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Russian movies on DVD
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Posted by: Chillidog

Just started my Russian DVD collection
Received today the Original 1967 Movie "Anna Karenina" by Aleksandr Zrkhi. The Russian film center just re-released this Feb of 2007 and have added a lot of goodies to it, it is a 2-disc DVD and does now the option of English, French, Spanish subtitles, a making of, cast and crew biographies, a 20 minute biography on Leo Tolstoy.
I want to start getting more classic or current good Russian movies preferably with English subtitles. does anyone have any suggestions or own any Russian movies thay can recommend

thought this was the best area to start this thread.

Thanks Bob

Posted by: Chrismc

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chillidog

Just started my Russian DVD collection
Received today the Original 1967 Movie "Anna Karenina" by Aleksandr Zrkhi. The Russian film center just re-released this Feb of 2007 and have added a lot of goodies to it, it is a 2-disc DVD and does now the option of English, French, Spanish subtitles, a making of, cast and crew biographies, a 20 minute biography on Leo Tolstoy.
I want to start getting more classic or current good Russian movies preferably with English subtitles. does anyone have any suggestions or own any Russian movies thay can recommend

thought this was the best area to start this thread.

Thanks Bob

Bob

Look out for "Moscow does not believe in Tears" most RW I have met love this film, my fiance is no different and it is her favourite. It seems to be on the TV all the time in the FSU, or it is every time I go there

But here is a link
www.kinoshow.ru/films/380.html

You can purchase 2 different DVD-releases from Ozon.ru:

http://www.ozon.ru/context/detail/id/956734/ (564 roubles)

and

http://www.ozon.ru/context/detail/id/2287522/ (354 roubles)

and easier still from Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Moscow-Does-Not-Believe-Tears/dp/B00019G4TQ/ref=pd_bxgy_d_text_b

The film is considered a classic. Tells a story of a village girl, coming to Moscow and having a baby from some stud.

Then she makes it alone to a managing director of a factory and, when her daughter turns about 17, and the mother falls in love with some "simple but good" guy, the runaway father appears (obviously attracted by his ex-girlfriend wealth).

Posted by: blucatz

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chrismc

Very good movie!

Posted by: Chillidog

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chrismc

Thanks Chris,

I purchased "Anna Karenina" through Amazon.com
and saw "Moscow does not believe in tears" on this site, but did not know anything about it so I went with Tolstoy (I figured could not go wrong with this story)
I will deffinitly add this to my buding colection, any other suggestions? Maybe your soon to be wife and her family can also suggest some new movies they have enjoyed.

Bob

Posted by: blucatz

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chillidog

Chilli, look for these movies on eBay, thats where I found them, dirt cheap also.

Posted by: sidney

Ebay is where I also purchased mine. Sometimes it takes a while to get one that is popular though.
Sid

Posted by: Chrismc

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chillidog

Must sees:

Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor) (2006)

Amazon.com

Night Watch is that rare film that--like The Matrix--is not only visually dazzling but creates an intriguing, seductive, and thrilling alternative world. A young man named Anton, after dabbling in black magic to bring back the wife who left him, discovers that the world is populated by fantastical Others (vampires, shape-shifters, witches, and more) who have chosen sides--Light or Dark--in an epic battle.

Day Watch

Day Watch (Russian: Дневно́й дозо́р, Dnevnoi Dozor), a Russian fantasy action blockbuster marketed as "the first film of the year", opened in theatres across Russia on January 1, 2006 and opened in the U.S. on June 1, 2007. It is a sequel to the 2004 film Night Watch, featuring the same cast. It is based on the second and the third part of Sergey Lukyanenko's novel The Night Watch rather than its follow-up novel Day Watch. The film's budget was USD$4.2 million and was expected to gross $40 million in Russia alone. It is the second part in the Night Watch trilogy, although the third film (Dusk or Twilight Watch) is as yet unmade.

also

The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed

The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed is a 1979 Soviet 5-part television miniseries directed by Stanislav Govorukhin. It achieved the status of a cult film in the USSR, and along with Seventeen Moments of Spring it became a part of popular culture, as well as the target of many jokes. The series star Vladimir Vysotsky in one of his final screen apearences (he died prematurely less than a year after the film's release). Soviet screen and stage legends Sergey Yursky, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, Zinovy Gerdt, Yevgeni Yevstigneyev and Leonid Kuravlev also appear in the film.

