This 1928 film features stylized cinematography and actors from the Moscow Art Theater in a fiction story based on the life of Jewish Labor Bund member more
This 1928 film features stylized cinematography and actors from the Moscow Art Theater in a fiction story based on the life of Jewish Labor Bund member Hirsch Lekert who attempted to assassinate the Vilna governor in 1902 to avenge the flogging of workers who participated in a May Day rally. close
The story concentrates on a single 48-hour period during the Russian Revolution. The central character, played by Y. E. Samchykovski, is an old servant more
The story concentrates on a single 48-hour period during the Russian Revolution. The central character, played by Y. E. Samchykovski, is an old servant who staunchly supports the Royal Family. Even when his master is placed in prison and his son is appointed a commissar, the servant remains faithful to the Czarist regime. But when his village is invaded by the White Russian army and his son is summarily executed, the old man realizes that his homeland is far better off in the hands of the revolutionaries, who seek to build rather than destroy. A "cleansing" fire brings this propaganda piece to an appropriately symbolic conclusion. close
Goga is a Russian man who has no luck with women. He has a chance meeting with Mary Pickford, and after she kisses him on the cheek, he becomes as irresistible as her.
Goga is a Russian man who has no luck with women. He has a chance meeting with Mary Pickford, and after she kisses him on the cheek, he becomes as irresistible as her. close
A bold study on the dangers of prostitution in the Soviet Union in the 1920s. It's sort of dramatic fiction that tells the story of Lyuba, which after more
A bold study on the dangers of prostitution in the Soviet Union in the 1920s. It's sort of dramatic fiction that tells the story of Lyuba, which after irremediable events, loses his honor, being obliged to exercise the oldest profession in the world to survive. She hopes for better days and a new opportunity. The film also shows us the story of two other women who also need hope. close
The seamy Jewish underworld of Odesa is the setting for Isaac Babel's story based on the life of gangster king Mishka Yaponchik "Mike the Jap" Vinnitsky. more
The seamy Jewish underworld of Odesa is the setting for Isaac Babel's story based on the life of gangster king Mishka Yaponchik "Mike the Jap" Vinnitsky. Murder is a way of life for Benya and his gang until he finds himself ensnared in a Bolshevik trap. close
A comedy starring Nina Shaternikova, The Skotinins is loosely based on the 18th century play The Minor by Denis Fonvizin. In it, the upper class is shown more
A comedy starring Nina Shaternikova, The Skotinins is loosely based on the 18th century play The Minor by Denis Fonvizin. In it, the upper class is shown as both depraved and stupid, engaging a variety of absurd, over-the-top follies. close
This documentary depicts the creation of collective farms for Jews in Crimea. It shows them building their houses, digging a well, and farming the land.
This documentary depicts the creation of collective farms for Jews in Crimea. It shows them building their houses, digging a well, and farming the land. close
"Though not given a New York showing until 1935, V. I. Pudovkin's Mechanics of the Brain (Mekhanika Golovnovo Mozga) was written and directed by Pudovkin more
"Though not given a New York showing until 1935, V. I. Pudovkin's Mechanics of the Brain (Mekhanika Golovnovo Mozga) was written and directed by Pudovkin in 1926. A full year in the making, this scientific documentary concentrates on the behavioral studies conducted by Prof. Ivan Pavlov. The laboratory dogs used in Pavlov's research don't seem too happy about it, and as a result this film might be hard to take for the more sensitive viewers (the vivisection sequence is particularly rough). The progress of the research is detailed with charts and graphs, hardly the "cinematic" touches one might expect from Pudovkin. Interestingly, Mechanics of the Brains was released two years before the results of Pavlov's studies were printed in book form." close
This SovKino production was a major early experiment in Soviet historical film about the oprichnina period of Muscovite history, combining the costumed more
This SovKino production was a major early experiment in Soviet historical film about the oprichnina period of Muscovite history, combining the costumed drama and Gothic thrills of the genre with historical materialist commentary on the dialectical collision of scientific progress and patriarchal religious tyranny under Tsar Ivan the Terrible. It follows a self-taught inventor from the serf class Nikishka, whose efforts to build a flying machine incite accusations of witchcraft. Nikishka and his beloved Fima are persecuted by the feudal lord Kurlyatev, who took their village in a petty land squabble. They’re rescued when Kurlyatev’s lands are taken by the Tsar in his autocratic campaign against the feudal system. Ivan puts Nikishka to work in his linen mill, where the young serf is coveted by Tsarina Maria Temryukovna, who the Tsar’s been ignoring in favor of his cupbearer Feodor. A series of harrowing intrigues wind a bloody dance through bedchamber, feast hall, cathedral and dungeon. close
