Sergei Bondarchuk Movies
Ukraine-born actor/director Sergei Bondarchuk was trained for a performing career at the Rostov Theatrical Institute, then applied himself to learning the intricacies of behind-the-camera work at the All Union State Film Institute. His first acting opportunity occured in a special services unit with the Soviet Army during World War II, after which he became a member of the actor's faculty of the Moscow Film Institute. Bondarchuk's initial film role was in The Young Guard (1948), but the first part to win him fame was in 1951's Taras Shevchenko. His subsequent activities have been almost exclusively within the boundaries of the former Soviet Union, though Bondarchuk did appear in Roberto Rossellini's It Was Night in Rome (1960) and directed the Italian-Russian coproduction Waterloo (1970), which he also scripted. For most American filmgoers, Sergei Bondarchuk's fame rests upon his mega-epic, the five-hour-plus 1966 version of War and Peace, which took the director nearly seven years to complete (the Russian release was in two parts, totaling 507 minutes). For this daunting project, which won an American Oscar for Best Foreign Film, Bondarchuk not only directed but played the major role of Pierre Bezukhov. Astonishing for the opulence of its Russian-court scenes and its spectacular battle sequences (one of these running nearly an hour), Sergei Bondarchuk's War and Peace is compromised only by the clumsy English-language dubbing and the ongoing complaints of animal activists over the disturbing number of horses killed "in the line of duty." Bondarchuk went on to direct several more epics but none of his subsequent films failed to repeat his previous success. His last directorial effort, a TV-minisiries based on Mikhail Sholokhov's Tikhy Don/And Quiet Flows the Don (1992), produced in Italy and filmed in Yugoslavia, did not draw any international attention and couldn't even to make it to Russia because of the foreign-owned copyright. Bondarchuk's widow, actress Irina Skobtseva, desperately fought against the Italian producer of the film, trying to make it available in the director's homeland. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1969
Originally released as The Battle of the Neretva, this sprawling epic is a tribute to the Yugoslav partisan fighters of World War II. Yul Brynner stars as a guerilla leader whose mission in life is to eradicate all Nazis from his homeland (recently revealed instances of Yugoslav collaboration are dispensed with in this uncomplicated actioner). Hardy Kruger costars as Brynner's principle German antagonist. Originally released at 175 minutes, this $12 million spectacular was ruthlessly whittled down to 102 minutes by its American distributors. The resultant film looks like a series of outtakes in search of a story, but the action scenes more than compensate for the overall incoherence. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Yul Brynner, Hardy Kruger, (more)
- 1986
- R
Praised for its fine photography and production design if not its narrative, Sergei Bondarchuk directed this adaptation of the tale by Alexander Pushkin. Boris Godunov came to the Czarist throne at the end of the 16th century, after the original heir to Ivan the Terrible had died. At first, things went well for Godunov (played by Bondarchuk), but when the Russian people began to believe he had killed Ivan the Terrible's son in order to gain the throne, an alliance sprang up against the new Czar. Events continued to spin out of control as a young monk was presented as the son Godunov had supposedly killed. Now he was openly accused of failing an assassination attempt, which seems to be even worse than succeeding. In addition to these woes, Boris Godunov began to suffer serious health problems. So much for the joys of kingship. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sergei Bondarchuk, Roman Filippov, (more)
Russian filmmaker Sergei Bondarchuk is both director and star of this melancholy wartime fable. Bondarchuk portrays Andrey Sokolov, a World War II-era Soviet citizen who is captured by Nazis. He goes through hell, but is sustained by the possibility that someday he'll be reunited with his loved ones. Upon his release, Sokolov discovers that his whole family has died during the war. Originally titled Sudba Cheloveka, Destiny of a Man represented Sergei Bondarchuk's directorial debut. Its international release in 1961 (two years after it was made) was a genuine eye-opener to film-critic curmudgeons who believed that Russian filmmakers, while brilliant in assembling propaganda pieces, were lacking in humanity and emotionalism. An enormous worldwide success, Destiny of a Man smoothed the path for the more spectacular Bondarchuk productions (War and Peace, Waterloo) still to come. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sergei Bondarchuk, Zinaida Kirienko, (more)
- 1971
In this drama, an adaptation of Chekhov's play, a rural doctor falls in love with an unavailable beauty while plying his trade. It is frustrating for the old man, because he realizes that his devotion to medicine has caused him to miss out on many of life's pleasures. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Innokenty Smoktunovsky, Sergei Bondarchuk, (more)
- 1960
In keeping with his previous film Generale Della Rovere, filmmaker Robert Rossellini pursues a wartime theme in his 145-minute "personal epic" Era Notte a Roma. The story concerns three Allied POWS, who escape from their camp and hide out in Rome. The trio is given shelter by a beautiful young woman. With something tangible to fight over, the three prisoners' national chauvinism (one is Russian, one English, one American) simmers to a boil. For reasons which remain obscure, Era Notte a Roma was never given a widespread American release. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Giovanna Ralli, Sergei Bondarchuk, (more)
- 1952
Soviet filmmaker Yuri Raisman once more combines political dogma with solid entertainment values in Dream of a Cossack (aka Cavalier of the Golden Star). The title character, played by future director Sergei Bondarchuk (and billed for obscure reasons as Semyon Bondarchuk), is an ex-soldier who returns home to the Kuban region, there to take up life as a farmer. Instead, he galvanizes the local citizenry into participating in a massive construction project, which will result in a new power station and canal. Thus does Raisman offer an prime example of Russian collectivism while making it seem as though it had sprung from individual initiative. Dream of a Cossack is based on a popular novel by S. Babayefsky. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sergei Bondarchuk, Anatoliy Chemodurov, (more)
- 1982
