Sergei Bekhterev Movies

Acclaimed director Kira Muratova's "exquisite cruelty" has never been on such potent display as it is in this showbiz drama concerning the death of a respected stage actor. A psychologically penetrating story told in two parts, Two in One's lurid tale of psychotic stagehands, salacious fathers, and vindictive daughters reveals how events that appear banal on first glance can actually be driven by diabolical intent. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Directed by Kira Muratova, Chekhovskie Motivy (Chekhov's Motifs) is a scathing satire of various Russian cultural and literary traditions, some of which are best illustrated by the legendary Anton Chekhov. Interconnected segments take place within the farmhouse of a farcically stereotypical peasant family. Happenings include a traditional Russian Orthodox wedding and a wildly intelligent teenaged peasant's desperate plea for money from his father. This absurdist film is not limited to the works of Chekhov, though he is perhaps the most easily recognizable figure being parodied. With a controversial career spanning over 30 years, Muratova has gained a reputation as one of the most frequently banned screenwriters in the former Soviet Union. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

This imaginative, well-photographed tale is really a series of Russian folk legends strung together by overlapping characters. The first vignette has to do with the marriage of a country bumpkin to a peasant woman. His ignorance about what it means to consummate a marriage causes the frustrated woman to lock him out of the house, so he hits the road. In his travels, he befriends a resourceful soldier and the two of them come across an inventor whose burning desire is to create a machine that will fly. Unfortunately, his attempts ground him in more ways than one as one unique adventure succeeds another. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Director Semyon Aranovich combines historical combat footage with a mix of black and white and murky color to create a fairly seamless narration about specific Soviet soldiers in the Baltics in 1944 and the women they meet and/or lose. War takes its toll on the one hand as buddies are killed in action -- demonstrated in the deliberate kamikaze dive of a damaged Russian plane into a German warship. On the other hand, personal relationships are themselves often tragic. Just after Bebolrov is wounded, he finds out his wife has a lover, just after Gavrilov joyfully meets his son, he begins to doubt the little boy is his, and just after Cherepovets starts a romantic liaison with Maria, she is killed by an act of war. Life offers no assurances, not even for a short while, and even in the face of these and other hardships, the soldiers will soon have to go into battle again. A poignant review of faces at the end of these travails reveals just how many did not survive. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

An actress (Natalia Sayko) is faced with the job of dubbing her voice after the final version of her movie is wrapped. (All actors dub their lines for the master copy of a film.) But she is overcome by her own life-crisis that alters her plans -- just released from the hospital, she realizes that her illness is more than she can emotionally handle -- it will kill her eventually. Overwhelmed, she has to reconsider her simple task of dubbing from a completely new perspective. This film had an attendance of 2.3 million in the Soviet Union when it was released. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide