#Aleksandr Yakovlev

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

[podartists]

Femme M’Gogo, Dodoma (1925) | Alexandre Jacovleff (1887-1938)

[rossodimarte]

Aleksandr Evgenevich Yakovlev (1887-1938), Shu Fang

[sometimesigif]

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Actors & Actresses

al st john

alan tudyk

aleksandr demyanenko

aleksandr trofimov

aleksei kuznetsov

alexandra yakovleva

alice lake

alice mann

alisa freindlich

alla demidova

anastasiya vertinskaya

anita page

andy whitfield

anne cornwall

barbara brylska

bartine burkett

ben barns

beulah booker

brown eyes

bruno ganz

buster keaton

conrad veidt

dmitri zolotukhin

dorothy christy

dorothy sebastian

edward norton

ekaterina savinova

eleanor keaton

evgeniy leonov

heath ledger

igor starygin

inna churikova

innokenty smoktunovsky

irene purcell

irina alfyorova

ivan pyryev

jack black

jason isaacs

joe keaton

joe roberts

karin boyd

kate beckinsale

kate price

kathleen myers

kathryn mcguire

klara luchko

klaus maria brandauer

larisa guzeeva

linda hamilton

liv tyler

luciena ovchinnikova

luke the dog

lyudmila gurchenko

marceline day

margaret leahy

margarita terekhova

marina dyuzheva

marion byron

marion mack

mikhail boyarsky

mikhail kozakov

mona maris

nadezhda rumyantseva

naomi watts

natalie talmadge

natalya krachkovskaya

natalya seleznyova

natalya varley

nora arnezeder

norman reedus

oleg menshikov

oleg tabakov

orson welles

paul bettany

paulette dubost

peter falk

phyllis barry

phyllis haver

renee adoree

rosalind byrne

roscoe arbuckle

ruth dwyer

ruth selwyn

sally eilers

sally o'neil

snitz edwards

sofiko chiaureli

sofiya pilyavskaya

sybil seely

tatyana lyutaeva

thelma todd

tilda swinton

tom hiddleston

valentin smirnitsky

veniamin smekhov

virginia fox

whitney houston

yanina zheymo

yelena ukrashchyonok

yuriy yakovlev

Characters

anne of austria

aramis

assol

athos

bagheera

baloo

buckingham

cardinal richelieu

constance bonacieux

d'artagnan

daryl dixon

edward rochester

geoffrey chaucer

grigori rasputin

king louis xiii

laura lyons

milady de winter

mowgli

peter the great

porthos

raksha

sarah connor

shere khan

van helsing

Origin

american cinema

american tv show

austrian cinema

barbie movies

behind the scenes

czech cinema

french cinema

german cinema

hungarian cinema

other peoplez edits

russian animation

russian cinema

silent cinema

soviet animation

soviet cinema

soyuzmultfilm

Directors

adolf trotz

aleksandr ptushko

aleksandr sery

alexander rowe

aleksey korenev

alla surikova

andrei tarkovsky

brian helgeland

don bluth

edward sedgwick

eldar ryazanov

gary goldman

georgi yungvald-khilkevich

gleb panfilov

igor maslennikov

istván szabó

james cameron

jim jarmusch

kirill mikhanovsky

leonid gaidai

mikhail shapiro

mikhail tsekhanovsky

nadezhda kosheverova

owen hurley

peter jackson

robert stevenson

sergey gerasimov

stephen sommers

svetlana druzhinina

vadim medzhibovskiy

vera tsekhanovskaya

vladimir menshov

wim wenders

Time Periods

1910s

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

Films & Shows

a cruel romance

a knight's tale

a man from boulevard des capucines

adventures of mowgli

anastasia

at the beginning of glorious days

back stage

barbie as rapunzel

barbie as the princess & the pauper

barbie in the 12 dancing princesses

barbie in the nutcracker

barbie of swan lake

battling butler

carnival night

cinderella 1947

clever dog sonya

college

coney island

convict 13

cops

d'artagnan and the three musketeers

dämen der frauen

daydreams

der himmel über berlin

doughboys

for family reasons

free and easy

gentlemen of fortune

give me liberty

go west

good night nurse!

