The Hunter (2011): Learning Russian Through Film

The Hunter (2011; Охотник), directed by Bakur Bakuradze, is a film of few words. Starring Mikhail Barskovich, Tatyana Shapolova, and Gera Avdochenok, the film employs lesser-known actors in the creation of this deeply moving picture. The film was critically well received and was nominated for the UN Certain Regard Award at the 2011 Cannes Film […]

Leviathan (2014): Learning Russian Through Film

Leviathan (2014; Левиафан) is a powerful film that lives up to its theological title. The film stars well-known actors who participated in director Andrey Zviaginstev’s other pictures, namely Aleksey Serebryakov, Elena Lyadova, and Roman Madyanov. Zviaginstev is known for his landscape-heavy film style in which the sublime seems to play its own character. This can […]

The Bremen Town Musicians: Songs of Freedom and Controversy

The Bremen Town Musicians (Бременские музыканты) is one of the first animated rock operas released in the USSR. It has since become popular among all generations, first in the Soviet Union and later gained reputation internationally. One of the film’s main draws was its unforgettable soundtrack and style, which drew from the latest global fashions […]

Ivan Vasilievich Changes Profession

Ivan Vasilievich Changes Profession (Иван Васильевич меняет профессию) is a legendary Russian-language comedy film released in 1973 under the USSR. It is is available for free on YouTube with English and Russian subtitles and HD quality. At once a comedy, a sci-fi, and a (very loosely) period piece, its surreal storyline spans both the 20th […]

The Black Spider: Learning Russian Through Film

Produced by Kremlin Films and released in late 2019, Лев Яшин. Вратарь моей мечты, was later released under various English names: The Goalie of my Dreams, The Dream Goalkeeper, or, especially for its release in England, The Black Spider. The film is the biopic of legendary Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yashin, known as “The Black Spider” […]

Doctor Lisa: Learning Russian Through Film

Doctor Lisa (known as Доктор Лиза in Russian) is a 2020 biographical drama based on the life of Elizaveta Petrovna Glinka (Елизавета Петровна Глинка in Russian). The film follows Doctor Lisa, a beloved humanitarian and charity worker, through one day of her busy life. The movie was directed by Oksana Karas and produced by KIT […]

Ivan’s Childhood: Learning Russian Through Film

Ivan’s Childhood (known as Иваново детство in Russian) is a 1962 Soviet war film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky and produced by Mosfilm. Selling over 16.7 million tickets in the Soviet Union alone, Ivan’s Childhood was Tarkovsky’s first feature film and one of his most successful projects. The film tells the story of a young boy who […]

Country of the Deaf: Learning Russian Through Film

Country of the Deaf (known as Страна глухих in Russian) is a 1998 crime film based on Renata Litvinova’s novel To Own and Belong (Обладать и принадлежать in Russian). The film sits in the top 20 Russian films of the 90s according to KinoPoisk and depicts an alternate Moscow set in the early 1990s that […]

AK-47 Kalashnikov (2020 Film)

AK-47 Kalashnikov (known as «Калашников» in Russian) is a Russian film which chronicles the rise of inventor Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov, creator of one the most infamous weapons of the modern era, the AK-47 assault rifle. The film is currently available on Amazon. Released in February of 2020 by MPI Media Group and sponsored by the […]

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