Russian Cinema and the Soviet Union

[Toasty]

Perhaps some of you have heard of the new George Clooney movie that has come out recently, Solaris. It is a remake of a Russian film, set in a vague future, which I plan to see.

Appearantly this movie had been made while the Soviet Union was still in exsistance--what I was wondering is, what were the censors like for the Russian cinema during the Communist regime? What were the criteria for an acceptable movie to the public? Were most movies entertainment, documentaries, or was there very little difference from the American cinema?

Thanks in advance.

 

[stalin006]

well the soviet version of solaris is said to be a masterpiece.
other than taht i realy dont know, not even sure if many people had tvs in the USSR

 

[Bifrost]

Soviet movies differ much from American ones. Here I'll name somethink that makes them really different. BUT! If you think that they were full of propaganda, you're mistaken. So:

1. NO SEX AT ALL. btw, after USSR disappeared and Russia was opened to western culture, nearly everyone was shocked with 'candid' erotic scenes in western movies being broadcasted by television.
2. The best soviet movies are the comedies by Riazanov, Gaidai and some others. Melodramas and comedies were releazed oftener than any films of other genres.
3. Cartoons are so different from american ones, that
it's just impossible to compare them.
4. In all the history of Soviet cinema, there were a couple of thrillers and a couple of horror films - movies were almost bloodless.
5. Huge number of Great Patriotic war films.

Soviet movies are very interesting to discuss, but unfortunately there's nothing to talk about if you haven't watched them yet.

 

[Mikoyan]

The original Solaris IS a masterpiece, i lost myself in it while watching it...
It is probably the most unique movie i've ever seen, it was brilliant.
I recommend this movie to everyone! Rent it!

 

[Toasty]

Originally posted by Mikoyan
The original Solaris IS a masterpiece, i lost myself in it while watching it...
It is probably the most unique movie i've ever seen, it was brilliant.
I recommend this movie to everyone! Rent it!

Is it at all possible to get one with English subtitles or voice-overs?

Muchas gracias, Bifrost ! Is there any more information about the Soviet movies?

 

[Mikoyan]

It must be available in an english subtitled version, it was subtitled in swedish when i saw it.

 

[EdwardTking]

Originally posted by Toasty

Solaris - Is it at all possible to get one with English subtitles or voice-overs?

I saw it sub-titled on UK TV about 25 years ago.

 

[klazlo]

Originally posted by EdwardTking
I saw it sub-titled on UK TV about 25 years ago.

Holy crap!!!! It was broadcasted YESTERDAY evening on TCM on the East Coast with English subtitles.

I suggest to see "Sztalker", which is another good sci-fi from the Soviet era. Those films were really good if you leave out the war epics (which were mandatory for us in elementary school in Hungary).
The Georgian films were almost the best in comedy, they were allowed to softly put some critic on the system. There's a film "Blue Mountains" if you have the opportunity, don't leave it out, it's just hilarious!

 

[Bifrost]

I suggest to see "Sztalker", which is another good sci-fi from the Soviet era.

It is by Tarkovsky, as well as "Solaris". Russian cinematography has some movie directors whose creations are monumental - nearly every movie by Sakurov, Tarkovski or Ryazanov is great (without any overpraising); some movies by Mikhalkov are good too.

EDIT
Btw, in my previous message I've said that Soviet movies are almost bloodless - even Great Patriotic War movies were not so bloody as western movies about WW2. Actually, when I saw "save private Ryan" (don't know the certain title in English) I was shocked - all the movies about war I've seen before had the aim to show the human relationships in extreme situations, valour and self-sacrifice on the battlefields, moral duty and love to the motherland; but it seemed to me that the aim of "SPR" was to show as much blood as it was possible.

 

[klazlo]

Originally posted by Bifrost
Btw, in my previous message I've said that Soviet movies are almost bloodless - even Great Patriotic War movies were not so bloody as western movies about WW2. Actually, when I saw "save private Ryan" (don't know the certain title in English) I was shocked - all the movies about war I've seen before had the aim to show the human relationships in extreme situations, valour and self-sacrifice on the battlefields, moral duty and love to the motherland; but it seemed to me that the aim of "SPR" was to show as much blood as it was possible.

I remember a movie called "The soldier's mother" or something like this. It was about a poor guy who was a hero and was permitted to leave the front and visit his mother. I think he had 3 days or so, but he did so many good during his trip, that he had only time to wave his mother and had to go back to the front. And this film had all the elements you mentioned.

What I like in contemporary Russian movies is the genre about the war in Czechnya (or how should it be written?). There's a film called "Caucasian Prisoner" and it is an application of a Tolstoi novel; and another called "Northern Outpost" or something like that, their athmosphere is really unique.

 

[Bifrost]

What I like in contemporary Russian movies is the genre about the war in Czechnya (or how should it be written?). There's a film called "Caucasian Prisoner" and it is an application of a Tolstoi novel; and another called "Northern Outpost" or something like that, their athmosphere is really unique.

They are nice, but I like only some of contemporary Russian movies, such as "country of the deaf" and "moon father", if I remember some other I'll post there more

 

[Raijer]

Yeah, I just saw the Soderburg re-make last night. Not bad. But the original Tarkovsky was incredible. It was really long, about three hours, but worth the effort. Man, to see THAT one on the big screen - that would rule.

Yes, there are Russian language versions available with English sub-titles. That's how I saw it... simply rented it from one of the finer video rental places in town.

BTW both the Soderburg and the Tarkovsky film were based on the Polish SciFi writer Stanislaw Lem's book of the same name. If you can find a translated copy, you should check it out. (Although the translation is kinda bad, from what I've heard, making it a bit of a bumpy, but I thought it was still a great read).

Thanks for the thread, Toasty. Now I have two more must-see movies added to my list:
1) Sztalker
2) Blue Mountains - can I get some more info on this klazlo?

Thanks all.

 

[klazlo]

Originally posted by Raijer
Now I have two more must-see movies added to my list:
1) Sztalker
2) Blue Mountains - can I get some more info on this klazlo?

This is the link to the Sztalker movie from 1979:

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0079944

And this is for the Blue Mountains:

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0087349

Just to mention a hilarious line from this movie: "the regression is in progression..."

I'm really glad to see that there's life over Hollywood...
Great thread!

 

[Dr. Dr. Doktor]

According to some Tarkovskij's other master piece is Andrej Rubljov (1969/1972) about a famous historical icon-paiter living in the middle ages. the Soviet authorities did not like it so it was banned until 1972 even thougn it won the critic's prize in Cannes in 1969. Apparently it was the religious aspects of the movie the censors did not like plus maybe the fact that Rubljov is presented as a mystic like character with a jesus-complex. Also it is claimed that the Tartar hordes in the movie are symbolic of Stalin and his henchmen. The movie is in black and white.

 

[Vrylakas]

Hey BiFrost -

Two things, unfortunately only vaguely related:

1. To make extra money as a student in Hungary I taught English, and once I was recruited for a two-week summer language camp (c. end of the 1980s). At the end of the camp the students had to stage a play in English that they composed themselves. My students began their play by having a male and female approach each other from opposite sides of the stage, one holding a sickle and the other a hammer. When they met mid-stage they held up and crossed the hammer and sickle, and another girl walked across the stage holding a plackette that read, in Russian, "SOVFILM".

2. Not entirely related but in 1996 or so my favorite director, Jiri Menzel, put out the film Zivot a neobycejna dobrodruzstvi vojaka Ivana Conkina (c. "The Life and Good Heart of Soldier Ivan Chonkin"; I'm always terrible at translations). This Czech director has made some of the funniest films ever, and I recommend him to anyone who wants to understand daily life in a communist country. But in this last film Menzel told a fictional story of a Soviet soldier in June 1941 who gets involved with a strange village but ends up becoming an inadvertant hero. The whole film was in Russian, and quite funny. Have you seen it?

 

[klazlo]

Originally posted by Vrylakas
2. Not entirely related but in 1996 or so my favorite director, Jiri Menzel, put out the film Zivot a neobycejna dobrodruzstvi vojaka Ivana Conkina (c. "The Life and Good Heart of Soldier Ivan Chonkin"; I'm always terrible at translations). This Czech director has made some of the funniest films ever, and I recommend him to anyone who wants to understand daily life in a communist country. But in this last film Menzel told a fictional story of a Soviet soldier in June 1941 who gets involved with a strange village but ends up becoming an inadvertant hero. The whole film was in Russian, and quite funny. Have you seen it?

Thanks Vrylakas to remind to this film, it was really funny. Here is the link:

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0110348

One of my favorite parts was when the neighbor grew that special plant in his garden, which was called "szocut" in the Hungarian translation (meaning "socialist way"). This plant should have been the mixture of potato and tomato, with the roots of a potato and the upper part of a tomato, but of course it happened to be the other way around.
Menzel by the way is a really talented director, and his films are a separate genre within the "soviet" film-making. I like them a lot, although sometimes people mix him with Milos Forman (who is also not bad at all).
And "sovfilm" is hilarious!

 

[Bifrost]

Didn't watch Ivana Conkina unfortunately. Sovfilm was great .
Whether it had happened a couple of decades before, those girls and boys would have been excluded from university, at least if they lived in USSR