The film was released in the West as The Age of Mercy, the title of the novel by Arkadi and Georgi Vayner on which the film is based.

enough for now

Posted by: stevo

There are a few Russian language films which everybody has seen, although to Westerners they may be a bit of an acquired taste:

The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!

Romantic comedy in which the hero gets blitzed in Moscow, accidentally flies to St Petersburg without realising it and wakes up in what he thinks is his own apartment. Hugely popular, on TV every New Year. There was a recent sequel which had higher production values but tampered too much with the assumed post-history of the previous film for my liking.

The White Sun of the Desert

Western (or "Ostern" if you prefer) in which a Red Army soldier gets involved in a fight with some rebels in one of the Asian republics and rescues the rebel leader's harem. There are some very famous quotes. If you can ever say "Gyulchatai, otkroi lichiko" at an appropriate moment, you'll have your Russian acquaintances rolling on the floor.

Hello, I'm Your Aunt!

A man on the run from the police disguises himself as a woman and is assumed by a young man to be his visiting aunt, a millionairess. Chaos ensues. A remake of a classic English farce.

Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future

Comedy. An engineer working on a time machine accidentally sends his building superintendent back to the time of Ivan the Terrible, where he is forced to disguise himself as the czar who, at the same time, has managed to transport himself into the future.

The Diamond Arm

Comedy. A case of mistaken identity results in a buffoon unwittingly smuggling diamonds into the USSR concealed in a plaster cast on his arm.

Posted by: Chillidog

Chrismc & Stevo
Thank you both for the info, this will help greatly in building a DVD library, for myself and hopefully have some Russian favorites for when I do have an FSU woman with me. Keep offering up any suggestions, and I know there were a couple of movies that I was looking at when I bought "Anna Karenina" but can't remember there names right now so, I will probably be asking you a few questions about these movies in the near future.

again thank you for all of your thoughts and suggestions.

Posted by: Chillidog

Has anyone seen the "Idiot" based on the book of the same title by Dostoevsky. In looking for these other movies I came across this movie it is a "4 DVD set" directed by Vladimir Bortko, it was either released in 2003 or it was filmed during this year. If anyone has an opinion please let me know

Another film is "Master & Margaret" does anyone know of this one?

Posted by: BluesTraveler

Ask your friend there opinion of Tolstoy vs Dostoevsky. I think you will get a surprising answer.

Posted by: Chillidog

Quote:

Originally Posted by BluesTraveler

Ask your friend there opinion of Tolstoy vs Dostoevsky. I think you will get a surprising answer.

I will ask, but before I do, am I opening up a can of worms? I would hate to start an argument or deep discussion on a topic of local culture that I am basicly clueless on. I know Pushkin is considered the father of modern Russian literature but is Tolstoy or Doestoevsky more revered than the other?

Posted by: swindoom

May I add "Love and Pigeons" or "Love and Doves" for you US folks.

Posted by: stevo

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chillidog

Another film is "Master & Margaret" does anyone know of this one?

There was a Russian TV miniseries of "The Master and Margarita" a couple of years ago. My wife enjoyed it, didn't watch it myself (10 parts was too much like hard work) but what I did see looked excellent.

Posted by: BluesTraveler

No can of worms. Tolstoy is highly regard in the West, and not so highly regarded in the motherland. Westerners tend to be surprised by this.

Posted by: blucatz

Quote:

Originally Posted by swindoom

May I add "Love and Pigeons" or "Love and Doves" for you US folks.

