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Motley posted:Mn you weren't kidding. I just watched this and the last half of it was just plain rough to watch. This is one of those movies that you would like to recommend to people but you don't, and one that I will probably never watch again. I liked it though. It was powerful. Tell people you recommend it to that it isn't something you enjoy. It's something you experience. Which is what I tell folks when I loan out Blood Meridian. Came out the same year too.
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Dec 1, 2013 06:05
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Samovar posted:Going to see that Frozen film? Why not try the 1967 film instead? An attempt to emulate Disney-style cartoons, and nwhile the animation is not as high-quality as Disney, it's a nice attempt to boot. Oh my god I know this! I used to watch this as a kid in Switzerland, translated into German, and it was one of the creepiest things I knew when I was little, but I couldn't get enough of that spinning coloured umbrella.
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Dec 1, 2013 06:37
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efeWT1Eu2Rc Late Soviet animation. Really good song.
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Dec 1, 2013 07:09
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Constructivism owns   
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Dec 1, 2013 10:07
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You want more Soviet cultural highlights? Have some more mind-blowing and awesome subtitled cartoons! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY2xU9o4o4o Now this New Year's cartoon is great because it's absolutely gorgeous clay-mation, it's jokes on top of jokes, the music is catchy as hell, and it's super famous along the level of the "Hedgehog in the Fog cartoon" that was posted earlier. And the subtitles for it are excellent. Give it a shot, you won't be disappointed! In two parts on YouTube, about 20 minutes altogether. Seriously, it's super good! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHzhecM19tc Treasure Island (Yes the one with Long John Silver the Pirate, that one)! A bad-rear end adventure with awesome animation, great characters, funky art style. Its got action, mystery, suspense and did I mention it's about pirates? Watching this when I was 8 was a goddamn TREAT! It's over an hour long but gently caress is it ever worth it. Oh and you might want to skip the first 5 minutes, its got a live action intro that is just weird. Subtitled! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTxIp_pMOk4 The Secret of the Third Planet. A little girl, her professor dad and their jaded spaceship captain have an adventure in space with UFO's and aliens and robots! It's a crime thriller/mystery story with great animation, it's weird as poo poo, it's really tense in places, with a great action-y plot, and gently caress if that doesn't grab you then I don't know anymore! About 50 minutes long, subtitled. Worth it if only for how people in 1981 envisioned the future to be.
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Dec 1, 2013 19:35
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Here's some more music/dancing. Though I've never been able to find the music just on its own.
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Dec 1, 2013 20:09
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The Ограбление по series ([Bank] Robbery, ______ style) is a pretty awesome cartoon series parodying bank robbery movies. Italian French American Soviet In a similar vein, Шпионские Страсти (Passion of the Spies). Edit: a bit late, but Captain Pronin in America, which is obviously every action movie ever. Ensign Expendable has a new favorite as of 06:03 on Dec 3, 2013 |
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Dec 3, 2013 05:58
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Ensign Expendable posted:Edit: a bit late, but Captain Pronin in America, which is obviously every action movie ever.  He's shaking hands with Bill Clinton! Doesn't that postdate the fall of the Soviet Union?
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Dec 3, 2013 08:59
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Ensign Expendable posted:The Ограбление по series ([Bank] Robbery, ______ style) is a pretty awesome cartoon series parodying bank robbery movies. I love these! Amazing, the American one is the best, so stylish! Does East German stuff count? Here's a bit from an East German musical https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUqk9yWseco
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Dec 3, 2013 12:43
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Viktor Tsoi from the band Kino is my favourite Soviet-era musician, though as a rocker of course his music was more about rebellion. Some of his works: Pack of Cigarettes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DPZuZJh3gA quote:I sit down and look out another's window at another strange sky Streetcar Headed East https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PxZFu0FHh4 Blood Type https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8K0sW8GX-4 quote:My blood type, pinned on my sleeve
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Dec 3, 2013 16:17
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I'm not fond of the 5-10 "classic" movies your college cinema class recommended. Here are some of the movies an adult Russian (I'm going to use Russian / "A citizen of the former USSR, from Poland to China" interchangeably here, as per my cultural privelege) may watch for fun, quote from, and be immensely impressed when a foreigner recognizes the reference. The USSR had a lot of good comedies, adventure films and cartoons (I'll go into those in another post). If someone decides you should start and stop your familiarity with Russian cinema at Eisenstein and Tarkovsky, they are doing you a major disservice. As far as cinema history is concerned, the very first Russian films are Battleship Potemkin / Alexander Nevskiy. But (as you may have guessed) my introduction was in fact (shockingly) facetious, and the USSR had any number of (terrible/amazing) propaganda / melodramatic films before those two. Chapaev for instance, is an awesomely melodramatic film about a legendary (as of the moment the film came out) Civil War commander (the film doesn't exactly paint a balanced portrait of said war, but few people outside the former USSR know anything about it, so here's your starting point for the Soviet view). It's also all kinds of funny - check out the tabletop strategy session for instance. Sample Song: None, but you can listen to this for the appropriate atmosphere. If you're not into cool action melodramas, you can out-hipster everyone in the afore-mentioned cinema class by introducing them to The Man with the Movie Camera which is a plot free collection of shots from Russian urban life. Not only does it constantly make it into "the best movies of blah blah blah" lists, it's also a pretty interesting look at Russia in the 1920's. On the hipster note, here's a movie that aged so poorly, you can (and should) watch ironically: Earth. It's a family tragedy about the struggle for Collectivization in a small village. But thanks to the peculiar silent cinema acting style and the way the background flows in and out, it periodically turns into a horror film / particularly trippy music video. 'k, in retrospect there's really very little worthwhile in the black and white period. (This is the one strict timeline I'll keep to in this post, so you best appreciate it, as I'll be jumping around wildly in the following descriptions) Let's move on to some genuinely good movies. Here's a (moderately) interesting fact - the USSR wasn't big on musicals proper (or at least I can't remember any musicals offhand) but it was very fond of diegetic music. Regardless of genre, like 90% of the movies in this post have at least 3-4 notable musical interludes performed by the characters themselves. They're (mostly) quite good and/or memorable. Just thought that's worth mentioning at some point, and this seemed as good a point as any. The Twelve Chairs - pick a version, or better yet watch both. The Twelve Chairs is basically Russia's Confederacy of Dunces, except it's immensely popular, there's a superior sequel and (as you may have noticed from the previous sequence) a number of successful adaptations. If you can memorize the (immense) quote section (if only for the adaptations, the books have a few pearls that weren't quite cinematic enough) you pass for a Russian emigre's relative in some sort of wacky hijinks scenario inspired by the films, I'm sure. Please don't watch the Mel Brooks version, it's absolutely terrible. Sample songs - only one version has them, and I'm not to fond of Mironov's interpretation of the character, in part because of said songs. White Sun of the Desert. This was mentioned in the thread before, but who cares - it's one of my favorite Westerns (Easterns), pretty much up there with Leone's stuff. I occasionally go on rants about how action movies would be much better with "established power levels" (in nerd speak) - heroes whose fighting ability dictates the plot rather than the other way around (just to be absolutely clear - "the other way around" means that the hero can takes on as many baddies as the plot throws at him). This movie and The Seven Samurai are my main exhibits - most of the plots concerns the hero trying to implement a plan that would allow him to take down the bandits without attacking them head-on, and it is awesome. Sample song: Well, there's only one option here, isn't there? At Home Among The Strangers, a Stranger Among Friends: The other legendary Eastern - I actually prefer it The White Desert Sun, even though it's less thoughtful and plot logic often steps aside in favor of action sequence and convenient coincidences. Nikita Mikhalkov is a huge (HUGE) piece of poo poo, but man could he direct a I kinda tried to avoid stereotypical "man, Russian art is so bleak" choices in this post (you may notice it is entirely devoid of WWII films, even though there are a few I'm fond of) - but I have to include White Bim Black Ear. It's about a man and his dog, and it's just a tad manipulative (I'm reminded of Jerome K Jerome's / Heinlein's Christmas Kitten every time) but I'll be damned if I don't cry my eyes out right on cue. Everything made by Gaidai, 1965-1973 (1992). Operation Y, Кавказская пленница, Бриллиантовая рука, Ivan Vassilyevich Changes Occupation(s) and The Twelve Chairs (see above). All of these are absolutely bloody brilliant. Gaidai is the Russian comedy director to this very day (if that doesn't impress you, consider how many 60's comedies you're familiar with, much less still find gut-bustingly funny). Importantly, even though you can easily find subtitled versions of the above films, much of the humor is physical (if not necessarily slapstick) and you can watch them without being distracted by subtitles (if you're the sort of uneducated American savage who finds subtitles distracting, *sniff*) Samples songs: Operation Y, Кавказская пленница, Бриллиантовая рука, Ivan Vassilyevich Changes Occupation. Georgiy Daneliya is the second best comedy director ever (though to be fair, he was a master of the sentimental dramedy rather than outright comedies):Gentlemen of Fortune (a kindly kindergarten teacher happens to be the exact double of a dangerous criminal, and is asked to gain the trust of said criminals imprisoned comrades in other to locate a hidden art collection - hijinks ensue), The Autumn Marathon (EN in a nutshell), Kin-dza-dza - (Soviet rust-punk sci-fi satire) and others, all fairly decent. The theme for Gentlemen of Fortune works, I guess, The Autumn Marathon has one of my favorite themes ever, Kin-dza-dza doesn't really have much in the way of music so I'll compensate with Mimino The third Russian director you should know (forget about Eisenstein for the purposes of this sentence) is Eldar Ryazanov (I actually gave several of his films full paragraphs of their own before deciding I should point out the director):Carnival Night is, like, the second most Christmasy (or rather New Yearsy) in Soviet cinema history. A group of young entertainer's struggles to make the New Years night ball at their club properly festive rather than propogandishly-boring. The movie is charmingly earnest , (some of) the musical numbers still work exceedingly well and the comedy is broad but memorable. The Hussar Ballad - An adventure comedy. A tomboy pretends to be a Hussar and runs off to the front lines of the Napoleonic wars. Based on a play which in turn was based on a story that was based on true events, it's a bit like an exceptionally good Errol Flynn film / Sabatini novel in a Russian setting. The Irony of Fate - Seriously, when I wrote Carnival Night's description, I completely forgot that THE (THE) Russian New Year's movie was made by the same director. After a wild farewell party for a different friend, dead drunk (yes yes, absolutely what you would expect from a Russian comedy) Zhenya ends up in an identical address to his own in an identical building and apartment - in a different city. Much to the surprise of the female owner of said apartment, currently engaged to etc etc etc, blah blah blah. I'm honestly not that fond of the movie (much like how I hate It's a Wonderful Life) but you pretty much need to see this - I can't overemphasize just how much this is THEEEEEEEE Christmas movie