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Ostern
The Ostern (Eastern; , ''Istern''; or остерн) or Red Western was a film genre created in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc as a variation of the Western films that originated in the United States. The word "Ostern" is a portmanteau derived from the German word ''Ost'', meaning "East", and the English word "western". The term now includes two related genres: * Proper Red Westerns, set in America's "Wild West" but involving radically different themes and interpretations than US westerns. Examples include ''Lemonade Joe'' (Czechoslovakia, 1964), or ''The Sons of Great Bear'' (East Germany, 1966) or ''The Oil, the Baby and the Transylvanians'' (Romania, 1981), or ''A Man from the Boulevard des Capucines'' (USSR, 1987). These were mostly produced in Eastern European countries like East Germany and Czechoslovakia, rather than USSR. * Easterns (Osterns), set usually on the steppes or Asian parts of the USSR, especially during the Russian Revolution or the following Civil War, but ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lemonade Joe
''Lemonade Joe, or the Horse Opera'' ( cs, Limonádový Joe aneb Koňská opera) is a 1964 Czechoslovak musical comedy film, directed by Oldřich Lipský and written by Jiří Brdečka, based on his novel and stage play. A parody of the American Western, the film centers on a clean-living, soft-drink-selling gunfighter who takes on a town full of whiskey-swilling cowboys. The name of the eponymous hero is a pun, since the Czech word for a soft drink, ''limonáda'', can also be used figuratively in reference to a cheap, sentimental love-story. Plot In the frontier town of Stetson City, Arizona, in 1885, business is booming at the Trigger Whisky Saloon. Tornado Lou, the local chanteuse, regales the saloon-goers with a sultry ballad ("Když v báru houstne dým"), while the saloon owner Doug Badman tries in vain to woo her. Two evangelists, Ezra Goodman and his daughter Winnifred, enter the bar attempting to drum up interest in their temperance movement, but the saloon's hard-dri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Burning Miles
''Miles of Fire, The Burning Miles' or The Fiery Miles' (russian: Огненные вёрсты, translit. Ognennye versty'') is an early Red Western filmed by Samson Samsonov in 1957. Often considered the earliest of the 'Red Westerns' (or 'Osterns'), it was made before the term was coined. The film is a Russian civil war drama, focusing on the conflict between the Reds and the Whites. One-time Mosfilm actor Samsonov had a versatile directorial career prior to ''The Burning Miles'', fresh from an adaptation of Chekhov's '' The Grasshopper'' that won two prizes at the Venice Film Festival. He was later awarded the title of 'People's Artist of the USSR'. Plot summary The White Guard Army led by General Anton Denikin are laying siege to a southern city in order to prevent a rebellion. They are also blocking the railway, but Chekist Zavragin is in a hurry to travel south. In a flash of inspiration, he decides to use '' tachankas'' or machine gun carts to reach his desti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
At Home Among Strangers
''Friend to Foes, Foe to Friends'' (russian: Свой среди чужих, чужой среди своих; ''Svoy sredi chuzhikh, chuzhoy sredi svoikh'') is a 1974 Soviet film starring Yuri Bogatyryov and Anatoly Solonitsyn and directed by Nikita Mikhalkov. Produced mainly in colour, some scenes are black and white.Тайны нашего кино «Свой среди чужих, чужой среди своих» (ТВЦ, 2014) English language titles Its English title has numerous variants, and this in part has hindered success in English-speaking countries, along with particularly bad dubbing when it was first released in them. Variants range from a full length translation of the Russian title — ''At home among strangers, a stranger among his own'' or ''A friend among foes, a foe among friends'' to ''At home among the Strangers''. Plot The setting is post-Russian Civil War, during the reconstruction of the young Soviet republic. During the war, Shilov, Sarichev, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White Sun Of The Desert
''White Sun of the Desert'' (russian: Белое солнце пустыни, Beloye solntse pustyni) is a 1970 Soviet Ostern film. Its blend of action, comedy, music and drama, as well as memorable quotes, made it highly successful at the Russian box-office, and it retains high domestic approval. Its main theme song, "Your Noble Highness Lady Fortune" (Ваше благородие, госпожа Удача, music: Isaac Schwartz, lyrics: Bulat Okudzhava, performed by Pavel Luspekayev) became a hit. The film is watched by Russian cosmonauts before most space launches as a good luck ritual. Plot The setting is the east shore of the Caspian Sea (modern Turkmenistan) where the Red Army soldier Fyodor Sukhov has been fighting the Civil War in Russian Asia for a number of years. The movie opens with a panoramic shot of a bucolic Russian countryside. Katerina Matveyevna, Sukhov's beloved wife, is standing in a field. Awakening from this daydream, Sukhov is walking through the Centr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Bodyguard (1979 Film)
''The Bodyguard'' (russian: Телохранитель, ''Telokhranitel'') is a 1979 Soviet action film released by Tadjikfilm. It is one of the best known of the Red Westerns and directed by the veteran feature and documentary maker, Ali Khamraev. Plot The setting is Central Asia during the Russian Civil War. In the post-revolutionary twenties, when the power in European Russia was (officially) "fully in the hands of the workers and peasants", but the fight against the Basmachi rebels was in full swing. When a Red Army detachment captures Sultan Nazar ( Anatoly Solonitsyn), the brains behind the Basmachi contingent, a decision is made to escort urgently the prisoner to the Bukhara province. The difficult mission is entrusted to a grizzled mountain trapper and conscientious revolutionary Mirzo. His expertise is essential to traverse the precarious paths and steep mountain ridges along the way, impossible terrain for the inexperienced. A group consisting of Mirzo (Alexander Kaid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Sixth
