Films & Schedules - RUSSIA

Valery Todorovsky's period-set musical Hipsters centers around a group of splashy young rebels living in Moscow in the 1950s.

Moscow, 1955. In the midst of strict Cold War Soviet conformity, nothing can stop a group of young “hipsters” from donning outrageous threads, adopting American nicknames, puffing up their pompadours, throwing back martinis, and reveling in forbidden jazz. Straight-laced 20-year-old Communist Youth Party member Mels finds these brazen renegades shocking until he falls under the spell of a pretty one and joins the new revolution. Soon he’s cavorting in the latest flashy fashions, sporting an enormous do, and wailing on the saxophone—all in an exuberant musical that delves into a chapter of Russian history little known to outsiders. Music and the common dream of America become a manifestation of freedom. The winner of four Nika Awards (Russia’s Oscar) including Best Film, Hipsters is universal in its celebration of self-expression and spirited opposition to conformity.

Filmography: Love (92), The Land of the Deaf (98), The Lover (02), My Stepbrother Frankenstein (04).

Sponsored by Hotel Modera.

125 Minutes    

Interests: Narrative Feature, Music.

Room and a Half portrays the life of Nobel prize-winning poet Joseph Brodsky, who was forced into American exile in 1972.

Exiled to the United States in 1972, the famous Russian poet Joseph Brodsky always wanted to return anonymously to St. Petersburg, the city of his youth. Through a variety of imaginative techniques, 69-year-old animator Andrey Khrzhanovsky has made the Nobel Prize winner’s wish come true in Room and a Half. A fictional Brodsky narrates this nostalgic fantasy on board a cruise ship destined for Russia. Through a series of flashbacks he recalls his childhood, in particular the return of his father, laden with gifts, from World War II, and his parents’ affectionate reunion. It appears an idyllic time for the budding scribe who “live[s] in a city whose color [is] fossilized vodka.” Through the seamless fusion of documentary footage, classical Russian music, still photography, recordings of Brodsky reading his work, and beautiful, dreamlike animation, Khrzhanovsky has created a film as poetic as his subject matter.

First Feature Film.

130 Minutes    

Interests: New Directors, Narrative Feature, Animation, Literature.

Ward No. 6 is the modern update of Chekhov’s tale of a psych-ward doctor turned patient in his own asylum.

A major box office and critical hit in Russia, and this year’s submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, Ward No. 6 is a bold, modern update of Chekhov’s tale of a psych-ward doctor turned patient in his own asylum. Filming in an actual mental hospital, the directors interview real patients with actors only incidentally wandering in and out of the frame. Used by Chekhov as a metaphor for a man’s disappointment with the promises of science, the story now reconsiders that disappointment as a loss of faith in the nation’s future.

Gornovsky Filmography: Son (04), 20 Cigarettes (07).

Shakhnazarov Filmography: Jazzmen (83), Dreams (93), The Rider Named Death (04).

In May the Film Center will be presenting “Celebrating Chekhov on the Russian Screen."

83 Minutes    

Interests: Oscar Submissions, Narrative Feature.