In this, the first of a two-part Soviet-made historical epic, the life of journalist John Reed is chronicled. Much of the story centers around his love affair with a wealthy woman as he endeavors to write about the Mexican labor riots and revolutions from 1910-1915. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Franco Nero, Ursula Andress, (more)
- 1982
Unlike Warren Beatty's Reds, this film by director Sergei Bondarchuk does not create much human dimension to the character of John Reed (1887-1920), the well-known leftist journalist who first gained fame reporting on the Mexican Revolution and eventually wrote 10 Days that Shook the World on the 1917 Russian Revolution. His stormy relationship with fellow journalist Louise Bryant does not feature here either (though she appears in the film). The main attraction of this movie is the climactic storming of the Winter Palace. Reed was indicted for sedition in the U.S. and moved to Russia where he died at the age of 33 of typhus. He is one of two Americans buried in the Kremlin. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Franco Nero, Anatoliy Ustyuzhaninov, (more)
- 1973
When three peaceful aliens come to call and comment on the state of planet Earth a Soviet research scientist is forced to reevaluate his recent experiments with longevity. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sergei Bondarchuk, Zhanna Bolotova, (more)
- 1948
In 1949, distinguished Soviet filmmaker Sergei Gerasimov made a visit to New York City, where he railed against the immoralities of Hollywood movies. Be that as it may, Gerasimov's The Young Guard managed to secure bookings in Manhattan. Based on a best-selling novel by Alexander Fadeyev, the film stars Vladimir Ivanov as Oleg Koshevol, a Russian teenager who nobly serves his mother-country during WW II. With the help of his friends, Oleg successfully sabotages Nazi installations and encampments -- over and over again. Originally released in two parts, The Young Guard was pared down to a single 135-minute release for American consumption. In its original from, the film was honored with a State Prize in the USSR. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tamara Makarova, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, (more)
- 1975
The desperate battles of Soviet troops during the German invasion of Russia are chronicled in this epic film. The effort to defend the country is shown to unify the people and the soldiers, quelling their doubts about the regime. This film won the State Prize of the Russian Federation in 1977. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vasili Shukshin, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, (more)
- 1955
Famed Russian director Serge Bondarchuk steps before the cameras in this Soviet adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello. The Russian landscape provides a surprisingly effective backdrop for this tale of love, hate and jealousy in 16th century Venice. Andrei Popov is a suitably cunning Iago, while Irina Skobtseva is an ethereally beautiful Desdemona. Filmed in 1955, this adaptation of Othello was released in the US five years later. The rather crude English-language dubbing seriously detracts from both the compelling imagery of director Serge Yutkevitch (who'd spent some twenty years seeing this project to fruition) and composer Aram Khachaturian. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sergei Bondarchuk, Irina Skobtseva, (more)
- 1978
Tormented by his many high ideals and equally numerous failures to live up to them, an elderly Russian nobleman reminisces about his life while travelling on a ferryboat, as he listens to his fellow passengers telling stories about their religious faith. When he was a boy, he attended a military academy. He was so filled with high ideals and belief in the sacred person of the Tsar even then that he slapped a superior officer who, in his view, had betrayed those ideals. As a man, his troubled conscience led him to follow the monastic ideal and become a priest. However, his sexual urges were so overwhelming, even though they did not cause public trouble, that he shaved his beard and pretended that he never took holy orders. When an affair with a childhood girlfriend offers nothing in the way of consolation, he heads for Siberia, where he serves the peasantry as a teacher and a doctor. This film, commemorating the 150th year after the birth of Count Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), is based on his last short story. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sergei Bondarchuk, Valentina Titova, (more)
- 1955
The Russian-made Grasshopper is based on a story by Anton Chekhov. The characters are divided into two camps: A group of artistically inclined "butterflies," and a team of stone-serious scientists. The film tries to prove that the phrase "Wasted Time" is relative. The artistic types squander their waking hours with idle dreams, while the scientists sap their precious time with too much work. Lensed in color, this was a 1955 entry in the Venice Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sergei Bondarchuk, Lyudmila Tselikovskaya, (more)
- 1960
Originally titled Seryozha, the Russian A Summer to Remember was co-adapted by Vera Panova from her own short story. War and Peace director Sergei Bondarchuk plays the new stepfather of young Seryozha (Borya Barkhatov). So close do the stepfather and the boy become in the months following their meeting that, when time comes for the boy to move on in life, he refuses to leave his new dad's side. Their summer idyll takes place on a Soviet collective farm, managed by Bondarchuk and depicted by novice filmmakers Georgiy Daneliya and Igor Talankin in the most glowing and apolitical of terms. Though there isn't much to the plot, the film admirably succeeds as a sort of cinematic tone poem. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Borya Barkhatov, Sergei Bondarchuk, (more)
- 1977
Based on a story by Anton Chekhov, this film by renowned director Sergei Bonderchuk (best known for his film War and Peace) basks in the vast and visually magnificent qualities of life on the steppes of southern Russia in the era before the Russian Revolution. The story revolves around the journey of a wagon train bearing materials from the countryside to the marketplace. Riding along with the wagon train in carriages are an Orthodox priest and a trader carrying his nephew into town to receive some schooling. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Oleg Kuznetsov, Vladimir Sedov, (more)
- 1973
This Yugoslavian epic depicts the World War II military exploits of Marshall Tito (played here by Richard Burton), who later became the unrivalled ruler of that troubled country. During that war, he was instrumental in resisting Nazi efforts to exterminate the Yugoslav partisans. The film details the events surrounding the climactic battle with the Germans along the Sutjeska River. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
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