in Russia. (Maybe check out the Indian remake). For Carnival Night, Hussar Ballad, Irony of Fate. Correction - you need to be familiar with four directors. Mark Zakharov is probably my favorite (not that I don't adore the other three). Modern / political fairytales (please don't be discouraged by "political" here - with the possible exception of "To Kill a Dragon", they deal with timeless issues rather than anything communist/anti-soviet). An ordinary miracle, The very same Munchhausen , Formula of Love, ToKillaDragon. The dialogues here are absolutely spectacular - you can quote mine these films forever and a day (ok, some strive a bit too hard to be profound - but others are absolutely prophetic). To Kill a Dragon is not on youtube, but I really recommend you make the effort of tracking it down - and remember this was all written in the 1930's / 1980's, loooong before the collapse of the Soviet Union. A Commonplace Miracle, The very same Munchhausen, Formula of Love, The Story of the Voyages: A bleak (but uplifting) fairytale about... well, voyages. Good and Evil. Ignorance and Knowledge. The sort of stuff fairytales proper should be about. This probably Mironov's best role and the ending scene is just... somewhere between   and bitter tears.Sample Song: Wait, I kinda included my favorite song on the subject in the actual description. Oh well, have the finale, complete with the most rousing theme ever. Edit - Hell. Though this post is by no means comprehensive, now that I mentioned being a Mironov fan, I notice that I forgot to include two of his best roles: A Man from the Boulevard des Capucines - One man's quest to bring the magic of cinema to the Wild West, complete with an obvious moral. Watch if only to see where all the bar fight scenes were ripped from (Trinity. The answer is Trinity Sample song: here. Достояние республики - An art robbery in St Petersburg turns into a series of adventures / chases scenes across Civil-War torn Russia. Simple though it is,two of my favorite Mironov songs are in this movie though. The Heart of a Dog - Never mind The Master and Margarita - This is THE Bulgakov book and THE Bulgakov adaptation. The story of a dog who became a main without gaining much of anything by that transformation. It's a bit overtly political, but tolerably so Charley's Aunt I'm presuming we're all familiar with the classic play and film based upon it? That's right, absolutely no one cares (nor should, both really don't work anymore). What we have here is a classic 1920's comedy (complete with obligatory crossdressing disguises, Three's Company misunderstandings and mindless slapstick) ran through the filter of Russian (mis)understanding of proper English gentlemanly behavior, and turned up to 11. Thousand. It should in no way work, being way over the top of the top, yet the result is absolutely hilarious. Sample Song: This and only this. The Three Musketeers. There are a number of Russian adaptations of literary masterworks that I would argue are objectively better than the best known Western adaptations (Sherlock Holmes, The Jungle Book). This... is not one of them. Everyone are (obviously) 10-20 years older than they should be, the fighting choreography is theatrical (at best) and not exceptionally inventive, and overall I'd say that this version sticks to the novels a bit more than it should, even if other adaptations whirl off into a steampunk/kung-fu abyss (who gives a poo poo about the siege of La Rouchelle, seriously?). But... I dunno, I like it. It's well worth checking out (the sequels, a bit less so). Properly covered in a post below this one. I'm rather fond of this song though. The Guard De Marine trilogy is basically a follow up to the Musketeer thing (up to and including casting D'Artagnan's actor as the main antagonist in the first movie, which I thought was fairly cute), only in (17th century) Russia. Rapier duels, cloak and dagger adventures, forbidden love etc. When I was, like, 12, this was one of the most amazing movies ever. Otherwise, see above about the Musketeer trilogy. Sample songs: Oh, these are definitely the best thing about this particular series. The Meeting Place Cannot be Changed - THE Russian detective series. I often use this as an example when talking about how hard it is to adapt a literary work without any significant cuts - a 200 page novel turned into a a seven hour series. Both the book and the series were extremely well researched. A lot of the movies / series I recommended in this post are good to great only in particular scenes. I'll skip certain scenes even in the best of them - but not in The Meeting Place, because each scene is so drat well done (and the cast just about rivals Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet). I love The Wire, but if I had to choose one or the other... well, Vysotsky has more charisma in his little finger than The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson - See above about adaptations. This is (absolutely objectively, naturally) the best adaptation thereof. When was the last time you saw a Watson who wasn't depicted as a blithering nincompoop? (Well, when was the last time presuming you stop around 2005) Or a Holmes who's intelligent without being a TV supergenius, tends to troll people without being an utter rear end about it, and can straighten out a bent fire poker without going all Neo about it? Sample Song: The main overture, obviously. The Elusive Avengers - The Hasamba-like (I'm not making any allegations, mind) adventures of a group of teenagers facing off against White bandits during the civil war. Sample songs: The main theme, the Gypsy Song, Russian Field Goodbye Mary Poppins. See above re: my feelings about Russian adaptations of various world literature. I'm saving my favorite movie songs for a separate post, but I seriously love the ending song here. Xander77 has a new favorite as of 02:34 on Oct 28, 2014 |
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Dec 3, 2013 18:06
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Ensign Expendable posted:The Ограбление по series ([Bank] Robbery, ______ style) is a pretty awesome cartoon series parodying bank robbery movies. American Bank Robbery is a thing of beauty  It's as if they predicted Michael Bay 30 years early
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Dec 3, 2013 18:41