hard luck

high sign

his wedding night

ivan vasilievich changes occupation

jane eyre 1943

le roi des champs-élysées

look for a woman

love and doves

maugli

midshipmen onwards!

mirror

moonshine

morozko

my wife's relations

musketeers twenty years after

neigbors

oh doctor!

one week

only lovers left alive

operation y and shurik's other adventures

our hospitality

out west

parlor bedroom and bath

pokrov gates

prince of foxes

prisoner of the caucasus or shurik's new adventures

scarlet sails

seven chances

sherlock jr

sidewalks of new york

spartacus: blood and sand

spartacus: gods of the arena

speak easily

spite marriage

steamboat bill jr

sweet november

terminator 2: judgement day

the adventures of sherlock holmes and doctor watson

the balloonatic

the beginning

the bell boy

the blacksmith

the boat

the bodyguard

the butcher boy

the cameraman

the cook

the electric house

the fellowhip of the ring

the frozen north

the garage

the general

the girls

the goat

the haunted house

the hayseed

the holiday

the hound of the baskervilles

the incredible hulk

the irony of fate or enjoy your bath!

the kuban cossacks

the lord of the rings

the love nest

the navigator

the painted veil

the paleface

the passionate plumber

the rough house

the saphead

the scarecrow

the walking dead

the wild swans

the words

this is your life

three ages

van helsing

watch out for the automobile

what - no beer?

wings of desire

young russia

[goalhofer]

2024 olympics Kazakhstan roster

Archery

Alexandr Yeremenko (Astana)

Dauletkeldi Zhangbyrbay (Almaty)

Ilfat Abdullin (Eskeldi Awdin)

Athletics

David Yefremov (Karaganda)

Olga Safronov (Karaganda)

Daisy Jepkemei (Astana)

Norah Jeruto-Tanui (Astana)

Zhanna Mamazhanova (Semey)

Nadezhda Dubovitskaya (Semey)

Yelizaveta Matveyeva (Oskemen)

Badminton

Dmitriy Panarin (Kostanay)

Boxing

Saken Bibossinov (Turkistan)

Makhmud Sabrykhan (Shymkent)

Mukhammedsabyr Bazarbayuly-Uulu (Almaty)

Aslanbek Shymbergenov (Taraz)

Nurbek Oralbay-Rahatuli (Astana)

Aibek Oralbay-Rahatuli (Astana)

Kamshybek Kunkabayev (Kyzylorda)

Nazym Qzaibai (Zhetigen)

Karina Ibragimova (Koksetau)

Valentina Khalzova (Astana)

Breakdancing

Amir Zakirov (Petropavl)

Canoeing

Bekarys Ramatulla (Astana)

Sergey Yemelyanov (Jezkazgan)

Timur Khaidarov (Almaty)

Sergii Tokarnytskyi (Astana)

Mariya Brovkova (Alga)

Rufina Iskakova (Almaty)

Climbing

Amir Maimuratov (Astana)

Cycling

Andrey Chugay (Kokshetau)

Alexey Lutsenko (Petropavl)

Yevgeniy Fedorov (Aktobe)

Fencing

Vadim Sharlaimov (Oskemen)

Elmir Alimzhanov (Almaty)

Ruslan Kurbanov (Oskemen)

Aigerim Sarybay (Almaty)

Gymnastics

Milad Karimi (Almaty)

Nariman Kurbanov (Almaty)

Danil Mussabayev (Karaganda)

Elzhana Taniyeva (Shymkent)

Judo

Daniyar Shamshayev (Astana)

Nurlykhan Sharkhan (Kyzlorda)

Yeldos Smetov (Taraz)

Gusman Kyrgyzbayev (Almaty)

Abylaikhan Zhubanazar (Kazaly)

Kamila Berlikash (Almaty)

Abiba Abuzhakynova (Almaty)

Esmigul Kuyulova (Tashkent, Uzbekistan)

Pentathlon

Georgiy Boroda-Dudochkin (Almaty)

Yelena Potapenko (Almaty)

Rowing

Vladislav Yakovlev (Temirtau)

Shooting

Konstantin Malinovskiy (Astana)

Nikita Chiryukin (Almaty)

Eduard Yechshenko (Almaty)

Islam Satpayev (Almaty)

Arina Altukhova (Almaty)

Irina Yunusmetova (Astana)

Alexandra Le (Almaty)

Mariya Dmitriyenko (Shymkent)

Assem Orynbay (Yntymak)

Swimming

Adilbek Mussin (Astana)

Xeniya Ignatova (Saran)

Table tennis

Kirill Gerasimenko (Astana)

Taekwondo

Samirkhon Ababakirov (Astana)

Batyrkhan Toleugali (Almaty)

Tennis

Alexander Bublik (Monte Carlo, Monaco)

Alexander Shevchenko; Jr. (Vienna, Austria)

Aleksandr Nedovyesov (Almaty)

Elena Rybakina (Moscow, Russia)

Yulia Putintseva (Boca Raton, Florida)

Triathlon

Ekaterina Shabalina (Astana)

Wrestling

Meirambek Kartbay (Aktobe)

Azamat Dauletbekov (Astana)

Alisher Yergali (Taraz)

Yusup Batirmurzaev (Aktobe)

Aidos Sultangali (Almaty)

Demeu Zhadrayev (Usharal)

Nursultan Tursynov (Semipalatinsk)

Alimkhan Syzdykov (Astana)

[mariaangels]

Aleksandr Yakovlev

[dare-g]

Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession (1973)

[viandede-porque]

Я обязательно выживу...

[thekcmcus]

YAKOVLEV Aleksandr Evgenievich (1887-1938)   

 Sara, Sara race, Ouandja, 1925,   

Banda accroupi, Ialinga (Oubangui-Chari) Squatting Banda, Ialinga (Oubangui-Chari)

Russian Africanism

[joaquimblog]

Photograph by Marty Sohl / Met Opera

Photograph by Marty Sohl / Met Opera

Photograph by Marty Sohl / Met Opera

El 22 de desembre de 1965 Montserrat Caballé debutava al vell MET cantant la Marguerite del Faust de Gounod. Rudolf Bing va voler que l’esclat operístic que suposava la irrupció de la soprano catalana en el panorama internacional tingués el seu debut en el vell teatre que estava a punt d’enderrocar-se i a corre-cuita va fer un forat a la programació per introduir-la. Ençà d’aquell dia memorable fins el 10 d’octubre de  1985 que s’acomiadà de la sala del Lincoln Center amb Tosca al costat de Pavarotti i MacNeil, la soprano catalana va deixar un llegat de nits memorables interpretant Leonora a Il Trovatore, Desdemona a Otello, Violetta a La Traviata, Luisa Miller, Liu a Turandot, Amelia a un Ballo in Maschera, Elisabetta a Don Carlo, Norma, Elena a I Vespri Siciliani, Mimi a La Bohéme, Manon a Manon Lescaut,  Aida, Ariadne auf Naxos, Adriana Lecouvreur i Tosca, a banda de la seva participació en gales i concerts també en el mateix teatre.

D’aquesta historia gloriosa al llarg de quasi 20 anys, els millors de la seva carrera, ahir abans de començar la representació d’Aida, òpera que ella havia interpretat al costat de Plácido Domingo, Marilyn Horne, Mignon Dunn, Robert nagy, Louis Quilico o Cornell MacNeil en dues representacions sota la direcció de James Levine  a l’any 1976 no se’n va dir res. Cap menció i hi va haver ocasió quan el Sr Gelb va presentar la temporada entrevistat per la soprano Isabel Leonard, tot i que allò que mereixia Caballé hagués estat que el director general de la casa hagués sortit davant de la  cortina una vegada el director musical hagués pujat al podi orquestral, per adresar-se al públic i a tot el món que veia la representació als cinemes, i fer-li un merescut homenatge a qui els va donar tant. Estic segur que amb James Levine al podi no hagués passat.