My Lady said her favorite movie was "Love and Doves", but I cannot find it anywhere online to purchase and view. Do you know where I can get a copy of this movie on DVD or VHS?

Posted by: swindoom

Try searching for " Lubov i golubi" or "Lyubov i golubi" or "�� " or Love and Pigeons".

You probably have not found it because I have never seen anywhere selling it by the title "Love and Doves".

It is very easy to find on DVD, EBay normally has it, Ruslania.com has it, lots of US based Russian DVD sites have it, even Amazon have it.

Posted by: blucatz

Quote:

Originally Posted by swindoom

Try searching for " Lubov i golubi" or "Lyubov i golubi" or "�� " or Love and Pigeons".

You probably have not found it because I have never seen anywhere selling it by the title "Love and Doves".

It is very easy to find on DVD, EBay normally has it, Ruslania.com has it, lots of US based Russian DVD sites have it, even Amazon have it.

Thanks for the info, I did find it, unfortunately there is no subtitles and I don't speak Russian (yet).

Posted by: swindoom

Quote:

Originally Posted by blucatz

Thanks for the info, I did find it, unfortunately there is no subtitles and I don't speak Russian (yet).

I have never managed to find it with English subtitles, it would certainly help as it is set in a typical Russian village and they use lots of Russian slang.

Posted by: stevo

My own favourite Russian-language film is "Ordinary Wonder" or "An Ordinary Miracle", 1978 version. It's quite close in style to The Princess Bride. There's a DVD with English subtitles (which curiously disappear for a minute or so near the end). It has far higher production values than I'd have expected from a Soviet film of that era, and it's not as hard to follow - none of the usual in-jokes or references that only a Russian audience would understand.

Posted by: Chillidog

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevo

This might be the same as the "Master and Margaret" DVD I saw, will look into more deeply

Posted by: disculmawsu

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chillidog

If you like action films (like the Matrix), I suggest Night Watch, Day Watch, Air Crew (I love this film because it is Krammer vs Krammer meets Airport plus a commentary on declining socialist values and some ways anti-female in its protrayal of women), and the best one is Pirates of XX century (Soviet style kung-fu movie - keep waiting for Bruce Lee or Chuck Norris to appear and is interesting because it is a sort of a reaction against feminization of men in Soviet films). The classic film on declining socialist values is Little Vera alledgely Ronald Reagan's favorite film about Soviet Union (one is not why it was his favorite because of the nude scenes or the emphasis on declining socialist values). Of course there is Driving Vera. Both films are interesting because the lead characters both of whom are named Vera or "Hope" are protrayed as being less than hopeful.
Also, you might check out All is Quiet Here... , roughly a Soviet The Halls of Montezuma except with women instead of men and White Sun of the Desert (A Soviet "western" set in the Central Asian Republic during Russian Civil War - it gets the award for the best line in my - "Comrade Girls you are now liberated" - very controvsel movie because of the treatment of the local Central Asian Republic and needed be made more political correct before shooting began.
I think most these title are available on Netflix.
I have many more suggestions which I will post later.

Posted by: Chillidog

Quote:

Originally Posted by BluesTraveler

Ask your friend there opinion of Tolstoy vs Dostoevsky. I think you will get a surprising answer.

I must be getting old

I kept forgetting to ask the woman I write in Mariupol what her thoughts on 'Tolstoy' and 'Dostoevsky'.
Just did this the other day and she said she prefered Tolstoy to Dostoevsky, but she prefered Pushkin above them. She said Dostoevsky's works had deep sense and moral. She liked Pushkin because of his poems-fairy-tales, his writing was more relaxing and would read Pushkin to her son at bed time when he was smaller.
She said she loves many movies but one of her favorites is 'Moscow doesn't believe in tears' so this movie is now on my 'must have list' and just ordered it today. I am going to have to check out many of the others everyone has written about.
Many I will just buy without viewing because they look like good, interesting movies, there are others I would like to view first before buying

Does anyone know if Blockbuster or Netflix rents these movies or where to view them without buying?

