Galina Belyayeva
- 1986
- R
A Cuban, José Raúl Capablanca (1888-1942) was the world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. In chess circles, he is still a great legend, and he developed many original and complex strategies that are still studied today. In this Cuban-USSR co-production, the great man has agreed to participate in the World Chess Championship in Moscow in 1925. His friends have urged him not to go, fearing that this passionate and complex man will suffer from his experiences there. While in Russia, he renews an old affair and starts a new one with a dancer. Bored with the competition, the great chess master pulls all sorts of stunts, and even deliberately loses some games so as to leave the chess hall early and meet his new girlfriend. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cesar Evora, Galina Belyayeva, (more)
- 1984
This biographical film -- a bit long for most viewers, even in its cut version -- is made especially for ballet aficionados. Focusing on the short life of the remarkable Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova (1882?-1931), it features several dance sequences and provides a backdrop of the historical events in the Soviet Union and Europe during her life. Pavlova (Galina Belyayeva, better as a dancer than an actress) was born in Saint Petersburg and her interest in the ballet began early. As a little girl (Lina Boultakova), Pavlova would watch the ballet students in training, and she eventually entered the Imperial Ballet company, quickly rising to the position of prima ballerina. Before long, she perfected a style especially evident in her dancing of Giselle and Swan Lake. In her brief tenure at the Ballets Russes established in Paris in 1909 by the famed Russian expatriate impresario Sergei Diaghilev, Pavlova was inspired by dancers like Vaslav Nijinsky and obtained further training under a master, traveling extensively with the company. But the famous ballerina was not without personal problems, and at one point had to take a two-year advance on her salary in order to pay off her husband's debts so he would not go to jail. There are several intriguing aspects of this biography that would recommend it to general viewers: varied locations from Mexico to Cuba to Europe and the USA, good ballet performances, some noted bit players (Martin Scorcese as Gatti Cassaza) and a critically recognized Michael Powell, the director of Red Shoes in his last professional role, as an editor. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Galina Belyayeva, James Fox, (more)
- 1981
In this sympathetic treatment of an ethical young Armenian who stands up against the prejudices of the 1930s in his small village, director Genrikh Malyan and scriptwriter Stephan Aladzhadzhyan weave a basic plot that starts with the young man's adoption by humble parents. He inherits his adopted father's saddle-making business at the father's death, and tries to set his hands to working in this profession that he had never wanted from the beginning. An idealist to the core, he falls in love with a prostitute who has arrived in the town accompanied by a madam and one other lady of the evening - and he defies convention by following his heart and marrying the prostitute. His decision has its own effects on the town and his mother, especially after she had tried so hard to find him a respectable wife, and puts his personal choice in vivid contrast to the weight of social pressure from the community. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mger (Frunze) Mkrtchyan, Sofiko Chiaureli, (more)
- 1977
No relation to the 1985 British film of the same name, the Russian The Shooting Party was based on an Anton Chekhov story. Most of the film takes place on the estate of Count Volsky, where the lovely Olga is forced into a loveless marriage with Volsky's overseer. Standing wistfully on the sidelines is provincial magistrate Petroff, who loves Olga but dares not speak up. Petroff's inability to express himself at the right time, coupled with Olga's inevitable fall from respectability, results in tragedy. The Shooting Party was previously filmed in Hollywood in 1944, under the title Summer Storm. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Galina Belyayeva, Oleg Yankovsky, (more)
