Valentin Gaft Movies
Born in 1935 in Moscow -- but of Ukrainian descent -- Valentin Gaft became fascinated with acting at a young age, and at 18 enrolled in the Moscow Theater School. He has enjoyed an acting career of more than half a century in films, in addition to long associations on stage with the Mossovet and Leninsky Komsomol Theater companies, and the Sovremennik Theater. He was named a People's Artist of the Soviet Union in 1984. Gaft enjoyed starring roles in Russian films from 1965 onward, but was absent from the screen after the 1996 release of Karyera Arturo Ui: Novaya Versiya. In 2007, he returned to movies to play a major role in Nikita Mikhalkov's 12, as the philosophical jewish member of the jury. Gaft has also been noted for his satirical writing, which includes some celebrated work aimed at the Russian film and theatrical communities. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide- 1996
This Russian film is an updated version of Bertold Brecht's stage play. Brecht's plays always highlight the intersection between politics and life as it is lived, and his play, The Career of Arturo Ui is no exception. The story is about Arturo Ui (Aleksandr Filipenko) and his progress from being a penniless unknown to becoming someone with totalitarian power. The model for Arturo was originally Hitler, but in this film parallels are also drawn to the rise of Stalin, and to the new socialists seeking power in post-Soviet Russia. Slogans from Russian political campaigns are used for this purpose to chilling effect. Often, as in this play, Brecht collaborated with Kurt Weill to bring music to his stylized dramas, and as a result many of his plays occupy an ill-defined territory somewhere between classical Greek drama and the contemporary stage musical. Here, that music is supplemented by contemporary Russian folk music. The film retains many stage values; most actors appear in very stylized makeup, and the film's settings are very limited and contained. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alexander Filippenko, Vyacheslav Nevinny, (more)
- 1992
In this tragicomedy, Lt. Poletaev (Yevgeny Mironov) is an irrepressible character. Even the grim character of service in the Red Army following World War II isn't enough to dampen his spirits. Instead, he keeps things lively by accompanying the base's chorus on his accordian, and by attempting to get women to join the chorus. He succeeds in both his quests. Not only that, but one of the woman singers (Irina Rozanova) and he have a nice little romantic spark going. It's too bad that she's the live-in lover of his boss, Col. Vinogradov (Valentin Gaft). ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valentin Gaft, Irina Rozanova, (more)
- 1991
Geopolitics and big oil play into the capture of a British geologist (Anthony Andrews) by the Russian military in Iran at the end of 1945. As soon as they capture him, they ship him off to a Siberian prison camp. The majority of the rest of the film is about his attempts to survive, and the relationships and adventures he has while imprisoned. Despite the presence of an English star, the rest of the major performers in this film are Russian, and it was one of the first films made on Russian soil to clearly depict life in the infamous gulags (prison labor camps) of Siberia. The geologist has numerous significant relationships, but the most dramatically compelling are with a female camp doctor and a young girl prisoner. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Andrews, Vladimir A. Ilyin, (more)
- 1987
Originally Vory v Zakone, this uncompromising Russian drama takes place during the Brezhnev years, when corruption reigned unchecked. Anna Samokhina plays a mob moll caught in the middle of a blood feud between gangsters Boris Scherbakov and Arnis Licitis. Bartender Vladimir Steklov, who loves Samokhina, tries to help her out, to no avail. The on-the-take cops aren't much use either; they're more preoccupied with framing one of their own to keep him from informing on his colleagues. Kings of Crime was adapted from two short stories by Fazil Iskander. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Samokhina, Valentin Gaft, (more)
- 1987
- PG13
This Russian romantic comedy drama with satirical overtones serves as an ideal vehicle for the effervescent talents of Tatiana Dogileva. She portrays a nurse with whom bureaucrat Leonid Filatov falls in love after having a heart problem. Director Eldar Ryazanov doesn't seem to know when best to end a scene, thus inflating a charming comic idea well past its worth at times. Fortunately, the focus throughout is on Ms. Dogileva, who can make even the dullest scene come vibrantly to life. A Forgotten Tune for the Flute was one of the earliest movie arrivals in the US after the fall of Communism; more of the same, please! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leonid Filatov, Tatyana Dogileva, (more)
- 1986
Bolshoi Ballet star Ekaterina Maximova makes her film acting debut in the Russian Fouette. She portrays an ageing dancer who struggles to cope with the physical and emotional changes in her life. Believing that the only way to survive is to take on new challenges, Maximova insists upon staging an experimental ballet based on Faust. Turning a deaf ear to her possessive husband and the ultraconservative ballet committee, Maximova successfully performs the ballet, symbolically declaring her new-found joie de vivre. Described by some critics as Russia's The Turning Point, Fouette may not be easy to locate in mainstream video stores, but ballet devotees owe themselves this rare treat. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ekaterina Maksimova, Vladimir Vasilyev, (more)