Posted by: Chillidog

Quote:

Originally Posted by disculmawsu

I think most these title are available on Netflix.
I have many more suggestions which I will post later.

Just reading some of the posts again, to see what other movies I wanted to check out, and found here the answer to my question I just posted

Thanks disculmawsu, I will also check out Netflix to see if I can rent some of these movies, and also thanks for your input on all of the movies.

I am not much of a computer geek, do you or anyone know a website that you can just view some of these movies on the computer as well?

Posted by: disculmawsu

There are very few Russian movies available on Netflix that are available for viewing on the computer. I think "4" and "Lilya forever" are available both are very depressing films.

Posted by: freebird

There was a very unusual movie on late last night, it was a girl from one of the southern republics, she got pregnant from a guy in a travelling theater troup, and later drove around with father & brother searching for the guy. I think people in the village were probably muslim, but they were caucasian & spoke russian. Does this ring a bell with anyone?

Posted by: myshka

Lunnaya papa

Posted by: disculmawsu

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chillidog

I must be getting old

Pushkin is like a god in Russian speaking world. You will find that whether not Pushkin actually visited a place, there is a momument to him.
If you interested in Pushkin you might check out the film Tale of How Tsar Peter Married off His Negro (Moor) . The novel is by Alexander Pushkin and is about the grandfather or greatgrandfather.
I checked Netflix and there are about 10 russian movies you can watch online. Their DVD collection include Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears, Irony of Fate (you need to see this film because it New Year classic and is universally loved by Russians. They also have Aircrew, Night Watch, Day Watch and Russian gangster films like Brat (Brother), Tycoon : A New Russian etc.
You might wish to check Russian DVD (www.russiandvd.com) because they rent movies by mail too.
If you live near a university, they might DVDs available.

Posted by: BluesTraveler

I don't know why I didn't mention this earlier. Try http://www.memocast.com for watching movies online. You can even download them and save them to your computer. They even have a bunch of Russian movies with English subtitles.

Posted by: Chillidog

Quote:

Originally Posted by disculmawsu

Visited the Pushkin Art Museum in Moscow, and was aware from this trip how highly regarded he is, but it was still interesting to hear from the woman in Mariupol.
Also just ordered 'Moscow doesn't beleive in tears' and also 'Irony of fate' based on what everyone said here (plus some russian blogs I have read and remembered they wrote the same thing) about how this is a classic and has become a tradition in the Russian culture to watch this film every New Years.

Posted by: Chillidog

GTR or any Mod or Admin
I just noticed that there is a section on RMP for 'movies, flim, television' etc...
I started this thread in the 'Music' should this be moved to this section instead?
and if you feel that this is appropriate, you have my permision to move it, if this is required.

Thanks

Bob

Posted by: Buckeye5704

This is something I was looking for too. Thanks for starting the thread Bob.

I just ordered Moscow does not believe... and will order more titles in the coming months.

Irina just loaned me her copy of a movie but for the life of me I can't translate it yet. It's a comedy and the cover looks like it's the Russian version of The Three Stooges. The first word is (I think) Dzhent??meni, I think the second (of a two word title) is Udachee. I think the ?'s are an L followed by a soft sign. She told me it is in Russian & English. I'm hoping the Russian is with subtitles so I can work on my Russian some more..

Posted by: Buckeye5704

I watched the movie Irina gave me last night "Gentlemen of Fortune". It was kinda funny in places but I think it'll be a little while before I get Russian humor. It was in Russian and English, but no subtitles on the Russian side.

