Arkadiy Trusov Movies

A young and carefree Cossack competing with a neighborhood rival for the love of a beautiful girl is forced to grow up faster than expected when World War I breaks out in this romantic Russian war drama from director Viktor Tregubovich. Roman is a reckless adolescent living in the Baikal region in the waning days of the October Revolution. Thus far, Roman's biggest concern in life was whether he or his neighbor would win the love of ethereal village beauty Dashutka. When news of the war breaks out and Roman is forced to choose a side on which to fight, he soon finds out just how big of a place the world truly is. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The director of this film, Larisa Shepitko, was the wife of the distinguished director Elem Klimov and a very promising director herself. Based on a true story, Krylya tells of the efforts of a famous female fighter pilot from the World War II era to make a life for herself in the postwar era. At 42, the present pales before her memories of the past, and of her true love, now long dead. She is unable to come to terms with her past nor with the present, in which she is the director of a high school and the mother of an adoptive daughter. Her attempts to compensate for her distraction all lie in the direction of appearing authoritative, but the students and her daughter, with the unerring instincts of the young, distrust and despise her. In her distress, she is forced even more deeply into reliving her memories of the only time in which she was truly alive, seeking some kind of answer or resolution. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Famous for his admiration of the simple and uncomplicated lives and attitudes of rural people, director Vasily Shukshin has adapted three of his published short stories and gathered them in this filmic anthology. The first episode, "Brother," is based on his story "Strange People." Visiting his brother in Yalta, the hero of the story is taken around to see places sacred to the memory of the playwright Anton Chekhov. At the same time, his brother nags him to marry a woman with her own apartment. In the second story, "The Tragic Shot," based on "A Thousand Pardons M'am," Bronka, a tall-tale-teller and hunting guide, spins a yarn about his secret mission during World War II as one of the men sent to assassinate Hitler. In the final tale, "Thoughts," based on Shukshin's story with the same title, a man living in the countryside recollects incidents from his entire life. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

A boy from Leningrad has his world turned upside down by his parent's separation and World War II. He leaves town amidst the fighting and returns to find a friend in his step-brother. The war is seen through the eyes of children and told in flashback form. The film was a special prize winner at the Venice Film Festival. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide