Archive for January, 2009

Tatyana (Mariya Mironova) tired of the glamour capital life comes back to her native urban village Lypki in Tulskaya region in order to marry her first love Misha (Marat Basharov). Misha like everyone here is a miner short of money due to the occasional salary payments, but the wedding has to be celebrated. The needed money will be digged up. And here starts unimaginable – the real Russian wedding in the village. It is quite an eyeful show!

“The Wedding” was awarded by the special prize of the Cannes Film Festival for the best cast. And rather objectively, I have to say. Just look at the bridegroom`s friend Garkusha performed by Andrey Panin. Marvellous work! The same honest view of Russian province I`ve seen only in film “The Four”. But unlike the spiteful satire by Ilya Hrzhanovsky Lungin`s laugh at the village contains also love and soul. Lungin could be called a real Russian Kusturica!

Directed by:

Pavel Lungin

Cast:

Marat Basharov, Mariya Mironova, Andrey Panin, Alexander Semchev, Vladimir Simonov, Mariya Golubkina, Natalya Kolyakanova, Yelena Novikova, Vladimir Kashpur

Production:

arte France Cinéma, Catherine Dussart Productions (CDP), Ciné B, Lichtblick Film- und Fernsehproduktion, Mosfilm, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), Germany - Russia - France, 2000

Feature:

Comedy

Duration:

114 min.

The life of young and talented provincial disk jockey Denis Orlov is more like a fairy tale. He has got completely everything: success, money, beloved girl, true friends as well as ambitions. Denis dreams about moving to the capital of Russia, where he expect to meet the unlimited career opportunities. His dreams break, when guy firstly decides to participate in the drugs deal in order to earn some extra money.

The life of the hero changes very fast as soon as he becomes the member of the gangster`s grouping of Verner. Denis is afraid to lose the career, his girl and even his own life. To stay alive after he spoiled the drugs operation Denis has to clear by working his debt to the gangsters. The only his desire now is to break away from this horror!

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Directed by:

Valeriy Todorovskiy

Cast:

Maxim Matveyev, Fedor Bondarchuk, Alexey Serebryakov, Igor Voynarovskiy, Anton Shagin, Yekaterina Vilkova, Sergey Volobuyev, Yevgeniya Hirivskaya, Sergey Pirnyak, Denis Balandin, Denis Yasik

Production:

Krasnaya strela, Russia, 2007

Feature:

Drama, Criminal, Detective

Duration:

124 min.

Frankly, widely-advertised before the demonstration in 2006 “Hunt for Piranha”, was not the film everybody liked. Mostly the audience disliked the trite technique, when in the film`s ending the superhero kills hundred of enemies in no time and stays alive. But the whole impression from the film is quite good.

At least we have learned to make films! Surely, this fact was understood before the “piranha”, but the film of Andrey Kavun strengthened this opinion.

According to the story of the film, the special subdivision member Kiril is going to taiga with his colleague Olga in order to render the dangerous arms on the China border. But situation goes out of the control and as he result the couple together with the rest of uninvited guests is caught by Prokhor, who is according to his words the master of taiga hunting for people. Obviously the hero of Mironov couldn`t help of chasing for this “batch” of targets.

Trailer:

Directed by:

Andrey Kavun

Cast:

Vladimir Mashkov, Yevgeniy Mironov, Svetlana Antonova, Sergey Garmash, Andrey Merzlikin, Mikhail Yefremof, Viktoriya Isakova, Alexey Gorbunov

Directed by:

Central Partnership, Russia, 2006

Feature:

Action, Drama,Adventure

Duration:

125 min.

Sergey, the top-manager of the big company, probably couldn`t expect such sharp and fast turn of his life. He has lost both family and work and even his house. Landing on the street level he met his old acquaintance, the student of his year with the same way of life. The leading character decided to find a job with the help of the employment agency. He was offered a job and was ready to try…

I doubt, whether he could imagine, that job description of the profession named “listener” includes the listening of bad language and getting his lumps from the nervous Fedulov`s family members. But this makes the work more and more profitable! The business blossomed out just until the family bankruptcy.

