Nataliya Uzhviy Movies
- 1955
Like many Soviet films of the 1950s, The Land is a celebration of the glories of collective farming. The protagonists are two brothers who battle over a choice patch of Ukrainian land. The conflict is resolved only by the death of one of the siblings at the hands of the other. The "Cain and Abel" parallel is down-played, apparently to avoid criticism from the atheistic powers-that-were in 1955 Russia. The film concentrates on the grief suffered by the family over the brother's death, and the determination to double their efforts on behalf of the State, so that the boy will not have died in vain. Though ponderously plotted, The Land benefits from the exquisite cinematography of N. Slutsky. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nataliya Uzhviy
- 1944
Mark Donskoy, the Russian filmmaker whose fame rests upon his brilliant "Gorky Trilogy" of the late 1930s, came up with another artistic triumph in 1944's Rainbow (originally Raduga). With understandable creative rage, Donskoy depicts life in a Nazi-occupied village at the beginning of World War 2. The German conquerors are above nothing, not even the slaughter of small children, to break the spirit of their Soviet captives. Suffering more than most is Olga (Nataliya Uzhviy), a Russian partisan who returns to the village to bear her child, only to endure the cruelest of arbitrary tortures at the hands of the Nazis. Eventually, the villagers rise up against their oppressors-but unexpectedly do not wipe them out, electing instead to force the surviving Nazis to stand trial for their atrocities in a postwar "people's court." (It is also implied that those who collaborated with the Germans will be dealt with in the same evenhanded fashion). Brilliantly acted by virtually everyone in the cast, Rainbow is a remarkable achievement, one that deserves to be better known outside of Russia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nataliya Uzhviy, Nina Alisova, (more)
- 1939
New Horizons was originally released as Vyborskaya Storona, which translates as The Vyborg Side. Codirected and cowritten by Gregory Kozintsev, the film is the final chapter in the director's "Maxim Trilogy". Like the earlier entries, New Horizons recreates the "awakening" of Soviet Russia under the banner of Marxism, as seen through the eyes of Everyman hero Maxim (Boris Chirkov). Comes the Revolution, and the previously impoverished Maxim is appointed a Commissar of the Treasury. He shares his good fortune with those who loyally fought beside him in the Dark Days, including his beloved Natasha (Vera Kibardina), who as chairman of the Vyborg Soviet District personalizes the vital role of women in the Brave New World of Communism. Further adding to the prestige of New Horizons is the heroic musical score by no less than Dmitri Shostakovich. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Boris Chirkov, Valentina Kibardina, (more)