Per sort Roberto Alagna que va ser entrevistat al segon entreacte, juntament amb Elina Garanca per promocionar la propera transmissió als cinemes, Samson et Dalila, que ells protagonitzen i va ser aleshores quan va aprofitar l’ocasió i abans d’acabar l’entrevista va tenir un record per Caballé i va mostrar la sensibilitat que els va mancar a Gelb, Netrebko, Rachvelishvili, Antonenko, Leonard que els entrevistava, i els dos empleats del MET que també van intervenir durant el segon entreacte, aquests amb l’afegitó que van fer un repàs de les dives que van cantar Aida al teatre, no van tenir. Tots ells sense excepció tenint motius suficients per dedicar-li unes paraules van oblidar a Caballé, i només la generositat i la bonhomia del tenor francès va reparar un error vergonyant per una institució que sempre s’havia caracteritzat per l’estima als cantants. El tenor els va donar una lliçó que per sort ha quedat enregistrada. La sala 4 del Cinemes Comèdia de Barcelona va aplaudir  de manera espontània i alliberadora el gest d’Alagna. Bravo per a ell i un clatellot per a tota la resta.

Ahir tornava la temporada del MET als cinemes amb el primer dels 10 títols programats i ho feia amb la popular i difícil Aida, en la coneguda, luxosa i hollywodiana producció de Sonja Frisell sota la direcció musical de Nicola Luisotti i amb un repartiment que incloïa a Anna Netrebko, Aleksandrs Antonenko, Anita Rachvelishvili, Quinn Kelsey i Dmitry Beloselskiy en els cinc rols principals.

Em va agradar molt la direcció de Luisiotti, tot i que una mica arbitrària en d’utilització de tempos més aviats allargassats, però traient amb la complicitat de l’excel·lent orquestra del MET unes sonoritats de riquesa expressiva i descriptiva, sobretot en els dos darrers actes, la veritable perla d’aquesta òpera. Acompanyava als cantants però també tenia coses a dir en els moment on Verdi atorga un protagonisme orquestral en l’acte del Nil, preciós ambient de nocturnitat i misteri, o en tota l’escena del judici, en tots els aspectes el gran moment de tota la representació.

L’Orquestra del MET mostra una vegada més la qualitat i la categoria amb un so sumptuós i uns solistes de gran nivell. També el cor va mostrar un bon estat de forma, tot i que la disposició dels micròfons els va perjudicar en algun moment, on es destacaven les veus d’un grupet de sopranos sobre la resta. Res atribuïble a la formació coral i si a l’enginyer de so de la transmissió.

Vocalment la representació per a mi va tenir una clara triomfadora, la mezzosoprano Anita Rachvelishvili, que a partir d’un concepte bastant proper al belcantisme (molt en l’estil Simionato) va anar transformant la personalitat dramàtica d’Amneris fins obtenir un triomf sense discussió al final de la gran escena del judici quan anatemitza a Ramfis i els sacerdots. La veu sensual, poderosa i plena de matisos de la jove (28 de juny de 1984) mezzo georgiana es va apoderar de la representació perquè la seva interpretació era sincera, espontània i natural. La quasi perfecta dicció i el sentit que atorgava a cada paraula i frase donava versemblança a l’acció i l’homogeneïtat del registre, sense necessitat de forçar ni en la zona aguda, ni en la greu que flueix sense sons oberts o de  pit, van fer la resta. Una interpretació de molta categoria.