I asked Irina about Moscow does not... and it's one of her favs and we talked about The Irony of Fate or... and she loves that one too so I'll be ordering it as well. She hates fantacy and vampire flicks though so no Night Watch. Ironically, her friend Lena played Night Watch while we were there last Monday. My girlie girl doesn't like blood n guts movies and I'm not a fan of the vampire movies either so no big loss. I DO like Lord of the Rings though so I hope we can compromise on it.

Posted by: disculmawsu

I am not a big fan of vampire movies either, but I was impressed by the production values. The books are much better in the sense that give a good glimpse into social dynamics of Russian society of 1990s. The stories are ok and the writing is ok. Most Russian women seem to prefer classic novels (at least the one I have meet). One of my favorite modern Russian films is the Fourth Wish/Desire. Another New Year's theme film is Happy Birthday, Daddy. You might also watch The Barber of Siberia (this one has an international cast - Julia Ormond and Richard Harris and directed Nikita Mikhalkov).

Posted by: Buckeye5704

Quote:

Originally Posted by disculmawsu

I am not a big fan of vampire movies either, but I was impressed by the production values. The books are much better in the sense that give a good glimpse into social dynamics of Russian society of 1990s. The stories are ok and the writing is ok. Most Russian women seem to prefer classic novels (at least the one I have meet). One of my favorite modern Russian films is the Fourth Wish/Desire. Another New Year's theme film is Happy Birthday, Daddy. You might also watch The Barber of Siberia (this one has an international cast - Julia Ormond and Richard Harris and directed Nikita Mikhalkov).

Thanks! I'll add those to my list.

Posted by: stevo

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buckeye5704

I watched the movie Irina gave me last night "Gentlemen of Fortune". It was kinda funny in places but I think it'll be a little while before I get Russian humor. It was in Russian and English, but no subtitles on the Russian side.

I forgot I had seen this quite recently because I didn't recognise the title. I didn't think it was that great either, the helmet thing they were looking for was an obvious MacGuffin. I spent most of the film anticipating some poor quality special effects at the end when the lead character meets his doppelganger. Maybe I'd have needed a greater understanding of the slang used in order to appreciate it properly.

Posted by: Chillidog

The one of the woman I communicate with, stated she liked "Night Watch" and "Day Watch" and stated she was 'tired' of seeing "Irony of Fate" as she said "because it is played every year" (maybe like some Amercan's feel about "It's a Wonderful Life"), she said I should watch these other movies (she brought up these movies on her own, I did not ask about them) if posiible (Night Watch, Day Watch) so I think these will be the next ones I get, and I am thinking if they are Vampire/Matrix-effects type movies as others have stated on this thread and this lady likes them, it is just one more thing we have in common (same tastes in movies) this can't be a bad thing can it? I also told her I did see "Moscow does not beleive in tears" and that I really liked it.

P.S. I did also enjoy "Irony of Fate", in all of the movies I hope someday I can watch them without needing the subtitles.

Posted by: Buckeye5704

Quote:

P.S. I did also enjoy "Irony of Fate", in all of the movies I hope someday I can watch them without needing the subtitles.

I'm looking forward to no subTs too Bob.

I have to say though that I did enjoy the ending of Gentleman of Fortune. The three crooks didn't get cuffed and stuffed then the good guy double goes running down the road after them.

Irina showed me a catelogue from NYC that she orders books, music and movies from. I'll try to get the url and post it. (IF that's cool with the mods).

Posted by: sidney

Quote:

Irina showed me a catelogue from NYC that she orders books, music and movies from. I'll try to get the url and post it. (IF that's cool with the mods).

If you go to brighton beach in NYC you can buy most anything russian in the stores. We enjoy the russian district when we have time. We plan to be there tomorrow to visit a translator from Moscow that we knew years ago.
Sid

Posted by: blucatz

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buckeye5704

I just ordered Moscow does not believe... and will order more titles in the coming months.

Since I will be in Moscow in 2 days, I just had to re-watch that movie, just seemed like the thing to do, plus its a very good movie, even for an old one.