“The Listener” is a quite merry family comedy adorned by the galaxy of famous actors.

Trailer:

Directed by:

Vladimir Zaykin

Cast:

Dmitry Dyuzhev,Mikhail Yefremov, Lyubov Tolkalina, Yevgeniy Steblov, Nikita Vysotsky, Natalya Kolyakanova

Production:

Gorkogo film studio, Russia, 2004

Feature:

Comedy

Duration:

91 min.

Additional information:

Internet Movie Database

Yevgeniy Vetrov is a successful neurosurgeon with vast experience and great skills. It`s quite nalural, that development of the career and business acknowledgement meets the competitors` envy and desire to ruin his life. In the significant for the Vetrov`s clinic day he looses his wife, brutally killed in the own place, and falls under suspicion of law-enforcement agency. Moreover, there exists the evidence of crime stating the doctor`s guilt.

As you can understand from the film`s name he escapes being transported under guard to Siberia. His aim is to find the committer of a crime and punish him with his own hands, if justice is unable. The experienced detective Pakhomov has another aim –at any rate to find Vetrov. Only he wants to do this for private purposes.

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Directed by:

Yegor Konchalovsky

Cast:

Yevgeniy Mironov, Alexey Serebryakov, Viktoriya Tolstoganova, Lyubov Tolkalina , Alexander Mokhov, Yuriy Belyayev, Andrey Smolyakov, Sergey Astakhov, Natalya Arinbasova

Production:

Central Partnership, Russia, 2005

Feature:

Drama,Adventure, Action, Detective

Duration:

110 min.

As I`ve already told in one of my previous posts, I `m not against Gosha Kutsenko. Moreover, I admire his diligence and ability to act in several films at the same time. Thus for the last six years the actor played in thirty films, in the majority of them – he was a star or co-star.

This time is not an exception. The hero of Gosha, Max meets the French princess find herself in Russia due to her temper. His first intention to use this acquaintance exceptionally for business purposes collapse, because very soon he falls in love, that benets him rather firmly.

In general the film is a quite mediocre remake of the William Wyler`s “Roman Holiday” made in 1953. But nevertheless it succeeded to collect more than 7,5 mln USD for the two months being showing in cinemas, that thrice exceeds the film`s budget.

Trailer:

Directed by:

Alexander Chernyayev

Cast:

Yelena Polyakova, Gosha Kutsenko, Tatyana Vasilyeva, Gerard Depardieu, Oskar Kuchera, Nina Usatova

Production:

НТV-Kino, Russia, 2008

Feature:

Comedy, Drama

Duration:

96 min.

Together with some other Russian films made during the last five-six years “Flash.ka” is a good reason to criticize the newest history of cinematograph creators because of their complete lack of talent.

As for me, “Flash.ka”could be classified as unobtrusive drama with the elements of action, but not as garbage as the hot-tempered critics would like to present it. But the film story fairly could be called banal. Andrey, big company coworker comes to know about the unfaithfulness of his own wife, being also the manager of the company he works in. Threatening by the weapon the guy decides to escape together with the company account manager Kotik and valuable flash disk containing the information about 320 mln USD machination.

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Directed by:

Georgiy Shengeliya

Cast:

Yekaterina Guseva, Yevgeniy Stychkin, Andrey Tashkov, Ilya Shakunov

Production:

Vox Video, Russia, 2006

Feature:

Drama, Criminal

Duration:

105 min.

