2021: My favorite Russian movies
The best Russian film of the year out of 65 watched in my opinion is the dramatic thriller "Captain Volkogonov Escaped" by talented directors Natasha Merkulova and Aleksey Chupov. Real passions flare up around the escape of an NKVD officer to one of the most terrible and tragic periods in the history of the Soviet Union - at the end of the 30s. "Mom, I'm Home" by Vladimir Bitokov is an action-packed drama about the futile attempts of a mother in search of her son who did not return from the undeclared war in Syria, the best role of the great Russian actress Ksenia Rappoport. In another difficult period for Russia - in the 90s, when the country was left to the mercy of fate and rolled into the abyss, another outstanding film takes place - "Compartment Number 6" by Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen. Fate brings together two very different young, but equally lonely people, a Finnish student girl and a Russian hard worker, in a compartment of a Moscow-Murmansk railway car. Another great film is the heartbreaking drama "Unclenching the Fists" by Kira Kovalenko. An Ossetian girl with a disability, who miraculously survived after a terrorist attack, during her subsequent life really opens her fists, not only the fists of her seriously ill father, but also the fists of her hellishly difficult fate. The best films also include the dramas "The Last Darling Bulgaria" by Aleksey Fedorchenko, "House Arrest" by Aleksey German Jr., "Gerda" by Natalya Kudryashova, "Nuuccha" by Vladimir Munkuev. Best Crime - "In Limbo" by Aleksandr Khant. Best Series - "My Mother's Penguins" by Nataliya Meshchaninova. Interesting facts: 1) 2 films in the top 10 from directors - students of the great master Aleksandr Sokurov, Kira Kovalenko and Vladimir Bitokov; 2) at once in the 3 best films of the year, the new Russian star of auteur cinema, actor Yura Borisov, played the main roles. Another great comedy phantasmagoria by Yusup Razykov "Live Long" ("Zhivite dolgo", 2021) is not listed in the IMDB database. The highest grossing Russian film of the year is "The Last Hero: Messenger of Darkness" (Gross: $28,4M!)!
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- DirectorsAlexey ChupovNatasha MerkulovaStarsYura BorisovTimofey TribuntsevAleksandr YatsenkoFast-paced story of pre-death repentance marathon for the captain of the National Security Service (NKVD) Fyodor Volkonogov set against the backdrop of 1938 political persecutions in the USSR.
- DirectorJuho KuosmanenStarsSeidi HaarlaYura BorisovDinara DrukarovaAs a train weaves its way up to the arctic circle, two strangers share a journey that will change their perspective on life.
- DirectorKira KovalenkoStarsMilana AguzarovaAlik KaraevSoslan KhugaevAda is stuck. Living in a dead-end town in North Ossetia, she is caught in the tight grip of the men in her life. But when her older brother returns home and her father suddenly falls ill, Ada finally sees a possible path to freedom.
- DirectorVladimir MunkuevStarsZoya BagynanovaSergey GilevPavel KolesovBased on the Hailak short story and other works by Polish writer with experience of Siberian exile Waclaw Sieroszewski, the plot revolves around the poor Yakut peasant couple Khabdzhiy and Keremes struggling to survive in the taiga area of the most remote East corner of the Russian Empire at the end of XIX century. After the death of the second newborn child both young man and woman obediently get back to their chores to make it through another day and get ready for a lengthy and exhausting winter. The local Yakut ruler orders the family to admit to their house the Russian political convict Konstantin and keep him till further notice. The worlds of the family and the Russian unwelcome guest are colliding from the first days due to completely polar backgrounds. Despite the mutual challenge of the household against surrounding wild nature, Konstantin gradually settles in and claims the position of master of the house.
- DirectorVladimir BitokovStarsKsenia RappoportYura BorisovEkaterina ShumakovaTogether with her daughter, Tonya is eagerly awaiting the return of her only son, who is said that has been killed in action but Tonya refuses that there's a mistake and believes that her son is still alive.
- DirectorNatalya KudryashovaStarsAnastasiya KrasovskayaYura BorisovDarius GumauskasA story of a young woman whose soul remembers the metaphysical perfection it witnessed before becoming embodied. Now, against the canvas of the modern world it seems like a film defect.
- DirectorAleksey German Jr.StarsMerab NinidzeAnna MikhalkovaRoza KhayrullinaFollows a Russian professor who takes to social media to criticize his city's administration. He soon finds himself accused of embezzlement and placed under house arrest.
- DirectorAleksey FedorchenkoStarsIlya BelovKonstantin ItuninJavohir ZakirovA stark experiment by director A. Fedorchenko and a new form of cinema, which takes the spectator into the recollections of the protagonist, along corridors of memory and through key events of Russian history from the Silver Age to WWII.
- DirectorAleksandr KhantStarsIgor IvanovJenia VinogradovaOlga SakhanovaSasha and Danny, both 15, have sex for the first time. When Sasha's parents find out she has lost her virginity, all hell breaks loose. Her policeman stepfather forbids her to set foot outside the family home. Sasha has no intention of obeying. Danny and she run away together in protest against their parents and society as a whole. Their sudden freedom goes to their heads. Danny, who is normally quiet and unassuming, runs wild. Sasha's stepfather takes command of the search efforts. Once he catches the couple, he is determined to put Danny in juvenile prison. A harmless adventure escalates into an operation to arrest armed criminals.
- StarsAleksandra UrsulyakAleksey AgranovichPavel PopovFifteen-year-old Gosha from Moscow turns to stand-up comedy to deal with his many problems: clashes at school, unhappy love and misunderstanding in the family.
