Hacker News Reader

Comment by billfruit | Hacker News Reader

Yes, many Mosfilm classics seems to be on YouTube. I recommend Assa https://youtu.be/VOeDP6eUgD0

Such crisp, captivating film making from beginning to end. I do think the Soviet era is sort of mis-characterized in Western portrayals. Compare the Assa and the recent Chernobyl, both depicting about the same era.

Also "Assa" seems like a Soviet mirror image of how Blood Simple depcits the USA.

View on HN

Another great Mosfilm, Kin-Dza-Dza!. Spaceships run on matchsticks while rusty bolts are required for intergalactic travel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUtZOl_QxvY

It's much deeper than that... But honestly I don't think Western audience will appreciate the movie. It's such profoundly prophetic look at future of Russia after collapse of USSR.

For many non Russians I know this is the first film that comes to their mind when I ask what Russian/USSR movies they have seen. Kindzadza is not only about particular country. It show wide set of social issues even in modern world.

I love it after stumbling upon it somehow. (Non-ex-USSR-ian here.)

‘Assa’ is about the end of the Soviet era and the coming of Perestroika youth. I haven't seen ‘Chernobyl’ yet, but I doubt I'm gonna see many Perestroika youth among the people at the plant.

There were a lot of movies in the late 80s and the early-mid 90s about the life of lower-class people in the crumbling USSR/Russia of that time: from simple depressing realistic depictions to surrealistic transgressions, simply because all these kinds of expression became permissible. ‘Assa’ is essentially a fantasy about the zeitgeist. USSR functionaries weren't forgotten of course, but their portrayals flipped upside down—there isn't a single point of view on the Soviet time, and ‘Chernobyl’ likely just has a different perspective.

I'm gonna bet, though, that execs in ‘Chernobyl’ are close-ish to Krymov of ‘Assa’, at least as I will see them.

By the way, funny thing: in a podcast by Russian cinema critics on Western films about Russia, someone remarked that no matter how much effort the crew puts into researching details, something always gives away the fictional and foreign nature of the work. In ‘Chernobyl’, one such moment is when a woman goes against a committee of bureaucrats and tells them how wrong they are. (Again, IDK what actually happens in the scene.)

>By the way, funny thing: in a podcast by Russian cinema critics on Western films about Russia, someone remarked that no matter how much effort the crew puts into researching details, something always gives away the fictional and foreign nature of the work. In ‘Chernobyl’, one such moment is when a woman goes against a committee of bureaucrats and tells them how wrong they are.

It all comes down to expecting that another society will obey one's own sensibilities.

George R. R. Martin has talked about how so many fantasy works based on medieval Europe have a scene in which the brave boy and spunky girl sassily talk back to the powerful lord. As Martin puts it, what really would have happened is that the boy would have been killed, and the girl would have been raped then killed.

Tangential, but the "Most Replayed" feature on you tube makes me really not want to watch movies on there. Every-time I mouse over the scrubber a graph shows up that shows me exactly what the most rewatched section is, so for instance I immediately know there's an important scene 20 minutes into Assa.

Well thanks: I haven't paid any attention to that ‘feature’ before, but now I will inevitably notice it sometime.

Hopefully I can kill it with CSS via Stylish.

“Something important happens at 17:81, th-“

Ugh, no spoilers, you’ve ruined the movie for me now…

Couldn't it plausibly just be a confusing scene, or have difficult-to-understand dialog? I can think of several things other than importance that might correlate with users re-playing a scene.

Another good one:

Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears: https://youtu.be/NTWA_7-ld_U

> Yes, many Mosfilm classics seems to be on YouTube

This seems to vary a lot. I just checked and there were several Moscfilm films available (including Stalker) but I'm pretty sure I checked this about 6 months ago and there weren't many available - some were available for rent, but not free view.

That's because they have 2 accounts a russian and a global english one.

Russian https://www.youtube.com/c/MosfilmRuOfficial

Global https://www.youtube.com/c/Mosfilm_eng

Usually both channels have subtitles but generally the global one is burnt-in while the russian one is selectable from the Youtube interface. Also the russian channel has much much more uploads.

And movies differ too to some extent. For example, Solaris is a single title in the global english channel (restored vesion) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8ZhQPaw4rE

Whereas it's 2 part title as it was originally back then (2 reels)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-4KydP92ss

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXa6XpaxBS0

Last but not least check geoblocking https://polsy.org.uk/stuff/ytrestrict.cgi For example Solaris is geoblocked in the US, both versions

https://polsy.org.uk/stuff/ytrestrict.cgi?ytid=https%3A%2F%2...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com