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Showing posts with label Russian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Russian. Show all posts
Thursday, 5 May 2016

NATASHA - Review By Greg Klymkiw - Stellar Opener for Toronto Jewish Film Festival 2016

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Natasha (2015) Dir. David Bezmozgis Starring: Alex Ozerov, Sasha K. Gordon, Aidan Shipley, Deanna Dezmari Review By Greg Klymkiw Giv...
Monday, 16 February 2015

THE ASCENT and WINGS - Reviewed By Greg Klymkiw - Susan Sontag called Larisa Shepitko's harrowing anti-war film THE ASCENT "the most affecting film about the horror of war I know." Shepitko focused on suffering, slaughter and senseless strife and did so in a stunning allegorical portrait of Christ and Judas during the German occupation of Belarus. The movie was miraculously rendered under Communist oppression in the Soviet Union. With WINGS, Shepitko delivered a powerful, romantic look at Russia's fighting women of the Second World War in a post-war world. Shepitko's eye, like a mad pit bull's jaws, always clenched furiously on its quarry and never, ever let it go.

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This is a perfect time to take another look at two films about war by the late Ukrainian filmmaker Larisa Shepitko (a protege of Dovzhenko a...
Monday, 24 February 2014

TARAS BULBA (2009) - Review By Greg Klymkiw - Sub-Par Russian Version of classic Ukrainian tale of revolt is little more than a pallid made-for-tv-miniseries-styled slab of propaganda that might stir the loins of Putin-lovers-and-apologists, but it doesn’t come close to mining the stirring potential of Gogol's great story.

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Taras Bulba (2009) ** dir. Wolodymyr Bortko Starring: Bohdan Stupka, Ihor Petrenko, Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Magdalena Mielcarz, Sergei Dr...
Tuesday, 24 September 2013

ANNA KARENINA - Review By Greg Klymkiw - Of all people, the Russians can never get Anna Karenina right.

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Anna Karenina (2009) **½ dir. Sergei Solovyov Starring: Tatyana Drubich, Oleg Yankovskiy and Yaroslav Boyko Review By Greg Klymkiw H...
Monday, 13 May 2013

IVAN'S CHILDHOOD - Review By Greg Klymkiw - Perhaps the greatest film about war and childhood ever made, Andrei Tarkovsky's first feature film is indelibly presented on Blu-Ray via the visionary Criterion Collection

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Ivan's Childhood (1962) ***** Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky Starring: Nikolai Burlyaev, Valentin Zubkov, Yevgeni Zharikov, Stepan Krylov, Va...
Sunday, 15 April 2012

HAPPY PEOPLE: A YEAR IN THE TAIGA - Review By Greg Klymkiw - Werner Herzog's re-edit of Dmitry Vasyukov's four-hour exploration of life in the extreme north of Russia is a fascinating meditation on ages-old livelihoods that still exist in this modern age.

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Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (2010) dir. Dmitry Vasyukov, Werner Herzog Starring: Werner Herzog (as narrator) *** By Greg Klymk...
Wednesday, 4 January 2012

THE ASCENT (aka Voskhozhdeniye) - Review By Greg Klymkiw - Susan Sontag called Larisa Shepitko's harrowing anti-war film "the most affecting film about the horror of war I know." Shepitko focused on suffering, slaughter and senseless strife and did so in a stunning allegorical portrait of Christ and Judas during the German occupation of Belarus. The movie was miraculously rendered under Communist oppression in the Soviet Union. Shepitko's eye, like a mad pit bull's jaws, clenched furiously on its quarry and never let go.

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A CINEMATIC 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS, EASTERN-RITE NATIVITY AND FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY: Join me in this special celebration of cinema as each day...
Sunday, 1 January 2012

BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN - Review By Greg Klymkiw - Eisenstein extolled the virtues of totalitarianism and the butcher Stalin, but escaped Riefenstahl's pariah status

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A CINEMATIC 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS, EASTERN-RITE NATIVITY AND FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY: Join me in this special celebration of cinema as each day...