Anna Netrebko va desplegar el seu poder vocal en total plenitud, però la soprano russa ja fa molt temps que s’ha encaparrat en desvirtuar la seva pròpia veu falsejant l’emissió i embrutant-la amb unes sonoritats que ella es deu pensar que així és més dramàtica. Res més lluny de les seves intencions perquè quan Netrebko brilla més és quan la veu flueix lliure i encara lluminosa de la zona central a l’agut, que quasi sempre és afinat i a vegades emès en un forte excessiu, que no és mai un crit tot i que a vegades ho sembla. Però quan vol demostrar el que no és, aleshores la seva interpretació no és ni natural, ni fresca, ni bonica. Enfosqueix la veu de manera absolutament innecessària i els resultats que pretén assolir van en detriment d’una línia que de mantenir-se en la vocalitat de lírica plena, que és el que realment és, serien infinitament millors. Ella no va tenir un record per a Caballé i jo en canvi la vaig recordar i enyorar molt en l’acte del Nil. Ves quines coses, oi?

Aleksandrs Antonenko no ho podia fer pitjor. Després d’un dels “Celeste Aida” més vergonyants que he escoltat mai, es va dedicar a destrossar la partitura, sense coneixement de l’estil, sense un domini tècnic de la veu, sense un fraseig acurat i amb una emissió estentòria que feria l’orella i la sensibilitat musical dels que l’escoltàvem amb resignació. No puc arribar entendre, no tan sols que li llencessin bravos, sinó que l’aplaudissin. Inadmissible.

Tampoc em va agradar, aquest gaire, Quinn Kelsey. El baríton nord-americà té al cap a Cornell MacNeil, i fa bé perquè pocs barítons han estat tan verdians com ell, però alguna cosa no ha acabat d’aprendre del seu col·lega i compatriota, perquè em va semblar que frasejava més que cantava, en uns estil verista que tant ha perjudicat l’estil belcantista i verda. Al seu favor cal dir que la dicció era molt clara i se li entenia tot el que deia, però no em va semblar apropiat al rol, potser un Scarpia, però no un Amonasro i menys un Germont, que és el proper que li sentirem. En fi, tot forma part d’aquesta manca de rigor que poc importa en un públic que confon massa sovint bou per bestia grossa.

Dmitry Beloselskiy va ser un Ramfis insuficient n la zona greu, la que l’hauria de distingir com a baix, per tant impossible quedar satisfet amb la seva prestació. En canvi el Rei de Ryan Speedo Green em va semblar molt més notori del que és habitualment.

Molt bé la sacerdotessa de  Gabriella Reyes i correcte tirant a notable el missatger de l’esperançador i jove tenor Arseny Yakovlev.

La producció de Frisell cau en tots els tòpics possibles d’un Egipte tan fals com Hollywood ens ha fet creure. Jo pensaria que en l’època faraònica els grans temples on es situen la majoria d’accions dramàtiques de l’obra haurien de presentar un esplendor acabat d’estrenar, per dir-ho de manera senzilla, aleshores perquè les pedres i grans escultures mostren signes d’envelliment? És clar que les grans dinasties van durar molts anys i també tenien temps de deteriorar-se, però no tant com sembla fer entendre les magnífiques escenografies que ens proposa la producció de Frisell, obra de Gianni Quaranta, mentre que el vestuari de Dada Saligeri és un compendi del fons d’armari de la Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. I el millor del cas és que els novaiorquesos encara aplaudeixen la transformació de l’escena entre el primer i el segon quadre del segon acte o l’entrada a escena d’un carro estirat per dos magnífics i inquiets cavalls Trigaran a fer un nova producció.

La intervenció del ballet la vaig tribar sobrera, per la poca inspiració coreogràfica i per l’execució encara menys inspiradora.

Aida és quasi tan difícil de representar com de cantar. És molt fàcil caure en el kitsch mems ranci intentant ser rigorós a la manera fantasiosa d’un Egipte inventat. Millor inspirar-se en el Faraó de Jerzy Kawalerowicz que no pas en Cecil B. DeMille sempre i quan no es vulgui situar a Wall Street, és clar.

