Namedni 1961-2003: Nasha Era

Note this - this is not a plot play film or a cartoon. This is a serial consisting of several documentary films each of those dedicated to a certain era of the most recent Soviet / Russian history. It starts with 1961 and goes on year after year. What's the point? Mostly, to refresh the memories of these 40 years of our grand history and see the best and most shameful moments in it. Each film is a small separate unit, and it contains footages, vivid commentaries and brilliant recollections of those who saw this or that event and would like to say a thing or two. What makes it absolutely outstanding and so brilliant is the Talking Head - the man who made it all and whose brainchild this serial is - Leonid Parfyonov. Leonid is a famous Russian TV personality, he became famous with several excellent documentaries about lives of Aleksander Pushkin or Mikhail Bulgakov, as well as his marvelous The Russian Empire history documentaries. Here his impeccable sense of humor, his sweet irony and clever comments make this otherwise heavy serial so light and so personally close to each of us. All the smallest events in our history are depicted and commented upon with such sincere love, warmth and depth that you only have to admire Leonid's amount of research work done and his level of enthusiasm. Everything is here - the first flight into space, the Afghanistan war, Perestroika, the 1991 Putsch, the latest events... Watch it, if you are truly interested in Russian recent history and want to have a fresh and breezy comment on it.

The series contains of wide range of aspects on soviet people life - culture, history, politics, sports, etc. Well all that affected and formed the soviet person...

One of the most attractive features of "Namedni - Nasha Era (Our era) 1961 - 1991", was objectivity that it is so rare in today's Russia's journalism and documentary, not forgetting that the "Namedni" project was developed in one of few televisions that wasn't under governmental patronage.

For example, it was very infuriating to watch a TV-program on official Russian television about the events of the 13th of January, when there were some declarations that attack on TV-tower and parliament in Vilnius was all fake and Soviet Union had nothing to do with it or it didn't happen at all. On contrary to those statements, "Namedni" gave facts, and objective view.

Sometimes it lacks some overviews of particular events and some facts, but it can't be perfect anyway :)All in all "Namedni" is a great chronicle documentary with a little touch of humour, but sometimes it would be only plain for former Soviet Union people...