Viktor Stepanov Movies
Pyotr Lutsik's first film Okraina is an allegorical piece that contemplates capitalism run wild, as well as the increasing Westernization of contemporary Russian filmmaking. The title is taken from the classic 1933 film by the Soviet filmmaker Boris Barnet, in which the beginning of the farm collectivization era is depicted. In Pyotr Lutsik's version, the hero is an ordinary farmer, Philip Safronov, whose peaceful life is aggressively interrupted when his land is appropriated by a mysterious group to exploit its oil resources. The toughest farmers unite and track down the offenders one by one. The murderous path they leave behind them culminates in the film's apocalyptic finale. The director's style is minimalist, with heavy use of symbols. The humor is very bitter. The use of black and white and orchestral music from 1930's Soviet films gives a nostalgic aura without obstructing the impact of the main theme of the film, which seems to be "regimes come and go, but exploitation of the poor remains." Okraina was screened as part of the International Forum of New Cinema section of the 49th Berlin Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yuri Dubrovin, Nikolai Olyalin, (more)
- 1994
This emotional Russian drama is set in Moscow, 1963 and centers on Elena who works as a hostess at an upscale nightspot. She lives in a single-room flat with her 22-year-old son Yuri. Elena dreams of going with her son, a budding concert pianist, to an important Paris competition, but before they can go, there is much work to be done and she must keep him focused on his music. Unfortunately, Yuri and his fiancee Katya have a tremendous fight after she tells him that she is Jewish (the anti-Semitic Elena fears that the Katya could ruin Yuri's chances of winning the competition). They break up and Yuri turns to a seductive translator for consolation. Meanwhile, Elena is busily hobnobbing, manipulating and doing anything she can to insure her son a place in the competition. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tatyana Vasilyeva, Dmitriy Malikov, (more)
- 1991
Kislorodnyy Golod is reportedly based on the director's personal experiences while serving out his military obligation in the Red Army. The required term of military service in the USSR was two years for the army, and three years for the Navy. The film is about so-called "dedovshchina," a Russian colloquialism used to describe the practice in the Soviet Army where young servicemen are constantly humiliated and abused by those who have served their second year already, while supervising officers keep their eyes wide shut. There were a number of deaths related to dedovshchina, but the military always tried to present them as something extraordinary and lacking any social background. The present film would seem to be some of sort of exposé. In the story, a Ukrainian boy doing his required term of military service is subjected to special abuse simply because he is not Russian, until he responds by fighting fire with fire. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Taras Denisenko, Oleg Maslenikov, (more)
- 1988
The title refers to the deployment of time-honored gangster methods in a brand-new new setting. Otherwise, Deja Vu is chock full of startling surprises. Set in 1925, the storyline moves with ease from Chicago to Russia and back again. A Windy-City hitman is sent to Odessa to kill a mob informant. The victim-to-be is an enterprising soul, taking full advantage of a newly opened shipping line serving Chicago, Odessa and Constantinople. He jealously guards his smuggling operation by hiring his own hitman. The plot device of Mafia tactics being exercised in Russia is disturbingly prescient, given the current mob-controlled activities in the former Soviet Union. This 1989 Deja Vu bears no relation to the 1984 horror film of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerzy Sztur, Vladimir Golovin, (more)
A group of escaped criminals hides out in the remote wooded area of Siberia in this grim drama set in the summer of 1953. Although Josef Stalin was already dead, the shadow of his oppressive rule still hangs over the country. The gang makes their way to a small village where political prisoners Luzga (Valeri Priyemykhov) and Kopalich (Anatoli Papanov) wait to escape by boat. Luzga is a former Army scout who can barely hide his contempt of Josef Stalin, while Kopalich is a noted archaeologist. When the village is attacked by the marauding gang, the two political prisoners help defend the townsfolk against the bloodthirsty mob. The last feature for the popular actor Anatoli Papanov, Kholodnoye Leto Pyatdesyat Tretyego was seen by over 40 million people in the Soviet Union, making it the third most popular feature of 1988. This is one of the first perestroika films that showed political prisoners in a sympathetic light. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valeriy Priemykhov, Anatoli Papanov, (more)
