A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Reviews of films from Russia and from the Soviet period (1917 – 1991) including all films made during that time in countries that are now independent.
Northern European Films, Russian and Soviet Films
Alexander Gaponenko, “Aliens” (2014) In August 1991, the Soviet Union broke up after a failed coup d’état and 15 new countries arose from its remains. Latvia…
British Films, Russian and Soviet Films
George Galloway and Gayatri Pertiwi, “Sputnik: Orbiting the World with George Galloway (Episode 17)” (RT.com, 8 March 2014) I haven’t been following this weekly series of…
Middle Eastern Films, Russian and Soviet Films
“The Syrian Diary” (Rossiya 24, 2013) Made for Russian television, this documentary follows Rossiya 24 reporter Anastasia Popova and a Syrian army unit she is attached…
British Films, Russian and Soviet Films
George Galloway and Gayatri Pertiwi, “Sputnik: Orbiting the World with George Galloway (Episode 2)” (RT.com, 23 November 2013) Broadcast on the 50th anniversary of the assassination…
British Films, Russian and Soviet Films
George Galloway and Gayatri Pertiwi, “Sputnik: Orbiting the World with George Galloway (Episode 4)” (RT.com, December 2013) In this episode, the Galloways enquire into institutional racism…
British Films, Russian and Soviet Films
George Galloway and Gayatri Pertiwi, “Sputnik: Orbiting the World with George Galloway (Episode 3)” (RT.com, November 2013) In addition to representing Bradford West in the British…
Andrei Tarkovsky, “Solaris” (1972) The great Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky was nothing if not consistent: he made beautiful, artistic, slow-burning films that are an immersive experience…
Arkadi Sirenko, “The Temptation of B / Iskushenie B” (1990) A curious film, one of the last made in the Soviet Union before its downfall in…
Aleksandr Andriyevsky, “Gibel’ Sensatsii / Loss of Feeling” (1935) A very handsome-looking film made in 1935, “Gibel’ Sensatsii” is sometimes also known as “The Robots of…
Lev Kuleshov, “The Death Ray / Luch Smerti” (1925) A silent Soviet action thriller that starts with a workers’ revolt in a factory which is crushed…