20th Century Flicks, Bristol

1612 (2010)

Certification15 Our Rating

A blood and guts epic that pits true love against the ruthless political machinations of aristocracy after the death of the Tsar creates a power vacuum in early 17th Century Russia. find out more...

9TH COMPANY (2005)

Certification15 Our Rating

A raw bunch of Soviet conscripts are drilled into shape on the training ground and dropped into the thick of it in Afghanistan. A big box office hit in Russia this may, like films about the American invasion of Vietnam, be politically naive, but as a war drama it pulls no punchs and, with the possible exception of a silly, poorly edited final battle scene, delivers the goods in superb fashion. find out more...

A ROOM AND A HALF (2009)

Certification12 Our Rating

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ALEXANDER NEVSKY (1938)

CertificationPG Our Rating

After routing the Swedes and the Tartars, Alexander Nevsky is called once more to the breach to give the Germans a hammering. Eisenstein's portrayal of the 13th Century Russian hero is a bold, patriotic epic that served as a stirring anti-Nazi propaganda film during World War Two. find out more...

ALEXANDRA (2002)

Certification15 Our Rating

Babushka Aleksandra moseys on down to the war zone in Chechnya to search for her soldier boy grandson. Here the old biddy, poking her nose in places it wouldn't normally go, brings peace and love, chilling out the grunts in the soldier camp and even making friends amongst the Chechens when she briefly takes a trip to the market. On many critics' lists as one of the best films of 2008; one for serious connoisseurs of film. find out more...

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AN UNFINISHED PIECE FOR MECHANICAL PIANO (1976)

CertificationU Our Rating

Adapted from the Chekhov play, this ravishingly photographed piece centres around Platonov, a 35 year-old socialite who muses on past youthful ideas whilst trying to come to terms with present reality. An engaging drawing-room drama for those who don't like much action in their films!! find out more...

ANDREI RUBLEV (1966)

Certification15 Our Rating

Tarkovsky's mysterious masterpiece that charts the life and times of an obscure 15th Century Russian icon painter. Rublev's character is recreated, through 8 separate chapters, as a symbol of Russian suffering at the hands of Tartar invaders. Beautifully told, a fantastic and brilliantly directed tale. find out more...

BALLAD OF A SOLDIER (1959)

CertificationPG Our Rating

In the middle of the Second World War teenage Alyosha is commended for destroying two German tanks, but, rather than take a medal, he requests a four day pass to visit his mother. Ballad of a Soldier is about this journey and the life enhancing encounters therein. Nominated at the 1962 Academy Awards for Best Screenplay, this classic of post-war Soviet Realism won many international film awards on its release, most notably a BAFTA Award for Best Film. find out more...

BATTALION (2015)

Certification15 Our Rating

February 1917, the Russian Tsar has abdicated. Crippling trench warfare against the Germans persists in horrific stalemate and propaganda is rife. Russian officers can do nothing without the prior approval of committees and the army is close to complete degradation. By order of the Russian Provisional Government, attempting to strengthen morale, the Battalion of death" is find out more...

BITTER HARVEST (2017)

Certification15 Our Rating

Set between the two World Wars and based on true historical events, BITTER HARVEST conveys the untold story of the Holodomor, the genocidal famine engineered by the tyrant Joseph Stalin. The film displays a powerful tale of love, honour, rebellion and survival at a time when Ukraine was forced to adjust to the horrifying territorial ambitions of the burgeoning Soviet Union. With an exceptional cast of established and rising stars, the film epically recreates one of the most dramatic and dange find out more...

BLACK SEA (2014)

Certification15 Our Rating

A recently unemployed and embittered salvage submarine captain pulls together a misfit crew to search for sunken Nazi treasure in the Black Sea. As greed and desperation take control, the increasing uncertainty of the mission causes the men to turn on each other, with ultimately dyre consequences. A taut and claustrophobic dramatic thriller from the director of ' find out more...

BROTHER (AKA BRAT) (1997)

Certification18 Our Rating

Directionless demobbed Danila drifts to St Petersberg on the heels of his elder brother, a hitman for the local mafia, to whom he becomes apprenticed. No mug with a gun Danila drifts between the dossers who live on the edge of society, the drug consuming youngsters on the rock scene, a woman he sleeps with and the hoodlums he works for. Brother is a gritty urban thriller and an acute observation of the grim reality that faces many young Russians in a nation ill at ease with capitalism. find out more...

BROTHER 2 (RUSSIAN) (2000)

Certification15 Our Rating

Still fresh from his last confrontation young Chechen veteran Danila meets up find out more...

BURNT BY THE SUN (2007)

Certification15 Our Rating

Russia, 1936: revolutionary hero Colonel Kotov is spending an idyllic summer in his dacha with his young wife and six-year-old daughter Nadia and other assorted family and friends. Things change dramatically with the unheralded arrival of Cousin Dmitri from Moscow, who charms the women and little Nadia with his games and pianistic bravura. For most of its running time, the film seems to follow suit: it's a placid, languorous country-house comedy far removed from the realities of the Stalinist te find out more...

COME AND SEE (1985)

Certification15 Our Rating

Elem Klimov's powerful, mesmerising and dynamic award winning feature has been deservedly hailed as one of the greatest war films ever produced. find out more...

DAY WATCH (2006)

Certification15 Our Rating

Day Watch is a tour-de-force of post-Communist Russian cinema and has become the country's biggest grossing movie to date; it continues the saga of light vs dark begun in 'Night Watch' and is crammed full of stunning special effects and action. If you liked 'Night Watch' then "Day Watch" will give you much, much more of what you want... fabulous (if not somewhat incomprehensible). find out more...

DERSU UZALA (1975)

CertificationU Our Rating

Kurosawa's visual hymn to man at one with nature is an epic production that draws on the journals of a Tsarist explorer who encountered an elderly Goldi forest-dweller, the eponymous hero of the film, an ageing hunter living in solitude in the wilderness. Their travels together are related in lavish style. find out more...

FATHER AND SON (2003)

CertificationU Our Rating

Another mesmerising film from the director of Russian Ark and Mother and Son with his now trade mark use of film and colour that provides a moving image more reminiscent of painting than celluloid. This gentle and intense film explores paternal love and the conflict involved when child becomes man. Beautiful, hypnotic and mystifying. find out more...

FAUST (2011)

Certification12 Our Rating

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FORTRESS OF WAR (2011)

Certification12 Our Rating

Beginning in the early summer of 1941 the scene is set for one of the most brutal assaults and defiant defences of the second world war; The German attack on the Russian Brest Fortress. Fortress of War is a brutal and relentless depiction of the siege. A no holds barred war drama, both rousing and tragic. find out more...