Un inici que de no haver estat per l’atemptat d’Antonenko a la partitura i per la tristor que m’envaïa en veure que la gran Aida de Montserrat Caballé en un dels seus teatres fetitxe, potser m’hagués agradat més. Se’m va fer llarga, llarga, llarga i hagués volgut que la fatal pietra hagués sepultat la representació després de la contundent “Empia razza! Anatema su voi! La vendetta del ciel scenderà! Anatema su voi!”

AIDA Giuseppe Verdi–Antonio Ghislanzoni

Aida………………..Anna Netrebko Radamès……………..Aleksandrs Antonenko Amneris……………..Anita Rachvelishvili Amonasro…………….Quinn Kelsey Ramfis………………Dmitry Beloselskiy King………………..Ryan Speedo Green Messenger……………Arseny Yakovlev Priestess……………Gabriella Reyes Dance……………….Jennifer Cadden Dance……………….Bradley Shelver

Chorus and Orchester Metropolitan Opera House Direcció musical……………Nicola Luisotti

Direcció escènica…………..Sonja Frisell Escenografia…………Gianni Quaranta Disseny de vestuari……..Dada Saligeri Disseny de llums…….Gil Wechsler Coreografia………..Alexei Ratmansky

Medtropolitan Opera House, New York, 6 d’octubre de 2018.

MET 2018/2019: AIDA (NETREBKO-RACHVELISHVILI-ANTONENKO-KELSEY-BELOSELSKIY;FRISELL-LUISOTTI) El 22 de desembre de 1965 Montserrat Caballé debutava al vell MET cantant la Marguerite del Faust de Gounod.

[grantcary]

The Diamond Arm [1969] vs Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future [1973]

[burnt-toast-life]

did you know that wikipedia has 9 articles about different people named Alexander Yakovlev

Alexander Ivanovich Yakovlev, entomologist and painter

Alexander Stepanovich Yakovlev, writer

Alexandre Jacovleff, painter

Alexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev, aeronautical engineer and founder of the aircraft company Yakovlev Design Bureau

Alexander Yakovlev, Russian politician who was the driving force behind the glasnost and perestroika reform policies

Aleksandre Maksimovich Yakovlev, legal scholar

Alexander Yakovlev (diplomat)

Aleksandr Yakovlev (actor) (article only available in Russian)

Alexander Yakovlev (fighter)

I did not! Thank you for sharing

[csykora]

Vanya, 1961

We have to talk about Wayne.

[A black and white photor of Wayne Gretzy, with a sultry mullet, smiling at the camera.]

I did not want to talk about Wayne, here. But it’s like Wayne Gretzky has bodyslammed his way into my kitchen and been chatting all month.

If you google it, Wayne Gretzky’s family background comes up as Russian, Belarussian, Ukrainian, Polish, all of those or just ‘something suspiciously Russianish.’ (If I spell his name wrong somewhere it’s because 1) I can’t spell 2) I’m still dealing with how it would more properly be pronounced “Hretzky”.)

The region his grandparents left just before 1918 had been several countries that don’t exist anymore, and mostly a war zone. At home, they spoke Ukrainian. Wayne’s father Walter Gretzky grew up in Ontario, in the Ukrainian language, and in hockey, but when he tried out for the NHL in ’54 he was told that he “just wasn’t big enough” for Canada’s game at 5’9”. That same year Coach Tarasov had brought his Soviet team to their very first World Championships. They won an unexpected gold, and they were…undersized.

By the ’60s, Valeri Kharlamov hit the world stage…at a glorious 5’8”. (He wasn’t even the top scorer that first year—that went to Anatoli Firsov, also 5’9”.) Walter’s son was weaving between tin cans and bleach bottles in the backyard, while Coach Tarasov taught his skaters to circle cones. 

Krutov, Larionov, and Makarov stood 5’9”, 5’9” and 5’8” all together. None of them would have been favorites to make the NHL if they had been born in Canada in the ’50s (or today). Wayne had to go and be a 6 foot freak, but he grew up playing his dad’s short hockey. Swooping ballet-and-chess hockey. You know, Soviet hockey. 

