Die schwarze Katze

It's a wonderful example of the great Soviet movies shot for the sake of its spectators but not for the regime and its propaganda machine. Even though it does feature some of the latter, it's skillfully incorporated into the thread of the plot and can be considered as rather an indisputable trait of that time: right after the Great Patriotic War the country and its past lie in ruins, and semi-hungry weary people are left with nothing more than aspirations and hopes towards brighter future. Thus, the historical context of Moscow from that period is very natural and believable.

Although its other feature of a slowly unfolding plot might scare some people away, it lets the creators rigorously portray all the details of the detective business from back then. Additionally, it makes the story whole without contradictory bits and pieces.

Finally, it's just pleasantly exciting to watch the main two characters amazingly played by Vysotskiy and Konkin: the ups and downs of their relations, and how they overcome their irreconcilable distinctions and dissents for the sake of justice and their common goal.

The movie is by far the part of that Soviet legacy that the people of the past era are proud of. Adding to that, it is still affecting the cinematography of the modern Russia. Unfortunately, today there are cohorts of low-quality Russian films produced just as petty copies exploiting the ideas of their successor without adding anything new to them.

This film (actually a series) is one of the best the Russian cinema has to offer. It cannot compare with the works of Eisenstein or Tarkovsky but it is an above average work of art. The fact that it is more that 4 hours long does not hinder it a bit. There are several superb performances including one by the late Vladimir Visotsky.

Soviet Classics - this mini-series was made in 1979 and since that year it remains the classic and one of the all-time-favorite-films of Russian watchers. Stanislav Govorukhin made a really excellent movie. He told us a simple story of Sovie Criminal Investigation department in Moscow in 1945, with main protagonists Gleb Zheglov (played by already ailing and very weakened Vladimir Vysotsky) and Vladimir Sharapov (Vladimir Konkin) trying to catch and arrest the famous after-war gang, The Black Cat. This is a part of Russian history and very severe one. The movie is a feast of superb actors - Yurski, Sadalski, Fateeva, Zaklunnaya, Dzhigarkhanyan, Bortnik, Gerdt among many. This is a very period piece, but so timeless and so deep that it stood the test of time extremely well. It is highly recommended for all who like Soviet history and deep decent psychological drama. Watch it and you will never be sorry or bored. This one is a real feast of real-life characters and thrilling events

Detective. The film adaptation of the novel by the Weiner brothers "The Era of Mercy", they also acted as screenwriters. And since I haven't read the book, I rate the series as an independent work. So I decided to review this epoch-making and popularly beloved detective series by all citizens of the former USSR, and at the same time write a review, because it deserves it. Before watching, I heard a lot of "winged" phrases and was a little familiar with the images of the main characters, and of course I saw some scenes, but I saw it all completely only in 2016. And here's my brief opinion - Zheglov and Sharapov against the "Black Cat". I will note right away that there are no shortcomings in the series, but there are several jambs that do not affect the final assessment, and which I will describe in a separate paragraph, but for now I will focus your attention on the expressive merits of this masterpiece of Soviet cinema.

So, here they are: 1. The scenario is 1945. Moscow. The Great Patriotic War has just ended, and a former front-line soldier, scout and medal-bearer, senior lieutenant Vladimir Sharapov, is being sent to work in the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department (MUR). He will have to, together with his boss, Captain Gleb Zheglov, eradicate crime, which has multiplied over the years of the war, and now has also been replenished by front-line soldiers. But a special place in the everyday life of police work is occupied by the daring gang "Black Cat" (copied from the real gang of Ivan Mitin), which keeps the whole of Moscow in fear and whose raids are distinguished by audacity and victims. Therefore, Sharapov and Zheglov, people so different in character, will have to solve many crimes and neutralize the "Black Cat". It's not worth talking about "winged" phrases, because everyone knows them. Charismatic and prescribed characters, interesting dialogues. Fans of detectives cannot but admire this masterpiece, which reveals the work of the Soviet police in many details. And the finale (made at the insistence of the Soviet government) will make you cry and rejoice at the same time!

