DOMKINO
Following the steps of Soviet cinema
What film would you recommend to see a person not familiar with classic Soviet cinema?
This choice should be made without a mistake in order to present to the audience a completely different world of Soviet Russia, which has its own uniqueness, and which is so different from the image that is usually associated with the Soviet Union era.
Comparative subtext
In the modern world, it is customary to compare all spheres of community in a particular country, guided by superficial knowledge. On the example of such a sphere as the film industry, it is possible to freely claim that films in the USA are so successful and exemplary because of life "on a large scale" of Americans who have freedom of choice and equality, while British cinema has a feature of classics and restraint in style due to the diligence of UK citizens and following traditional canons. This chain can be continued further, but, in this case, we are talking about the "great" and demonstrative country of the 20th century, Soviet Union.
It will be true if to say that in Soviet Union times was active propaganda of censorship, as well as its implementation.
At the same time, it will also be a lie to say that due to the totalitarianism of the country and its communist inclinations, motion pictures were released showing the "ordinary life" of working Russians, and such films were unremarkable, targeting only citizens of the country.
«Censorship is real and effective!», active Komsomol member would say, approximately in 1971.
«Censorship is real and effective!», active Komsomol member would say, approximately in 1971.
But as well as censorship was existed, in the same sense existed a unique worldview of directors and actors who made a huge contribution to the development of Soviet cinema, which became an inspiration for future artists, and also showed Soviet Russia in a way that no one could ever illustrate: films through the eyes of ordinary people, former soldiers and people whose ideas were limited by censorship and criticism, but who, without fear of condemnation and contrary to prohibitions, continued to create art with the help of ideas, a quartz film camera, and like-minded people.
What film to watch and not to be disappointed?
Andrei Tarkovsky
Mirror (1975)
"Mirror" is partly an autobiographical motion picture of the "forbidden" Soviet-era director Andrei Tarkovsky, an artist and master who influenced the development of world-class cinema. The film consists of the memories of the main character Alexei about the house, mother, childhood and his family. A film endowed with Arseny Tarkovsky poetry, the director's father, conveys the full depth of the events on the screen and brings closer the viewer into the thoughts of the author who created the film. The accompaniment of the musical works of Bach and Purcell plunges even deeper into the events of the film, following the characters at every step.
For a more detailed acquaintance with one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, it is recommended also to watch such Andrei Tarkovsky's film works as "Stalker" (the script was adapted by Soviet-Russian authors Arkady and Boris Strugatsky and based on their eponymous novel "Roadside Picnic"); «Nostalghia», which tells the story of a writer seeking inspiration in the works of an Italian poet; and other, equally important and stunning film works by the director.
For a more detailed acquaintance with one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, it is recommended also to watch such Andrei Tarkovsky's film works as "Stalker" (the script was adapted by Soviet-Russian authors Arkady and Boris Strugatsky and based on their eponymous novel "Roadside Picnic"); «Nostalghia», which tells the story of a writer seeking inspiration in the works of an Italian poet; and other, equally important and stunning film works by the director.
Aleksei German
My Friend Ivan Lapshin (1984)
The film is directed by Aleksei German, who was inspired by A. Tarkovsky's film works, tells the story of the head of the criminal investigation department Ivan Lapshin, whose life path leads him to investigate a series of criminal offenses of a dangerous group in the 30s, a fleeting love with an actress of a local theater and life in a communal apartment, which he shares with the landlady, journalist, and workers from the operational service.
Karen Shakhnazarov
The Messenger Boy (1986)
Carefree and deft graduate of the school, Ivan Miroshnikov, works as a messenger boy in the local editorial office. His personality attracts people with its openness and spontaneity. Ivan is in a "search" position when future plans are not defined and youthful maximalism is fully showing itself. The protagonist living the moment, trying not to cross the boundaries of morality and follow the twists and turns of fate.
ANDREI TARKOVSKY
Stalker (1979)
The film script was adapted by Soviet-Russian authors Arkady and Boris Strugatsky and based on their novel "Roadside Picnic".
In the restricted zone, where strange and inexplicable events take place, and according to the eyewitnesses, there is a specific room where the most cherished desires are fulfilled. The experienced stalker decides to take two fellow travelers into the restricted zone: a writer and a professor, who pledged them to show the way to the coveted place. The characters of the film pass a long road, on the way of which they open the doors to the unexplainable, and their most secret inner thoughts are revealed.
In the restricted zone, where strange and inexplicable events take place, and according to the eyewitnesses, there is a specific room where the most cherished desires are fulfilled. The experienced stalker decides to take two fellow travelers into the restricted zone: a writer and a professor, who pledged them to show the way to the coveted place. The characters of the film pass a long road, on the way of which they open the doors to the unexplainable, and their most secret inner thoughts are revealed.
Leonid Gaidai
The Diamond Arm (1969)
Soviet classics directed by Leonid Gaidai, with which, probably, every second individual is familiar. This film is among the most popular works by the director and tells the story of a simple worker, economist Semyon Gorbunkov, who managed to plunge into a criminal story, during his vacation to get hold of diamonds in an orthopedic cast of a broken arm and become an accomplice in an investigation of the actions of a group of smugglers, led by a mysterious boss, working undercover.
Eldar Ryazanov
Beware of the Car (1966)
The plot of the film is extraordinary and carries the idea of gratuitous kindness that is mined by the main character not honestly, but deliberately and guided by the concepts of virtue and where, in the end, only the vanity of the victims suffers.
The insurance agent, Yuri Detochkin, set a goal for himself: to help orphaned children by taking property from stately people that were rightfully obtained not by fair means. The protagonist is rubbed into the trust of his customers and when the fact that their income was gained in an unscrupulous way is revealed, he steals their cars and transfers the proceeds of the sale to the last penny to the orphanage.
The insurance agent, Yuri Detochkin, set a goal for himself: to help orphaned children by taking property from stately people that were rightfully obtained not by fair means. The protagonist is rubbed into the trust of his customers and when the fact that their income was gained in an unscrupulous way is revealed, he steals their cars and transfers the proceeds of the sale to the last penny to the orphanage.