Posted by: Buckeye5704

Hey, don't give the ending away BC, I haven't seen it yet. Got the dvd a few days ago, but Irina's keeping me busy. Now the TV and electronics are packed and waiting to load for CT. Don't know when I'll get to see it. sigh.

Posted by: JamesB

Hi Mate, Liuda has been downloading russian movies forfree for ags.She has all the movies at cinama now and quality is Brilliant.

Posted by: Sparky114

Hi James

Can you point me in the direction that Luida has been downloading from?

Just thought it would be nice for my Elena to have some movies here when she comes, we already have Russian sattelite here but the movies are a bit thin on the ground

Mark

Posted by: Chillidog

since I am going to be having a lot more free time on my hands, I am going to take the suggestions of my friend in Mariupol, and acquire "Night Watch" and "Day Watch" she also in her last letter to me wrote about Russian producer/actor 'Nikita Michalkov' and his 2 movies "Siberian Barber" and "Turkish gambit" I have found Siberian Barber on Amazon.com (have not searched elsewhere yet) and also Turkish gambit, but Turkish gambit at least on Amazon.com stated that this movie was not formatted? to play on region 1 players (USA, Canada) does anyone know if I can find this movie in a format that will play in my US DVD player?

Posted by: disculmawsu

Nikta Mikhalkov is a great director, actor and writer of many films from late Soviet era to the present. If you haven't seen Burnt By the Sun, you should try see it before you leave. I waiting the international version of 12 (the Russian version of 12 Angry Men) to appear with subtitles. Of course it should be interesting to see how he handles the idea of jury which even today is rarely used in the Russian criminnal justice system.
I used to a great admirer of Mikhalkov, until I saw his documentary about the Russian revolution and civil war. His nationalist sentiments (including anti-American views, America betrayed the Whites by not sending aid and armies to support them) and some choices of imagery which could be construted as being anti-Semetic (it disproportionated of the images used as background when he mentioned the Bolsheviks were of Leon Trotsky instead of Lenin) dimished him in my eyes as documentary filmmaker.
However, Mikhalkov is excellent filmmaker. My friend in Moscow insists his best films are the ones adapted from Russian and English classical literature(she dislikes modern Russian film).

Posted by: disculmawsu

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chillidog

I have found Siberian Barber on Amazon.com (have not searched elsewhere yet) and also Turkish gambit, but Turkish gambit at least on Amazon.com stated that this movie was not formatted? to play on region 1 players (USA, Canada) does anyone know if I can find this movie in a format that will play in my US DVD player?

You will need a DVD Player that plays international DVDs - Amazon has quite a few vendors selling multiformat. Toshiba has a model (SD-555-SD) which is region free (region coding allows producers of DVD control the distribution of DVDs between various parts of the world). You might be able to get to work on a computer.
I noticed the DVD of Turkish gambit doesn't subtitles and no dubbing.

Posted by: swindoom

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chillidog

"Siberian Barber" and "Turkish gambit"

Somebody recommended these two to my better half, we watched them and were not too impressed. I would not personally recommend them but that's just a personal opinion.

I have also watched "Night Watch" and "Day Watch", "Night Watch is good but "Day Watch" was a bit of a let down when compared to "Night Watch", it seemed to be more of a comedy.

For comedy I would try "National Obsession Hunting" or "National Obsession Fishing".

Posted by: disculmawsu

Quote:

Originally Posted by swindoom

opinion.

I have also watched "Night Watch" and "Day Watch", "Night Watch is good but "Day Watch" was a bit of a let down when compared to "Night Watch", it seemed to be more of a comedy.

I was disappointed with Day Watch. They muddled the story (and the story line is not really from Day Watch the novel, it the second story from Night Watch.
Two of my friend's favorite films are film versions of Mikhail Bulgakov Heart of a Dog and The Master and Margarita. I saw both and was not very impressed by the stories. I tried reading The Master and Margarita, but had difficulty following the story.

