Product Description

An extraordinary collection of Russias most important animated short films by Russias world renowned directors and artists. Winners of the top prizes at Annecy , Cannes, Colombo, Delhi, Espinho, Grijon, Hiroshima, Huesca, Kiev, Krakow Lille, London, Mamaia, Melbourne, Moscow New York, Oberhausen, Odense, Ottawa, Stuttgart, Sydney, Tampere, Tours, Venice, and Zagreb. Presented in anthology format for the first time. As seen on Bravo and the Independent Film Channel. This DVD covers the years 1962-1968.

Fyodor Khitruk Story of One Crime 1962 20 min
Fyodor Khitruk Man in A Frame 1966 10 min
Vadim Kurchevsky My Green Crocodile 1966 10 min
Andrei Khrjanovsky There Lived Kozyavin 1966 7 min
Rasa Strautmane Mountain of Dinosaurs 1967 10 min
Yefem Gamburg Passions of Spies 1967 20 min
Andrei Khrjanovsky Glass Harmonica 1968 20 min
Nikolai Serebryakov Ball of Yarn 1968 10 min
Anatoly Petrov Singing Teacher 1968 3 min
Fyodor Khitruk Film Film Film 1968 20 min

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #64051 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-04-11
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Animated, Color, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: Russian
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 133 minutes

Customer Reviews

Da, Da, Russia!
A great anthology of animated films from a country with a rich (yet often hidden) sense of humour. The films range from the Soviet system bashing of "Man in the Frame" & "There Lived Kozyavin" to morality plays such as "Ball of Wool" and "Glass Harmonica" to the delightful silliness of "Film, Film, Film" & "The Passion of Spies". These films provide a rare glimpse into the REAL world of the Soviet Union of the sixties. A rich compilation certain to please anyone who appreciates wit & wisdom in animation.

A forgotten era
I really enjoyed these old Soviet-era shorts. People who don't understand the millieu will probably scratch their heads and not follow a few stories too well. (Even my fourty-something wife needed a brief explanation of the mindset behind the first one.) Russian humour is also somewhat different than our Western humour.

The animation styles aren't much to get excited about. They are all some fourty years old from a studio that wasn't on the cutting edge of animation technology. However, I found a lot of artistic appeal in the simple techniqes.

While I can't give it a perfect score, I found a lot of charm and enjoyment in these shorts from a bygone culture... with a small disturbing twinge with regard to how much the shorts reflect our own modern society's attitudes and direction.

Excellent collection with a glitch
All four volumes are excellent - they represent the best of soviet era animation. There is one glitch. As a Russian speaker I was quite disappointed with the fact that subtitles stay on the screen all the time and cannot be removed. It is rather annoying. If you are a Russian speaker - stay away from it.