Anzhelika Nevolina Movies

A movie director discovers truth is stranger than fiction -- and makes for an even better story -- in this offbeat drama. Alex (voice of Andrei Nekrasov) is a filmmaker who left his native Russia some years ago, but who has returned to begin work on a new project. One day in St. Petersburg, Alex is nearly killed by a mustachioed young hoodlum with a pistol, and as he follows the gunman, he makes a startling discovery -- the man with the mustache isn't a man at all. Lubov (Olga Konskaia) found herself in jail on a minor charge years ago, and while behind bars she learned the rudiments of the hired killer's trade; now earning a living as a hit woman, she disguises herself as a man for the purposes of work, but also enjoys playing the role of a man in her personal life. Alex persuades Lubov to appear in a semi-documentary film based on her life and career, and soon his camera is capturing an eyeful of Lubov's dangerous professional life and freewheeling sexual escapades. The two sides begin to blur when Lubov is hired to kill Aglaya (Ekaterina Urvantseva), the wife of a powerful political figure; for the purposes of their film, Alex convinces Lubov to seduce her instead. Lubov I Drugie Koshmary was the first feature from writer and director Andrei Nekrasov, who previously distinguished himself as an actor. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A religious parable lies quietly with in this Russian homoerotic tale that sends messages promoting mercy and faith. Andrei wonders if his life is going anywhere. He is in a dead-end job at a design firm and his marital problems with wife Nina seem unresolvable. Andrei's sexuality is questioned after he publicly rescues a young man being beaten up by gay-bashers. Andrei meets Philip, a mysterious stranger, who comes to his office with an important project. Philip projects a supernatural/sexual energy that disconcerts Andrei. He is further confused after Philip announces that he is Andrei's patron saint during a one day trip. Philip explains that he is the reincarnation of an ancient savior. Terrified and confused, Andrei runs away from Philip. Later in his apartment, Philip kisses Andrei's arm, wounded from the scuffle with the gay bashers, and the arm is suddenly healed. Eventually Philip disappears as mysteriously as he came leaving Andrei to wander about pondering it all. He also leaves a gift for Andrei and Nina. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This contemporary melodrama is narrated by a young woman (Anzhelika Nevolina) who was forced onto the streets when the death of her mother left her solely in the custody of her abusive father. After leaving home, she somehow found work, got married, and had some children. However, that all fell apart after the children died, and her marriage was no great shakes anyhow. Now she survives by petty thievery and occasional prostitution. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this dark, slow-paced and enigmatic film, the title Schastlivye Dni (Happy Days) is definitely a bit on the ironic side. The story begins when a young man with a head injury is released from the hospital and begins searching modern-day St. Petersburg for a room or a place to stay. His subsequent experiences strengthen his already strong misanthropic bent. The first place he finds is physically unwelcoming, though his landlady seems to have the hots for him. Perhaps fortunately, the landlady's boyfriend soon kicks him out. He finds a number of rooms with assorted eccentric characters and situations but then winds up sleeping in a cemetery. There, he is found by an elfin girl who insists that he live with her. Since she is a prostitute, this means that he must often spend whole nights listening to her entertain clients in the next room. Soon the frail-seeming prostitute has a baby, which she calls "theirs" and (for reasons which are never explained) at that point she kicks the young man out into the streets again. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This Soviet film tells the story of Preobrazhensky (Yevgeni Yevstigneyev), a surgeon, who is a professor of medicine in Moscow. After the Russian revolution is thoroughly in place, he is visited by the housing committee, who feels that he should share the spaciousness his "big" five-room apartment with several others. Meanwhile, in an experiment he implants a dog with the heart and brain of a tramp. The dog gradually transforms into a man (Vladimir Tolokonnikov), but still has some doggy attitudes: for instance, he chooses to call himself Sharikov. Since Sharik is a common Russian dog name, just as "Rex" might be in the West, it is clear where the man-dog's sympathies lie. Sharikov becomes associated with the local Party officialdom, and begins to terrorize the professor and his assistant, Dr. Bormental (Boris Plotnikov). After he becomes a member of the housing committee, he wangles a room in the professor's apartment. Also, after being appointed a member of a state committee to deal with stray animals, Sharikov refuses to allow dogs to be killed, only cats. The movie is based on the 1925 story by Mikhail Bulgakov, which was very hard to find in Russia up until the perestroika. After people began reading it for the first time, they were amazed to discover how daringly he had criticized the emerging Soviet system. This Russian made-for-TV movie is perhaps the most successful adaptation of the story; an Italian version was made in 1975. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide