Vladimir Vysotsky Movies

After an obligatory tour in the military, Nikolai happily returns to his wife and young daughter. However, he has been hearing stories which lead him to believe that his wife has been unfaithful. He tries to overlook these rumors, but cannot ignore the reality he is confronted with when he discovers her in bed with another man. Though he loves her deeply, he divorces her and remarries. Unhappy, he cannot forget his first love, and suspects she is the only one he will ever truly love. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Set during the Russian Civil War of the 1920s, Two Comrades Were Serving follows two soldiers, one of whom was formerly a photographer, who use a newly acquired French camera to capture images of enemy fortifications from the air. What sounds like a relatively easy mission turns into a war-time adventure that neither of them will forget. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

This adaptation of Lev Slavin's play was notable for its humorous treatment of the Russian Civil War and foreign governments' involvement in it. The film was shot in 1968 but not completed until 1987 due to the intervention (no pun intended) of the authorities. It was intended to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the October revolution and at the same time be an entertaining film. One reviewer (for Variety) likens the resulting film to what might have happened had directors Jean-Luc Godard and Federico Fellini teamed up with the Red Army in 1968 to put on a cabaret show. Farce is liberally mixed with slapstick. This is far from the kind of stodgy film that was usually produced for official celebrations. After the government stopped the production, the cast sent a letter to Soviet Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin defending the film and its director, quoting from Lenin that "the Revolution is a jolly thing, and revolutionary art can't be routine, dull, cliched." The letter didn't help. The show opens with a chorus of very fat girls in tight-fitting band uniforms singing while an army unit goes on maneuvers and a general does bookkeeping on an abacus. In the story, Brodsky, (who is also sometimes called Voronov), is a communist agitator in Odessa, which has not yet fallen to the Bolshevik regime. The local police and military are trying to hunt down the communists. Zhena is a wealthy woman who hopes to escape before the Bolsheviks take over, but she falls in love with a good-looking lad named Sasha, who is involved with the communists. When Sasha works out a deal with the local "bourgeois capitalists" (all made up like clowns) to cover his gambling debts, he becomes an official "Enemy of the Working Class." Meanwhile, Brodsky has landed in the capitalist's prison and is declared a hero of the revolution when he dies there. The entire story is told in Odessa slang, liberally mixed with heavy swearing and underworld lingo. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Kira Muratova directs and co-stars in this dramatic film that was shelved for 20 years before it was released. Nadya (Nina Ruslanova) is a young woman who travels to meet the noted geologist Maxim (Vladimir Vysotsky). She takes a job as a housemaid before discovering Maxim is romantically involved with town official Valentina Ivanovna (Kira Muratova). The heartbroken Nadya departs before Maxim can return, leaving him and Valentina to pursue their romance. Leading actor Vysotsky became an immensely popular folk singer in the former Soviet Union and was eventually silenced and banished by government officials. When he died in 1980 at the age of 42, over one million people attended his funeral. The posthumous release of his poetry in addition to his musical legacy and acting have endeared him to the masses. Fans still make pilgrimages to his grave to pay respects to the man who was for his country what Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen were to America. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

This standard comedy-drama about a bank teller's personal transformation has some of the accepted wisdom going for it, though no one would deny its political overtones. Directed by Frunze Dovlatyan, the story begins by introducing the title character, Dimitri Gorin (Alexander Demyanenko) a rather unhappy, timorous soul doomed to live out his days in his low-level, boring, white-collar job at the bank. Then Dimitri gets the chance of a lifetime to go work as an unskilled laborer on a hydroelectric system under construction in the scenic Ural mountains -- and he is off like a flash. The great outdoors, the friendship of his fellow workers, and a charming young miss all work wonders on the previously inhibited Dimitri. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi