July 01, 2011

Chtenia 15 and Summer Movies


Chtenia 15 and Summer Movies

Earlier, I have written about Mosfilm's release of many classic movies on YouTube. In her introduction to the next issue of Chtenia (coming in July to a mailbox near you!), Tamara Edelman writes several Russian films set in summer, including a Mosfilm classic I Step through Moscow. "Summer," she writes, "is a time for growing up, a time for educating the senses, for better understanding one's self. It is a time of transformation."

Georgi Daneliya's I Step Through Moscow follows a group of young people as they wander the city in summer, encounter all manner of adventure and maintain a hopeful and optimistic disposition. The four protagonists of Rezo Gigineishvili's Heat (Zhara, 2006) are old friends who meet up during a summer heat wave: Liosha has served in the navy, Kostia is spending his father's money, Artur is an actor down on his luck, and Timati--a hip-hop super-star. When it turns out that the cafe where the friends have met up does not accept US dollars and they have to find some rubles, every one has his own idea of how best to do the exchange. Hilarity and love-at-first-sight ensue.

Most recentlyl, for the protagonists of Anatoly Pogrebskyâ's film How I Spent This Summer (2010) it hardly seems like summer, but it is surely a time of transformation and individual self examination. At the 2010 Berlin film festival the film received "silver bears" for the best male lead and outstanding cinematography. The human drama of this film is as elemental as the environment: an isolated island in the North ocean where two men work during the short northern summer.

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals
[INVALID]
[INVALID]

Some of our Books

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

93 Untranslatable Russian Words
December 01, 2008

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.

Jews in Service to the Tsar
October 09, 2011

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.

Moscow and Muscovites
November 26, 2013

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

Murder and the Muse
December 12, 2016

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955