Drama

Igor Korob, who is a businessman and owner of the large- scale business, once became the victim of the “shakedown”. To protect his property Igor has to face the outrage of 90ties of the twentieth century. Unexpectedly he finds himself in the jail, when he comes out his rights on the huge profitable project are lost.

But the most terrible is to follow. At night-time he suffers from the nightmares about King Solomon, at day time he is not able to trust anybody. The things happening to Igor could be the results of his heated fantasy. Then for the first time he starts to think, what means his fortune came by.

Personal author`s opinion: For the first time Ukrainian film impressed me so much. Probably mostly to the success of the film contributed inimitable Panin.

IMDB: 5,6/10.

Trailer:

Directed by:

Alexander Kiriyenko

Cast:

Andrey Panin, Alena Babenko, Alexey Gorbunov, Sergey Garmash, Inga Strelkova-Oboldina, Alexander Semchev, Alexey Petrenko, Victor Saraykin, Davia Babayev, Vitaliy Linetskiy

Production:

Kinovidrodzhennya, Ukraine, 2008

Feature:

>Thriller, Drama

Duration:

81 min.

Additional information:

International Movie Database

It is one more Russian expensive film made for the last several years. And possibly it could be the most successful one. The film`s budget amounted 20 mln USD, it was seen by the 5,5mln audience. Most of them highly appreciated the work of Andrey Kravchuk.

The film story is based on the real historical events. It is the story of struggle and love of the great admiral Alexander Vasilyevych Kolchak, that became famous at the times of the Russian Empire downfall. Even despite of the some historical inaccuracies “The Admiral” deserves to be called the film of high quality and repaid until the showing in cinemas.

The author`s personal opinion: I`ve heard a lot of various characteristics before the viewing: “boring”, “despondently”, “wimpy” intertwined with inspiring and positive opinions. But, as the saying goes, every man to his own taste. One more time I assured – it is quite true. As for my opinion – I could estimate it as weak 5.

IMDB rating: 7,1/10.

Trailer:

Directed by:

Andrey Kravchuk

Cast:

Konstantin Khabenskiy, Yelizaveta Boyarskaya, Sergey Bezrukov, Vladislav Vetrov, Yegor Beroyev, Anna Kovalchuk

Production:

Film Direction, Russia, 2008

Feature:

Drama, History, War

Duration:

123 min.

Additional information:

International Movie Database

Performing the traditional New Year`s call on the unknown phone number Andrey didn`t even suspected, that just after his return to Moscow, he had bought a magic starting packet of cellular communications operator. Getting through to the deserted in New Year`s eve Alyona, Andrey almost falls in love with her, but there exists a temporal problem. Alyona is celebrating coming 2008 year and Andrey is going to meet 2009.

Trying “to set a contact” with Alyona`s «future variant» he comes to know the terrible truth about the events, that appened in the end of 2008. Now the main goal of Andrey and all his friends – to prevent the awful tragedy and to turn into reality the meeting of Alyona and Andrey.

The author`s personal opinion: This New Year fairy tale couldn`t pretend to be called clever, but as for me its viewing was rather pleasant.

Trailer:

Directed by:

Yevgeniy Bedarev

Cast:

Valeriya Lanskaya, Maxim Matveyev, Yekaterina Malikova, Yevgeniy Slavskiy, Mariya Aronova, Dmitriy Dyuzhev, Myroslava Karpovych, Svetlana Kryuchkova, Mikhail Porechenkov, Roman Polyanskiy

Production:

Profit, Russia, 2008

Feature:

Comedy, Fantasy, Drama

Duration:

83 min.

Discharged from the army provincial Anton Remezov (Alexandr Golubev) comes to Moscow. Anton is going to marry his neighbour from native Altmetyevsk Zinaida. But the Moscow is not so glad to meet him. Zinaida is confused (she merely has send him the photo on the 23rd February occasion), her father “uncle Kolya” doesn`t wants to hire Roman and the cop on the terminal beats him up. So our hero changes his mind and instead of leaving to native Almetyevka and gets a job in the Moscow police. And now he has the opportunity to revenge to everyone: Zinaida, uncle Kolya, his colleagues-cops, deceivers tradesmen.

“Firmness doesn`t mean stupidity” is the motto of the hero passing through the whole film, but sometimes it seems, that he is trying to prove the opposite. If the Remezow were 10 years older and cleverer, he would particularly turn into Danila Bagrov. And the film “Heart of Stone” could be called “The Brother 3”. But Remezov is not a Bagrov, and Mizgirev is not a Balabanov. The key messages of the film are: Moscow is captured by the stupid provincials, cops and gangsters are the same, and all of them produce the narcotic dens on the Moscow outskirts, cheap brothels and kill each other. Aside from that, as usual, there is no love, no withdrawal, no positive heroes. And the viewer doesn`t feel sorry for anyone.

