Antonina Shuranova Movies
- 1977
A dacha is a summer home for Russians, away from the hurly-burly of the city, and can be as primitive as a cabin or as elaborate as a palace. A much-favored place for gatherings of intellectuals, dachas are a favored literary setting. In this film, adapted by Nikita Mikhailkov from Anton Chekhov's first play and some of his other works, the schoolteacher Platonov (Alexander Kalyagin) has come with his wife to spend a summer weekend at a friend's dacha. Among the other guests there, he meets his former lady-love Sophia (Elena Solovei), who is now married to another. Even though he thought he had recovered from his disappointed affection for her, he finds that this is not so for at least two reasons. First, she only recently got married; secondly, she is married to an idiot. Nostalgia spurs them to investigate their affection for one another, but eventually, as they remember their stations in life, their old love does not seem so important. In the middle of the night, Platonov is overtaken by grief over his lost youth and lost loves, and he awakens the entire household with his cries. Everyone returns to bed soon after, and by the morning all is forgiven, or forgotten, as the guests prepare to return to their lives in the city. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alexander Kalyagin, Yelena Solovey, (more)
- 1976
Because of many good deeds the Finns did for Lenin prior to the Russian Revolution, their persistent desire for independence from Russia was permitted. In one instance, Finns helped Lenin escape from the police during a journey he took in 1907. Lenin's affection for the country was reinforced during his frequent journeys through Finland. This historical epic, featuring both documentary and fictional footage of the founding Soviet leader, chronicles the Finnish struggle for independence and explores the basis for trust between Finland and the Soviet Union. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kirill Lavrov, Margarita Terekhova, (more)
Russian director Sergei Bondarchuk's epic version of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace (Voyna i Mir) was the most expensive European film ever made for many years. It certainly had one of the longest gestation periods, with Bondarchuk spending seven years filming the project (the actors noticeably age from scene to scene). In relating Tolstoy's complex tale of Napoleon's invasion of Russia, Bondarchuk helmed some of the most graphic battle scenes ever seen, one of which runs nearly 45 minutes. So many horses were killed in these sequences that the film was loudly boycotted in some American cities by the ASPCA. While Bondarchuk is slavish to the source material, he does make a few Hollywood-like concessions to popular appeal; his leading lady Lyudmila Savelyeva looks exactly like Audrey Hepburn, the star of King Vidor's 1956 filmization of the Tolstoy novel. Originally clocking in at 507 minutes, War and Peace was pared down to 373 minutes for American consumption. It became a surprise theatrical hit, and a ratings bonanza when it was telecast on the ABC network in four parts from August 12 through 15, 1972. A big film, to be sure -- but few modern critics consider Bondarchuk's War and Peace a great film, citing its many deadly dull passages and its sappy, operatic finale. The dubbed American version is narrated by Norman Rose. The full Russian-language version with English subtitles is now available on video. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lyudmila Savelyeva, Sergei Bondarchuk, (more)
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