Reviews

Ukroshcheniye ognya (1972) is probably among several most important visual documents of the 20th Century Russian\Soviet history. The film was made in dangerous times of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the USA, when the two superpowers were about to destroy each other with nuclear missiles. Deadly Russian missiles and nuclear explosions, and more interesting stuff is superbly shown in this epic film. It isn't important that the leading character is based on Sergei Korolyov, who was the number one rocket scientist in the Soviet Union. More important about this movie is the rare view through the Iron Curtain, an original insight into the Kremlin politics, some intriguing atmosphere of Soviet secrecy and enigmatic ambiance of Russian military science of that era. Lavrov's acting is superb, as he leads a nice ensemble of top Russian stars, such as Smoktunovsky, Kuznetsova, Gerdt and Popov with other actors. Excellent cinematography with two cameras. Powerful depiction of the first military use of missiles during the Nazi invasion of Russia in WWII. Interesting shots of Russian space centers and rare footages from the original flight of Gagarin - the first man in space. This epic is a desirable collector's item.

A great Russian actor Pavel Luspekayev plays a man trying to find his own son, who was lost in the WWII. He is traveling all over the world and making monuments to victims of all wars, because the son's name was found in records of casualties, but without the location of son's grave. So the father takes on a mission of making many, many monuments... and his live turns into a long, long road. This powerful story is nicely delivered by one of the best Russian actors. The movie runs just over one hour, it is Black and White. During the 70s it was not allowed for wide audiences by the Soviet censorship, and the reason was never explained, such was a usual practice in the totalitarian regime of the former Soviet Union. The movie is still not available on DVD or VHS.

A very interesting depiction of rural Russia, this epic film shows Russian Cossacks living in Siberia. The main theme is a beautiful and tragic love story between young Cossack Roman Ulybin (V. Solomin) and Dashutka (Golovina). Roman is asking his father Severian Ulybin (Shelokhonov) to send a Matchmaker, but a merchant's son has more money, so he takes the girl. The lavish traditional wedding with singing, dancing and drinking in the Russian style is among the best wedding scenes in Russian film. Next comes the Russian Civil War between the Reds and Whites and the movie takes us to some dramatic battles. Good director and a nice ensemble of leading Russian actors make this movie a collectors item.