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Xander77 posted:The Meeting Place Cannot be Changed - THE Russian detective series. I often use this as an example when talking about how hard it is to adapt a literary work without any significant cuts - a 200 page novel turned into a a seven hour series. Both the book and the series were extremely well researched. A lot of the movies / series I recommended in this post are good to great only in particular scenes. I'll skip certain scenes even in the best of them - but not in The Meeting Place, because each scene is so drat well done (and the cast just about rivals Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet). I love The Wire, but if I had to choose one or the other... well, Vysotsky has more charisma in his little finger than I basically just went to this thread to make sure this is mentioned. Incidentally, speaking as a Russian, Vysotsky is still my favourite singer-songwriter period, even though he was long before my time. I started listening to old recordings of him as a kid and haven't stopped since. Though, I doubt he'd be nearly as compelling if you don't understand Russian (sadly, most translations I've encountered are pretty subpar). He has a naturally harsh voice (though it doesn't always show, and it's not on Tom Waits' level - although I've heard some people here compare him to Waits for this and other reasons) and the lyrics are far more important than is normal for music. He was basically a lyrical poet for all intents and purposes. He also had a huge scope of topics: from criminal life (generally considered weaker, plus I can't find any with English lyrics at all) through everyday Soviet realities to science fiction. And he had songs about World War Two that convinced people who actually fought that he was a veteran. And many other things. When he died, the crowd that came to his funeral rivaled that of Stalin. This despite the government keeping it under wraps as much as possible (they acknowledged him as an actor but disliked him as a singer for some mysterious reason) and people largely finding out about it from a theatre announcement about some other actor replacing him due to his death. I also feel the need to plug The Other St. Petersburg, written by an Englishman gone native. Granted, it's written from an immediate post-Soviet perspective, but it's a great window into the fabled Soviet mentality and the unnatural anomaly that is St. Petersburg. EDIT: Regarding Mark Zakharov, first of all, YES. Second of all, many of his movies were based on plays by Evgeniy Shvarts, a giant among men and a former White Guard, who, like many other former White Guards, pretended to accept the Soviets while trolling them from the inside (Bulgakov and according to some recent but convincing research Kataev were good examples of this too, though Kataev was extra subtle and managed to hide his wartime allegiance for a long time). Shvarts' Dragon (on which To Kill a Dragon is based, with some changes) is amazing, because it pretends to be an anti-Fascist play, but is actually pretty obviously aimed at the Soviet system as well. It was written during the war and still got shown once after it was over, before being promptly taken down. It's really worth looking into if you can find it; I've never encountered a better parable of totalitarianism. Also, Evgeniy Leonov appears in many of the movies listed by Xander, and he was the best, both as an actor (mostly but not exclusively comedy) and as a human being.  (My personal favourite among his roles would have to be the King in An Ordinary Miracle). And he voiced Soviet Winnie Pooh from the first post.
advokat has a new favorite as of 00:00 on Dec 4, 2013 |
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Dec 3, 2013 20:27
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Xander77 posted:The Three Musketeers. There are a number of Russian adaptations of literary masterworks that I would argue are objectively better than the best known Western adaptations (Sherlock Holmes, The Jungle Book). This... is not one of them. Everyone are (obviously) 10-20 years older than they should be, the fighting choreography is theatrical (at best) and not exceptionally inventive, and overall I'd say that this version sticks to the novels a bit more than it should, even if other adaptations whirl off into a steampunk/kung-fu abyss (who gives a poo poo about the siege of La Rouchelle, seriously?). But... I dunno, I like it. It's well worth checking out (the sequels, a bit less so).
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Dec 3, 2013 21:19
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pigdog posted:I disagree.. it IS objectively better than any Western adaptation I know of. So what if the costumes and fight coreography are so-so -- the cast is across the board fantastic, Mikhail Boyarsky's d'Artagnan oozes charisma, and the musketeers have a palpable chemistry together. You may or may not like the musical numbers, but they're certainly not forgettable. The musical numbers (and music in general) are what always sold me on it. I won't steal Xander's bread by expounding on them as it's likely he intends to cover this in his next post, but I really can't think about the Three Musketeers without hearing those songs and that music in my head.
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Dec 3, 2013 21:22
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advokat posted:The musical numbers (and music in general) are what always sold me on it. I won't steal Xander's bread by expounding on them as it's likely he intends to cover this in his next post, but I really can't think about the Three Musketeers without hearing those songs and that music in my head. 
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Dec 3, 2013 21:43
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Xander77 posted:Go right ahead - I'll welcome anything that saves me effort Well, there are two songs from that series that really stick out: The Musketeers' theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjZvP15bzIc Athos' song about the bride of Count de la Fere: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnyS8xxK_Nw Haven't found a version of it with English subtitles, but this blog post has it and some other songs from the series with translations. It has a wonderfully haunting quality to it (IMHO). EDIT: Xander's list felt incomplete to me for some reason and then I realised: Guest from the Future - it's an iconic late Soviet children's miniseries, based on Kir Bulychev's books about Alisa Selezneva. It may seem like a sappy kid's show (and it kinda is), but there's no overstating just how influential it was, and not just because every Soviet schoolboy at the time had a crush on the actress who played Alisa. It has a wonderful undercurrent of optimism to it. Plus a series about a Soviet school might make for a nice break from reading and watching stuff about Japanese (and maybe a few Western) schools.  And of course it has a beautiful theme song.
advokat has a new favorite as of 23:07 on Dec 3, 2013 |
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Dec 3, 2013 22:40
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I threw some sample songs into my post above.
