Sergei Vinogradov Movies
- 2000
1933 Nobel Prize winner Ivan Alekseevich Bunin is the subject of this Russian biopic, originally screened at the 2000 Karlovy Vary Film Festival. Andrey Smirnov portrays the writer, whose unabashedly bohemian lifestyle caused somewhat of an uproar in Europe and Russia in the years leading up to World War II. When the film opens, Bunin is married to the browbeaten Vera, and feels the need to take up a live-in lover -- the beguiling poetess Galia. The romantic triangle becomes more of a trapezoid when Lionya, a fan of the writer, turns up on his doorstep and eventually moves in with the motley crew. When Galia leaves Ivan for a nightclub singer, however, their lives appear to be changing for the worse -- an emotional state exacerbated by the escalation of political conflict in Europe. The film's script was written by Smirnov's daughter, Dunya Smirnova. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andrei Smirnov, Galina Tyunina, (more)
- 1995
During the 1920s, Russian ballerina Olga Spesivtseva created the definitive version of Giselle. This Russian biopic tells her story. Though she was once one of the most famous ballerinas in the world, Spesivtseva, died alone and forgotten in a U.S. mental institution in 1991 at the age of 96. Olga began her illustrious career as a teenager. While in ballet school she became the lover of an important arts journalist. He was much older and after a few years she took a new lover. Unfortunately, Olga was unlucky in love and was frequently attracted to men who turned out to be homosexuals. As the years passed, she found it increasingly difficult to control her paranoid delusions and had to be institutionalized. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Galina Tuynina, Mikhail Kazakov, (more)
- 1994
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
- Starring:
- Saulius Balandis, Sergei Vinogradov, (more)
