Marianna Vertinskaya Movies
- 1987
A loveless young Russian woman decides to find a boy friend by posting handbills containing the title information plus home address in this comedy. Unfortunately, what she gets is a filthy, homeless bum who shows the same night and demands she give him money. Naturally she does what any wise young woman would do and clonks him on the noggin with her iron board. As soon as he regains consciousness she boots him out into the street. Despite her brutish ways, the hobo finds the girl attractive and continues showing up at her apartment on a variety of feeble pretexts. As the game continues, the lonely girl can't help but be charmed by the persistent stranger and eventually gives him a key so he can have a place to stay while he looks for work. She also buys him appropriate clothing. The two slowly become better friends and that is enough to brighten each of their dreary lives (they never do get physical) and give them hope to make the best of things until the stories bittersweet conclusion. Lonely Woman.... was originally billed as the first post glastnost comedy to be released in Russia. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irina Kupchenko, Alexander Zbruyev, (more)
- 1967
In America, they would have called him "Robbie," since Robert is a friendly robot. Built in the image of his inventor, Robert finds himself cast adrift into human society. He tries to adapt, but soon discovers that the world isn't as "perfect" and logical as he is. A neat premise, nicely done by an likeable Russian cast. They Call Me Robert was originally released in the Soviet Union as Yego Zvali Robert. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Oleg Strizhenov, Marianna Vertinskaya, (more)
- 1964
This movie was originally filmed in 1962 as Zastava Ilyicha (The Ilyich Gate). It was one of the first films that reflected the younger generation's resentment of the older generation's ways. The original title referred to Lenin's paternal name (his full name was Vladimir Ilyich Lenin). Even after the decanonization of Stalin, Lenin still remained the icon for the old generation. "Ilyich" was often used as an affectionate term in Soviet iconography. The film invoked Soviet premier Nikita Khruschev's sharp criticism. Meeting the studio members, he said: "Do you want us to believe in the scene where a father doesn't know how to answer his son's question "how to live?" At the censor's insistence the movie was re-cut and released under the "apolitical" title Mne Dvatdsat Let (I'm Twenty) in 1964. In 1991, the film was re-released and shown at the London Film Festival with ninety minutes of the original footage restored, resulting in a film which was 175 minutes long. In the story, a young man palling around in Moscow with his friends is forced to confront the realities of his future and choose a direction in which to go. His friends are likewise brought up short by their limited opportunities for realizing their dreams. They have jobs or schools waiting for them, which are things their parents didn't have, so their older relatives are puzzled by the youngsters' evident distaste for their choices. Some of the restored scenes include one in which the boy meets his father's ghost, and a long scene which takes place at a poetry reading. The ghost scene, among others, represented a significant break from hitherto obligatory film conventions of social realism. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valentin Popov, Nikolai Gubenko, (more)
