Rolan Bykov Movies
A popular character actor who specialized in comedy but occasionally played memorable dramatic roles, Rolan Bykov also directed some of the postwar Soviet Union's best-loved children's films, including the acclaimed drama Chuchelo/Scarecrow (1984). Bykov's youth-oriented films did not condescend to their audience and often contained surreal, fantastic elements that spoke to children's vivid imaginations.A native of Kiev, Bykov graduated from Moscow's Shchukin Theater School in 1951 and gained experience as an actor with the Moscow Youth Theater from 1951 to 1958. Between 1958 and 1960, Bykov supervised and directed productions at the Leningrad Leninsky Komsomol Theater. He made his first film appearance in the mid-'50s and would subsequently perform in over 100 movies. While his roles were primarily comic, they ranged from high drama to tragicomedy. His best dramatic films include Shinel/The Overcoat (1960), Komissar/The Commissar (1967), and Myortvyy Sezon/The Dead Season (1968). Bykov's first two directorial efforts were comedies, but it was his children's films that made him famous. In 1970, his Vnimanie, Cherepakha!/Attention, Turtle! won the Grand Prize at that year's Moscow International Film Festival; his 1975 film Avtomobil, Skripka I Sobaka Klyaksa/A Car, a Violin and the Dog "Ink Spot" won Best Film at the U.S.S.R.'s main film festival. During Perestroika, Bykov campaigned for a special government fund to make children's films, in hopes of establishing his own studio and promoting the careers of other directors of youth-oriented films. Since 1988, Bykov has served as the artistic chief of the "Yunost" unit at Mosfilm Studios. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1995
The confusion inherit in contemporary Russian society provides the basis of this slapstick social satire that focuses on a case of mistaken identity. The trouble begins in a Siberian diamond field as miners bring to light the world's biggest diamond. So valuable is the giant gem, that it will not only pay off the enormous national debt, it will also allow every Russian citizen to move to the Canary Islands. Unfortunately, the Mafia plans to steal the massive stone. Their plans are foiled when a renowned thief, Vesja, exchanges stones at the airport. Now the chase is on as the Mafia begins its pursuit. Also chasing him is the inept police chief Igor Ugolnikov, who trails him to the home of his alcoholic auntie. But Vesja, a master of disguise, still eludes them all. He then learns that he is a triplet when his two brothers suddenly appear. One is a renowned Jewish conductor, and the other brother is a gypsy. The conductor, Imokenty, has come back to Russia to marry a fluff-headed American divorcee. Mayhem and a merry chase ensue as he continues to elude his pursuers. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Valery Garkalin, Vera Alentova, (more)
- 1993
Writer/director Yolande Zauberman's touching tale of the friendship between two boys, one Jewish and the other Catholic, in pre-World War Two Poland. ~ Nicole Gagne, Rovi
- Starring:
- Roma Alexandrovich, Sasha Yakovlev, (more)
- 1989
Fans of Russian history will particularly enjoy this satirical political analogy, by director Sergey Ovtcharov which has been compared to earlier film classics such as Repentance and Zelig. Those without the requisite background may be somewhat mystified by it. The story is based on an 1870 novel by Mikhail Saltykov-Schtchedrin, which uses a long and involved tale about the history of one town as an allegory for the Russian nation as a whole. The entire story of the novel is retained in this film, which updates it by including similarly meaningful events in the village from 1870 through to the present. One highlight of the film is the performance of Rolan Bykov as Piotr Ferdystchenko, one of the town's mayors, who undergoes three metamorphoses symbolizing respectively Lenin, Stalin and Khruschev. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rolan Bykov, Natalya Gundareva, (more)
- 1986
The title Letters From a Dead Man sums up the story in this bleak speculative drama. Undoubtedly inspired by the Chernobyl incident, the film takes place in a Soviet village which is devastated by a nuclear meltdown. Professor Rolan Bykov, sitting alone in a bomb shelter, begins composing letters to his son, who disappeared shortly after the accident. Bykov knows that he himself is doomed; he hopes that such is not the case with his son. Letters From a Dead Man was written and directed by Andrei Tarkovsky-protégé Konstantin Lopushansky. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rolan Bykov, Iosif Ryklin, (more)
- 1986
- R
This fact-filled biography of the Russian diplomat Georgi Chicherin was released in 1986 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his death. Chicherin, a Russian aristocrat, was jailed in London not long after the 1917 Revolution. Lenin gets him released and puts him in charge of foreign relations for the new USSR. Chicherin soon finds himself in Italy, hobnobbing with the likes of Lloyd George and the King of Italy (quite a contrast to his stay in prison). Involved in the first signing of a peace accord with Germany, Chicherin has to follow orders even if he personally does not agree with the accord. But at the same time, he put all his efforts into obtaining the accord, and in so doing breaks the diplomatic blockade of his now Communist homeland. Chicherin's career unfolds against a tumultuous historical backdrop. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Leonid Filatov, Leonid Bronevoy, (more)
- 1983
In this cutting though sometimes slow-paced study of children and their ability to be cruel, director Rolan Bykov focuses the eye of the camera on the experiences of a young girl, Lena (Kristina Orbakaite). When the 12-year-old Lena moves into a new town with her grandfather, they are both ostracized because they are different. He is crotchety and eccentric, a collector of old paintings, and she is too shy and anxious to please the usual friends. When she is blamed for something she did not do, the children decide to go after her with a vengeance -- and that is when the cruelty escalates. As Lena begins to get some backbone to withstand her tormentors, fate is waiting in the wings to help her out just a little. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kristina Orbakaite, Yuri Nikulin, (more)
- 1981
- R
While Mark Twain's classic The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is regarded as one of the true classics of American literature, it has also become a favorite in many other countries around the world and this lengthy screen adaptation of Tom Sawyer was originally produced as a miniseries for Russian television. Tom Sawyer faithfully follows the narrative of the book as Tom (Fedya Stukov) and his friend, Huck Finn (Vladik Sukhachev), find adventure along the Mississippi River and Tom finds first love with Becky Thatcher (Mariya Mironova). For its American release on home video, Tom Sawyer was dubbed into English and the name of most of the cast and crew were Americanized; Fedya Stukov became Fred Stack and director Stanislav Govorukhin is credited as Stan Govorkin. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fedya Stukov, Vladik Sukhachev, (more)
- 1981
A group of middle-aged men and women on a holiday take a trip to Yalta for a short vacation. Soon they shake down into smaller cliques that have an affinity of interests, with romances springing up among some of them, such as a charming woman and rather shy man who begin to feel a genuine attraction in spite of the fact that they are both married. Dreams and reminiscences are openly shared, reaching a final denouement in the last evening before the group splinters off and goes their separate ways. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Regimantas Adomajtis, Zhanna Bolotova, (more)
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