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Dec 4, 2013 08:19
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Xander77 posted:I threw some sample songs into my post above. I think you forgot to link the duelist's song under Treasure of the Republic. (I mean, what else could it be? )Also, while we obviously couldn't include every single song from a Soviet movie, I must say I'm very partial to this one from An Ordinary Miracle. Not so much to the translation, but it's better than nothing, I guess. It conveys that feeling of what today would probably be called magical realism (though really, I'm not sure how to define Zakharov's movies genre-wise. Anachronistic fairy tales? Modern parables?).
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Dec 4, 2013 10:41
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Does somebody have aversion of that 'The Meeting Place Cannot be Changed' show? From the sounds of it, I would like it know more, but my Russian is non-existent. vvv whoops, must have completely overlooked that option in youtube when I clicked that link, sorry Samovar has a new favorite as of 18:55 on Dec 4, 2013 |
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Dec 4, 2013 16:53
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advokat posted:I think you forgot to link the duelist's song under Treasure of the Republic. (I mean, what else could it be? Samovar posted:Does somebody have aversion of that 'The Meeting Place Cannot be Changed' show? From the sounds of it, I would like it know more, but my Russian is non-existent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDlm84gSRv4
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Dec 4, 2013 18:09
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While it's a longer (twelve-part) series, Seventeen Moments of Spring is also too big a Soviet cultural highlight not to mention in this thread. It's a black and white World War Two spy thriller, based on the series of novels about Shtirlits/Stierlitz. Of course, Stierlitz himself since went on to become the main character of many Russian jokes:quote:Stierlitz woke up in a jail cell. He couldn't remember how he got there, what date it was and who was in charge of the city. After thinking, he decided that if a Gestapo man shows up, he'll say "Heil Hitler, I'm SS-Standartenführer Max Otto von Stierlitz"; and if a Soviet soldier shows up, he'll introduce himself: "I'm Colonel Isaev." Then a cop showed up and said: "You got really drunk yesterday, comrade Tikhonov". quote:Stierlitz was riding in his car and saw Müller on the roadside, asking for a ride. "Müller," thought Stierlitz. Half an hour later, it happened all over again. "A loop road," thought Stierlitz. "He's making fun of me," thought Müller. quote:Müller looked outside the window and saw Stierlitz. "Where is he going?" Müller thought. "That's none of your goddamn business," thought Stierlitz. (The last two make more sense if you've watched the series, or know about how it is narrated.) Aaand of course it has a great theme song. It was supposed to have far more songs than the two it got in the end, but the director ultimately decided against it. Also, there is a new colour version. No one likes the new colour version. advokat has a new favorite as of 22:05 on Dec 4, 2013 |
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Dec 4, 2013 19:42
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You just need the right coloured version
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Dec 4, 2013 20:01
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Next up: Russian cartoons. Unlike the usual 5 recommended movie classics, chances are that the only thing you've ever heard about cartoons between France and China is this. If so, remember that Matt Groening is an rear end in a top hat who never saw a single Second World cartoon, and prepare for this: Click here for the full 1844x1224 image (Except not really, because we know that Soviet cartoons were all about peace and love) (Ok, with certain exceptions, such as the following) The Tale of Malchish Kibalchish and Malchish Plokhish (Kibalish the Kid and the appropriately named Baddie the Kid). During the course of the Civil War the kids of a small village go off to fight the damned bourgeoisie invasion (the same invasion the already defeated their fathers and brothers). They need only stand for a day and hold on for the night before the glorious Red Army comes to their rescue. But Baddie the kid and his lust for the traitors reward - a barrel of jam and crate full of cookies - will not let them triumph so easily. I doubt this is anyone's favorite cartoon, but it's still a major part of the cultural lexicon. (Someone doing a survey of 20th century Russian lit can talk about Marshak, the author of the original children's book). Karlsson-on-the-Roof: Here's something you may or may not have ever thought about - the Iron Curtain separated the Second World from First World countries sympathetic to the United States - but that didn't mean every First World country, or even every such country in Europe. Russia always had a bit of a cultural connection with France, but that was mostly about imported films (Jean Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon are still household names in Russia) rather than cartoons (I think even the awesome Once Upon a Time series never made it to Russian television. Like, you can see how American television would have trouble with that [*contemptuous sniff*] but...). Anyways, the other odd cultural connection was with the Scandinavian area. There was quite a lot of cultural exchange - Mio My Mio, Pippi Longstockings, The Moomins, and this, the simple tale of a lonely boy and his new found seemingly imaginary egoistic flying friend. On another note, Russian star actors were considered proletarians like any others, and thus were expected to stick to productive schedules - making films, touring with their theater companies and voicing cartoons. This means the voicework quality was star-studded, well cast and highly professional. In this case, Karlsson is voiced by Vasiliy Livanov - Sherlock Holmes from my previous post, and he adds a lot of charm to a character who （as written) is fairly annoying. Vinni Pukh on the other hand was dubbed by Evgeniy Leonov, of whom I believe advokat has a few things to say. I cannot objectively evaluate this cartoon - that's my childhood right there. The Disney version may be more faithful to the original (for once), and the Russian version may lack Kenga and Tigger (which is a genuine shame) but I will contend that there was never a better Eeyore than the one voiced by Garin. Maugli / The Jungle Book (now subtitled) - Now this is unquestionably the superior adaptation. Where else are you going to see Kaa face off the Banderlogs? Or the battle against the Red Dogs? poo poo is downright metal. Also from the same series - Rikki Tikki Tavi. The Bremen Town Musicians - Anti-establishment / hippie talking (and singing) animals in a Soviet Cartoon? More likely than you'd think. The robber trio is drawn as (but not voiced by) the antagonist trio from most of Gaidai's films. My favorite songs would