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5_Zvehzda
Just Starting
Joined: 30 Mar 2010
Posts: 1
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 Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 10:19 am Post subject: Foreign films shown in the Soviet Union |
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I've watched handfuls of Russian films at home over one and a half years. It's been a different angle. But this wasn't as nearly as possible years ago - as I've seen very few (real) Russian films while growing up as a kid.
However . . .
Can any of you list and describe the kind of movies from the 'west', along with specific titles of films that were shown in cinemas in the Soviet Union during those days? What films from the U.S, Europe, Asia, etc. were allowed to be released in cinemas throughout the USSR? How were they regulated and/or censored? Which ones were considered acceptable and what kind of public receptions did some of foreign films receive? I'm asking because this is something I thought about very often as a teenager during the 80's. I also remember pondering over this with friends during those days.
We would think, and have questions like . . .
'What is going on with the media over there . . . and how is our part of the world and culture being depicted throughout their cinema or TV? What kind of stuff are they watching on their television networks and in the movies?'
During these times, there were many of us who thought about this very often (myself, being one) . . . but many others in my town didn't care.
I'd like to know from those who can describe this accurately based on experience. |
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MrSpice
Lounge Wizard
Joined: 14 Jul 2003
Posts: 3431
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| Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 3:18 am Post subject: |
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5_Zvehzda - Tootsie for example was very popular in St Petersburg when I was young. Many other action movies were shown there dubbed into russian and were very popular. In addition, italan and french movies were popular. I would say most of the movies that were shown were comedies and action movies as long as there was nothing politically positive about them about the west (negative images were welcome - i.e., unemployed/homeless americans) and as long as they were not too graphic (sex/violence) and violent. Secondly, the movie industry was controlled by the state that did not have money to buy many movies. So, we may not have seen some of the movies simply because it was too expensive for the state to buy them.
I remember some of the movies were never shown but were discussed on TV. One notable example was Rambo I and II. They ridiculed the movie that it was too violent, the image of short muscular american able to destroy everything alone proved how unjust the US society is, blah, blah, blah. But all teenagers were dreaming of having a chance to see this movie. One of the children in our class had an illegal copy and bragged to everyone that he was able to see and it was great and we all envied him.
I remember having an impression of seeing a Cobra movie with Sly Stallone in Russia many years back. The first great scene is in a supermarket. And I was saying to myself (as Stallone was shotting someone), look at all this food - I wish we had that kind of selection in our stores  ) |
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5_Zvehzda
Just Starting
Joined: 30 Mar 2010
Posts: 1
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| Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 8:08 pm Post subject: |
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| MrSpice wrote: |
I remember some of the movies were never shown but were discussed on TV. One notable example was Rambo I and II. They ridiculed the movie that it was too violent, the image of short muscular american able to destroy everything alone proved how unjust the US society is, blah, blah, blah. But all teenagers were dreaming of having a chance to see this movie. One of the children in our class had an illegal copy and bragged to everyone that he was able to see and it was great and we all envied him. |
Interesting - and that sounds kind of funny, too. IMHO, First Blood was the only one out of all of those films that had any semi-decent storyline. It represented something a little different here than what you heard discussed on TV back then. It was popular because it was about an underdog-type of guy who fights against corrupt, local authorities who were taking advantage of the system and had abused him badly. People ate it up. The rest of the sequels were not taken very seriously by most people and they poked fun of them. In fact, the rest of the Rambo films became nothing more than the butt of jokes and subject of some funny parodies.
Yes, I do remember you mentioning Tootsie earlier in another thread. |
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Muppet
Lounge Lizard
Joined: 16 Jul 2004
Posts: 105
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| Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 8:27 pm Post subject: |
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| MrSpice wrote: | | Tootsie for example was very popular in St Petersburg when I was young. |
I was going to send some DVDs over to friends in St P (They're only a few quid here) and thought of including 'Priscilla Queen of the Desert'. In light of your comment do you think this a good choice? (It's a damn good film anyway  ) |
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MrSpice
Lounge Wizard
Joined: 14 Jul 2003
Posts: 3431
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| Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 9:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Muppet wrote: | | MrSpice wrote: | | Tootsie for example was very popular in St Petersburg when I was young. |
I was going to send some DVDs over to friends in St P (They're only a few quid here) and thought of including 'Priscilla Queen of the Desert'. In light of your comment do you think this a good choice? (It's a damn good film anyway ) |
I have never heard of this movie, so I cannot comment on it. Right now, there's a wide selection of DVDs and video cassettes everywhere (I assume most russians don't have DVD players yet). I think any good american action movie would be appreciated. Although, if it's not dubbed into Russian, how will they understand it? I think it's best to buy a video cassette while in Russia. |
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Rick
Moderator
Joined: 04 May 2005
Posts: 854
Location: Êàñàáëàíêà
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| Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 11:25 pm Post subject: |
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Priscilla Queen of the Desert is great  ... I don't think they will know it. |
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Arkan
Frequent Guest
Joined: 05 Feb 2006
Posts: 12
Location: Israel
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| Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 9:31 am Post subject: |
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| MrSpice wrote: | | Muppet wrote: | | MrSpice wrote: | | Tootsie for example was very popular in St Petersburg when I was young. |
I was going to send some DVDs over to friends in St P (They're only a few quid here) and thought of including 'Priscilla Queen of the Desert'. In light of your comment do you think this a good choice? (It's a damn good film anyway ) |
I have never heard of this movie, so I cannot comment on it. Right now, there's a wide selection of DVDs and video cassettes everywhere (I assume most russians don't have DVD players yet). I think any good american action movie would be appreciated. Although, if it's not dubbed into Russian, how will they understand it? I think it's best to buy a video cassette while in Russia. |
Just for you to know,Mr.Spice-russians dont use VHS cassetes for more than 3 years.Cheapest DVD-players costs about 100$And DVD-ROMs about 50$.What you have written is a kind of joke,isnt it?And,BTW,im not talking only about Moscow and other big cities.I lived in Pyatigorsk(kinda hole)and i know what im talking about. |
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Muppet
Lounge Lizard
Joined: 16 Jul 2004
Posts: 105
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| Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 12:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Arkan wrote: | | MrSpice wrote: | | Muppet wrote: | | MrSpice wrote: | | Tootsie for example was very popular in St Petersburg when I was young. |
I was going to send some DVDs over to friends in St P (They're only a few quid here) and thought of including 'Priscilla Queen of the Desert'. In light of your comment do you think this a good choice? (It's a damn good film anyway ) |
I have never heard of this movie, so I cannot comment on it. Right now, there's a wide selection of DVDs and video cassettes everywhere (I assume most russians don't have DVD players yet). I think any good american action movie would be appreciated. Although, if it's not dubbed into Russian, how will they understand it? I think it's best to buy a video cassette while in Russia. |
Just for you to know,Mr.Spice-russians dont use VHS cassetes for more than 3 years.Cheapest DVD-players costs about 100$And DVD-ROMs about 50$.What you have written is a kind of joke,isnt it?And,BTW,im not talking only about Moscow and other big cities.I lived in Pyatigorsk(kinda hole)and i know what im talking about. |
Good news is: I took a cheap multi-region DVD player over with me at New Year and set it all up - They cost the equivalent of $25 in UK - and a selection of films, so that's OK. Also most of them have studied English at the St P University so their English is excellent (Lucky for me, as my Russian is appalling!).
Hopefully Priscilla will be a good laugh for them, but I’ll include Shakespeare in Love (Which they had on cassette as a Russian dubbed version) and The Incredibles, so it should cover all tastes.  |
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Zach10791
Moderator
Joined: 19 Mar 2005
Posts: 815
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| Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 7:07 am Post subject: |
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Priscilla was an excellent movie, much better than Tootsie in my opinion.
Nine to Five was another great movie that some Russians might enjoy. |
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ambavi
Just Starting
Joined: 26 May 2006
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 8:23 am Post subject: |
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i remember a plenty of india-films in soviet cinemas:)
also french movies with belmando and pier richar.
american - tutsi, kramer against kramer, convoy, some history movies like spartak, and some vesterns. |
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MrSpice
Lounge Wizard
Joined: 14 Jul 2003
Posts: 3431
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 5:14 pm Post subject: |
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| ambavi wrote: | i remember a plenty of india-films in soviet cinemas:)
also french movies with belmando and pier richar.
american - tutsi, kramer against kramer, convoy, some history movies like spartak, and some vesterns. |
I actually watched some movies with Jean Paul Belmondo again here in the US - many years after I saw them in Russia (when I was a child). They are still pretty good.
And the one with Pierre Richard and Gerard Depardeu called "Unlucky" ("Nevezuchie"), is still very watchable and very funny. |
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vitalsigns
Lounge Wizard
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
Posts: 2784
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 6:50 pm Post subject: |
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| "Zhandarm i inoplanetyane" was a poorly made movie, but it seemed funny back then. I would be bored to a coma watching it now. |
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MrSpice
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Joined: 14 Jul 2003
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 6:55 pm Post subject: |
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| vitalsigns wrote: | | "Zhandarm i inoplanetyane" was a poorly made movie, but it seemed funny back then. I would be bored to a coma watching it now. |
I watched it about 3 times and still think it was a very funny movie. And Louis De Funes was very comical. I disagree. |
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vitalsigns
Lounge Wizard
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
Posts: 2784
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| Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 7:07 pm Post subject: |
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| MrSpice wrote: | | vitalsigns wrote: | | "Zhandarm i inoplanetyane" was a poorly made movie, but it seemed funny back then. I would be bored to a coma watching it now. |
I watched it about 3 times and still think it was a very funny movie. And Louis De Funes was very comical. I disagree. |
The plot is funny I would agree with that, it's the quality that would not be appealing to me anymore. It's like watching the first Star Wars. The graphics and the quality with which the battle ships and scenes were made are sort of naive in comparison with the latest Star Wars (I am not a Star Wars' fan by any means though). |
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