Thursday, November 3, 2011

Dmitriy Babichenko - Boevye Stranicy AKA Combat Pages (1939)



Plot:It is a political film-review about the Soviet Army and its struggle against the enemies of the Soviet Union.

Vladimir Petrov - Pyotr pervyy I AKA Peter the First [Part 1] (1937)

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Romanov filmography site: PYOTR PERVY I AND II 1937-1938

Also known as “Peter I, Parts I and II,” and “The Conquests of Peter the Great, Parts I and II.” Soviet Union, 1937 (Part I) and 1938 (Part II). Black and white; Russian language; Running time: 96 minutes (Part I), 96 minutes (Part II). Directed by Vladimir Petrov. Screenplay by Vladimir Petrov, based on a book by Alexei Tolstoy. Starring Nikolai Simonov as Peter I, Nikolai Cherkasov as Tsesarevich Alexei, Alla Tarasova as Empress Catherine I, and Mikhail Zharov as Alexander Menshikov.

Vladimir Petrov - Pyotr pervyy II AKA Peter the First [Part 2] (1938)

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DVDRip from print restored by Mosfilm in 1965 according to the credits, it still looks grey. After having read the descriptions below I found it be easy to follow the film without subtitles, the acting, the mise en scène and the cinematography are excellent. There is very little music though, two or three church choruses and folk songs, bits of post romantic orchestral music here and there. And, as been said below, no obvious propaganda.
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IMDB user Denis888 from Russia (slightly corrected): Forget about the terrible Stalin's purges that were going on in the Soviet Union when this film, or rather its first episode, was shot. The film has none of the Stalinist propaganda or dull Soviet ethics. This is a great, bright and powerful work. The role of the great Russian tzar Pyotr I is played by a brilliant Nikolay Simonov and he did a wonderful job. His Pyotr is wild, often terribly cruel, loud and unbearably ferocious to his enemies. He never hesitates and he breaks through like a wild bull. The first episode tells about the terrible beginning of the Northern War with Sweden, the Russians are shamefully defeated and thus the tzar starts his bloody reforms. He reorganizes the weak old army, he takes down the church bells for military purposes, he is even ready to arrest his own weak and sickly son Aleksey who is in fact his terrible rival. The second excellent role here is Aleksander Menshikov, the tzar's favorite aid, played by an enigmatic Mr. Zharov. His part is cute, sly and so great that it provokes a grand smile. The first episode is also about the first military victories, the beginning of the Russian fleet and the foundation of the city of St. Petersburg, exactly 300 years ago...

Yuliya Solntseva - Povest plamennykh let aka The Story of the Flaming Years (1961)

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Synopsis
The war is over. Soviet troops are marching past the captured Reichstag (former seat of government) in Berlin. A young soldier with a submachine gun in hand, a Ukrainian peasant from the Dnipro region, Ivan Orliuk pauses, towering by the Brandenburg Gates. He stands like a magnificent monument. Before the war, Orliuk’s was the most peaceful of occupations—he tilled the soil. With the war, he took to arms to cover a difficult road from the Dnipro all the way to Berlin.

Grigori Aronov & Aleksei German - Sedmoy sputnik aka The Seventh Companion (1968)

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From imdb:

The film is set in St. Petersburg, Russia after the Russian revolution of 1917. Based on the eponymous book by Boris Lavrenev. Maj. General Yevgeni Pavlovich Adamov (Popov) was a lawyer in the Tzar\'s Army and a professor of law at the Military Academy before the Russian Revolution. In the fall of 1918 he was arrested on false accusations and suffered the loss of all his property and honors. During the turbulent times of Revolution he managed to use all his experience and professionalism to prove his innocence. He was released from prison and all charges against him were dropped. He became a free man, but the reality is changed, and his adaptation to the post-revolutionary life was not easy. Written by Steve Shelokhonov

The film is based on a novel by Boris Lavrenev.

Aleksandr Rou - Kashchey bessmertnyy aka Kashchei the Immortal (1944)



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Quote:
The film is based on Russian heroic legends and folklore. In a tall mansion, the beautiful Marya Morevna is waiting for her bridegroom, the mighty warrior Nikita Kozhemyaka. The longed-for meeting may happen any minute, but all of a sudden the Russian land is invaded by the armies of Kashchei the Immortal that bring destruction and death. Marya Morevna is abducted, and Nikita Kozhemyaka finds just ashes on the site of his home. But thanks to a kindly wizard who gave him a cap of darkness, the hero will find a way to rescue his bride and rout Kashchei.

Yuri Ilyenko - Bilyy ptakh z chornoyu vidznakoyu aka The White Bird Marked With Black (1971)

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The synopsis from the IMDB:

Colourful 'optimistic tragedy' of a poor family in Ukraine, living in the Carpathian mountains near the Romanian border, during the Second World War. Five sons of the family make up the village band, but as the battles between the Nazi-supported Ukranian nationalists and the Soviets go on, their band loses one player after another.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Grigori Chukhrai - Ballada o soldate AKA Ballad of a Soldier (1959) - (DVD)



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Amazon.com:
Grigory Chukhraj's poetic odyssey of an accidental hero on a six-day pass is a sentimental journey through the ideals of the Soviet state in World War II. Vladimir Ivashov is the fresh-faced signalman whose trip from the Russian front to visit his white-haired mother becomes a series of detours as he stops to help the loyal comrades, fellow soldiers, and salt-of-the-earth civilians (as well as a few shirkers and scoundrels) he meets along the way. On a transport train he even falls in love with a pretty young stowaway, a feisty blond girl-next-door on her way to visit a wounded boyfriend. Delicately photographed and gently paced, this deliriously romantic road movie is undeniably Soviet in its celebration of patriotism and collectivism, but Chukhraj transcends politics with delightfully vivid characters and a deft mix of comedy, melodrama, and romance. --Sean Axmaker