Vysotsky, Thank You for Being Alive (Высоцкий. Спасибо, что живой!) is a 2011 biopic about legendary Russian bard and singer-songwriter Vladimir Vysotsky (Владимир Высоцкий). Vysotsky, who died in 1980, is one of the best-loved cultural figures in Russian and Soviet history. There have been numerous books and movies made about him, in addition to his […]
The Mighty Angel (Pod mocnym aniołem; literally “under a strong angel”) is a 2014 Polish romance/drama film. It is a film version of the novel of the same name by Jerzy Pilch, which won the Nike, the preeminent Polish literary award, in 2001. An English-language translation was released in 2009. The film version was directed […]
Stones for the Rampart (Kamienie na szaniec) is a Polish film from 2014 loosely based on the 1943 historical novel of the same name by Aleksandr Kamiński. The book was extremely popular even when it was released, though it was only circulated by an underground press, and it is still widely read in Poland. An […]
Warsaw ’44 (Miasto 44; literally “city 44”) is a Polish drama from 2014 about the Warsaw Uprising during World War II. The Warsaw Uprising was an effort by the Polish resistance to take back the city from the Nazis. The leaders had hoped that the Soviets would arrive in the city during the uprising, but […]
In Darkness (W ciemności) is a 2011 Polish drama. It is based on the 1990 book In the Sewers of Lvov by Robert Marshall, which tells the story of a group of Jews who hid in the sewers of Lvov for more than two years while the Nazis occupied Poland during World War Two. The film […]
Nervy (Нервы; “nerves”) is a Ukrainian alternative-rock band led by singer and pianist Zhenya Milkovskiy (Женя Мильковский). He formed the band in 2010 after his solo career, which he had begun several years earlier, didn’t yield the results he wanted. The original members of the band were Milkovskiy (vocals, guitar), Dmitry Dudka (Дмитрий Дудка; bass guitar), […]
Bad Dogs (Złe Psy) is a Polish rock band that’s been around since 1999. The name apparently refers to American pit bulls, for which Andrzej Nowak, its founder, has a certain fondness. Nowak also sings vocals and plays guitar in the band TSA. TSA, Nowak’s first major project, is a hard rock/heavy metal band that […]
Cree is a Polish blues/rock band that was formed in 1993. Its name comes from the Cree, a First Nations tribe in Canada. The founder was Sebastian Riedel (guitar, vocals, harmonica)—incidentally the son of Ryszard Riedel, the lead singer of the legendary group Jam (Dżam)—and he was joined by Sylwester Kramek (guitar) and Adrian Fuchs […]
IRA is a Polish rock band that was founded in 1987 and still exists today. Its original members were Kuba Płucisz (guitar), Artur Gadowski (vocals), Wojtek Owczarek (drums), Darek Grudzień (bass), and Grzegorz Wawrzeńczyk (keyboards), who on one fine day agreed that they would become rock stars, according to the band’s website. In fact, that […]
Louna (in Russian Луна, though they actually go by the Roman spelling—it means “moon”) is a pretty recently established Russian rock group. The name comes from the nickname of one of the founders, Lu (Лу; actually Lusine Gevorkyan, Лусинэ Геворкян), an ethnic Armenian. The group was founded in 2009 by two of the members of […]
Kalinov Most (Калинов Мост; translates as “Kalinov bridge”) is one of the most popular Soviet and Russian rock groups of all time. They were born and grew up in Siberia—Novosibirsk, to be exact. They play what can be described as folk rock, but they prefer to describe themselves by their very own adjective, “Kalinovmost-ish” (Калиновмостовский). […]
1612 (also known as 1612: Chronicle of the Time of Troubles, 1612: Хроники смутного времени) is a 2007 Russian epic drama. It is based on true events of that year. The film takes place during the Time of Troubles (Смутное время), the period from 1598 to 1612, after the Rurik dynasty was deposed but before […]
