Russian moviegoers have an ambiguous attitude to domestic cinema. And no wonder, because many reviews of this or that Russian film are much more interesting than himself. Fortunately, with the help of the audience on Kinopoisk you can always separate the cinematic "grains from the chaff." To save you from disappointments, we selected the best Russian films of 2016-2017, which have a rating of at least 6.6 on Kinopoisk.
15. Moscow, I put up with you (2016)
Rating (Movie Search): 6.6
Genre: romance, comedy
On a beautiful sunny day, Alexander decides to take a break from the bustle and devote time to his favorite pastime. But pleasant plans are not destined to come true. Indeed, on the same day, clients, a beloved girl, a friend, and a classmate who suddenly “came in” require Alexander’s immediate presence.
A feature of the film is that it was shot without state support. And it only benefited him. The reviews point out a good camera work, beautiful views of Moscow and an emotional plot. As one of the viewers wrote, the result was “all the same good old vaudeville, in, so to speak, arrangement”.
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14. The Big (2016)
Rating: 6.6
Genre: drama
Watching ballet is very interesting. Snow-white tutus, perfected and graceful movements of ballerinas and their external beauty are fascinating. But how much energy goes into all this beauty, the audience sometimes do not even guess. But the main character Yulia Olshanskaya has a long way to go from an enthusiastic provincial girl who pulled out a “happy ticket” to the prima of the Bolshoi Theater. The highlight of this movie is that the leading ballet dancers starred.
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13. The Duelist (2016)
Rating: 6.6
Genre: drama
What does a Russian nobleman need to do to whitewash his tarnished honor? Call the offender to a duel. It’s only in duels that they sometimes injure and even kill. But you can hire a duelist instead of yourself. It is such a “replacement” that the main character of the film, the duelist Yakovlev (Petr Fedorov), is. He is not afraid of death, but one day, the omnipotent Count Beklemishev (played by Vladimir Mashkov), who destroyed the duelist’s former life, becomes Yakovlev’s customer.
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12. Major Thunder (2017)
Rating: 6.7
Genre: action, adventure
The only short film among the novelties of Russian films in 2017 will delight those who love spectacular action, stylish and brutal heroes, as well as the unconditional victory of good over evil. An investigator from St. Petersburg Igor Grom fights with villains of all stripes with a kind word and a gun, and does it so effectively that James Bond smokes nervously with envy. Our hero does not have superpowers, like the “import” Captain America or a special suit, like Iron Man, but he knows how to calculate the situation several moves ahead, skillfully shoots and fights, and also ... fantastically modest.
“Major Thunder” was made according to a series of comics that the Russian publishing house “Bubble” deals with.
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11. Earthquake (2016)
Rating: 6.7
Genre: drama
The action in the film takes place against the backdrop of a terrible natural phenomenon - the earthquake in Armenia, which claimed the lives of 25 thousand people. The two main characters, Konstantin Berezhnoy and Robert Melkonyan, find themselves in one rescue squad. And Robert recognizes in Constantine the man through whose fault his relatives died in a car accident.
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10. Paradise (2016)
Rating: 6.7
Genre: historical drama
A painting by Andrei Konchalovsky about World War II and an emigrant from Russia who ended up in occupied France. For harboring Jewish children, she was first thrown into prison and then placed in a concentration camp. The circumstances in which the main character Olga has to survive, her painful love relationship with SS officer Helmut, photographs and the words of the survivors compel the audience to sharply empathize with what is happening. And the black and white gamut of the film only enhances the contrast between good and evil shown in the film. Before the creation of Paradise, the authors studied hundreds of hours of documentary military chronicles and documents from the archives of Europe and the United States.
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9. Collector (2016)
Rating: 6.8
Genre: drama thriller
The film, which was fond of picky Russian viewers and critics thanks to the excellent play of Konstantin Khabensky. In the center of the plot is the collector Arthur, who knocks out debts not with the help of brute force, but learns all the ins and outs about his “victims”, and expertly manipulates them psychologically. One day Arthur receives a video that fundamentally changes his previously completely prosperous life. Friends turn away from him, his wife is completely indifferent, and the authorities are considering "pointing to the door." And the collector will have to prove to himself that he is still not a completely missing person.
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8. Monk and demon (2016)
Rating: 6.8
Genre: fantastic comedy
Oh, this unclean power. Even outside the walls of the monastery you cannot escape from it. This was confirmed by the novice of the monastery, Ivan Semenovich, in which the evil one under the name Legion moved in. The demon by all means tempts Ivan, and their confrontation all grows in the course of the plot.
The eccentricity of the film, combined with deep dialogues and irony, make it one of the best Russian films.
