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.
Mikhail Karyukhov and Alexander Kozyr, “The Sky Calls” / “Nebo Zovyot” (1959) A visually stunning film about space exploration, “The Sky Calls” was the first in…
Northern European Films, Russian and Soviet Films
Risto Orko and Alexander Ptushko, “The Sampo” (1959) A joint Finnish-Soviet fantasy production aimed at a family audience, “The Sampo” is a very loose retelling of…
Eastern European Films, Russian and Soviet Films
Alexander Dovzhenko, “Arsenal” (1928) Notable for its skilful use of montages of images to create and build tension, excitement, urgency and other moods, “Arsenal” revolves around an incident…
Sergei Eisenstein, “Alexander Nevsky” (1938) Unashamedly patriotic and stirring action-movie propaganda for the masses and the Soviet government under Joseph Stalin at the time of release,…
Andrei Tarkovsky, “Stalker” (1979) For Western audiences used to fast action science fiction movies, “Stalker” is a very slow-paced post-apocalyptic mover with a barebones plot that…
Eastern European Films, Northern European Films
Marek Pestrak, “Pilot Pirx’s Inquest” / “Test Pilota Pirxa” / “Doznanie Pilota Pirksa” (1979) A joint Polish-Estonian production, this low-budget movie about a space trip that nearly ends…
Sergei Parajanov and David Abashidze, “Ashik Kerib” (1988) The last completed film by Georgian / Armenian director Sergei Parajanov before his death in 1990, “Ashik Kerib”…
Georgiy Kropachyov and Konstantin Yershov, “Viy” (1967) A rare 1960s Soviet film in the horror genre, “Viy” is more Gothic fairy tale than a straight horror…
Vladimir Chebotaryov and Gennady Kazansky, “Chelovek-Amfibiya” aka “Amphibian Man” (1962) An unusual science fiction / fantasy / romance of a doomed love affair combined with a…
Yevgeny Sherstobitov, “The Andromeda Nebula” (1967) Based on a novel “Andromeda: a Space-Age Tale” by Ivan Efremov, this is a very visually striking film about the…