In the faraway part of the world live ordinary people. Alex (Konstantin Lavrinenko), her wife Vera (Mariya Bonnevye), brother Mark (Alexander Baluyev), friend Kir (Maxim Shibayev) and two children. Together with wife and children Alex goes to the country house. There his wife weeps bitterly and then lets him know about her new pregnancy. “This child is not yours,” sounds the verdict to the happy family future. It is total mess in the head of Alex. Who is the father? Mark? Kir? Who should be blamed and killed? Impossibility to find out the truth drives him into the gloomy state. One by one slow but surprising events causes the terrible tragedy.

The second film by Andrey Zvyagintsev is endless (two hours and a half) as well as beautiful. Honestly, in the Russian cinematograph history, including also the Soviet period, one could hardly find the same trendy, visually filigree film. “The Expulsion” - is the benefit performance of the brilliant operator Mikhail Krichman. The particular pleasure brings to the viewer the film`s cast. It should be mentioned, that film is based on the story of William Saroyan and touches upon the subjects of mutual understanding in the triangle Man-Woman-God. According to the European critics Andrey Zvyagintsev was called due to “The Expulsion” the descendant of Tarkovsky and Bergman. If you are able to bear the 150 minutes of this parable, you would definitely appreciate this film.

Trailer:

Directed by:

Andrey Zvyagintsev

Cast:

Konstantin Lavronenko, Alexander Baluyev, Maxim Shibayev, Mariya Bonnevye, Yekaterina Kulkina, Yelena Lyadova, Andrey Shibarshin, Dmitriy Ulyanov, Alexey Vertkov

Production:

Hélicotronc, REN FILM, Russia, 2007

Feature:

Drama

Duration:

150 min.

In June of 2007 Zemfira Ramazanova said goodbye to her old repertoire. The outdoor concert in Moscow Green Theatre became the final point of her tour. That concert became the basis of the Renata Litvinova film. The program of the concert is mixed with the video recoding pieces made by the fans of Zemfira on her various concerts. Quite unexpected jump into the crowd of fans from the stage, the show in the nightclub in the bra, the exciting and sincere singing of the ballade “Inside me” – all these moments shot by the simple shaking mobiles make the presence effect. But certainly the most interesting frames – are the interview of Zemfira to Renata Lytvinova. The singer`s thoughts about the sense of life, about love, talent and fame, her admirers and herself create the portrait of the exceptional talented girl from Ufa, that conquered the hearts of millions.

Trailer:

Directed by:

Renata Lytvinova

Cast:

Zemfira Ramazanova

Production:

Miro International Pty Ltd., Russia, 2008

Feature:

Music, Concert

Duration:

76 min.

In the small seaside city there live two bothers Andrey (Vladimir Garin) and Ivan (Ivan Dobronravov). They quarrel and make peace, potter like any other teenagers. The boys are brought up by the women: mother and grandmother. Once their father (Knstantin Lavronenko) comes back home after a long absence. The boys meet him in different way: the elder Andrey with delight and Ivan “charges with bayonet”. In the morning father takes them to fishing. The long way is full of dramatic dialogs and deeds. The father`s behaviour starts to threaten brothers. For a minute the stream of negative emotions leads to the tragedy.

Andrey Zvyagintsev`s film debute causes the real sensation of the year 2003 in Europe. The film was awarded by the Golden Lion in Venice Film Festival and received the French César award as the best foreign film. Unfortunately, the gifted film recognition was darkened by the fact, that actor Vladimir Garin, who played Andrey, drowned shortly after the end of shooting in a lake nearby. “The Return” tells us about the unusual triangle “son-father-son” broken under the weight of misunderstanding. Father wants his sons to become the “man’s men” in his own interpretation. The boys merely need a father`s love, the warmth of his heart. It`s impossible to reach a compromise, so the death comes on the stage. The dénouement makes the viewer to sit silently in the state of stupor.

Trailer:

Directed by:

Andrey Zvyagintsev

Cast:

Vladimir Garin, Ivan Dobronravov, Konstantin Lavronenko, Natalya Vdovina, Galina Petrova

Production:

REN FILM, Russia, 2003

Feature:

Drama

Duration:

105 min.