Nikolai Rybnikov Movies
- 1986
This story concerns Captain Blinov (Viktor Proskurin), who is a border patrolman on leave visiting his mother. As a dutiful son, he delivers some books to Elena (Vera Glagoleva), a divorcee with a mind of her own. The Captain soon finds himself helping her solve a problem with a difficult neighbor by posing as her lover. It does not take long for this pose to become reality, as he soon falls in love with the independent Elena. However, he is too polite to make any advances and contents himself with accompanying her around town on her job. Nevertheless, his reticence may prove disastrous when he discovers that there is another man in Elena's life, and he leaves for his frontier post in a huff. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vera Glagoleva, Viktor Proskurin, (more)
- 1971
This is the final episode of a five-part epic which was shown every 9th of May in the USSR, as part of the official celebrations for (World War II) Victory Day. It is a kind of response to The Longest Day. This film received the Grand Prize from the All Union Film Festival in 1972. It concerns the last days of Nazi Germany in Berlin, the assault on the Reichstag and erecting the Red Banner over its ruins. It shows the last days of the bunkered leaders of the Third Reich. This film has huge battle scenes with thousands of extras, and was extremely expensive to shoot. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nikolai Olyalin, Mikhail Ulyanov, (more)
Russian director Sergei Bondarchuk's epic version of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace (Voyna i Mir) was the most expensive European film ever made for many years. It certainly had one of the longest gestation periods, with Bondarchuk spending seven years filming the project (the actors noticeably age from scene to scene). In relating Tolstoy's complex tale of Napoleon's invasion of Russia, Bondarchuk helmed some of the most graphic battle scenes ever seen, one of which runs nearly 45 minutes. So many horses were killed in these sequences that the film was loudly boycotted in some American cities by the ASPCA. While Bondarchuk is slavish to the source material, he does make a few Hollywood-like concessions to popular appeal; his leading lady Lyudmila Savelyeva looks exactly like Audrey Hepburn, the star of King Vidor's 1956 filmization of the Tolstoy novel. Originally clocking in at 507 minutes, War and Peace was pared down to 373 minutes for American consumption. It became a surprise theatrical hit, and a ratings bonanza when it was telecast on the ABC network in four parts from August 12 through 15, 1972. A big film, to be sure -- but few modern critics consider Bondarchuk's War and Peace a great film, citing its many deadly dull passages and its sappy, operatic finale. The dubbed American version is narrated by Norman Rose. The full Russian-language version with English subtitles is now available on video. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lyudmila Savelyeva, Sergei Bondarchuk, (more)
- 1963
This second feature film directed by Tatiana Lioznova tells the story of the first test pilot to fly a Russian-made jet. From the drawing board to the sky, details of the building and eventual flying of the plane are chronicled. Commentary states just how important the events leading up to the successful project were and what it meant for the air force and the country in general. Lioznova went on to produce and direct the immensely popular television mini-series 17 Moments Of Spring in 1973. The series has retained its popularity since its release, becoming once of the most fondly remembered and often-quoted events in Russian television history. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nikolai Rybnikov, Vladimir Sedov, (more)
- 1961
With a lively star performance by Nadezhda Rumiantseva as an attractive and independent-minded cook in a logging company, this Russian comedy about love and its foibles is on stronger footing. Locked in by miles of forest and snow, the lumberjacks naturally focus on the pretty cook as a point of interest. Among them is the local lothario who makes a bet with the others that she will give in to his irresistible charms. Once the bet is on, the cook shows she has her own ideas of how a romance should be conducted. Aside from this main story are sub-plots about two unhappy women who manage to resolve the issues that are keeping them down. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nadezhda Rumyantseva, Nikolai Rybnikov, (more)
- 1959
This is a conventional, wartime drama by Jean Dreville about the French pilots who escaped the Nazi occupation of their country to join the Russians in fighting the Germans. The Frenchmen are put together in one squadron after they arrive in Russia, and language barriers prove not to be insurmountable in the end. As forays are flown in combat, the French suffer their own losses along with the Russians. Meanwhile, some background on the political currents in France during the Vichy government is provided. Location footage in Russia and historical, archival shots add to the realism of the story. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pierre Trabaud, Vitaliy Doronin, (more)
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