Oleg Yankovsky Movies

Adapted from a fairy tale by Yevgeny Shvarts, this story is about a magician (Oleg Yankovsky) who is concerned because his wife (Irina Kupchenko) has become rather bored -- and he decides to do something about it. He goes out and finds a bear, and with some "abracadabra," he changes the bear into a handsome young man (Alexander Abdulov). Then he says to his wife that "It has been foretold that a bear (in the guise of a handsome young man) will meet a princess and fall in love with her -- but as soon as they have their first kiss, it will change him permanently back into his bear form." After which he tells her that the king (Yevgeny Leonov), his daughter the princess (Yevgeniya Simonova), and their court will come to the magician's house and meet the young-man-cum "bear." Sure enough, the entire troupe shows up, and the princess falls in love with the man/bear -- who knows the truth about the effect of only one kiss with the princess. Desperate to save her feelings, he leaves rather than kiss her. The princess is disheartened at his behavior and leaves too -- but the pair is destined to meet again in spite of the machinations of the Prime Minister (Andrei Mironov) who wants to marry the princess himself. Now the magician needs a real miracle to bring everything to a desired happy ending. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This comic melodrama follows a gentle, simple and sweet woman, played by Natalia Gundareva, as she seeks to live a decent life. Though she has a couple of passionate lovers, and has had a son, she has been unable to pair up with anyone in order to experience the domestic side of life as a couple. Aside from a weakness for chocolates (she works in a candy factory), she has no overwhelming vices, and is only slightly overweight. As she grows into middle age, however, she is beginning to feel quite lonely and isolated. This growing sense of melancholy is highlighted during her trip back to her provincial home to bury her mother. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The moral consequences of character are the perennial focus for this film's director Ilia Averbakh, who trained and worked as a physician before becoming a filmmaker. In this psychological drama, Zina (Svetlana Smirnova) is an extremely selfish and manipulative adolescent. She befriends her schoolteacher Vera Ivanova (Irinia Kutpschenko) and shares certain confidences with her, such as reading Vera's love-letters. When she inevitably has a falling-out with Vera, Zina effortlessly and thoughtlessly causes Vera much pain by using the information she has gained to attack her where it hurts. Oblivious to the harm she has caused, Zina travels with her schoolmates to summer camp. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The parallel tribulations of two women are the theme of this drama. After suffering horribly from the actions of her boyfriend, a young woman is brought to trial after trying to kill him and then herself. Unfortunately, the ruthless boyfriend persuades her to incriminate herself on the witness stand. The girl's defense lawyer provides the parallel story, as a woman preparing to marry her live-in lover. Premarital family meetings tell the story of their lives together. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this officially recognized film, which won the State Prize of the Soviet Union, the inadequacies of the Soviet system are to a certain degree acknowledged. This alone provoked some interest in the film at the time of its release, in 1975. Based on the very popular and prize-winning play by Aleksandr Gelman, it tells the story of a group of factory workers, led by Potapov, (Yevgeny Leonov ) who uncharacteristically refuse to accept a pay bonus because it is clearly in error. They know this because the entire factory has consistently been run in a slipshod manner. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The award-winning director Andrei Tarkovsky, (one of his better known films is Andrei Rublev), the son of a famous Russian poet, was born in 1935 and grew up in and around Moscow during the Second World War. This non-linear autobiographical film is considered by many Russian-speakers to be his best film and is his most personal meditation on time, history and the Russian countryside. In a series of episodes and images, he captures the mood and feeling of the period just before, during and after the war. Lyrical reminiscences of his mother and of his father's poetry figure large in the film, along with extraordinary images of nature. Combining black-and-white and color work, with some unusual documentary footage, this highly regarded movie is structured with the logic of a dream. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide