#11 You Couldn’t Even Dream It (1981)
This is a sweet love story of two teenagers who were faced with extreme opposition from their families. There is something Romeo and Juliet-esque about this story but with less death and tragedy. A great film for young adults and others, of course.
Watch it with CC subs on YouTube or on SOVIETMOVIESONLINE.
#12 The Unbelievable Adventures of Italians in Russia (1974)
This is a ridiculously fun film of a treasure hunt taking place in Leningrad (now St Petersburg). A Russian grandmother, while on her deathbed, tells her Italian granddaughter that she “buried treasure under a lion” in her hometown. Seeing as this conversation took place in a very busy hospital ward, this granddaughter suddenly finds herself on a plane to Russia with lots of people she saw in that ward. All these innocent eavesdroppers suddenly decided to take a tour of Russia.
What follows is a lot of digging under statues of lions (of which there are a LOT in this city) and even a live lion. They also pick up a dashing Russian tour guide who joins in the treasure hunt. But he clearly has his eyes on a different kind of treasure. Namely, the aforementioned Italian woman. Watch as these treasure hunters run from each other, the police, a lion, and have all sorts of other unbelievable adventures on their trip to Russia.
This was a collaboration between Italy and Russia, so three of the main cast are Italians (whose dialogue was dubbed in Russian).
Watch it on Amazon Prime, YouTube or on SOVIETMOVIESONLINE.
#13 Three Plus Two (1963)
“We solemnly swear not to shave, not to drink, not to smoke, and to remain as savages!”
A charming film guaranteed to put a smile on your face! Three men go on a camping holiday to a remote spot and vow off all the above including women. This male bonding trip is interrupted when two women arrive and claim the same spot as their own. What ensues is an adorable battle of the sexes as each group attempts to drive the other one off the coveted spot on the beach.
Watch it with CC subs on YouTube.
Related Post: Battle of the Sexes -Romantic Comedies of the Sixties
#14 Operation Y and Shurik’s Other Adventures (1965)
Films number 14-16 on this list follow the comical adventures of Shurik. Strange and unusual adventures have a tendency to find Shurik. He is sort of like MacGyver, but with the elements of Laurel & Hardy and Charlie Chaplin-esque humour thrown in for good measure.
This particular film consists of three extremely funny short stories: The Partner, Strange Impression, and Operation Y. And you can read our full review of all three films here.
Watch it on YouTube with HARDSUBS or with CC subs. Also available on Amazon Prime and SOVIETMOVIESONLINE.
Related Post: The Comical Adventures of Shurik- An Introduction to a Timeless Soviet Classic
#15 Kidnapping, Caucassian Style (1967)
This is the second film about Shurik and his adventures. In this one, he heads off on an ethnographic expedition to the Caucasus Mountains. On his short stay there he gets roped into what is described as a beautiful local custom. Namely, the kidnapping of the bride. The prospective bride’s uncle (having sold his niece for 20 sheep and a fridge) manages to convince Shurik that this is a perfectly consensual kidnapping (who’s ever heard of such a crazy thing?!) and that the bride cannot wait to be kidnapped. Naturally, when Shurik finds out that he has been tricked, he is determined to save the girl he accidentally helped to kidnap. However, it turns out to be more difficult than he thought, especially since the groom is an influential personage in the area.
Watch it with HARDSUBS or with CC subs on YouTube. It’s also available on Amazon Prime as well as on SOVIETMOVIESONLINE.
#16 Ivan Vassiliyevich Changes Occupation (1973)
“An experimental artistic association presents a non-science-fiction, not quite realistic, and not strictly historical film based on M. Bulgakov’s play Ivan Vassiliyevich.”
This may be the best of all of Shurik’s wonderful adventures! With musical numbers, satire, and time travel, it has everything!
While tinkering with his time machine, Shurik manages to open a door into the past: straight into the palaces of the infamous Ivan the Terrible. In the confusion that ensues, the tsar ends of trapped in the present with Shurik. Someone who happened to be in the middle of a burglary next door and Shurik’s stick-in-the-mud neighbour wind up in the tsar’s palaces. What follows are some laugh-out-loud moments set to great music as everyone waits for the time machine to be fixed so everyone can go back to where they belong. The visitors from the future dress us in local garbs and the conservative neighbour is forced to impersonate the tsar in order to survive, much to his vexation. In the meantime, the real tsar is agonizing that all his lands will be taken away while he is away from the throne.
Watch it with HARDSUBS or with CC subs on YouTube or on SOVIETMOVIESONLINE and Amazon Prime.
#17 Gentlemen of Fortune (1971)
This is a great comedy of crime and mistaken identities! A scary and notorious thief and a kind kindergarten teacher happen to look nearly identical (being played by the same actor also adds to the credibility of this point!). So, the police ask the teacher to pretend to be this thief in an attempt to get his accomplices to spill on the whereabouts of the artifact stolen and hidden by this crew. The police orchestrate a prison break for the teacher and the accomplices. Only this clumsy and awkward group manages to really escape prison via a different route. And so the teacher has to think quickly on his feet as the police can no longer help him. While carrying out the mission given to him by the police, he starts to slowly re-educate his group of petty thieves. If anyone can reform criminals, a kindergarten teacher is a pretty good choice!
Watch it with Amazon Prime, on YouTube or on SOVIETMOVIESONLINE.
#18 Old, Old Tale (1968)
A young couple decides to elope at dawn and get married. As the puppeteer waits for dawn and his bride to arrive, he decides to tell one last story as a farewell to the puppets that helped him not to go hungry all this time. Of course, he tells an old, old tale of love in a far away fairy-tale kingdom.
So we meet a princess who only thinks of her own interests and does not want to marry. Her father, naturally, wants her to think only of his interests and get married to anyone with money. This is because he is tired of acting the part of not just the king, but every doorman, judge, prosecutor, and any other job you can think of in said kingdom. After all, his staff will not work for him without pay.
“You need to bear in mind that when I fall in love, it’s for life! So you’re simply going to have to fall in love with me too!”
Our male lead falls in love with the princess at first sight and becomes one of her many suitors. The Princess’s behaviour leaves something to be desired though. Not one to falter at the first sign of trouble, the lead decided to go about this in another way. As men vie for the hand of the princess, he does his best to win her heart. This charming story is based on the writings of Hans Christian Andersen.
Watch this fairy-tale on YouTube.
#19 Scarlet Sails (1961)
“Miracles are made with one’s own hands.”
Assol, as a little girl, was told was that one day her prince will come for her and take her away. She will know him by the scarlet sails of the boat he will arrive on. As she dreams of happy things and her prince, everyone makes fun of her, calling her crazy. Because sometimes, being a positive person surrounded by pessimists will lead to just such a result. But then a young man appears and falls in love with her. He decides to make her fairy-tale-like dream come true. Now that’s what I call a grand gesture!
Watch it on YouTube or on SOVIETMOVIESONLINE.
#20 The Adventures of Buratino (1976)
“My young friend, always remain youthful. Don’t be in a hurry to grow up! Be cheerful, bold, and boisterous. Fight, if you need to! Laugh and cry to your heart’s content and never know peace! Three hundred years ago, I was once like you myself.”
Buratino is the Russian retelling of Pinocchio. The plot of this film is very different from the original, so I wouldn’t recommend looking for similarities. Rather, it’s a lovely musical, primarily for children (but we all have one of those hidden away deep inside ourselves), about a boy who was made to bring others happiness.
Watch this film on YouTube (PART 1 and PART 2).
Related Post: Revisiting Disney: Pinocchio
Now, head on over to the next page for more Russian films!
Oh my goodness, what a fabulous list. I feel like Christmas came early and will be adding many of these to my list of movies to watch.
Happy Early Christmas 😉
Wonderful list – thank you! I’ve watched a couple of these (Operation Y, The Diamond Arm) and The Irony of Fate has been on my to-watch list. Looking forward to these new recommendations, especially Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears, Three Poplars, A Cruel Romance, The Cranes are Flying..and others! Also, I know it’s not a movie, but I love the Russian Sherlock Holmes! Do you have some particular favorites, if you had to choose? 🙂
To be honest, all these films are great, otherwise they wouldn’t have made the list 😉 But, my absolute favourites (which have been re-watched countless times!) are probably:
Office Romance (no.2 on above list)
An Ordinary Miracle (no.3)
That Very Same Munchhausen (no.4)
In Love By Choice (no.22)
Formula of Love (no.5)
But most of the others have been re-watched far too many times too 🙂
The Sherlock Holmes adaptations are highly appreciated, yes. I haven’t re-watched them since I was very little and given the choice tend to revisit the BBC Sherlock lately. I’m scared of watching it in case I don’t like it as much now, which is very silly. If there is one thing I strongly recommend NOT watching, it’s any Russian adaptation of Shakespeare. I can’t explain it, but it doesn’t feel anything like Shakespeare to me. His beauty definitely becomes lost in translation. Ha!
It sounds like you have a preference for love stories somewhat tinged with sadness from your picks above. So, you would probably enjoy numbers 50, 32, 33, 34, 35!, 39, 11, 29 in addition to those you chose.
Too funny – is my preference obvious? 😉 All the numbers you suggested were indeed the other films I thought I’d like to check out when I read the list! Yes, I really do like love stories with a bit of sadness. (My film review of a Good Rain Knows is a perfect example!)
Bullseye! I’m a bit surprised at the accuracy of my own aim 😉