have to be the rock group parody and this which I find genuinely touching and one of my favorite songs in general. Someone noted that heroes have a bit of an anime bishonen aesthetic - was that a thing in 1970? Nu Pogodi! Mentioned in the thread before, this is often billed as the Russian Tom and Jerry. It's not quite as well animated or quite as inventive in terms of violence (Russian cartoons being kinder and gentler and all that rot - though to be honest, though the Rabbit never torments the Wolf for the sheer fun of it, he's quite capable of harsh self defense). One notable difference is that, being anthropomorphized, the Rabbit is a pioneer role-model, while the Wolf quite the anti-social element (and occasionally very charming because of that very fact) Hedgehog in the Fog - To be honest, I neither get nor particularly like this cartoon. But it always get brought up during discussions of Russian animation, particularly now that it won some "best film EVAR" award at a Japanese film festival, which obviously means that the Japanese have acknowledged the inferiority of their own cartoons etc etc, see below:  Click here for the full 659x950 image ( The book is better anyways.) The Light Blue Pup - The adventures of a lonely pup ostracized due to being a horrifying Charlie Chaplin / Dog mix abomination against nature. Notable due to the absolutely excellent Cat and Pirate duet (Mironov was born to voice cartoon cats) and... because "Goluboy / Light blue" is the current Russian slang term for homosexual. So pretty much all current discussions of the cartoon devolve into Cracked style "omg, can you believe they called that character 'The Gay Blade'? Gay, get it? Gay! Holy poo poo, what were they thinking?" (I'll admit that "You're light blue, so light blue, we don't want to play with you" and the likes is... strangely apropos.) Leopold the Cat - The go-to example as far as pacifism and kindness in Soviet cartoons are concerned. The intelligent and peace-loving vegetarian (nancy boy) Leopold is constantly bothered by two functionally-retarded and vindictive rats - but he just wants everyone to get along. To be honest, this cartoon is (more than) a bit rubbish, but it's (apparently) a good argument for the obvious moral superiority of USSR culture etc. 38 Parrots - That fukken voice-work  This is entirely character banter-based, with the plot being nothing more than an excuse. The first cartoon deals with ideas re: measuring the pythons length (in parrots, monkeys and elephants) and the other plots are just as inconsequential. Prostokvashino (Distracting subtitles version): Are you tired of me fanboying the voice acting in these? Uncle Fedyor is like the one cartoon child character I can listen to without wincing, and I still have a crush on Dad, just due to his voice acting. The plot is about a pet loving kid running away in order to start a household in the country with his new cat and dog. It is awesome. I'll call this post part one - part 2 will be coming tomorrow (with any luck) Xander77 has a new favorite as of 18:05 on Dec 6, 2013 |
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Dec 4, 2013 21:50
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In between posts proper, a ray of hatred at the Lenfilm youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/LenfilmVideo/videos The most garrishly painted yet generic "faces on a background" posters for films that really deserve better. You have to actively work towards making your product as unappealing as possible.
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Dec 4, 2013 22:30
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I think I mentioned this in jest a little while back, but what was happening in the Soviet arts as the whole USSR crumbled in the early '90s?
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Dec 5, 2013 06:24
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Grand Prize Winner posted:I think I mentioned this in jest a little while back, but what was happening in the Soviet arts as the whole USSR crumbled in the early '90s? In the literary world, the floodgates were opened and the market was drown in tons of Akunin etc have shown that you can still write decent detective stories in modern day Russia, and organized crime isn't quite as enticing a theme as it used to be, but the flood of poo poo sci-fi and fantasy continues unabated:  Click here for the full 804x1942 image And will carry on for the foreseeable future. (Accidental time traveler stories form a peculiar sub-genre of Russian sci-fi. For some reason the notion of changing Russian history and averting the terrible disaster that is the collapse of the Russian Empire / USSR / Mongolian Igo by an ordinary time-traveling martial arts student / special forces agent / Codename WOTYOULOOKINGATMATEILLCUTYOUSWEARONMEMUM seems inexplicably popular).
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Dec 5, 2013 06:58
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Don't forget the revanche fics. Military thrillers about how we kick America's rear end in the near future. Military science fiction about how the reborn Russian Empire (or what have you) kicks America's rear end in the slightly less near future, IN SPACE. Or, for a twist, alternate histories in which the Russian Empire/the Soviet Union has slightly more competent leadership (read: Mary Sues) and uses it to kick America's rear end in the past. Often written with excruciating amounts of attention to technical details, because obviously minute details of military equipment are what speculative fiction is all about (but otherwise, how would we know that Russian weapons are better than anyone else's?). Also, one of those books featured an American supercarrier called the USS Tom Clancy (before heroic Russian commandos and their Cuban comrades sank it, of course; at least if I'm remembering it right, since I really just skimmed it years ago in a book store). A touching homage and pretty revealing at the same time. The cartoon industry was the biggest loser in the collapse of the Soviet Union, as far as the arts are concerned. Cartoon studios ended up in different countries, lost state funding and voice actors (due to the breakdown of the system Xander mentioned earlier). Soyuzmultfilm (UnionCartoon) was the worst case: their administrators sold the rights to their own films to an American company for their private gain without telling anyone else in the beginning of the 90s, and their replacements proceeded to run the place into the ground with mass firings, other shady, poorly considered deals and internal bickering. So it was kind of microcosm of the Russian economy at the time as a whole, I guess. I wouldn't say Russian cartoons are dead, exactly; some studios are still in business, and some of those actually still make cartoons, and some of those aren't trash that tries to imitate Western cartoons and ends up with the worst of both worlds. But it's clear they have a long way to go if they are to recover from this slump. It's especially a shame considering that many of the best Soviet cartoons were made in the 80s/very early 90s; it was a great moment that was abruptly cut short.