2. The atmosphere is post-war Moscow. Posters of that time and still remaining from the time of the war are everywhere. Everywhere front-line soldiers with iconostases on their chests, men and women in tunics and overcoats, war invalids on the streets, people's aspirations and the joy of victory, and against this background commercial restaurants with sky-high prices when the country lives on a card system, thieves' raspberries with whole food warehouses, bandits and thieves who have not put on orders and medals they won in battle, the monstrous cruelty of bandits, the unsettled former front-line soldiers. This is all the truth of life, which is perfectly shown in this series. Yes, only for the atmosphere this masterpiece deserved praise!

3. The scenery, the costumes - the scenery were made at the Odessa film Studio, and the full-scale filming took place in Moscow, and very thorough, because Moscow of the seventies was very different from Moscow of the forties, so the creators had to work almost jewelry, so as not to destroy the atmosphere (there were mistakes, but more on that below). The costumes correspond to the era one hundred percent, especially the uniform of the police, and the everyday wardrobe of the inhabitants of the country.

4. Music - the composer Evgeny Gevorgyan was responsible for it, and he did an excellent job, because the music from the series became no less iconic than the phrases of the characters. There is not a lot of music itself, but it is competently written into the narrative and with its presence emphasizes important points of the story being told.

5. Bright heroes - I will tell you about the main operatives later, but the secondary characters are no less interesting. Larisa Udovichenko as Manka Bond, Leonid Kuravlev (alas, who left this world quite recently) as Smoked, Stanislav Sadalsky as Brick, Yevgeny Evstigneev as Petka Ruchechnik. I'm not talking about Armen Dzhigarkhanyan in the role of the Hunchback. There is not a single "passing" character here, everyone is remembered for something, and clings to the viewer, even if this character has only a few replicas for the entire series. And I also remember Zinovy Gerdt and Viktor Pavlov as the bandit Levchenko.

The scenes of fights, chases and shootouts will now seem completely stupid to boring people, but the actors did all this themselves, and now these scenes look good.

Now about minor shoals. Blunders with a microphone, cars from the "future", minor blunders with paper. All these are such little things that just drown in the sea of those advantages that I listed above.

A little bit about the main characters: 1. Captain Gleb Zheglov, played by Vladimir Vysotsky, is the head of the anti-banditry department in Moore, Sharapov's boss, who teaches a novice the subtleties of a policeman's work, sometimes using deception to catch criminals, but always succeeding. He has a very difficult character, which he has acquired over many years of service. Bold, impulsive, sharp-tongued. But at the same time, I am always ready to come to the aid of my neighbor, colleagues, ordinary citizens of a huge country. Maybe he will be put under bullets, he does not hide behind the backs of colleagues, for which he has a lot of respect from them, and even in good standing with his superiors. Well, who else could play such a controversial, but good policeman, if not Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky, who at the time of filming was already terminally ill, but despite this he found the strength to play Zheglov and thus he went into immortality. Bravo Vladimir Semyonovich! Bravo!

2. Senior Lieutenant Vladimir Sharapov, performed by Vladimir Konkin, is a front-line soldier, scout, company commander with a whole iconostasis of orders and medals, sent after the war to the MOORE, where he has a lot to learn. At first, he does not agree with his boss Zheglov in any way, but the common cause, as they say, unites. Behaves with detainees more friendly and humane than Zheglov, with all his perseverance trying to delve into the police work. Although he still remains in the shadow of the charismatic Zheglov, because Sharapov is modest, silent, but when necessary, he will definitely say his word. Vladimir Konkin was no less convincing and good in his role than Vladimir Vysotsky, so well-deserved applause!

This series deservedly has a cult status, and all modern Russian series are equal to it (even "Liquidation" could not avoid this), although Gleb Zheglov himself is clearly written off from the legendary detective Sherlock Holmes, only with a touch of Soviet flavor.

And I also remember the dreams and aspirations of this generation that won the most terrible war in the history of mankind. They dreamed of a better life for their descendants, it's not for nothing that the novel is called "The Era of Mercy". Eh! If they knew what would happen in thirty years ... As a result, we have a masterpiece detective series about Moore's work, with an excellent script, great music, a chic atmosphere and great acting!

My rating is 10 out of 10 and my recommendation for viewing!

True classics of the Soviet cinematography. Vyssotsky is brilliant, but so are Konkin, Belyavsky, Yursky, Pavlov and all the rest. A suspense, rare for the Soviet movies, is greatly mixed with philosophy. Govorukhin in his best directing effort, a true talent and professional unlike in politics.