Stalker

Stalker 1979

8.12

Near a gray and unnamed city is the Zone, a place guarded by barbed wire and soldiers, and where the normal laws of physics are victim to frequent anomalies. A stalker guides two men into the Zone, specifically to an area in which deep-seated desires are granted.

1979

The Diamond Arm

The Diamond Arm 1969

7.90

A diamond smuggling operation goes wrong when an ordinary Soviet citizen becomes unwittingly involved, and the criminals are forced to court him to retrieve their diamonds.

1969

Liberation: Direction of the Main Blow

Liberation: Direction of the Main Blow 1970

6.14

This five part epic war drama gives a dramatized detailed account of Soviet Union's war against Nazi Germany during world war two. Each of the five parts represents a separate major eastern front campaign.

1970

Ivan's Childhood

Ivan's Childhood 1962

7.80

In WW2, twelve year old Soviet orphan Ivan Bondarev works for the Soviet army as a scout behind the German lines and strikes a friendship with three sympathetic Soviet officers.

1962

I Am Cuba

I Am Cuba 1964

7.90

Four vignettes on the lives of the Cuban people in the pre-revolutionary era. In Havana, Maria is ashamed when a man she loves discovers how she makes a living. Pedro, an old farmer, discovers that the land he cultivates is being sold to an American company. A student sees his friends attacked by the police while they distribute leaflets supporting Fidel Castro. Finally, a peasant family is threatened by Batista's army.

1964

Come and See

Come and See 1985

8.20

The invasion of a village in Byelorussia by German forces sends young Florya into the forest to join the weary Resistance fighters, against his family's wishes. There he meets a girl, Glasha, who accompanies him back to his village. On returning home, Florya finds his family and fellow peasants massacred. His continued survival amidst the brutal debris of war becomes increasingly nightmarish, a battle between despair and hope.

1985

The Cranes Are Flying

The Cranes Are Flying 1957

7.93

Veronika and Boris come together in Moscow shortly before World War II. Walking along the river, they watch cranes fly overhead, and promise to rendezvous before Boris leaves to fight. Boris misses the meeting and is off to the front lines, while Veronika waits patiently, sending letters faithfully. After her house is bombed, Veronika moves in with Boris' family, into the company of a cousin with his own intentions.

1957

Mirror

Mirror 1975

8.00

A dying man in his forties recalls his childhood, his mother, the war and personal moments that tell of and juxtapose pivotal moments in Soviet history with daily life.

1975

Battleship Potemkin

Battleship Potemkin 1925

7.60

A dramatized account of a great Russian naval mutiny and a resultant public demonstration, showing support, which brought on a police massacre. The film had an incredible impact on the development of cinema and is a masterful example of montage editing.

1925

Letter Never Sent

Letter Never Sent 1960

7.20

Four geologists are searching for diamonds in the wilderness of Siberia. After a long and tiresome journey they manage to find their luck and put the diamond mine on the map. The map must be delivered back to Moscow. But on the day of their departure a terrible forest fire wreaks havoc, and the geologists get trapped in the woods.

1960

Viy

Viy 1967

6.90

A young priest is ordered to preside over the wake of a witch in the church of a remote village. This means spending three nights alone with the corpse with only his faith to protect him.

1967

Ballad of a Soldier

Ballad of a Soldier 1959

8.00

During World War II, earnest young Russian soldier Alyosha Skvortsov is rewarded with a short leave of absence for performing a heroic deed on the battlefield. Feeling homesick, he decides to visit his mother. Due to his kindhearted nature, however, Alyosha is repeatedly sidetracked by his efforts to help those he encounters, including a lovely girl named Shura. In his tour of a country devastated by war, he struggles to keep hope alive.

1959

Ivan the Terrible, Part II: The Boyars' Plot

Ivan the Terrible, Part II: The Boyars' Plot 1958

7.30

This is the second part of a projected three-part epic biopic of Russian Czar Ivan Grozny, undertaken by Soviet film-maker Sergei Eisenstein at the behest of Josef Stalin. Production of the epic was stopped before the third part could be filmed, due to producer dissatisfaction with Eisenstein's introducing forbidden experimental filming techniques into the material, more evident in this part than the first part. As it was, this second part was banned from showings until after the deaths of both Eisenstein and Stalin, and a change of attitude by the subsequent heads of the Soviet government. In this part, as Ivan the Terrible attempts to consolidate his power by establishing a personal army, his political rivals, the Russian boyars, plot to assassinate him.

1958

Bootleggers

Bootleggers 1962

7.47

This is the second silent (save for a song) slapstick comedy short about adventures of Worldly, Coward, and Fool. In a small hunting lodge three friends are making illegal moonshine. Bottled "product" fills shelves quickly. Life is good. But their dog Barbos doesn't understand that bringing a moonshine condenser coil to a police station is a bad idea...

1962

Beware of the Car!

Beware of the Car! 1966

7.60

An insurance agent who moonlights as a carthief steals cars various crooks and never from the common people. He sells the stolen cars and gives the money to charity. His best friend, a cop, is assigned to bring in this modern robin hood.

1966

The Steamroller and the Violin

The Steamroller and the Violin 1961

7.00

Seven year old Sasha practices violin every day to satisfy the ambition of his parents. Already withdrawn as a result of his routines, Sasha quickly regains confidence when he accidentally meets and befriends worker Sergei, who works on a steamroller in their upscale Moscow neighborhood.

1961

War and Peace

War and Peace 1968

7.60

A seven-hour epic adaptation of the novel by Leo Tolstoy. The love story of young Countess Natasha Rostova and Count Pierre Bezukhov is interwoven with the Great Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon's invading army.

1968

The Girls

The Girls 1962

7.50

A graduate of the culinary technical school of the cook, Tosya Kislitsyna, a naive and eccentric girl, came to the village lost in the northern forests. She sticks her nose in all affairs, seeks to help everyone. She met Ilya on the day of arrival: the "first guy in the village" fell upon her indignantly, and in the evening, to brighten up an unpleasant meeting, she decided to "make happy" with an invitation to a dance and was refused. Not accustomed to refusals, Ilya argues with Filya that during the week he will fall in love with Tosya...

1962

Kidnapping, Caucasian Style

Kidnapping, Caucasian Style 1967

7.90

Shurik, a kind but naïve ethnography student, falls in love with the intelligent, athletic and beautiful All-Union Leninist Young Communist League member Nina. He has a rival in the wealthy comrade Saakhov, who concocts a kidnapping scheme to force Nina to marry him.

1967

Operation Y and Other Shurik's Adventures

Operation Y and Other Shurik's Adventures 1965

7.62

The film consists of three independent parts: "Workmate", "Déjà vu" and "Operation Y". The plot follows the adventures of Shurik (alternative spelling — Shourick), the naive and nerdy Soviet student who often gets into ludicrous situations but always finds a way out very neatly. "Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures" was a hit movie and became the leader of Soviet film distribution in 1965.

1965