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7. Ivan (2016)
Rating: 6.8
Genre: drama
The life of ex-pilot Ivan, who survived the crash, was boring and aimless. He worked as a driver in the ambulance and did not know that he would meet the little tramp girl Tonya, who would change his gray existence. The piercing game of Cyril Polukhin and Polina Gukhman, pleasant music and the general atmosphere of the film allows the viewer to become completely emotionally immersed in what is happening on the screen.
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6. Champions: Faster. Higher. Stronger (2016)
Rating: 6.9
Genre: sports drama
The story of three champions (Svetlana Khorkina, Alexander Karelin and Alexander Popov), who together brought the country 9 gold Olympic medals. Their path to the sports Olympus, drama and frustration based on real events, will be interesting even to people far from sports.
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5. Pupil (2016)
Rating: 7
Genre: drama
Even an adult can find it difficult to distinguish between moral and immoral, and falsehood from truth. However, youth is uncompromising, and the schoolboy Veniamin, passionate about religion, believes that he knows exactly what is good and what is bad. His conviction “infects” other students, and now Benjamin has a small army of followers. Who will be the newly made fighter for faith: a modern prophet or a religious fanatic?
The Apprentice script is based on the play The Martyr by the German playwright Marius von Mayenburg. Director Kirill Serebrennikov transferred the action from German realities to modern Russian ones.
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4. The time of the first (2017)
Rating: 7.4
Genre: thriller adventure
During the Cold War, two superpowers - the USA and the USSR - vied for supremacy in space exploration. The flight of Yuri Gagarin was a triumph of the USSR, the next step was the exit of man into outer space. The risk was enormous, but time was running out, because the prestige of the state was at stake. The film “Time of the First” was based on real events about the first space flight of cosmonaut Alexei Leonov in the history of mankind. The project, which took one of the first places in the selection of Russian films in 2017, involved an employee of RSC Energia Viktor Blagov. He was one of the curators of the launch of the Voskhod-2 spacecraft.
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3.28 Panfilovites (2016)
Rating: 7.5
Genre: war drama
Among the novelties of Russian films, this is one of the rare representatives of truly folk cinema. After all, most of the funds (over 34 million rubles) for the shooting were raised using crowdfunding. The rest was funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan, the Federal Republic of Germany and the company Gaijin Entertainment. Professionally filmed fights, the absence of long empty conversations and love dramas, excellent music, hourly, not ostentatious, the feat of people who defend their homeland - these are the main, but not the only strengths of this tape. Watching "28 Panfilov" is recommended not only to fans of military-historical films, but also to anyone who can call himself a patriot.
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2. Dislike (2017)
Rating: 7.6
Genre: drama
When parents stop loving each other, the child suffers the most. This is exactly what happens in an ordinary Moscow family, where mom and dad “sleep and see” to get divorced and harass each other with daily quarrels. Once their 12-year-old son Alyosha can’t stand it and disappears from the house.
A life-like and truthful film about modern Russia, which routinely, without lakes of tears and pathos, speaks about the problems of marriage, love and children. It will appeal to lovers of melodramas and those who like to reflect on the moral message of the tape, and not forget its plot immediately after leaving the cinema.
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1. Crew (2016)
Rating: 7.7
Genre: drama, thriller, adventure.
The 2016 film “Crew” is a talented remake of the Soviet film of the same name directed by Alexander Mitta. The main character - a young, self-confident, ambitious pilot Alexei Gushchin (Danila Kozlovsky) becomes an intern with captain Leonid Zinchenko (Vladimir Mashkov). The crew will have an ordinary departure, which, due to the sudden eruption of the volcano, turns into salvation from a fiery hell. But “The Crew” is not just a catastrophe film, the plot has a love line and the problem of the relationship between the father and his teenage son, and overcoming one’s own fears. Most viewers praised the excellent special effects, high-quality camera work and catchy music.
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The historical drama “Matilda” promises to be a sensation of domestic cinema in 2017.
Around this film about the love of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II and the ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya, a considerable sensation has already risen. At the initiative of the deputy from United Russia, Natalia Poklonskaya, Matilda was checked by expert philologists, lawyers, culturologists and psychologists, and the results of the examination went straight to the Prosecutor General. According to experts, the negative image of Nicholas II, which only strengthens the connection with the ugly, "mouse or rat" ballerina, was shown in the film by Alexei Uchitel. However, after a series of checks, the Prosecutor General’s Office did not find anything in “Matilda” that could offend the feelings of believers (recall that Nicholas II was canonized). The film will be released on October 25, and thanks to the anti-advertising, many viewers who had not previously planned to go to the cinema will definitely watch Matilda.
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