Trailer:

Directed by:

Alexey Mizgirev

Cast:

Alexander Golubev, Karen Badalov, Yevgeniy Antropov, Dmitriy Kulichkov, Anastasiya Bezborodova, Sergey Shekhovtsov

Production:

STV, Russia, 2007

Feature:

Drama

Duration:

82 min.

Two men travel from Moscow to Koktebel changing their place of place of residence. The reason is: the woman`s death. That woman was the wife for one of them and the mum to another. After the wife`s death the 40-year-old aircraft designer (Igor Chernevych) went on a drinking jag and spent the flat on drink. So he is homeless and moneyless now. The 12-year-old son is a silent dreamy boy. They are to make a one thousand and five hundred kilometres journey, there in Koktebel the other woman is waiting for them being ready to help.

The film is incredibly beautiful. It is as silent dreamy and flapping its eyelashes as one of the main heroes. Two men with their two lonelinesses are walking trough the one road along one country. While our mutual journey we see the country being the sad tired woman watching her sons. She Is the woman waiting for them in Koktebel. The only thing now we can do - to hope for the better…

Directed by:

Boris Khlebnikov, Alexey Popogrebskiy

Cast:

Gleb Puskepalis, Igor Chernevych, Yevgeniy Sytiy, Vladimir Kucherenko, Agripinna Steklova, Alexander Ilyin, Anna Frolovtseva

Production:

PBOUL Borisevich R.U., Russia, 2003

Feature:

Drama

Duration:

100 min.

Additional information:

Internet Movie Database

It is shown the Soviet Union in 1957. In frontier port city there lives a funny simpleton called Konek (Evgeniy Mironov). He is a cook in the restaurant, courts to the waitress Larochka and enjoys his miserable existence. Unexpectedly he meets the mysterious German (Evgeniy Tsyganov), who is confident and single-minded. German speaks about the mysterious politics, swims in ice water and is likely to be preparing to something.

The Alexey Utchitel`s film “Dreaming of Space” was awarded on the Moscow cinema festival in 2005. It`s not a masterpiece, but the competitors participating in the festival were weak enough. Undoubtedly, the film has particular merits: the high class deservings consideration acting of pair Mironov-Tsiganov and the scenario of Mindadze. But the ending of the film seems a bit unfinished. The viewer has to think, what have meant Utchitel by it?

Directed by:

Alexey Utchitel

Cast:

Yevgeniy Mironov, Yevgeniy Tsiganov, Iryna Pegova, Dmitriy Mulyar, Yelena Lyadova, Sergey Katchanov, Mariya Kuznetsova, Yelena Galubina, Igor Shibanov

Production:

Studio Rock, Russia, 2005

Feature:

Drama

Duration:

90 min.

Additional information:

Internet Movie Database

The Second World War is in its full swing. The coal barge sails through the Northern seas. The ship is conned by the captain Tikhon and the sailor Anatoliy. Group of fascists making an ambush force Anatoliy to extradite the hiding captain. Anatoliy is given a difficult choice: whether to be killed or to tell where his captain is. The young sailor chooses the second one.

There have passed thirty years. Anatoliy is living on the island, which gave him shelter some time ago. He is the grey-headed aged man now, being also the local legend. He is given a gift to heal people, but he still prays for forgiveness of his thirty years old sin. He has lost the hope to be forgiven, but…

The film could be called one of the most considerable contemporary art statements. Pavel Lungin has created the surprising and unexpected comparing with his films “Distant relatives” ,“The Oligarch” and “The Wedding”. “The Island” consists of: the graceful redemption story, incredible operator`s work and the stunning Petr Mammonov.

Trailer:

Directed by:

Pavel Lungin

Cast:

Petr Mammonov, Victor Sukhorukov, Dmitriy Dyuzhev, Yuriy Kuznetsov, Victoriya Isakova, Nina Usatova, Yana Yesipovich, Olga Demidova, Timofey Tribuntsev, Alexey Zelenskiy

Production:

TV channel «Rossiya», Pavel Lungin`s studio, Russia, 2006

Feature:

Drama

Duration:

112 min.

For the Russian Empire the 19th century was quite uneasy. The governor-general Khrapov was killed in the the special train Moscow-St. Petersburg. The guards let the murderer go past, because they were sure, that Khrapov`s guest was the State Counsellor Fandorin. Naturally, Fandorin (this time played by Oleg Menshikov) had no business to do that. He starts his own investigation. Simultaneously the Department of Petersburg police representative prince Gleb Pozharskiy (Nikita Mikhalkov) is also looking for the murderer. Both of them picked up a scent of the terrorist group “BG” (one of the terrorists – Konstantin Khabenskiy). But who leads and coordinates the group?

