Russian Movies Available Locally
These are some of the Russian Movies available through Anchorage Municipal Libraries (including UAA and APU). You can check out five at a time for a week through Loussac.
If possible, watch DVD's in Russian with English subtitles only at first; as your Russian gets better, use the Russian subtitles!
Movies including Oleg Menshikov (my favorite Russian male actor):
Utomliennye Solntsem (Burnt by the Sun)
A movie for mature audiences that combines a Chekhovian setting with the terror and paranoia that characterized Stalin’s regime. Parents should watch before letting students see because there are scenes that not all should watch. (Directed by the great Nikita Mikhalkov, this movie has won many awards.)
Kavkazskii Plennik (Prisoner of the Mountains)
The opening scenes are of young conscripts into the Soviet Army, (un)dressed for their physical. Skip that and the rest of the movie is fine for young eyes. It tells a story of two prisoners in a mountain village who are being held as ransom for a village boy. It’s a good one to watch in light of Chechnya and Iraq.
Sibirskii Tsiriulnik (Siberian Barber)
About a romance in the late 1800’s between a young army man and a foreign woman. I haven’t ever seen the whole thing, so can’t comment on ratings. It’s considered a Russian classic. Also directed by Mikhalkov.
East/West
A family moves back to Russia from the West and experiences the new Soviet regime first hand. The movie is in Russian and French.
Movies directed or acted in by Nikita Mikhalkov
Neokonchennaia p'esa dlia mekhanicheskogo pianino (Unfinished piece for the player piano)
A picture of life of the Russian gentry in the late 19th century. It wasn’t all that nostalgia remembers! It’s a reminder that Russian directors do not feel it necessary to paint a pretty picture or to end in Disney fashion.
Zhestoki Romans (Cruel Romance)
I haven’t seen it, but the summary fits the title.
Andrei Rubliov
A very long movie about how the young spiritual man survives life in the 15th century and becomes a painter. There are scenes of bell raising and Russian life that every Russian student should see.
Oblomov
A movie based on the famous play about a man too lazy to get off his couch. It will give you a new name to use to rebuke your lazy friends.
(Did I mention Burnt By the Sun?)
Siberiade
I haven’t seen it, but it’s on my list, if Mikhalkov is in it.
Other classics
Doctor Zhivago
Mature students should see the one with Keira Knightly. It gives a clear picture of what Russia was like as the civil war raged in the early 1900’s. There are a couple of scenes that parents need to edit, but the rest of the movie is worth it. It might be fun to check out the Omar Sharif version as well. This movie, paired with Burnt By the Sun, then complemented with East/West, will give students as clear a picture as they can get in only six hours of life in the revolutionary and Soviet years.
Since Otar Left
This is really a Georgian film, but it has that Eastern European feeling. It’s in Georgian, Russian, and French (with English subtitles). Here’s what the library says: A family portrait of three generations of Georgian women in the city of Tbilisi. Eka obsesses over her physician son Otar, while the other two attempt to deal as best they can with Eka's burning desire to see him. A poignant, bittersweet story.
Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears
A story about three women who come to Moscow to seek their fortunes and the men they marry (or don’t). This is highly rated by the last five students to borrow and report on it.
Russian Ark
This is an incredible movie…all in one take…moving through 300 years of Russian history with a modern filmmaker as a guide. It helps to watch this with someone who knows Russian history well, but no matter what, it’s an impressive technical achievement.
Sobach’e serdtse (Heart of a dog) about a very unusual surgery. It’s taken from a script by the famous M.A. Bulgakov.
Soliaris, a movie directed by the famous Tarkovsky. The library says, “Ground control has been receiving strange transmissions from the three remaining residents of the Solaris space station. When cosmonaut and psychologist Kris Kelvin is sent to investigate, he experiences the strange phenomena that afflict the Solaris crew, sending him on a voyage into the darkest recesses of his own consciousness.” It won a Cannes Film Festival award in 1972, so the effects have aged, but serious science-fiction lovers will appreciate it. Tarkovsky was a very important director for Russian movies and if you like this, you will want to find Stalker next (not available through the library system).
Dzhentl’meny udachi (Gentlemen of Fortune)
This is one of a series of slapstick comedies that Mr. Block explained to me comes from the French tradition. Another one is…
Brilliantovaia Ruka (Diamond Arm),
Russians find this absolutely hysterical and Americans start to appreciate it at about their thirteenth viewing. These movies form the basis of about a quarter of the allusions Russians will make in conversation, so it’s useful to know them.
