Natalya Kolyakanova Movies

Political intrigue and total corruption within the so-called democratic Russia are brought to the forefront in Pavel Lungin's Tycoon. Beginning as an investigation into the assassination of one of the richest men in Russia, the story flashes back to late-'80s Russia, just after Perestroika has broken up the Soviet Union. Five intelligent Russian students -- including one Platon Makovski (Vladimir Mashkov) -- abandon their academic careers in exchange for diving into the newly developing private business sector. As the rules for business in Russia are barely in place, the five new businessmen find a number of ways to profit from a wide array of nearly illegal dealings. Platon, in particular, has developed a knack for ingenious new ways of making money and very quickly becomes one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in Russia. Along the way, he also manages to alienate and/or infuriate most of his friends as well as a few government officials. Tycoon premiered to positive reviews at the 2002 Locarno International Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi

In this free-wheeling drama, dozens of little dramas center around an affair between the wife of an NKVD official and a baggage handler she has met. The woman, a former aristocrat, is relatively safe in Moscow in 1930, even though Joseph Stalin is running the country since she is married to a member of his secret police (the NKVD). Her husband's unit has been ordered to train a feisty black stallion for the Red Army commander to ride on parade. Hopeless love and aberrant sexuality seems to be a secondary theme, as one story concerns a lawyer who has fallen in love with his praying-mantis-type client, a woman who kills her bedmates. Another story concerns a poet who has fallen in love with a ballerina who cannot accord his affection the kind of response he desires, which makes him suicidal. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi