Yelena Maksimova Movies
In this war drama, set towards the end of WW II, a Georgian farmer embarks upon a dangerous journey to find his son. His travails begin after he learns that his boy, a soldier recently wounded in battle, is recuperating in the hospital. The farmer sets off to see him. This man has an abiding love and respect for the beauty of the land. As he journeys he is appalled at the destruction that surrounds him. Once lush and beautiful, the bombed out land has become deeply scarred and barren. He arrives at the hospital to discover that his son has been sent back to his tank unit. The dogged farmer then sets off to find it. He soon finds himself in the midst of a battle. This leads him to join the Soviet army. He fights hard until his tank unit is assigned to attack German vineyards. The destruction of such fertile land appalls him and he stops them. When he finally does catch up with his son, the boy has wagain been shot and dies in his father's arms. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sergei Zakariadze, Vladimir Privaltsev, (more)
- 1960
Once again, Russian director Yulia Solnsteva fulfills her goal of directing movies that her late husband Alexandre Dovchenko scripted but did not live long enough to bring to the screen. In this standard wartime drama, the emphasis is on the heroics of both the civilians and the soldiers during times of severe stress in World War II. At the core of the action is one man in particular, whose sacrifices and heroics speak for a much larger group. Message aside, there are plenty of well-staged battle scenes to sustain attention. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Boris Andreyev, Sergei Lukyanov, (more)
- 1959
In this Soviet propagandist drama, a young girl thought to be orphaned during WW II is adopted by a wealthy urban family. When the girl finds that her mother is alive and living on a farm, she sets off to visit her. At first, she finds farm living to be difficult, but eventually she comes to like it and stays on to be near her mom. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lyudmila Marchenko, Valentin Zubkov, (more)
- 1959
A WW II veteran tries to resume his civilian life after being blinded during the war. He is a school teacher; trying to ply his trade without sight is difficult and he nearly loses her job. His wife then leaves him. Still the fellow tenaciously keeps trying, especially after learning that his new principal was the cowardly soldier responsible for the attack that wounded him during the war. His strong will, hard work, and the loving support of a nurse see him through and eventually he succeeds. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Valentin Zubkov, Liliya Aleshnikova, (more)
- 1957
Corruption and ego threaten to destroy the hard work of a group of collective farmers in this drama filmed in the Soviet Union during a relatively liberal period of the Khruschev regime. After the traumatic death of his father, teenage Sasha (Oleg Tabakov) is taken in by Ignat Gmyzin (Nikolai Sergeyev), the leader of one of the area's leading collective farms. Ignat is a strong believer in both socialism and the collective farming system, and he and his comrades work hard to make their harvest a rich and productive one. However, Pavel Mansurov (Viktor Avdyushko), the farm's liaison with the Communist Party officials, is growing weary of the incompetence and self-serving actions of his superiors, especially the regional party leader (Vladimir Emelyanov). Director Mikhail Shveitser's original cut of Tugoy Uzel faced resistance from Soviet authorities, who were miffed by the film's depiction of corruption within the Communist Party, particularly the portrayal of the party official played by Vladimir Emelyanov. Shveitser was later ordered to rewrite Emelyanov's scenes and re-shoot them with another actor; the revised cut of the film was released later the same year as Sasha Vstupayet V Zhizn. Both versions were screened at the 2000 Locarno Film Festival as part of a retrospective on Soviet filmmaking. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Viktor Avdyushko, Oleg Tabakov, (more)
And Quiet Flows the Don was the first of Russian writer/director Sergei Gerasimov's trilogy of films based on the popular novel by Mikhail Sholokhov. Pyotr Glebov plays a fierce Cossack warrior from a small, insulated Russian community, who tries to cut off all ties with his tyrannical father. He fights valiantly in World War I, then returns to his wife, whom his father had forced him to marry. The young man rebels against this arranged union by carrying on with the bride of a fellow Cossack. And Quiet Flows the Don represents only the first part of Sholokhov's epic novel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Daniil Ilchenko, A. Filippova, (more)
- 1957
The Russian Ebicot (High Up) is based on a novel by E. Vorobiev. As was typical with Soviet films of the era, there is no individual hero or heroine: collectivism is the order of the day. The plot involves the construction of a huge blast furnace that will supply thousands of jobs in a depressed community. As the local citizenry pulls together to assemble the furnace in record time, several romances develop. As a contrast, one of the workers is derelict in his duty, suffering mightily as a result. Ebicot was Russia's entry in the Karlovy Vary Film Festival of 1957. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nikolai Rybnikov, Inna Makarova, (more)
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