then a novel device called a Mielophone, which allows other people’s thoughts to be read, accidentally falls into his hands. A couple of alien pirates – the last ones in existence – are hunting for the device as well as the daughter of its inventor, Alice. All four return to the present day and a game of cat and mouse begins. Alice tries to find out who has the Mielophone, the pirates’ plot to kidnap Kolya and the boy wants to return the device safely into the future.
Trivia
–The pirates have the ability to mimic anyone like T-1000 from Terminator 2, which helps them blend into human society. However lacking Hollywood budgets, director Pavel Arsyonov had to resort to simple double exposure.
–Natalya Guseva who plays Alice became the first love for millions of schoolboys. However she eventually quit acting and became a microbiologist.
–Alice was created by popular children’s book author Kir Bulichev. Another cult adaptation of Alice’s adventures is the animated “Mystery of the Third Planet.”
Charodei (Magicians), 1982
Fantasy, comedy
Synopsis
For employees of the Research Institute of Magic, walking through walls, conjuring ghosts and making cats talk is routine work. Young witch Alyona is engaged with to of the ‘common folk’ Ivan. But her future family life gets into trouble when a colleague, Sataneev, convinces her boss Kira that Alyona is the mistress of the head of the institute who is away in Moscow at the moment. Kira loves the top magician herself, so she puts a powerful curse on Alyona making her forget her true love. The girl’s friends call Ivan to the rescue, while Sataneev plots to get his promotion and get Alyona as a prize wife.
Trivia
–One of the plotlines involves a visitor getting lost in the multidimensional halls and corridors. Actor Semyon Farada actually got lost in Ostankino TV centre, where interiors of the film were shot. It contributed to his getting the part.
–The film is loosely based on the novel “Monday Starts on Saturday” by the Strugatsky brothers. The book has a cameo when the institute head returns from Moscow and presents Kira with a collection of science fiction and fantasy novels.
–Kira’s family name is Shamakhanskaya. Shamakhanskaya Tsaritsa – or the tsarina of Shemakhan – is a character in Puskin’s tale “The Golden Cockerel,” a witch who charms people into fighting each other for her favour.