“The State Counsellor” by Philip Yankovskiy cinematized the exciting detective story written by Boris Akunin. The project was produced by Nikita Mikhalkov. He also brilliantly played Pozharskiy in the film. Exactly the talks of Fandorin and Pozharskiy about the destiny of Russia could be considered the main scenes of the “The State Counsellor”. Pozharskiy, who is pompous and patriotic speaks about imperial views of one of his own. Fandorin is ironical and diverse, he truly thinks more than speaks and isn`t fond of demagogy. The detective story fascinates and intrigues, but it seems to be a bit unfinished. As s a whole the film could be classified like high quality domestic detective. But the idea to put into the soundtrack in the ending terrible “patriotic” howling in chanson style doesn`t seem good.

Trailer:

Directed by:

Philip Yankovskiy

Cast:

Oleg Menshikov, Nikita Mikhalkov, Konstantin Khabenskiy, Vladimir Mashkov, Oleg Tabakov, Fedor Bondarchuk, Mariya Mironova, Mikhail Yefremov, Emilia Spivak, Oxana Fandera, Alexey Gorbunov

Production:

Nikita Mikhalkov «TRITE» Studio, Russia, 2005

Feature:

Drama, Detective

Duration:

125 min.

Nevertheless Kostya Kot has survived. He serves his fifteen years for that stupid attempted robbery. Dimon Oshparenniy certainly suffers from his betrayal. He has moved ahead with his legal business and helps his ex-partner get out of the prison. Kot has got now the new name and new “boomer”. But from the very first minutes of freedom he understands, that his prospects are not so good. All his pretty life, plans and love stayed behind in the first film, when he had left for Moscow to criminal night “date” from his beloved woman.

Once in a blue moon the second part of the successful picture could be better, than first one. In this case Petr Buslov decided to change the genre of the film. So, if you expect to see in the second part the criminal adventures of the favourite heroes, you`ll be disappointed. And, if you are ready to dig deeper, you`ll like it. And the Vdovitchenko`s hero during the two hours proves to the viewer the truth: he who had once turned off the right road risks to find himself in the desperate labyrinth. Where he can only dream about the faraway country Goa.

Trailer:

Directed by:

Petr Buslov

Cast:

Vladimir Vdovitchenkov, Andrey Merzlikin, Svetlana Ustinova, Nikolay Olyalin, Alexander Tsurkan, Felix Antipov, Yuriy Kolokolnikov, Anna Churina, Alexander Golubev, Konstantin Strelnikov

Production:

STV Film Company, Pigmalion Production, Russia,2006

Feature:

Drama, Criminal, Action

Duration:

110 min.

Russia in 90ties of the past century was politically and socially instable with windfall money and criminal shoot-outs. The power and business can live in peace just till the moment, when appear officials at the same time trying to seem patriots and to turn the money flow pro domo sua. One of such “hawks” – is Koretskiy (Aleander Baluyev). He starts the “crusade” against the authoritative business owner of the independent TV channel “Infocar”, Platon Makovskiy (Vladimir Mashkov). Firstly Mashkov is given a possibility “to share”, but after his attempts to step in politics – he is blown up. The investigation held by the too much honest and zealous officer Shmatko (Andrey Krasko) clear, that Platon Makovskiy is alive…

The scandal Pavel Lungin`s film was rumoured long before its première. The picture cinematized the book “Big Share” written by Yuliy Durov. Many are of the opinion, that the real prototype of the Makovskiy is the disgraced businessman Boris Berezovskiy, cause Juliy Durov very long was his “right hand”. But Makovskiy is more likely to be the summarized portrait of the authoritative businessman from 90ties. Koretskiy brilliantly played by Baluyev is the exact copy of the certain security officers, that overfilled the chain of command then. “The Oligarch” is brave and dynamic film precisely showing the realities of that time.

Directed by:

Pavel Lungin

Cast:

Vladimir Mashkov, Alexander Baluyev, Mariya Mironova, Andrey Krasko, Levani Uchaneyshvilli, Mikhail Vasserbaum, Sergey Yushkevich, Alexander Samoylenko, Natalya Kolyakanova, Vladimir Gusev

Production:

arte France Cinéma, Catherine Dussart Productions (CDP), France 2 Cinéma, Gimages, Film company STV, Kominter, Magnat, Network Movie, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), Germany - Russia - France, 2002

Feature:

Drama, Thriller, Criminal, Detective

Duration:

123 min.