April 08, 2021

"The Silver Skates" on the Silver Screen


"The Silver Skates" on the Silver Screen
Ice rink on St. Petersburg's Palace Square; they definitely don't do this every year –maybe to make way for the gigantic New Year's tree. Wikimedia Commons user Pot Noodle.

Add The Silver Skates to your must-watch list. Soon, Netflix subscribers will be able to watch the 2020 Russian film in multiple languages.

The Silver Skates is a delightful skate through St. Petersburg at the turn of the twentieth century. Most of the film takes place on an iced-over Neva River. The action centers on a group of young Marxist pickpockets who deploy the physics of skating to steal from wealthy customers at the on-ice market.

The Silver Skates features gorgeous views of St. Petersburg, the quaintness of nineteenth-century material culture, and a love story that crosses socioeconomic classes. Its rather simple storyline can be forgiven for the allure of its cinematography and the charm of its near-constant ice skating.

St. Petersburg locations featured include Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Michael's Castle, Vitebsky railway station, Stieglitz Museum of Applied Arts, Yusupov Palace, Marble Palace, Sheremetyev Palace, and the House of Scientists – which has one of the most stunning staircases in the world.

Netflix picked up the film in late March. You will not find it in your Netflix queue yet, but check out the trailer while you wait for it to drop.

Nineteenth-century ice skates
Try skating on these bad boys. | The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Wikimedia Commons

 

You Might Also Like

Christopher Plummer's Last Station
  • February 08, 2021

Christopher Plummer's Last Station

In memory of actor Christopher Plummer, who died last week at age 91, we look back at his role as a dying Leo Tolstoy in the 2009 film, The Last Station.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
How Russia Got That Way

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.
The Latchkey Murders

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...
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.

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