Namus (Armenian: Նամուս, meaning "honor") is a 1925 silent film by Hamo Beknazarian, based on Alexander Shirvanzade's 1885 novel of the same name, which more
Namus (Armenian: Նամուս, meaning "honor") is a 1925 silent film by Hamo Beknazarian, based on Alexander Shirvanzade's 1885 novel of the same name, which denounces the despotic rites and customs of Caucasian families. It is widely recognized as the first Armenian feature film. close
Typically of the heady days of early Soviet cinema, this is constructed according to the fast, sharp editing principles advocated by Eisenstein, complete more
Typically of the heady days of early Soviet cinema, this is constructed according to the fast, sharp editing principles advocated by Eisenstein, complete with symbolic inserts; but in terms of subject matter, it's much less explicitly political than most movies emerging from Russia in the '20s. Chronicling a young sailor's descent into a murky, treacherous underworld of pimps and thieves, after having encountered a Louise Brooks lookalike at a fairground and missed his departing boat, it's a lively moral fable that delights in vivid visual effects and quirky characterisations. If the plot occasionally reveals gaping holes, and the tacked-on ending urging the clearance of the Leningrad slums seems to be rather gratuitous, there's enough going on to keep one attentive and amused. close
Konstantin Eggert both directed and starred as Count Shemet, cursed by his insane mother’s traumatic experience with a bear to have seizures during which he himself becomes a “bear” on the kill.
Konstantin Eggert both directed and starred as Count Shemet, cursed by his insane mother’s traumatic experience with a bear to have seizures during which he himself becomes a “bear” on the kill. close
The film takes place during the pre-revolutionary years and the initial period of the Soviet regime. At a monastery shelter in one of Russia's western more
The film takes place during the pre-revolutionary years and the initial period of the Soviet regime. At a monastery shelter in one of Russia's western towns, orphan Yulka gives birth to a son from the shepherd Jerome. Matron of the shelter Pavlikha as directed by the father kills the newborn baby and disposes of the corpse in the Jewish Quarter. The Black Hundreds are spreading the rumor that the murder was committed by the Jews for ritual purposes. Mayhem arises which is supported by the authorities of the city. The church refuses to shelter Jews fleeing from the violent thugs. close
As she works in her tedious office job, Maria Ivanovna dreams about being married, and she has particular hopes that her co-worker Nikodim Mityushin will more
As she works in her tedious office job, Maria Ivanovna dreams about being married, and she has particular hopes that her co-worker Nikodim Mityushin will take an interest in her. Nikodim, though, is in love with Zina, who sells cigarettes on the sidewalk, and he frequently buys cigarettes from her even though he does not smoke. One day, a film crew uses Zina as an extra in an outdoor scene, and the cameraman, Latugin, falls in love with her. Latugin soon arranges an acting job for Zina. To complicate matters further, Zina has yet another admirer in Oliver MacBride, an American businessman who is visiting Moscow. close
This documentary promoting the joys of life in a Soviet village centers on the activities of the Young Pioneers. These children are constantly busy, pasting more
This documentary promoting the joys of life in a Soviet village centers on the activities of the Young Pioneers. These children are constantly busy, pasting propaganda posters on walls, distributing hand bills, exhorting all to "buy from the cooperative" as opposed to the Public Sector, promoting temperance, and helping poor widows. Experimental portions of the film, projected in reverse, feature the un-slaughtering of a bull and the un-baking of bread. close
Filmic insert to Eisenstein's modernized, free adaptation of Ostrovskiy's 19th-century Russian stage play, "The Wise Man" ("Na vsyakogo mudretsa dovolno more
Filmic insert to Eisenstein's modernized, free adaptation of Ostrovskiy's 19th-century Russian stage play, "The Wise Man" ("Na vsyakogo mudretsa dovolno prostoty"). The anti-hero Glumov tries to escape exposure in the midst of acrobatics, derring-do, and farcical clowning. Several members of Eisenstein's troupe at the legendary "Proletkult" stage theatre in Moscow briefly appear in this little film. close
Set in an imaginary land where the threat of revolution spurs the Emperor to seek exile in one of the most distant parts of his realm. There he meets more
Set in an imaginary land where the threat of revolution spurs the Emperor to seek exile in one of the most distant parts of his realm. There he meets Elka, the daughter of a revolutionary who has been banished here due to his confrontational activities. The two fall in love but meet a violent end when the revolutionaries, led by Elka's father, destroy the palace. close
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