''The Sixth'' (russian: Шестой, translit. ''Shestoy'') is a 1981 Soviet action film directed by Samvel Gasparov at Gorky Film Studio. Plot ''The Sixth'' is a parable about lawlessness and bureaucracy in the aftermath of the Great October Revolution. The film could be categorized as an "Ostern" type of movie, with a lawman hero who faces up to corruption against the odds, although no one around has any faith in his abilities. It is set in 1923 and the Russian Civil War has come to an end, although the situation is still dangerous in some regions. An elusive band of White guards is hiding in the mountains, raiding Soviet institutions and making short work of the representatives of local government. Five chiefs have already been killed by the "whites" and the intimidated townsfolk believe the sixth one is also doomed. The protagonist is the sixth militia chief, but he is shrewder than his predecessors. Recognizing the superior firepower of his well-armed and zealous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spaghetti Western
The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most of these Westerns were produced and directed by Italians. Leone's films and other core Spaghetti Westerns are often described as having eschewed, criticized, or even "demythologized" many of the conventions of traditional U.S. Westerns. This was partly intentional and partly the context of a different cultural background. Terminology According to veteran Spaghetti Western actor Aldo Sambrell, the phrase "Spaghetti Western" was coined by Spanish journalist Alfonso Sánchez in reference to the Italian food spaghetti. Spaghetti Westerns are also known as Italian Westerns or, primarily in Japan, Macaroni Westerns. In Italy, the genre is typically referred to as western all'italiana (Italian-style Western). Italo-Western is also used, especi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Elusive Avengers
''The Elusive Avengers'' (russian: Неуловимые мстители, translit. ''Neulovimye mstiteli'') is a 1967 Soviet adventure film directed by Edmond Keosayan and made by Mosfilm. It is loosely based on the novel ''Red Devils'' by Pavel Blyakhin,English DVD cover. already filmed in 1923 under its original name. The film is an example of Ostern, set in Russian Civil War era Ukraine. The film has spawned two sequels, ''The New Adventures of the Elusive Avengers'' (1968) and ''The Crown of the Russian Empire, or Once Again the Elusive Avengers'' (1971). Synopsis The film is a version of a story about four youngsters who become heroes in the Russian Civil War. Danka, orphaned son of a Red agent, whose father was tortured and executed by the warlord Lyuty before his eyes, and his sister Ksanka join Valerka, a former schoolboy, and Yashka, a devil-may-care gypsy. They make a pledge of mutual assistance, determined to exact revenge on the bandits who are bringing so m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Sons Of Great Bear
''The Sons of Great Bear'' (german: Die Söhne der großen Bärin; literally, The Sons of the Great She-Bear) is a 1966 East German Western film, directed by the Czechoslovak filmmaker Josef Mach and starring the Yugoslav actor Gojko Mitić in the leading role of Tokei-ihto. The script was adapted from the eponymous series of novels by author Liselotte Welskopf-Henrich, and the music composed by Wilhelm Neef. The picture is a revisionist Western, pioneering the genre of the Ostern, and emphasises the positive portrayal of Native Americans, while presenting the Whites as antagonists. It is one of the most successful pictures produced by the DEFA film studio. Plot In 1874, the U.S. government encroaches on the lands of the Lakota people. Mattotaupa, an Oglala Lakota man, gambles with Red Fox, a White criminal, in a saloon. When seeing he has gold, Red Fox demands to know its origin. Mattotaupa refuses, and Red Fox murders him. Mattotaupa's son, the young and fierce warrior T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Man From The Boulevard Des Capucines
''A Man from the Boulevard des Capucines'' (russian: Человек с бульвара Капуцинов, Chelovek s bulvara Kaputsinov) is a Red Western comedy film of 1987 (Mosfilm production), with nods to silent film and the transforming power of celluloid. This film is particularly unusual in Soviet cinema for two reasons: first, it was directed by one of the few female Soviet directors of any stature, Alla Surikova, and second it was a rare post-modernist Soviet outing. The film had the highest ratings in the Soviet Union in 1987, with 60 million viewers. Plot Mr. John First (Johnny) is a cinematographer traveling to Santa Carolina when he is stopped by a band of robbers, headed by Black Jack. Johnny is the only one who does not pull out a gun and fight during the midst of the action and is thus questioned by Black Jack as to why. He then takes the book which Johnny is so fervently looking through and ends up mistaking it for a Bible, until he notices that it contains ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred to as the "Old West" or the "Wild West" and depicted in Western media as a hostile, sparsely populated frontier in a state of near-total lawlessness patrolled by outlaws, sheriffs, and numerous other stock "gunslinger" characters. Western narratives often concern the gradual attempts to tame the crime-ridden American West using wider themes of justice, freedom, rugged individualism, Manifest Destiny, and the national history and identity of the United States. History The first films that belong to the Western genre are a series of short single reel silents made in 1894 by Edison Studios at their Black Maria studio in West Orange, New Jersey. These featured veterans of ''Buffalo Bill's Wild West'' show exhibiting skills acquired by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state was a part of the Eastern Bloc in the Cold War. Commonly described as a communist state, it described itself as a socialist "workers' and peasants' state".Patrick Major, Jonathan Osmond, ''The Workers' and Peasants' State: Communism and Society in East Germany Under Ulbricht 1945–71'', Manchester University Press, 2002, Its territory was administered and occupied by Soviet forces following the end of World War II—the Soviet occupation zone of the Potsdam Agreement, bounded on the east by the Oder–Neisse line. The Soviet zone surrounded West Berlin but did not include it and West Berlin remained outside the jurisdiction of the GDR. Most scholars and academics describe the GDR as a totalitarian dictatorship. The GDR was established i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
