The gems of Russian cinema
View(s):By Susitha R. Fernando
‘First time days of Russian Cinema’-A four-day film festival comprising world renowned Russian cinema will be held from November 1 to 4 at the Russian House in Colombo.
The festival features films ‘Commander’ on November 1 at 5.00 pm. ‘Formula for Water’ at 2.00 pm on November 2, ‘Blood Type’ at 5.00 pm on November 2, ‘The Bronze Horseman of Russia’ at 2.00 pm on November 3, ‘A Creative Meeting with the composer Yuri Poteenko’ at 5.00 pm on November 3, ‘Khitrovka, the Sign of Four’ at 5.00 pm on November 4.
Bronze Horseman
Written and directed by Aleksandr Guryanov and Timur Khvan, ‘Commander’, 2024 Russian biographical action film written, co-produced and directed by Aleksandr Guryanov. A boy from a remote village overcomes wartime hardships and post-war devastation to establish the ‘Group A’, anti-terrorist unit, later known as Alpha Group, tracing his journey from a fatherless childhood to founding an elite force. Based on real events-1988 Ordzhonikidze bus hijacking, according to the plot, Gennady Zaytsev grew up in a large family and he was able to overcome the difficulties of war and devastation and he became the creator of an anti-terrorist unit. And suddenly, in Ordzhonikidze, terrorists took dozens of children, a teacher and a driver hostage. Gennady will have to undergo a very complicated operation.
‘Formula of water’ directed by Oleg Asadulin, is a post-apocalyptical romantic story about a girl Dana who sets on a journey to save her kidnapped father – a scientist who created a machine that may restore the drinking water reserves on the planet.
Formular for water
Based on real events, ‘Blood Type’ is directed by Maksim Brius. November 1943. The Nazis bring a new batch of Soviet orphans to Vyritsa, where a so-called ‘orphanage’ is set up in a former pioneer camp. The conditions here are unbearable: cold, hunger, forced labour, solitary confinement for disobedience, and execution for attempting to escape. But the worst thing is that children are used here as blood donors for wounded Germans. The film was released in May 2025.
The 2019 film ‘The Bronze Horseman of Russia’ is directed by Vasiliy Livanov. This historical movie carries the viewer back into the 18th century and tells the story of the monument to Peter the Great through Alexandr Sergeevich Pushkin’s poem ‘The Bronze Horseman’. The sculptor Étienne Maurice Falconet comes from France at the invitation of the Empress Ekaterina the 2nd to erect the monument. Thanks to the master’s meticulous work and painstaking creative search the monument has become not only a masterpiece of art but one of the symbols of Russia.
On the closing day, November 4, there will be a creative meeting with Russian film artiste Anfisa Chernikh.
Film Commander
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