Posted by: Buckeye5704

Well Irina & I finally sat down and watched Moscow does not... (Russian with subTs) and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Course, the company was pretty nice too.

She did point out a couple of places where the translation was not quite accurate, but it didn't take anything from the movie. I'm glad we own it and can see it many more times.

We have The Irony of fate and The Master & Margarita next on our list of dvds to buy.

Posted by: disculmawsu

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buckeye5704

Well Irina & I finally sat down and watched Moscow does not... (Russian with subTs) and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Course, the company was pretty nice too.

I often the choice of phrasing of some the subtitles interesting. One war movie, the translator used "Mayor" for "Major" through the entire film.

Posted by: swindoom

I thought "Irony of Fate" was a special film for new year celebrations. My better half also explained before the film, in Soviet times, they built the exact same apartment blocks on the exact same street in every large city, quite important to know as the same film would not work in the west.

Posted by: redhawk

i also thouroughly enjoyed this film. i think it is my favorite (moskva slezam ne verit) i downloaded it,but without subtitles. thanks for the overview of the film, because i think i have only seen half. my copy of it starts where the people are crossing the tracks to walk to the factory. it doesnt explain that she was made pregnant and left alone by a stud.i missed those parts- oh well,ill have to buy as i usually do when i dl something.

moscow on the hudson with robin williams is very good too,but couldnt be filmed there during the cold war,so many scenes were filmed elsewhere in europe.robin williams learned russian in 4 months!

day watch and night watch are also good movies.
does anyone know where i could find the movie "mongol" with english subtitles?

Posted by: Buckeye5704

According most comments about Irony... it IS a traditional New years movie much like A Christmas Story or It's a Wonderful Life are traditions for us. I don't think we'll wait for New Years to watch it though.

Posted by: disculmawsu

Quote:

Originally Posted by swindoom

I thought "Irony of Fate" was a special film for new year celebrations. My better half also explained before the film, in Soviet times, they built the exact same apartment blocks on the exact same street in every large city, quite important to know as the same film would not work in the west.

I like this film for several reasons. As was pointed out it show industrialization taken to maximum extreme. The movie is a good criticism of not only of the Soviet regime, critique of modern life in general. Western Wayne County in Michigan has a similar feature of standardization - almost all of the houses on my street follow the same basic floor plan and almost identical outside as well. The film keenly illustrates the decline of the Soviet Union - there is continity issue with the telephones in the Nata's apartment (one is red and in the next shot it green). The actress playing Nata is Polish not Soviet.
In some ways film is interesting because there is expression of yearning for a free and open society - Nata teaches her students to think - something one would think the regime would not want especially about Russian literature (here is an interesting research topic - are Russian teachers in films always female - well there is one exception the teacher in made for TV movie My Big Armenian Wedding).
I like the cartoon at the beginning of the DVD version of the Irony of Fate, which is even more critical of the standardization.

Posted by: disculmawsu

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buckeye5704

According most comments about Irony... it IS a traditional New years movie much like A Christmas Story or It's a Wonderful Life are traditions for us. I don't think we'll wait for New Years to watch it though.

Another film New Year's that has almost the level of following (according my informats) is Wizards or Sorcerer.
If you want some light New Year's films here is a list:
Happy New Year Daddy
December 32nd
The Fourth Wish (Desire)

Posted by: Buckeye5704

Quote:

are Russian teachers in films always female

The good guy (impersonating the bad guy) in Gentlemen of Fortune was a kindergarten teacher.

Posted by: Raspberry

Quote:

Originally Posted by redhawk

moscow on the hudson with robin williams is very good too,but couldnt be filmed there during the cold war,so many scenes were filmed elsewhere in europe.robin williams learned russian in 4 months!

Somehow I missed this one when it first came out, so I will have to go rent it sometime....

Posted by: Buckeye5704

Haven't seen that one in a few years, but I still say "Come back Mcsoon" once in awhile.