Aleksandr Sokurov - Telets Aka Taurus (2001)

Following up on his shaded character study of Adolf Hitler in Moloch, acclaimed filmmaker Alexander Sokurov directs this companion piece -- the second in a planned trilogy -- based on the waning days of the life of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. Set in 1923 in the newly created U.S.S.R., state founder Lenin (Leonid Mozgovoy) -- though he is never mentioned by name -- is convalescing from a stroke at age 51 in his dacha. Surrounded by watchful guards, a live-in doctor, his wife, and his sister, this formerly titanic figure lives as a virtual prisoner after the deterioration of his health. Unable to make contact with the outside world -- newspapers are forcibly removed and the phone lines cut -- Lenin spends much of his time puttering around in the garden or eating with his loyal wife. One day, Stalin (Sergei Razhuk) pays him a visit, even though Lenin isn't quite sure who the future tyrant is. He presents the sick man a walking stick, mentioning that he wanted it to be engraved but Trotsky vetoed the idea. After the visit, Lenin becomes upset that he is living in luxury while his countrymen are starving. This film was screened in competition at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Aleksandr Sokurov – Skorbnoye beschuvstviye aka Anaesthesia Psychica Dolorosa aka Mournful Unconcern (1987)

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Mournful Unconcern (Russian: Скорбное бесчувствие, translit. Skorbnoye beschuvstviye) is the third produced film by Alexander Sokurov, completed in 1983, but the fourth released one, as it was banned by Soviet authorities until perestroika in 1987. The film, set during World War I, is inspired by Bernard Shaw's play Heartbreak House. Professional actors (Zamansky, Osipenko, Sokolova and others) were used alongside amateur actors, like in most early Sokurov films, and many of the trademarks of his cinematographic style were already apparent.

Aleksandr Sokurov - Peterburgskiy dnevnik: Mozart. Rekviem (2004)

- Sokurov directed and filmed Mozart's Requiem for the Rossica Choir in the wonderful hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. Preceded by his student film, inspired by La Traviata.

The first night of a performance of Mozart's Requiem staged by Alexander Sokurov, with the Rossica choir from St. Petersburg, led by Valentina Kopylova-Pantchenko, took place in the small hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic at the end of the winter of 2003. The choir holds a special place in this presentation of the Requiem - it is the main actor and plays the main role. The director was looking to give a new resonance to classical music in both an aesthetic as well as a musical context. On stage, the action takes place in a clear, simple, dynamic and beautiful way, within the space of a magnificent hall. The performance was a surprising revelation even for music-lovers.

Aleksandr Sokurov - Solntse AKA The Sun (2005)

Plot:
As Japan nears defeat at the end of World War II, Emperor Hirohito starts his day in a bunker underneath the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. A servant reads to him a list of activities for the day, including a meeting with his ministers, marine biology research, and writing his son. Hirohito muses about the impact on such schedules when the Americans arrive but is told that as long as there is a solitary Japanese person living, the Americans will not reach The Emperor. Hirohito replies that he at times feels like he himself will be the last Japanese person left alive. The servant reminds him that he is a deity, not a person, but Hirohito points out that he has a body just like any other man. He later reflects on the causes of the war when dictating observations about a hermit crab, and then about the peace to come when composing a letter to his son. Soon enough General Douglas MacArthur's personal car is sent to bring him through the ruins of Tokyo for a meeting with the supreme commander

Aleksandr Dovzhenko - Aerograd (1935)

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A Russian outpost in Eastern Siberia comes under threat of attack by the Japanese in this patriotic film from 1935. Aerograd is a new town with a strategically located airfield of vital interest to the government. Work on the new outpost is complicated when tensions develop between workers and a religious sect. The sect threatens to give their support to a band of marauding samurai warriors who battle for control of the region. Relations between the two countries are further strained in the days before World War II, dating back to the Russo-Japanese War of 1905. In this feature, the Russians are victorious as airplanes throughout the country come to the aid of the beleaguered new town. Director Alexander Dovzhenko, long considered a giant in Russian classic cinema, also wrote the screenplay for this feature.

Tatyana Lioznova - Semnadtsat mgnoveniy vesny aka Seventeen moments of spring (Episode 12) (1973)

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 11) (1973)

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 10) (1973)

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.