Nina Ruslanova Movies
- 1983
Kira Muratova made this film under the pseudonym of Ivan Sidorov in 1983, but the official release came in 1988. Taken from the novel by Vladimir Korolenko, this somber drama tells of a judge who is devastated after the death of his wife and is neglectful of his children. His son befriends the children of a street beggar who live in an abandoned, derelict church. After his experience with is new friends, the young boy begins to feel sorry for his father and sympathizes with his loneliness. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Igor Chaparov, Stanislav Govorukhin, (more)
- 1983
This semi-realistic comedy-fantasy by director and co-writer Georgi Danelia features a lower-level bureaucrat who snaps on the way home from work after a particularly stressful day at the office -- and begins to let loose what he really thinks, no matter the consequences. As his wife is talking on the phone, he grabs the receiver and hangs it up -- she is addicted to talking on the phone and this has always bothered him. His son-in-law and daughter use the television set as a babysitter for the man's granddaughter, and so he blows off steam at them too, demanding his son-in-law go out and find a job. Then he leaves and, after some minor adventures, heads to the office the following morning where he tells everyone else off -- all the petty crooks who take or give small bribes for favors. Although in the end he cannot stand life at all and tries several versions of suicide, he fails miserably each time and finally talks to his granddaughter on the phone who seems to have a remedy for him. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yevgeny Leonov, Iya Savvina, (more)
- 1983
Alexei German's third film as director is based on stories written by his father, prominent author Yuri German. The mostly black-and-white film begins with a present-day color sequence, then reverts to monochrome and the freezing winter of 1935, when the narrator was nine years old. The boy lived in an apartment with his father and two other men, Police Chief Ivan Lapshin (Andrei Boltnev) and his officious underling (Alexei Zharkov). The story focuses on Lapshin as he tracks down a gang of crooks in his provincial Russian village, helps his recently widowed friend, and enters into a tentative relationship with an actress (Nina Ruslanova). Capable direction by German and a talented ensemble cast make this detailed look at the pre-purge Soviet Union both entertaining and richly rewarding. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andrei Boltnev, Nina Ruslanova, (more)
- 1983
In this drama with socio-political nuances, a heroic engineer is able to save the passengers on his train from injury or death by sacrificing his own life when his locomotive crashes. An investigator (Oleg Borisov) and Malinin, a journalist (Anatoli Solonitsin) are both involved in the story of the crash but from two different angles: the investigator wants to find out why it happened, the journalist wants to laud the heroism of the dead engineer. In the end, the investigator discovers that the responsibility for the disaster lies with a series of people, officials and others, who made significant errors that added up to a fatality. The question is in the end, whose story will see the light of day -- the investigator's or the journalist's? This was Anatoli Solonitsin's last film, as the actor died of cancer in June of 1982. He was the favorite actor of the critically-acclaimed director Andrei Tarkovsky, who had been hoping to cast Solonitsin in his next work, Nostalghia. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Oleg Borisov, Anatoli Solonitsin, (more)
- 1975
In the former Soviet Union, all apartment blocks were owned by the State. Because they were poorly built and poorly maintained, service and repair people held tremendous power, and used it. One plumber might serve a whole street of apartment buildings, and could demand whatever he wanted in order to perform even the most routine repairs, ie...extra money or a bottle of vodka (or more). In this comedy, the reality of this situation is clearly depicted. Afonya (Leonid Kuraviev) is a typical drunken, bullying plumber, extorting extra money and drink from his victims. He pals around with his buddy Kolya (Yevgeny Leonov), spending most of his "working" day in bars, drinking beer and eating crawfish and salted fish. Despite constant reprimands from the workers' committee, nothing puts a dent in his behavior until he falls in love with lovely young nurse Katya (Yevgenia Simonova), who insists that he treat people better. His buddy Kolya wants him to continue doing things the old way. West Europeans viewing this film found it surrealistic, because they could not believe the situations in it were real. Soviets, on the other hand, found it side-splittingly right on target, and it was very popular. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leonid Kuravlev, Yevgeniya Simonova, (more)
- 1967
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kira Muratova, Vladimir Vysotsky, (more)