"The Soviets and Gretzky changed the NHL game,” says Ken Dryden. "Gretzky, the kid from Brantford with the Belarusian name, was the acceptable face of Soviet hockey. No Canadian kid wanted to play like Makarov or Larionov. They all wanted to play like Gretzky."

Before the ’81 final Coach Tikhonov hammered on Slava’s shoulder and told the Green Unit, “‘You’re going to play all the time against him. Every time he’s on ice, you have to go.’”

Sergei and Slava knew Wayne’s game already, from the ’78 World Juniors.

[Teenage Slava and Wayne holding each other in the handshake line. Wayne is making eye contact with the camera and I want to smack him with a rolled up newspaper.]

“I never give him space, I never give him time,” Slava said. “I knew he was going to kill us. If I would say I knew all the time what he would do, I would be a fool. That’s why he’s the Great One. He’s got lots of—what you call them?—in his sleeve, to pull out.”

The Canadians put on the pressure at first, generating lots of shots, but the Soviet game didn’t care about shot differential. By the second, the Green Unit got bored of shutting down shots and confiscated the Canadians’ puck. With Sergei and Vova sliding in and out of that tight formation around Igor, and Slava and Lyosha swinging around them like counterweights, they passed it back and forth instead of forward, often sliding it out sideways to a player they couldn’t possibly see coming in hot behind them.

[Vova, skating daintily down the ice into the attacking zone, about to catch the puck out of the air with his stick.]

Igor, who was starting to see himself as the benevolent Russian mother to his little family of five, ‘feeding’ them points when they whined about being hungry, claimed the first goal. The others took care of  scoring seven more.

[Igor celebrating in front of the goal with Vova stuffed under his arm, as Sergei gets ready to jump on them and the Canadians look on.]

Moments after the loss, Wayne was breathless. “Just can’t compete,” he said into the postgame crowd of cameras. “Just too . . . difficult.”

“To see them dismantle us 8–1 was mind-boggling, because we were such a good team,” he said after. “‘If they beat this team 8–1, how good are they?’” 

He knew Sergei and Slava, as much as they knew him. But it was his first tournament at the men’s level, just like Larionov’s. They were both 20 year-old top line centers, bizarre phenomena, both not quite fast enough to make up for not being strong enough, which forced them to become almost orchestral conductors of the players around them.

"Definitely,” Wayne thought, staring across the ice. “He saw the ice the same as me. Passing the puck, hockey sense, probably as similar to me as any player who has played the game."

Igor was in the middle of his own revelation. Two months ago he’d been in the two-stoplight town he’d lived all his life. “Now here I was, playing against men I’d heard and read about for years. It was a great feeling, and we won that last game so decisively, but so many feelings were pressing in on me….” He was basking in the abundance of newspapers, something new to read every day.

The Canada Cup wrapped up with a weird interlude where Alan Eagleson wouldn’t let the Soviet team take the actual Canada Cup out of Canada with them, because it had cost too much money. A trucker from Winnipeg thought that was shabby, so he put together a fundraiser and got his buddy who cast truck parts to make a copy of the Cup, which he presented to the Soviet ambassador Aleksandr Yakovlev, who thanked him and gave him a different hockey trophy that he literally had lying around and a Russian hockey training manual to, quote, “open up the secrets of our national game.” The exchange was greeted with rapturous boos from the crowd whenever anyone said “Alan Eagleson.” The hockey-fanatic Winnipeg trucker told the papers that, just to be clear, yes he was a red-blooded Canadian nationalist, but he hated NHL leadership so much he had to help the Ruskies win.

Wayne would do whatever it took to get his hands on some Soviet secrets too, by which I mean ‘Igor Larionov’s phone number.’

Main

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[bm-european-art]

Arab Merchant, Aleksandr Yakovlev, 1930, Brooklyn Museum: European Art

Size: 19 1/8 x 12 13/16in. (48.6 x 32.5cm) Frame: 23 1/4 x 17 in. (59.1 x 43.2 cm) Medium: Oil on canvas

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/30417

[stroccospoetry]

Join us for Baratynsky Day!