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Dec 5, 2013 12:36
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Palpatine MD posted:I'm not sure if it's really counts as Sovjet per se, but it was made in Russia in the late 1920's: The rightest soundtrack imo is the Cinematic Orchestra one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuEA7rgnCyg I booked a ticket for the next performance as soon as I saw it.
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Dec 5, 2013 13:48
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advokat posted:Don't forget the revanche fics. Military thrillers about how we kick America's rear end in the near future. Military science fiction about how the reborn Russian Empire (or what have you) kicks America's rear end in the slightly less near future, IN SPACE. Or, for a twist, alternate histories in which the Russian Empire/the Soviet Union has slightly more competent leadership (read: Mary Sues) and uses it to kick America's rear end in the past. Often written with excruciating amounts of attention to technical details, because obviously minute details of military equipment are what speculative fiction is all about (but otherwise, how would we know that Russian weapons are better than anyone else's?). Also, one of those books featured an American supercarrier called the USS Tom Clancy (before heroic Russian commandos and their Cuban comrades sank it, of course; at least if I'm remembering it right, since I really just skimmed it years ago in a book store). A touching homage and pretty revealing at the same time. Have any been translated, because I'm sorry to say, this sounds like fun actually...
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Dec 5, 2013 14:19
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Fangz posted:Have any been translated, because I'm sorry to say, this sounds like fun actually... Holy poo poo, I hope they are, those sound like absolute blasts to read.
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Dec 5, 2013 15:00
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Some popular Soviet songs (as per our annual November 7th family reunions where a bunch of my elderly and middle-aged relatives get drunk and start singing them by heart): Brigantine. 19th century style romanticism was alive and well among the Soviet public (you can certainly get the same impression from some of the films as well), and to some extent still is now. The song was originally written way back in 1937 by Pavel Kogan, who died in combat in 1942. It was popular before the war, then was rediscovered again in the 1950s and never forgotten since. Hope. Another Romantic song about exploration; this one is altogether more modern in theme. It has apparently become traditional among Soviet and Russian cosmonauts to listen to this song as performed by the late Anna German (a Russian-Polish singer - the link is to her version, though the song was written earlier) before launch, hence the video. The Cavalry Guard's Song from the Captivating Star of Happiness, a historical movie about the Decembrists (the aristocratic revolutionaries, not the band). The song itself is based on a poem by Bulat Okudzhava, a very famous and popular poet and singer-songwriter ("bard") of Georgian origins. Lilac Mist. Just a song about saying goodbye to a girl before the train sets off. Notable for the fact that while the "canonical version" first appeared on TV in 1989, people repeat hearing some version of it or other as far back as the 1930s. This is pretty indicative of how a lot of popular songs in Russia could circulate and evolve while underground. Other popular songs, of course, got that way by appearing in popular movies.Last Battle. No list of Soviet table songs is complete without at least one song about World War Two, of course. It's from the perspective of a homesick soldier in 1945. One more: We Need One Victory, from a movie called Belorussky vokzal (Belarus Station), made in 1970. The premise is a bunch of veterans from the same unit getting together 25 years later. It's very heartfelt, and Leonov is in that one too. Maybe I'll write up a post about Leonov at some point if this thread doesn't run out of steam too quickly. There are many more, of course, but those are fairly representative. And now for something rather different: a song that isn't Soviet itself, but is very nostalgic (even if its authors deny it) and makes good use of Soviet visuals in the video. Our Motherland, USSR
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Dec 5, 2013 15:04
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Part 2 of the essential Russian cartoons compilation - miscellaneous. First of all, I'll quote a post wholesale because  (also because it's a good post):Present posted:You want more Soviet cultural highlights? Have some more mind-blowing and awesome subtitled cartoons! There Once Was a Dog: Based on a Ukranian folk tale. An old dog is kicked out into the forest due to his lackluster guard-dog abilities, and must team up with his old enemy, the wolf. The wolf is voiced by Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, an extremely prolific and charismatic actor, which gives the wolf his own unique brand of charm. The Adventures of Mother for Little Mammoth: An unfrozen mammoth goes searching for his mum. A bit overtly kiddy (those saccharine voices...) but the song is absolutely excellent (and the cartoon is built around it). Contact: Another simple cartoon based around a song. Interplanetary communication through song (or rather, the Godfather theme). Cheburashka and Crocodile Gena: You've seen Cheburashka before:  . This huge-eared critter is one of the better known Russian cartoon characters (ridiculously cute by design as he was). Sample song: Gotta be this - I had the words memorized (as did every other Russian child) long before I ever saw the cartoon. The Other Side of the Moon: The spectrum between loneliness and too much company, as portrayed by Georgian Goal! Goal!: The humble and hardworking hometown hockey team faces off against the elitist and spoiled rivals. Any references to real events are fully intentional. There are also sequels that deal with football and boxing. Part 3 to follow.
