Yuri Demich Movies
- 1989
Fans of Russian history will particularly enjoy this satirical political analogy, by director Sergey Ovtcharov which has been compared to earlier film classics such as Repentance and Zelig. Those without the requisite background may be somewhat mystified by it. The story is based on an 1870 novel by Mikhail Saltykov-Schtchedrin, which uses a long and involved tale about the history of one town as an allegory for the Russian nation as a whole. The entire story of the novel is retained in this film, which updates it by including similarly meaningful events in the village from 1870 through to the present. One highlight of the film is the performance of Rolan Bykov as Piotr Ferdystchenko, one of the town's mayors, who undergoes three metamorphoses symbolizing respectively Lenin, Stalin and Khruschev. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rolan Bykov, Natalya Gundareva, (more)
- 1986
This story concerns Captain Blinov (Viktor Proskurin), who is a border patrolman on leave visiting his mother. As a dutiful son, he delivers some books to Elena (Vera Glagoleva), a divorcee with a mind of her own. The Captain soon finds himself helping her solve a problem with a difficult neighbor by posing as her lover. It does not take long for this pose to become reality, as he soon falls in love with the independent Elena. However, he is too polite to make any advances and contents himself with accompanying her around town on her job. Nevertheless, his reticence may prove disastrous when he discovers that there is another man in Elena's life, and he leaves for his frontier post in a huff. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vera Glagoleva, Viktor Proskurin, (more)
