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On Russian SF
Films
On SF fan club Solaris
Our cons
Robert Heinlein
Philip K. Dick
Photo gallery
Art gallery
(1917-1996) |
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CINDERELLA
? musicaldir? This film is as classical as Singing in the Rain. That is all there is to say about this film. Left.
IVAN VASILIEVITCH CHANGED HIS OCCUPATION
1973 dur. 90 min.dir Leonid Gaidai. Based on the play by Mikhail Bulgakov. Comedy involving time travel. A professor creates the time machine and on a test travel jumps to the court of the Ivan The Terrible. Mikhail Bulgakov/1891-1940/ is a classic Russian writer and playwright. Also wrote stories involving the Devil. His most famous novel is THE MASTER AND MARGARITE. It seems to be impossible to bring this novel to screen.
SHE IS AN ALIEN
1985 dur. 80 min.dir Yakov Segel
THE TEMPTATION B.
1990 dur 84 min.Dir. A. Sirenko. Based on the novel SEVEN SPOONS OF THE ELEXIR by the Strugatsky brothers. There is a spring of the elexir that gives eternal life but it`s very poor. Only five people all of which are several hundred years old know about it and are ready to kill anyone who might learn about their mistery. A writer learns about it by chance and they make him prisoner in his flat. According to their rule he must die or kill one of them.
CAIN XVIII
1963 dur. 95 min.dir. Nadezhda Koshereva, M. Shapiro.
KIN-DZA-DZA
1986 dur 120 min.dir. Georgi Danelia. Comedy. Once upon a time two friends met a barefoot alien in the street, they gave him one sock. Then they were very unfortunate to use his transport and got to a neighbour galaxy Kin-Dza-Dza. The inhabitants of this galaxy look like people but they don`t have qualities like kindness, love, honesty and so on. They use only two words to communicate, one is a bad word and the other one means everythinng else. The two friends have to get a new engine, fix the transport and get home using only a box of matches (which is priceless treasure on this planet) and their poor musical talents. Satyric comedy that shows our society in grotesque-ish way. Brilliant according to critics and very poor and boring according to ordinary viewers.
THE KINGDOM OF FUNNY MIRRORS
. 1963 dur. 80 min.dir. Alexander Row. Based on the novel by V. Gubarev. A fairy tale. A schoolgirl went through a mirror and got to a mistery "Behind-a-Mirror" country she met her mirror double, a stupid king, a rebel and helps to defeat the king. A delightful funny adventure. Still very good looking despite it`s age. It seems that our special effect industry was much better than now at the time.
THE SPACE RACE
1935 dur. 70 min.dir. V. Zhuravlev
THE DEFEAT OF ENGENEER GARIN
. 1974 made for television 4 part film 60 min. each.dir. Leonid Kvinichidze. Based on the novel THE ENGENEER GARIN`S HYPERBOLOID by Alexey Tolstoi. An engeneer created a laser weapon to blow up ships far away at sea.
THE VOICE OF A DOLPHIN
1986 (?) dur. 80 min.dir. - ?
THE MOON RAINBOW
1983(?) dur.90 min.dir. Andrey Ermash. Based on the novel by Sergei Pavlov. After the travel to Saturn several astronauts got some paranormal abilities.
THE INTERSTELLAR REVOLUTION
1924 dur 15 min.Animated film an AELITA spoof.
TOWARDS THE DREAM
1963 dur. 70 min.dir. M. Kariukov.
MISS MEND
1926 three part film 62 min. each.It was voiced over in 1957.
THE SILENCE OF DOCTOR EVENS
1973 dur. 83 min.dir. Budimir Metalnikov.
MOSCOW - KASSIOPEIA
1973 dur 80 min.dir. Richard Victorov. Very popular film about long space journey. A group of teenagers were sent to a distant planet in the constellation Kassiopeia to help their civilization. It was assumed that they will reach the planet old enough to be of some help. They got some problems during the travel: first they had an extra ticketless passenger and somehow they reached the planet too soon and didn`t grow up.
THE YOUGSTERS IN SPACE
1974 dur.80 min.dir. Richard Victorov. The sequel to the above. They finally reached the planet where the local civilization was at war with robots. The kids versus the robots. Who will win?
NAPOLEON - GAZ
1925 dur. 95 min.dir. S. Timoshenko.
THE SKY IS CALLING
1959 dur. 78 min.dir. A. Kozyr, M. Kariukov. Roger Corman remade this film as BATTLE BEYOND THE SUN.
THE NEW GULLIVER
1935 dur. 60 min.dir. Alexander PTUSHKO
THE NEW DEVIL FROM HELL
1964 dur. 100 min.dir. Grigory Kromanov, and Y. Muur
THE WINDOW TO PARIS
1993 dur. 109 min.dir. Yury Mamin, and A. Tigrai. Inhabitants of one Moscow flat go to Paris any time they want through... their own window.
THE HOTEL "THE DEAD CLIFHANGER`S"
1979 dur 90 min.dir. Grigory Kromanov. Based on the novel by the Strugatski Brothers. A drama involving aliens took place in some remote skiing resort while it was cut off from all civilized world by a snowfall.
PATRIOT COMEDY
1992(?) dur 110 min.dir. Vladimir Hotinenko.
THE LETTERS OF A DEAD MAN
1986 dur 90 min. dir. Konstantin Lopushansky. Script by K. Lopushinski, Viatcheslav Rybackov and Boris Strugatski. A post nuclear war future. This film won a prize but I don`t remember where, sorry
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GOOD BYE, MARY POPPINS!
(?) musical in two parts. (Left: Mary Poppins) |
AN ORDINARY MIRACLE
1978 two part film.dir.- Mark Zakharov. A remake of the earlier version. Philosophical fairy taile of evil but kind looking King, his daughter and a magician, living in the Kingdom who once turned a bear into a man. The King`s daughter is rebellous and wishes to leave the evil father and the yound man named Bear doesn`t want to turn back into real bear. They fall in love and run away together. Brilliant cast of the best Russian actors makes this film a real pleasure to rewatch over and over. (Right: Bear prefers to die but not go back into his animal shape. Down: The King and his wife talk to their minister of culture.)
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THE WIZARDS
1982 musical comedy in two parts about 165 min. bothdir.- Konstantin Bromberg. Remotely based on the comedy novel MONDAY BEGINS ON SATURDAY by the Strugatski brothers. They also wrote the script.
UNDER THE GEMINI CONSTELATION
dir.? - Based on the novel THE GUEST by Igor Rosokhvatski.HIGHER THAN RAINBOW
1989 musical in two parts. dir. G. Youngvald-Khilkevitch. Based on the novel by S. Abramov. He also wrote the script. The boy who wanted to become jumpig champion had no real talent. Once a kind fairy gave him the talent he needed in exchange for his promise not to lie once in his life. The name of the boy was Alik Raduga (Russian word for "rainbow").
THE STORMY PLANET
1962 dur. 74 min. dir Pavel Klushantsev. Based on the novel GRANDCHILDREN OF MARS by Alexander Kazantsev. A classic film.
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THE WITCHES` CAVE
1990 dur.90 min.dir.Yury Moroz. Based on the novel by Kir Bulytchev. First try to make a la Hollywood action adventure. Not quite successful, but not too bad either. A cross beteen SF and fantasy. (Right)
THEY DRINK BLOOD
1992(?) dur.107 min. dir. Eugeny Tatarsky. Based on the novel VAMPIRE by Alexey Tolstoi.
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THE RECEPY OF HER YOUTH
1984 dur.90 min.dir.Eugeny Ginzburg. Based on the play (?) by Karel Chapec. Left.
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THE SEVEN ELEMENTS
1985 dur. 80 min.dir. Gennady Ivanov. Based on the novel by Vladimir Sherbakov, he also co-wrote the script. Right.
THE VAMPIRE FAMILY
1992 dur. 83min.dir. Gennady Klimov and Igor Shavlak. Remotely based on the short story by Alexey Tolstoi.
SHINING DUST
1953 dur. 103 min.dir. Abram Ruum. Based on the play SCALES by A. Yakobson.
THE HAUNTED SIMPHONY
1994 USA/RUSSIA dur 98 min.dir. David Tosic
THE TALE OF THE LOST TIME
1964 duration 80 min.dir. Alexander Ptushko. Based on the novel by Eugeny Shvarts. Several warlocks steal time from people that tend to waste it. The warlocks become younger and their victims older. So some old people behaving like kids have to find the warlocks and return their youth back. A horror story for lazy children.
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THE TALE OF WANDERING
1982 USSR/? dur. 100 min.dir. Alexander Mitta. Wonderful, very philosophic tale of a girl that is trying to find her kidnapped brother. Key, Martha`s brother was kidnapped as a child by some bandits because he could feel gold and make it move towards his hands but he had headache doing that. Martha was wandering around the golbe in search for Key. Years were passing by. She met a kind engeneer Orlando who travelled with her protecting and helping her. They met a dragon, bandits, the Old Woman Plague and other enemies. Orlando had to fight the Plague. He saved the people but died. Martha found her brother who had become rich mercyless lord living in his castle. He had plenty of gold and hunted people with dogs. He became a cruel spoiled lord. Martha refused to have such a brother and went away. At this moment Key realized what gold made of him and destroyed his castle. He died but kind Martha found him under the ruins and brought him back to life. Suddenly wonderful Orlando`s soul wakes up inside Key`s body instead. Right: Marth and Orlando on their way.
A DOG`S HEART
1988 a two part film 60 min. eachdir. Vladimir Bortko. Based on the novel by Mikhail Bulgakov. A professor turns a mutt dog into a man. Social comedy
SOLARIS
1971 duration 165 min. /American vertion 132 min./dir. Andrey Tarkovski. Based on the novel by Stanislaw Lem.
STALKER
1979 duration 161 min.dir. Andrey Tarkovski. Based on the novel THE PICNIC BY THE ROAD by the Strugatski brothers. Both films above are regarded as world film classic that is why you can find them with English subtitles if you really want to.
THE OLD MAN HOTTABYTCH
1956 dur. 86 min. dir. G. Kazanski. Just a fairy tale about a wizard from a bottle and a boy who let him out.THE MYSTIC WALL
1968 dur. 80 min.dir. I. Povolotskaia, and M. Sadkovitch
THE MYSTERY ISLAND
1941 dur. 93 min.dir. E. Pentslin. Based on the novel by Jules Verne.
THE MYSTERY OF ETERNAL NIGHT
1955 dur. 80 min.dir. D. Vasiliev
THE MYSTERY OF TWO OCEANS
1956 dur. 153 min. (in two parts)dir. K. Pipinashvilly. Based on the novel by G. Adamov.
THE MYSTERY OF THE IRON DOOR
1971 dur. 73 min.dir. Mikhail Yuzovski. Based on the book A WIZARD WALKED DOWN THE STREET by Yuri Tomin.
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THE MYSTERY OF THE THIRD PLANET
1981 dur. 60 min. animated film based on the novel THE GIRL FROM EARTH by Kir Bulytchev. Dir. Roman Katchanov. A nine year old Alice on vacations travells with her father to collect all sort of extraterrestrial animals for the space zoo. Alice`s father is the director of that zoo and a space biologist. They find a two-head parrot of "govorun" (read "talker") breed who tells them something about the three famous captains that went missing on one mission. The team goes on to save the captains. The book originally opened the series of the novels about Alice and her adventures on Earth, in space and time. The writer became famous for it. Right: Alice and her father (right) solve the mystery.
31ST OF JUNE
1978 in two parts 70 min. each musicle. Based on the novel by John Priestly .Dir. Leonid Kvinichidze
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IT`S HARD TO BE A GOD
1989 USSR/GERMANY dur. 120 min.dir. Peter Fleischmann The film is based on the novel by the Strugatski brothers. It`s a very scandalous production that have never got to the screens of Russia. First the main character was supposed to be played by Rutger Hauer but then the budget was down, they changed the star and the script. The German producers put too much of violence into it and the Strugatski brothers refused to do anything whatsoever with that film. They took their name(s) off the titles.
THE ANDROMEDA NEBULA. THE PRISONERS OF THE IRON STAR
1968 dur. 77 min.dir. Eugeny Shrstobitov. Based on the novel by Ivan Yefrmov
THE UNICUM
1984 dur. 80 min.dir.- ?
THE ADVENTURE FIRM
1991 dur. 100 min.dir. Igor Voznesensky
HAGGI- TRAGGER
1994 RUSSIA/USA dur. 85 min.dir. Eldar Urazbaev. A variation on the CHILDPLAY theme.
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THE AMPHIBIAN MAN
1961 dur. 99 mindir. V. Tchabotaev and G. Kazanski. Based on the novel by Alexander Beliaev. A doctor discovers that his son has the lungs illnes and will die of suffocation. In order to save his son`s life the doctor implants him a set of shark`s gills. The boy leads a double life: partly in the sea and partly home, away from people. He is at home in the sea and know nothing of people`s trouble, money and stuff. Once saving a girl from a shark he falls in love with her. But in his costume he is a "Sea-Devil" to her. Dressind up in normal clothes he goes into town to find her. She is going to be married to a rich lord as her father, a poor fisherman is in debt to him. The girl meets Ichtiandre (the name of the young man) and falls in love with him. Her father and future husband meanwhile are trying to catch the "Sea-Devil" to make him find pearls for them. They learn the secret of Ichtiandre and kidnapp him. The doctor make a raid to the lord`s ship to save his son and they both end up in jail. Ichtiandre`s breath timing was destroyed and because of the changes in his lungs he cna never use them again. He has to live in the sea for the rest of his life. Alone. The brilliant cast, beautiful shots and soundtrack made that film a national box-office hit. (The pictures above and below)
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THE INVISIBLE MAN
1985 dur. 80 min.dir. A. Zacharov. Based on the novel by Herbert Wells.
THE MAN FROM NOWHERE
1961 dur. 82 min.dir. Eldar Riazanov
THROUGH THE THORNS TO STARS
1980 dur. 118 min.(in two parts)dir. Richard Victorov. Script by Kir Bulytchev. Astronauts found an alien spaceship with only one girl aboard. They accept her as a guest. Later visitors from the girl`s planet came asking for help. Their planet was having ecological problems. A group of planetar ecologists had to solve the problem, defeat a local "bad guy" and fight the protoplasm that was created to be eternal brain but got loose and was eating people to grow. They tamed it and made grass and trees and flowers out of it, which was just what the freshly cleaned planet needed at the time.
THE CHANCE
1983 dur.80 min.dir. Alexander Maiorov. Script by Kir Bulytchev and Alexander Maiorov.
Based on the novel THE MARTIAN MEDECINE by Kir Bulytchev.
DOCTOR ABST`S EXPERIMENT
1968 dur. 90 min.dir. A. Timoshinin. Based on the novel "Crazy people" by A. Nasibov
I WAS THE SUN`S SATELLITE
1959 dur. 65 min.dir. V. Morgenshtern.
THE ADVENTURES OF ELECTRONIC
1980 made for television 3 part filmdir.Konstantin Bromberg. Based on two novels THE BOY FROM A BOX and RESSY - THE ELECTRONIC DOG by Eugeny Veltistov.
Our first TV hit for children. A professor created a robot that was a copy of a boy he saw the piture in a newspaper of. Desperately wanting to learn about the world and become a human the robot ran away. He met his prototype and that created a lot of funny events. The robot is wanted by the professor and a foreign spy who was working for a museum robber. Once the "twins" got a fight and the robot called Electronic (or short El) went away. He felt lonely, got into a toy shop and fixed a lot of broken toys for sale. The guys in the shop who made a great sale asked if he wanted anything as thanks. He took a toy dog and made a friend out of it. (That erdelterrier who was playing the dog became famous. Mind you the dog was out on any breed exhibitions because he was too small, but he was just right to play a living toy copy of an erdelterrier!) The dog proved to be very helpful when El was kidnapped by the spy. The group of teenagers had to defeat the spy and his boss and save the local museum of robbery. The twin brothers in the main roles became stars at the time.
THE FORMULA OF LOVE
1984 two part film dir. Mark Zhakharov. Based on the novel COUNT KALIOSTRO by Alexey Tolstoi.The story of immortal warlock, who was trying to find how he could make a statue that he set alive to love anyone. Funny and sad musical with several stories at once.
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SAME OLD MUENHGAUSEN
1979 two part story.dir.? Very remotely based on the original story of Muenhgausen. The man is living in his own fantasies. He has a family, a son, divorces his wife, his lover leaves him, he fakes his own death to return from the dead 20 years later. But now he is a legend and has to prove he is who he tells he is. Fanny and sad thing. And philosophical too. Right: Oleg Yankovsky, the actor who played Muenhgausen.
THE ISLAND OF LOST SHIPS
musical. In two parts. Based on the novel by Alexander Beliaev. The Bermuda Triangle, a strong stream puts all the inhabited ships in one place, some sort of seabackyard for old ships. Rabbish collection. But not all ships are inhabitant. People living on that kind of island are struggle to make decent living and some are trying to fight the stream and get back to civilization.
CAPTAIN NEMO
made for television 6 part film based on the novel 20 000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA by Jules Verne.
THE CONTACT
Adorable animated film about an artist who met an alien while his outing for painting the nature in the wild. First, scared to death he ran away from the friendly but scary looking alien that was desperately looking for a contact with an earthman. The alien couldn`t speak but he tried to tell about his harmless striving for a simple friendship by taking different shapes. Finally the earthman starts to whistle a melody and the alien is trying to catch up with him. In the end they go away hugging each other whistling... the Godfather theme from the Coppola`s film. Not a word spoken during the little film. Once it was shown at Cannes film festival
AIBOLIT-`66
musical 1966dir. Mark Zhakharow. Based on a story by(?), that was remotely based on Doctor Doolittle story. Aibolit is Russian Doolittle. Adventures of an eccentric vet. doc.
MARIA, THE MASTER
Hit fairy tale about a mother of two kids that got kidnapped by the wet king (a creature that lives underwater, in a river or in a well) because she was wonderful in knitting and all stuff like that. Her children decided to save their mother with the help of a soldier that was returning home from war and happend to be nearby. Talking bears, swamp creature (a frog like creature), underwater warlock, strange crayfish, and kind daughter of the evil wet king, also magic music instrument all take part in this story. classic of our cinema.
THE FIRE, THE WATER AND THE TRUMPETS
. a fairy tale.dir. Alexander Row. The king that loved to count everything in kingdom has travelling all the time went to a well to drink. There he was captured by the wet king. For return of his freedom he promises to give anything . The wet thing asked for "The thing in your kingdom that you don`t know about" . The king promises that being sure that there is nothing that he doesn`t know about in his kingdom. He returns home and his queen presents him his little heir, a son, he hasn`t known about. They swap the babies with a fisherman without him knowing. So a king`s son lives in a fisherman family, but nobody knows that the boys were swopped twice by two different people. When the time comes the heir is to be sent to the underwater kingdom to be a husband of the wet king`s dauter. Before that he has to do something, but he is a lazy fat fool without any manners, spoiled by all servants. He cannnot do anything properly. The fisherman`s son learning that he is a real heir and someone else is taking his destiny goes into the well to do the same the other guy is doing. He is a kind, hard working, polite and honest boy. He does everything that the princess asks him, marries her and lives happily ever after. The fatty is returned home, where everyone learns that he is the real heir. He continues his spoiled life. The fire , the water and the trumpets smvolize heroism, hard work and glory.The one who got through all that and stayed himself is the hero.
THE EGGS OF DOOM
1996 118 min.dir. Sergey Lomkin a recent film based on the story by Mikhail Bulgakov.
ONE, TWO, THE TROUBLE ISN`T TROUBLE ANYMORE
1988dir. M. Rosovsky.
KIDNAPPING A WIZARD
1989dir. V. Kobsoev. During their time travel the people of the third century pass through a quiet Russian village.
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MOTHER
1976 musicaldir. E. Bostan. Classic Russian fairy tale of nanny goat and her seven kids kidnapped by a wolf. Left
THE TALE OF IVAN THE FOOL WHO WAS SEARCHING FOR A MIRACLE
1976 musical fairy tale.dir. N. Kosheverova. Traditional Russian folk fairy tale.
PAPPY THE LONGSTOCKING
1984dir.M.Mikaelian. Based on the story by Astrid Lindgren.