An online celebration of Russian poetry presented by St. Rocco's Readings for the Dispossessed and Ugly Duckling Presse.

Saturday, March 6, 2021 beginning at 4pm (EST)

Click here to register if you would like to join in the Zoom meeting.

Featuring opening remarks by Rawley Grau, translator/editor of A Science Not For the Earth. And readings from:

Elina Alter

Joshua Beckman

Ilya Bernstein

Alexis Bhagat

Marina Blitshtein

Mónica de la Torre

Ian Dreiblatt

Michael Dumanis

Joshua Edwards

Farnoosh Fathi

Robert Fitterman

Kenyatta JP Garcia

Henry Goldkamp

Anna Halberstadt

Ailish Hopper

Bethany Ides

Adeena Karasick

Matthew Longabucco

Dmitri Manin

Irina Mashinski

Andrew Maxwell

Ainsley Morse

Anna Moshcovakis

Gala Mukomolova

Michael Peters

Alina Pleskova

Julien Poirier

Pareesa Pourian

Harsha Ram

Michael Ruby

Simon Schuchat

David Shook

Aleksandr Skidan

Ivan Sokolov

Christopher Stackhouse

Marina Temkina

Julia Trubikhina

Cecilia Vicuna

Susan Wheeler

Uljana Wolf

Aimee Wright Clow

Lynn Xu

Anton Yakovlev

Matvei Yankelevich

[agentnico]

Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future (1973) Review

Say what you will about the Soviet Union, but they did know how to make good films back then! Some of my favourite films come from then, so here are my thoughts on one of the best comedies of all time in my opinion. To me its a classic, to many of you out there you probably haven’t even heard of it, so let me introduce you to this untapped foreign gem...

Plot: An ordinary Soviet building manager, living in the 20th century, is extremely similar-looking to a Tsar of All Rus' - Ivan IV the Terrible (1530-1584). He would never have known about this, but one day his neighbour created a time machine.

The film presents a culture clash between Russia in the 16th century and the Soviet Union. This clash comes in the form of the Ivan the Terrible lookalike ending up back in time during his doppelganger’s era, whilst Ivan the Terrible himself ends up in modern day (at the time of the film’s release this would have been 70′s Soviet Russia). As one can imagine, farcical situations emerge from the two being unfamiliar with each other's times and social positions, but the jokes themselves don't seem predictable. On the contrary, the whole thing has a huge, infectious sense of fun about it, from the silly opening credits to one of the character’s breaking of the fourth wall, to Ivan’s Slavonic archaisms and his lookalike’s inability to do the same, to the self-consciously reset ending. It feels like everyone involved decided they gave a damn only about making a fun movie, and the fun is infectious. 

This film is popular and remembered amongst Russian audiences because of its many layers. You may enjoy it simply for it’s slapstick comedy, someone else can view it for the great dialogue and language, while yet others can view it as a social commentary. You also get to witness some of the top comedic talents in film of the Soviet era, including Aleksandr Demyanenko, Mikhail Pugovkin, Leonid Kuravlyov, Vladimir Etush, Saveliy Kramarov and the list goes on. To my non-Russian readers (which is probably all of you), these names mean absolutely nothing, but know, that these are some talented folks. An especially huge shout-out to the casting of Yuriy Yakovlev, who totally captures the aggressive and authoritative nature of Ivan the Terrible, but also manages to play a complete opposite weak-type with the lookalike. 

It adds up if you know the Russian language and history, but even if you don't you will still find this film funny and charming because there is always something to take away. And yes, for non-Russian viewers wanting to watch this film, yes, it does mean you have to watch a movie with subtitles on, but heck, if South Korean film Parasite can win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, why can’t you give this one a shot?

Overall score: 9/10

A link to the entire film (with English subtitles) on YouTube, should you wish to check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3xVdxDWFWU