Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Igor Dobrolyubov - Belye Rosy AKA White Dew (1983)



29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

Quote:
Fyodor Hodas, a three wars veteran, a respected man in his village of White Dews, is a long time widower and a father of three grown sons. The oldest son is too practical, the youngest is too cheerful, and the middle one is working far away from home. But the old man worries for all his sons, but especially - for the youngest, who is an airhead.

Andrey Smirnov - Osen aka Autumn (1974)

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

synopsis

In this quiet Soviet drama, both Sasha and Ilya are in their thirties; long ago they were lovers. One day the two meet again. Immediately, the old sparks begin to fly, and they decide this time they will fully explore their potential relationship.
by Iotis Erlewine.

Sergei Bondarchuk - Voyna i mir AKA War and Peace [Part 1-4 With Extras] (1968)

http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/7090000/7092115.jpg

29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

Like Tolstoy's novel, this epic-length War and Peace is rough going, but worth the effort. Winner of the 1969 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and widely considered the most faithful adaptation of Tolstoy's classic, Sergei Bondarchuk's massive Soviet-Italian coproduction was seven years in the making, at a record-setting cost of $100 million.

Bondarchuk himself plays the central role of Pierre Bezukhov, buffeted by fate during Russia's tumultuous Napoleonic Wars, serving as pawn and philosopher through some of the most astonishing set pieces ever filmed.

Bondarchuk is a problematic director: interior monologues provide awkward counterpoint to intimate dramas, weaving together the many classes and characters whose lives are permanently affected by war.

Infusions of '60s-styled imagery clash with the film's period detail; it's an anomalous experiment that doesn't really work. Undeniably, however, the epic battle scenes remain breathtakingly unique; to experience the sheer scale of this film is to realize that such cinematic extravagance will never be seen again.

Mikhail Kalatozov - Zagovor obrechyonnikh aka Conspiracy of the Doomed (1950)

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

From a biography of Kalatozov: (link)

Quote:
/.../ During the late 1940s Ц early 1950s when not many movies were shot in the country, Kalatozov was granted the State Award (1951) for his film Zagovor obrechyonnikh (Conspiracy of the Doomed, 1950), a political pamphlet after the same-name play by N. Virta, starring the uncomparable Russian singer Aleksandr Vertinsky. /.../

Tatyana Lioznova - Semnadtsat mgnoveniy vesny aka Seventeen moments of spring (Episode 1) (1973)

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

Stirlitz is a soviet spy who infiltrated in the Hitler’s headquarters from many years ago. Now, with the enemy at the gates, in the days previous to the Berlin’s fall, in one country not prepared for the defeat, Stirlitz is confronted with his final task, discover a secret encounter in Switherland between the americans and a Himmler’s man to plan the destiny from a postwar new German, with Hitler dead, the soviet out, and the Gestapo like principal actor after the shadows. In seventeen days that shock the world, Stirlitz, cornered, moves cautelously in a world of suspicion and fear, with the sounds of bombs day after day more and more closer, involved in a dangerous investigation about his person from one of his superior more closer everyday from discover his real identity.

Tatyana Lioznova - Semnadtsat mgnoveniy vesny aka Seventeen moments of spring (Episode 2) (1973)

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

Stirlitz is a soviet spy who infiltrated in the Hitler’s headquarters from many years ago. Now, with the enemy at gates, in the days previous to the Berlin’s fall, in one country not prepared for the defeat, Stirlitz is confronted with his final task, discover a secret encounter in Switherland between the americans and a Himmler’s man to plan the destiny from a postwar new German, with Hitler dead, the soviet out, and the SS like principal actor after the shadows. In seventeen days that shock the world, Stirlitz, cornered, moves cautelously in a world of suspicion and fear, with the sounds of bombs day after day more and more closer, involved in a dangerous investigation about his person from one of his superior more closer everyday from discover his real identity.

Tatyana Lioznova - Semnadtsat mgnoveniy vesny aka Seventeen moments of spring (Episode 7) (1973)

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

Stirlitz is a soviet spy who infiltrated in the Hitler’s headquarters from many years ago. Now, with the enemy at gates, in the days previous to the Berlin’s fall, in one country not prepared for the defeat, Stirlitz is confronted with his final task, discover a secret encounter in Switherland between the americans and a Himmler’s man to plan the destiny from a postwar new German, with Hitler dead, the soviet out, and the SS like principal actor after the shadows. In seventeen days that shock the world, Stirlitz, cornered, moves cautelously in a world of suspicion and fear, with the sounds of bombs day after day more and more closer, involved in a dangerous investigation about his person from one of his superior more closer everyday from discover his real identity.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Leonid Kvinikhidze - Drug aka Friend (1987)



29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

IMDB User Review:

very impressive macabre and grotesque drama - or should I say tragedy
17 April 2000 | by FFC (Krasnoyarsk, Russia) –

Even in Russia where alcoholism is a national scourge and - to say so - national art's topic - there are not many movies that shows with such vividness and strenghth all the hell and total chaos and insanity of the life of a alco-path. You must see this man, his flat which looks like Hell landscape and his doings that are caricature and horrible at the same time - REALLY horrible since that man ends violating moral law... And betrayal of a friend - the only being sympathized him and one sent to save him - plunged this man into "outer darkness where is weeping and gnashing of teeth". Still the man is not evil in himself - he's possessed. And in the moments of sobriety his suffering are sharp. One of the best works of splendid Sergei Shakurov. Also the film is notable as animal movie - the spectator is just completely charmed by this second figure in the story - Newfoundland dog called Drug (Friend)... The songs and poetry by Alexander Rosenbaum also worth noting