Modern Russian Film
What's Hot on Russian Screens

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Легенда № 17 (Legend #17)
(Russia) Drama; released 04/18/2013

Synopsis: Legend #17 tells the story of hockey player Valery Kharlamov, a hero of the epic USSR-Canada game played on September 2, 1972. This match was seen as a battle for the honor of the Motherland and its position in international hockey.

Director: Nikolay Lebedev
Starring: Danila Kozlovsky, Oleg Menshikov, Vladimir Menshov

ДухLess (Duhless / Soulless)
(Russia) Drama; released 04/10/2012

Synopsis: Max, 29-year-old top-manager of a large international bank, is convinced that he has it made. He has everything that many can’t even dream about: an expensive car, a penthouse, invitations to the most prestige parties. He spends his life for making money, and his money – for night clubs, beautiful girls, drugs and other attributes of so called glamour life. However, at one time he starts to realize that something about his life is not right. His world begins to crumble. The film speaks of re-evaluation of life and one’s self and overcoming internal crisis.

Director: Roman Prygunov
Starring: Mariya Andreeva, Sergei Belogolovtsev, Michail Efremov

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Шпион (The Spy)
(Russia) War, Adventure; released 05/04/2012

Synopsis: Based on the book by well-known author Boris Akunin, this work of historical fiction details the story of a standoff between Soviet and Nazi intelligence services that began in the spring of 1941, a few months prior to the start of World War II. Major Oktyabrskiy and Leutenant Dorin learn that Hitler plans to misinform Stalin about Germany’s plan to attack the USSR. But to prevent the plan from unfolding, they have to battle a genius of Fascist espionage. Their story develops against the backdrop of the brewing war.

Director: Alexey Andrianov
Starring: Fyodor Bondarchuk, Danila Kozlovsky, Viktoria Tolstoganova

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Август. Восьмого (August. The Eighth)
(Russia) War, Drama; released 23/02/2012

Synopsis: Ksenia’s ex-husband, an officer of the Peace Corps in the area of Russian-Georgian conflict, invites their son to visit him and his parents for a summer break in a mountain village. Everything is safe and peaceful, until the tanks roll in. As Ksenia strives to rescue her son from the war zone, enduring the terrors of the destroyed city and near-death experiences, the boy’s imagination mixes the scenes of the real battles around him with imagined dangers such as evil robots and dragons. Based on the events of the Russo-Georgian War of 2008.

Director: Dzhanik Fayziev
Starring: Svetlana Ivanova, Maksim Matveev, Artyom Fadeev

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Высоцкий. Спасибо, что живой (Vystotsky. Thank you for being alive)
(Russia) Biography, Drama; released 12/1/2011

Synopsis: Vladimir Vysotsky was a Soviet singer, songwriter, poet, and actor whose career had an immense and enduring effect on Russian culture. He became widely known for his unique singing style and for his lyrics, which featured social and political commentary in often humorous street jargon. He was also a prominent stage and screen actor. This film was written and directed by his son and stirred up rather controversial responses from the Russian public. It is based on true events of five dramatic days of Vysotsky’s life in the summer 1979 when the actor had a near-death experience on-stage during one of his concerts in Uzbekistan. He met his actual death just one year later.

Director: Nikita Vysotsky
Starring: Sergey Bezrukov, Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Sergey Shakurov, Vladimir Menshov, Maksim Leonidov

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Елки 2 (Christmas Trees 2)
(Russia) Comedy; released 12/15/2011

Synopsis: A sequel to the popular film “Elki” (2010), this film continues the theme of New Years’ magic and romantic and comic adventures. It consists of several individual stories taking places in different cities across Russia with some of the characters of the original film.

Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Starring: Sergei Svetlakov, Ivan Urgant, Vera Brezhneva

Иван-Царевич и Серый Волк (Ivan Tsarevich i Seriy Volk)
(Russia) Animation; released 12/29/2011

Synopsis: Another animated film from the creators of the popular cartoon “Три богатыря” series based on Russian folk legends whose characters are well-known to the Russian public from early childhood. Vasilisa, the Tsar’s daughter, is smart and beautiful, but is not ready to get married quite yet, she is looking to get a second higher education first. Then her father decides to marry her out to ‘the next man’… which just happens to be Ivan from the neighboring kingdom. But to marry a Tsar’s daughter is not an easy task and the man must prove himself worthy through a series of adventures.

Director: Vladimir Toropchin
Starring: Nikita Efremov, Michael Boyarsky, Lia Akhedzhakova, Artur Smolyaninov

О чем еще говорят мужчины (What Men Still Talk About)
(Russia) Comedy; released 12/29/2011

Synopsis: This comical production of a theatre group “Квартет И” is a sequel to their film “О чём говорят мужчины” (What Men Talk About) released in 2010. The four friends from the original film get together on December 31^st to celebrate New Years and end up discussing ageless questions about the relationship between men and women, work and recreation, and now, as they are getting older, of life in general and the peculiarities of middle age.

Director: Dmitry D'iachenko
Starring: Leonid Baratz, Rostislav Khait, Alexander Demidov, Kamil Larin

Бой с тенью 3: Последний раунд (Shadow Boxing 3: The Final Round)
(Russia) Action, Drama; released 11/17/2011

Synopsis: After 4 years, champion boxer Artyom Kolchin has achieved everything a simple boy from the Moscow suburbs can dream about. He is a world champion, a businessman, a TV celebrity, loved by women, and a national hero. He doesn't step into the boxing ring anymore, preferring to train others and party in the limelight. In the mornings he is greeted at home by his daughter and his wife Vika – who does not recognize in him the same man she once loved. Suddenly, Aryom’s trainee is nearly killed in a boxing match. Aryom suspects that his opponent has used some forbidden technique against the trainee. To find proof, he has to go to Hong-Kong where his old acquaintance Vagit Valiev knows something about this opponent that is not known to anyone else. To defeat his enemy, Artyom has to step out into the boxing ring once again.

In just two weekends, this sequel to movies released in 2005 and 2007 became the top-grossing Russian film for 2011.

Director: Alexey Sidorov
Starring: Denis Nikiforov, Elena Panova, Andrey Panin

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Беременный (Pregnant)
(Russia) Comedy; released 09/08/2011

Synopsis: A news anchor, very skeptical and negative to all things new and unusual, is a constant target of his colleagues’ mockery. Things are not going so well at home either – he and his wife have been trying to have a baby, but with no success. Then he makes a wish for a baby and a miracle happens - he gets pregnant. His friend suggests using the situation to gain money and glory by creating a new TV show and the comedy really begins. 

Director: Sarik Andreasyan
Starring: Dmitry Dyuzhev, Michael Galustyan, Anna Sedokova

Служебный роман. Наше время (Office Romance. Our time)
(Russia) Romantic comedy; released 03/17/2011

Synopsis: This is a remake of a very popular and well-loved Russian comedy, filmed originally by the famous Eldar Ryazanov in 1977. The original was set in a Soviet statistics agency – the updated film is now set in a capitalist credit ratings agency. Here, a strict business-woman, the owner of the agency works as does a financial analyst who is also a single father of two. He is almost invisible among the other employees but striving to receive a promotion. A corporate party brings this mismatched pair together and starts an unexpected and very comical romance…  

Director: Sarik Andreasyan
Starring: Vladimir Zelenskiy, Ludmila Kalugina, Pavel Volya.

Любовь-Морковь 3 (Lubov-Morkov 3/ Lovey-Dovey 3)
(Russia) Comedy; released 03/01/2011

Synopsis: This is the latest Freaky-Friday-like, body-switching adventure of the Golubev family, the first of which played out on Russian TV screens in 2009. This is the third and billed to be the last installment. In the first film, the parents exchanged bodies with each other and in the second – with their children. Now, Mr. and Mrs. Golubev will have to come to understand their parents by “walking a mile in their shoes;” the wife’s mother is an art expert and a museum employee, and the husband’s father is an army colonel.

Director: Sergei Ginzburg
Starring: Kristina Orbakayte, Yuriy Kutsenko, Andrei Urgant.

Выкрутасы
(Vykrutasy (Twists and Turns))
(Russia) Comedy; released 02/17/2011

Synopsis: A teacher of Russian language from a little town visits Moscow with a newly written novel manuscript and meets successful young lady Nadya (played by Milla Jovovich). The young people fall in love and decide to get married. Before the wedding, Slava must take a short trip to his hometown. The most bizarre circumstances hinder him from returning to his bride at the day of the wedding.

Director: Levan (Leo) Gabriadze
Starring: Konstantin Khabenskiy, Milla Jovovich, Ivan Urgant.

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Три богатыря и Шамаханская царица
(Tri Bogatirya i Shamahanskaya Tsaritsa)
(Russia) Animation; released 12/30/2010

Synopsis: This is the fourth and final of a series of animated films based on Russian folk legends. A bogatyr is an epic warrior from ancient Kievan Rus. Most are directed in the traditional bylinas, traditional Russian epic poems, as being endowed with enormous strength and cunning along with other not-so desirable features. Here, our three heroes gather together once more to rescue the ruler of the land from the attempts of an evil foreign queen. She plans to make him fall in love with her so her youth and beauty can be renewed, but in exchange will destroy his kingdom.

Director: Sergei Glezin
Starring: Dmitry Bykovsky, Valery Soloviev, Anna Geller

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Ёлки
(Christmas Trees)
(Russia) Comedy; released 12/16/2010

Synopsis: A little girl in Kaliningrad makes an impossible wish for New Year’s Eve – one that only the President of Russia can fulfill. Through the magic of “Six Degrees of Separation,” complete strangers pass her wish from person to person through Yakutsk, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Perm, Kazan, Ufa, Moscow, Saint-Petersburg and Kaliningrad. The resulting collection of funny, touching, sentimental, miraculous, and moral-teaching stories, along with an all-star cast of famous Russian actors made this movie a hit for the Russian holiday season for which it was released in late 2010. "Ёлки," incidentally, are set up by Russians for their New Year's celebration, so the title might be more accurately translated as "New Year's Trees" - although that would likely not be understood by a Western audience.

Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Starring: Sergei Svetlakov, Ivan Urgant, Vera Brezhneva

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Темный мир
(Dark World)
(Russia) Mystery/Thriller, Fantasy; released 10/7/2010

Synopsis: A group of students sets off on an expedition to the villages of Russia's remote northern territories. A girl among them, infatuated with mysticism and romantic notions of the afterworld, finds an ancient tomb from which she awakens the wrath of spirits of the past and receives supernatural abilities. Now the students must battle the evil forces.

Director: Anton Megerdichev
Starring: Svetlana Ivanova, Ivan Zhidkov, Elena Panova

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Утомлённые солнцем 2
(Burnt by the Sun 2)
(Russia) Drama; released 4/22/2010
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Synopsis: The long-awaited sequel to the 1994 Academy award-winner stars the two main characters that were thought to have died at the end of the first film: Colonel Sergei Kotov, the decorated Russian Civil War hero who was accused of treason, and Mitya, the NKVD agent whose mission it was to arrest him. It turns out that instead of being executed, Kotov is living in a Soviet detention camp when World War II reaches Soviet territory in 1941. He is sent to the front to fight, where it seems his chances of survival are even dimmer than in the gulag.

Director: Nikita Mikhailkov
Starring: Nikita Mikhailkov, Oleg Menshikov, Nadezhda Mikhailkova

О чём говорят мужчины
(What Men Talk About)
(Russia) Comedy; released 3/4/2010
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Synopsis: This Russian comedy reveals what men really talk about when they're alone with their best male friends – about work, money, cars, sports, and of course – women. Four friends manage to escape the duties and responsibilities of their everyday lives for a few days and head out on a road trip where they find plenty to talk about.

Director: Dmitry Dyachenko
Starring: Sergei Petreykov, Rostislav Khait, Leonid Barats, Alexander Demidov

Любовь в большом городе 2
(Love in the Big City 2)
(Russia) Comedy; released 2/25/10
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Synopsis: In this sequel, Igor invites Sauna, Artyom, and the others with him on a trip to China to visit his father and introduce him to his fiancée. They hear about a monastery on the edge of the town they’ll be staying in that, according to a legend, has an icon that is famous for increasing the fertility of all who touch it. The guys all agree they aren’t ready for fatherhood, but they visit the monastery and despite the warnings, touch the fertility icon anyway. Not sure whether they believe in such superstitions, they decide to abstain from sex for the rest of the trip, just to be sure. After their fiancées find out what’s been going on and leave for home, the three guys are left alone and find out that there’s another twist to this superstition: the first one of them to get back in bed with their fiancée will immediately become a father, but the other two will have to wait 20 years before they can even hope for children. All of a sudden, all three realize they’re ready for fatherhood and the race to get home begins.

Director: Maryus Viceberg
Starring: Alexei Chadov, Vera Brezhneva, Vladimir Zelenski

Synopsis: The heroes from the first "We Are From the Future," Borman and Cherup, return in this sequel, this time ending up back in 1944. While working on a World War II battlefield attempting to reconstruct the events that took place there, the men, along with their two Ukrainian colleagues, are transported back in time to the "Borodovsky Cauldron," the site of a fierce battle where Soviet troops faced the Nazi SS Galichina Division, made up primarily of Ukrainians who fought on Nazi Germany’s side in WWII. Borman and Cherup and their colleagues Taran and Seroye end up on opposing sides in the battle and they must unite to defeat their common enemy in order to save their future and return home.

Director(s): Alexander Samokhvalov, Boris Rostov
Starring: Igor Peterenko, Ekaterina Klimova, Vladimir Yalyich

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Кандагар (Kandahar)
(Russia) Action/Drama; released 2/4/10
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Synopsis: This film is based on actual events – in 1995, the Russian crew of Aerostan IL-76 was captured by the Taliban and held prisoner for over a year. While transporting supplies and ammunition to the Afghan government, the plane’s captain received radio messages ordering him to land for what was supposed to be a routine cargo inspection. Instead, the crew of five Russians was captured by the Taliban. With all diplomatic negotiations attempting to free them coming to a deadlock time and time again for over a year, the crew decides that their only chance to escape is to try and recapture their own plane.

Director: Andrei Kavun
Starring: Vladimir Mashkov, Andrei Panin, Alexander Baluyev

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