Alexei Zharkov Movies

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Gorod Zero: 1989

A Russian entry in the 1990 Cannes film festival, Gorrod Zero top-bills Leonid Flatov as an engineer named Varadin. Lacking a few vital parts for an air conditioner, Varadin heads off to Gorrod Zero, aka "Zero City." He might have been better off staying bed. Before long, Varadin discovers that everyone in Zero City is a few cards shy of a full deck. Before the day is over, Our Hero is almost as loopy as the rest of the batch. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Starring:: Leonid Filatov, Oleg Basilashvili, (more)

Uznik Zamka If: 1988

Starring:: Viktor Avilov, Yevgeny Dvorzhetsky, (more)

Kriminalnyy Talant: 1988

Starring:: Alexei Zharkov, Alexandra Zakharova, (more)

Dama S Popugaem: 1988

Starring:: Alexei Zharkov, Svetlana Smirnova, (more)

Zhizn Klima Samgina: 1987

Starring:: Andrei Rudensky, Yelena Solovey, (more)

Desyat Negrityat: 1987

Starring:: Vladimir Zeldin, Tatyana Drubich, (more)

Dzhamayka: 1987

Starring:: Vladimir Andreev, Alexei Zharkov, (more)

Prosti: 1986

In this melodrama, Masha (Natalia Anreischenko) is a research lab worker who throws her husband out of the house when she discovers he has a mistress. Her friends encourage her to attend parties in order to be sociable and to perhaps meet a new man. She goes home with a taxi driver, but she leaves suddenly when his wife returns unexpectedly. There are comic touches to this feature, but viewers should be warned of a brutal gang-rape scene. After her adventures, Masha considers reconciling with her wayward husband when he vows to give up his mistress. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Starring:: Natalya Andreichenko, Igor Kostolevsky, (more)

Khochu Tebe Skazat...: 1985

Starring:: Maryana Polteva, Vasiliy Mishchenko, (more)

Vina Leytenanta Nekrasova: 1985

Starring:: Alexei Zharkov, Lyudmila Volosach, (more)

Berega V Tumane: 1985

Starring:: Anatoly Kuznetsov, Leonid Filatov, (more)

Parad Planet: 1984

In a surreal puzzler, this story of a fantasy lived by a disparate group of four men captures the visual imagination with its images and leaves a large question mark in the meantime. The men first get together when called up for military maneuvers in the equivalent of a civilian reserve corps. Since their training is only periodical, two years go by before they are called up again. During this season's maneuvers, they end up being "killed," and so get some time off before they have to go home, and that is when the strange occurrences start. First the men visit a town of beautiful women and go swimming in the buff, then they land on a deserted island, and later, they find themselves with a group of elderly people, one of whom may -- or may not -- have a connection to one of the men. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Starring:: Oleg Borisov, Sergei Shakurov, (more)

Torpedo Bombers: 1983; Add Torpedo Bombers to Queue Add Torpedo Bombers to top of Queue

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, Rovi

Starring:: Rodion Nakhapetov, Alexei Zharkov, (more)

Blondinka Za Uglom: 1983

Starring:: Tatyana Dogileva, Andrei Mironov, (more)

Moi Drug Ivan Lapshin: 1983

Alexei German's third film as director is based on stories written by his father, prominent author Yuri German. The mostly black-and-white film begins with a present-day color sequence, then reverts to monochrome and the freezing winter of 1935, when the narrator was nine years old. The boy lived in an apartment with his father and two other men, Police Chief Ivan Lapshin (Andrei Boltnev) and his officious underling (Alexei Zharkov). The story focuses on Lapshin as he tracks down a gang of crooks in his provincial Russian village, helps his recently widowed friend, and enters into a tentative relationship with an actress (Nina Ruslanova). Capable direction by German and a talented ensemble cast make this detailed look at the pre-purge Soviet Union both entertaining and richly rewarding. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi