Tuan Jim

OK, reading twitchfilm.net and downloading some trailers recently (ok, last month), I came across a few interesting movies I'm interested in checking out.

The first one is a low budget crime flick called "Bimmer" or whatever is the local equivalent of "Beamer" (BMW) -- the sequel is about to come out in theaters over there. The guy at alldvd.ca said he wasn't aware of a Russian dvd with english subs, but I thought you guys might be able to point one out.

The second one is a Russian adventure flick called "The Turkish Gambit" based on a series of books about a pre-revolution Russian spy. Alldvd.ca does have this one in stock, but it's full screen and no subs. Anyone know of another version out there?

Any other suggestions for recent flicks are also appreciated.

thanks,
Tuan Jim

pro-bassoonist

This one I can assure you is not available anywhere with English subs. With this said...take a look at A driver for Vera. I also loved Vodka Lemon (which is more of a Kurdish movie). Another great film i loved is Since Otar Left...which is a Georgian film (ex-soviet ).

If you are looking for a typical new-wave Russian action stuff...this is what one of my fellow reviewers recommends (not a "talker" by the way):
Treasures of the Dead:
http://alldvd.ca/productDisplay.do?itemId=642

Ciao,
Pro-B

Tuan Jim

That one looks interesting, but I'm drawing a blank on it in IMDB, do you have any review links?

thanks pro-b.

Tuan Jim

Richard Malloy

One of the better recent Russian films I've seen is "The Return" by first-time director Andrei Zvyagintsev, and it's available on a nice R1 DVD.

I'm quite a fan of Andrei Tarkovsky, and I suspect Zvyagintsev is, as well. This manifests mostly in the cinematography and the bleached-out color timing, but Zvyagintsev also seems very attuned to the rhythms of the action within the shot, allowing the images to breathe and exist within that sense of real time that Tarkovsky achieved so well. Honestly, I was shocked to learn that this was a first film. Zvyagintsev's direction is subtle and assured, and I suspect all who see it will come away impressed.

I haven't said anything about the plot of this film, and I hesitate to do so. It's not that I feel I'd give away anything, though I would suggest that you not look too closely at the image shown on the main menu frame. It's a close-call, but if you're paying close attention it certainly constitutes a spoiler. Seriously, don't linger on this shot... it will potentially give away one of the biggest moments in the film.

That said, I didn't want to provide any synopsis because I'm afraid that it would fail to do this film justice. It's a rather simple setup, one that could lead a potential viewer to suspect any variety of cliche'd or sentimental or ginned-up melodramatic scenarios. Rather, what I'd like to say most about this film is that it's a work that's both very serious in its subject matter and execution, but which I suspect will appeal to a wide range of viewers (even those of you who don't care for Tarkovsky). It's an interior film, one that deals primarily with the psychology and emotions of its characters, but one that also plays out like a mystery-thriller. Which is not to say that it's loud, fast, and filled with things that go "boom". Quite the contrary. But it's as riveting as anything I've seen over the past year or two.

If you'd like a fuller review of the DVD and movie, check it out here: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=12772

pro-bassoonist

First of all....I am not quite so sure why I did not see your post...hmm. Richard Malloy is correct, the Return is an excellent film and I would have mentioned it though I thought that you were looking for an action/adventure picture of some sort.

With this said, I doubt it you would find a reputable English -friendly review of the above film (the dvd i mentioned in my post). I am yet to see one myself. Bu there is a Dutch colleague of mine that I exchange information with...he seems to like it ( certainly a new-wave Russian cinema...a "Nigthwatch" material).

Ciao,
Pro-B

ChristianB

I have the film The Dawns Here Are Quiet (1972) on DVD. It's from Russico, distributed by Image.

A little expensive, but a great film!

Christian

story

Is Alexander Nevsky out on DVD yet? That's, like, the only Russian film I've seen, but it's super super good.

Tuan Jim

I'd have to say that Pro-B's recommendation is more along the lines of what I'm looking for at the moment -- lack of free time, need something that I don't have to focus a whole lot of brain cells on -- 12 hour shifts staring at a computer screen and hoping nothing bad happens are diverting me temporarily away from some of the "better" movies out there for the time being.

That said, I have heard good things about "The Return" and may order it before my deployment is up (just got here) but for the moment I'm looking for stuff like "Bimmer", etc. If you check out www.twitchfilm.net you may be able to see the trailers. Pretty interesting IMO and one review from a US guy living in Moscow said that he thought it gave you a pretty good/accurate picture of contemporary Russia outside of the city.

Tuan Jim

Watched the first part of "Treasures of the Dead" today -- more like a tv miniseries than a movie, but interesting nonetheless.

Man though, watching the trailer for Bimmer 2 is driving me nuts. I really want to be able to watch that one and the first with subs.

twitchfilm is turning out to be a really great site. They've had some other good stuff recently including a new trailer for Day Watch, and some stunt reels for another Russian horror/scifi movie.

toddly6666

Russia made a lot of good movies in the 70s and 80s:

Check out THE IRONY OF FATE - it's basically the CHRISTMAS STORY of Russia, a great new year's movie that plays every year on tv during New Year's in Russia - a very good, funny romantic comedy: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073179/

Check out the extremely funny DEJA VU- starring Poland's great comedian Jerzy Stuhr. It's my favorite Russian comedy. It's about an American mafiaso that goes into hiding in Odessa, Ukraine and they send an assassin (jerzy stuhr) to find him and kill him and along the way he gets amnesia, going back and forth from his aggresive angry assassin self to a senstive scientist. It's a fucking funny movie. It's especially interesting because they have all the Chicago mafia speaking english played by Russian actors. It's an unknown classic. I still want to research more movies with Jerzy Stuhr, because he's a great funny actor...I saw clips of another entertaining Russian sci-fi comedy SEX MISSION. I didn't see the whole thing, but from what I saw, it was pretty funny...here's the link to Deja Vu http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097253/

Both the IRONY OF FATE and DEJA VU dvds are excellent. Buy the DVDs from a Russian online store, not amazon...it's a lot cheaper...The IRONY OF FATE is full screen, and excellent DD 5.1 Russian audio for a movie from 1975 and very good english subtitles....DEJA VU is letterboxed non-anamorphic, has excellent DD 5.1 Russian audio and good English subtitles. The only negative with the audio is that it has a Russian Dubber dude speak over the few English lines in the movie (since Russians are playing americans in the movie - so they are speaking Russenglish througout, but mainly speaking Russian), but the English can still be heard, it's no big deal though for such a funny movie...


And definitly buy THE BARBER OF SIBERIA on DVD: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120125/ . It's another great Russian epic movie with Richard Harris and Julia Ormond.


These three russian movies are my favorite and most rewatchable over and over. All three have excellent Russian quality DVDs and extras

Tuan Jim

AKA "Bimmer" -- that's one I've been asking about as well. Nothing at the moment, but hopefully Bimmer 2 will get picked up for a festival or something and there'll be a rerelease.

logboy

alldvd.ca - otherwise you apparently risk boots, and this is a particular field not many have a range of experience in dealing with, so it could be costly or it could be the only option. who knows? i dont.