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Dec 5, 2013 15:08
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Fangz posted:Have any been translated, because I'm sorry to say, this sounds like fun actually... I'd be surprised and impressed if those books were translated. I won't deny those can be kinda fun, at least until you get tired of how repetitive and mind-numbing they are. Incidentally, I looked up the USS Tom Clancy one. Apparently 2030s America is led by "President Bush V". This really is a Tom Clancy novel in reverse, pretty much.EDIT: Armen Dzhigarkhanyan also voiced John Silver in Treasure Island. He and Mironov are easily some of the best Soviet villain actors. Xander77 posted:Cheburashka and Crocodile Gena: You've seen Cheburashka before: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0DC6eF_rnY
advokat has a new favorite as of 15:18 on Dec 5, 2013 |
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Dec 5, 2013 15:11
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The Cheburashka birthday song is amazing -- it seems quintessentially Russian to make a birthday song sound so wistful and melancholy.
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Dec 5, 2013 15:35
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punakone posted:Holy poo poo, I hope they are, those sound like absolute blasts to read. Maybe if they were well written, buy they're utter poo poo. There are also a bunch of anti-Soviet ones, like ROA (WWII turncoats fighting for the Germans) going back in time and winning the Civil War, a KGB agent going back in time and defeating the Cheka, and lots more completely idiotic nonsense. I don't know if any of them are actually good, but these books sell at train stations by having the coolest cover art. They are typically thrown out when you're done or when you reach your destination, whichever comes first. Ensign Expendable has a new favorite as of 15:59 on Dec 5, 2013 |
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Dec 5, 2013 15:56
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The Play-Dough Crow: As the narrator starts the old Krylov fairytale of the Crow and the Fox, things get a bit improvisational. What if instead of the regular fable, a cow climbs up a palm tree and decides to contend with the street cleaner? Another song people generally know by heart. Wings, Feet and Tails: A buzzard decides to teach an ostrich how to fly. The results are unexpected. The Lion Cub and the Turtle: A lion cub hangs out with a particularly chill turtle. [The adventures of:] Captain Vrungel: In the style of Treasure Island (see my previous post for details) (I think that all five of these are from the same creators and voice actors?), based on book. Captain Vrungel decides to participate in a round-the-world yacht race. Smugglers get involved, hijinks ensue. Sample song: We're banditos, obviously. Funtik the Piglet: The talking piglet Funtik escapes from the circus with the help of a kindly magician. The crooked circus owner, crooked police and crooked crooks give chase. Baron Munchausen: (Sadly I couldn't find a find a single compilation, never mind subtitles): The Baron Munchausen swears by his tricorne that riding a cannonball, pulling yourself out of a swamp by your hair and defeating a stereotypical genie is entirely possible as long as you never give up. Doctor Aibolit: Animal doctor Sample song: Never go to Africa, kids. (Or you'll get eaten) [/The adventures of] The Investigation is Held by the Kolobki: An absurdist take on the detective genre (The title itself is a parody of the long-running "The investigation is led by experts"). A pair of Private Investigators / odd brothers investigate the theft of a zoo elephant that happened to land on their roof. Pif Paf Oy Oy Oy: Supposing you were to put a simple children's poem on the stage? Five different genre variants are suggested. (Jesus Christ Superstar is my favorite) Polygon / The Firing Range: You've seen this mentioned in the thread before. The simple tale of a boy and his mind reading tank. Wow, a Talking Fish: About how you Deep Blue Sea, Light White Foam: (A sequel to the above) Dealing with genies the old fashioned way - but with a musical interlude by Angelina Jolie!Fish. How the Cossacks: Did all kinds of poo poo. The cossacks play football, meet the musketeers, save the original Olympic games from the wrath of Ares etc. (Living in an abstracted cartoon time period has its advantages) At the back desk: One of the better "educational" cartoons as it basically let loose with a barrage of random facts in order to play around with perspective, effects and plain slapstick, as the drawn caricature of the class near-do-well races across the pages of the valedictorians notepad. The Adventures of House Elf Kuzya: Ivashka of Pioneer's Hall: Baba Yaga learns that modern pioneers are far more prepared and harder to consume than medieval peasants. Baba Yaga Versus: (the 1980's Olympics mascot). I'm particularly fond of the electronic soundtrack for this one. Xander77 has a new favorite as of 02:48 on Oct 28, 2014 |
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Dec 5, 2013 18:36
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Can anyone recommend some good resources for learning about Soviet history and culture? I've got a steadily growing interest in it, thanks to Masters of Russian Animation and the films of Andrei Tarkovsky. But I feel like I'm fairly ignorant about the culture and politics of the time and would really like to learn more. After rewatching Solaris yesterday, I've decided that I'm going to make Soviet Sci-Fi Saturday into a thing for the next few weeks.
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Dec 8, 2013 15:17
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I wanted to do another post about perestroika cinema, contrasting it with Soviet movies from the previous details, but apparently I almost killed the thread with my last few posts, so maybe not. Should I change formats a bit, abbreviate things, or did the topic just reach the end of its natural lifespan regardless?
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Dec 8, 2013 15:51
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Oh no, go ahead we're still reading man. Thread is a little quiet on and off.
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Dec 8, 2013 15:54
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