Solomennaia shliapka (Straw hat) is in the same vein as the previous two…Russians will burst laughing, and the Americans in the room will have perplexed smiles on their faces.
Vii
A very weird ghost story, “A young priest is ordered to preside over the wake of a witch in a small old wooden church of a remote village. This means spending three nights alone with the corpse with only his faith to protect him.”
Does it sound as though he would go mad?
War and Peace
It’s the longest book, and at 403 minutes, the longest movie. Yes, if you watch it all, you will get all your hours for the semester. Here’s the library description: Napoleon's army advances through Europe, and the high society of St. Petersburg discusses philosophical matters: What sets history in motion? The ambition of an emperor, the hastiness of a tsar, or the talent of a military commander? The destiny of Russia is inseparable from that of Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov, and Natasha Rostova.
The movie won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1968.
Repentance
A movie in Georgian, Russian, and French, about a woman who exhumes the body of the mayor night after night to raise awareness of his horrible reign.
Russia Land of the Tsars
From the library: The definitive exploration of Russia's imperial past: its origins, leaders, wars and politics. Using exclusive interviews and historical reenactments, this film spans one thousand years of Russian history. Disc 2 includes three Biography episodes. (I have not seen it.)
The Battleship Potemkin
By the famous early director Sergei Eisenstein: if you are at all interested in movie history, you must watch this and then read up on it. It recreates the 1905 mutiny on the battleship Potemkin. It was originally a silent motion picture, made in 1925.
Dersu Uzala
About a Soviet explorer and a mountain man’s friendship in the Russian far east.
Not necessarily classics
Night Watch
I haven’t personally been able to get through more than three minutes of this movie. Here’s the library description, and you’ll see why (it did show in American theaters in 2006). “Living among humans are those who possess various supernatural powers. They are divided into the forces of light and the forces of the dark. Centuries ago both sides signed a treaty to end a war. Now the battle is about to happen again.” Now there is Day Watch, and I hear that there is a third one out too.
Samara-gorodok
I haven’t seen this…the container says it’s a romantic melodrama about the sweet town of Samara. I’m sorry I didn’t check it out while our exchange student from Samara was here during the 2006-2007 school year.
Chaikovskii
A drama based on the life of the composer (Tchaikovsky). The music throughout is wonderful.
Nicholas and Alexandra
Follows the final years of the Russian Tsar and Empress.
In English.
The Twelve Chairs
This is a Mel Brooks movie, believe it or not, based on Il’ia Il’f’s book of the same name. “When a former aristocrat who is now a Russian clerk under the new Soviet regime learns that his dying mother-in-law sewed a fortune of family jewels into one of twelve dining room chairs, he sets off across Russia to find it--with an opportunist, a priest and his former servant all in pursuit.”
It’s in English, but at least you’ll know the story, which is very much a part of Russian culture.
Some cartoons
Nu, pogodi!
About a wolf who never gets the rabbit. Only two words in Russian, and they mean “Just you wait! I’ll get you!”
Printsessa na goroshine
The Russian take on the Scandinavian fairy tale of the princess and the pea.
Iunost’ Bembi (Bambi’s Youth)
You know the story. You’ll understand.
Rusalochka (The Little Mermaid)
You’ve seen the Disney version, now check out what the Russians did to the story. Then tell me about it.
Morozko (Father Frost)
Just in case you can’t wait until New Year for me to show this to your class…”The evil witch Baba Yaga puts a beautiful maiden into a frozen sleep from which only true love can free her. Father Frost helps the maiden and her hero, Ivan, overcome the many difficulties placed before them.” But as we all know, that is far from the whole story.
Available elsewhere:
The Italian
The newest award-winning Russian movie to hit Anchorage movie theaters is now available at Carrs. It is PG-13, so families with younger viewers will want to be careful.
An Italian couple tries to adopt a Russian orphan, but he gets scared off and begins a journey to find his real mother.
This movie shows all the rough edges of Russia as well as the incredible compassion that Russians have in their hearts.
Watch it with Russian subtitles after you've seen it once with the English. It's very clear Russian and you will understand a lot, even by second year.
Netflix also carries a number of Russian movies.
To watch:
Cranes Are Flying: a beautiful WWII story that should be part of the background of every cinema fanatic. Beautiful B&W shooting.
Not to watch:
Scarlet Sails
A movie after the Dutch story by Green. Actually not so bad for slow language, but no cultural info from Russia.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |