I’m becoming a bit of a cinephile, and I’d really like to experience the greatness of Soviet cinema but I don’t know where to begin. Hit me with those recs!
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Come and See is the only true anti-war film.
Kim Dza Dza
Tarkovsky’s work
Kidnapping Caucasian Style
2nding кин дза дза
Their version of War and Peace. They really went all out.
Do watch the early cinema too, like Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera. Stride, Soviet! Is also good even if it is very much a piece of propaganda
fr fr fr fr i literally forgot War and Peace was “soviet cinema”, it’s just categorized as GOAT in my head
It’s a film in its own category. I don’t think it could have ever been made outside of the soviet union. What other state in history would fund a 7 hour adaption of war and peace, and provide them with a blank check for resources, soldiers and horses?
Eisenstein’s works are all worth seeing. Tarkovsky as well I’d say though I think Stalker is a stand-out. Agree with ‘The Ascent’. I’d also recommend ‘The Cranes are Flying’.
Solaris, stalker
There’s also the MosFilm yt channel that has full Soviet movies in decent quality, many with english subs.
The Ascent is definitely a must see
The Soviet adaptation of Sherlock Holmes.
Gaidai comedy movies.
I don’t remember Guest From the Future and Elektronik well enough.
17 Moments of Spring - I’m not sure. It does suffer from the awkward pacing of the scenes a bit, IMO, and generally kind of didn’t grip me, unfortunately. I didn’t dislike it, though.
Kin-dza-dza - I couldn’t get into it at all. I completely do not understand the movie’s subtext. This one, I do dislike.Good to see Man with a movie camera posted
It’s the goat.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
No one has mentioned Ad Astra Ad Aspera. Its a banger.
Battleship Potemkin
And there was an animation about a guy that gets killed by a bull. I can’t for the life of me remember the title but it was made by painting oil on glass and smudging it between frames.
I don’t know the actual name, but in my history class (the great patriotic war) we watched a soviet era law film about a defence lawyer being chosen for a show trial, I think set during the 30’s) and how he tries to treat it seriously and defends his client and does everything right and gets evidence his client is innocent (obvious given it’s a show trial) and runs smack into the authorities who, I can’t remember the ending, I don’t think he dies or gets punished for trying too hard, but his client definitely gets the wall.
I want to say the name was something like “defence lawyer ‘insert Russian name here’”.
I can’t even remember if it was good, but it didn’t seem actively bad. If anyone can figure out the title that’d be cool, it was over 15 years ago when I got my degree and it was just like a soft class the professor gave us during term paper round up so I have such vague memories of it.
Edit: I looked myself and it appears to be “My Friend Ivan Lapshin”. Edit edit: it may not be this, it seems vaguely possible but it’s too hard to identify as this doesn’t have anything to do with the lawyer angle, but is set in time period I recall.
