Svetlana Gaytan
He is a cold-blooded and dangerous criminal. He always works alone and never leaves a trace. The action takes place in St. Petersburg. Major Kuznetsov and his guys from the police taking the operational development of the Soloist, a dangerous fugitive who came to Peter in order to allegedly sell counterfeit money. Trying to stop the Soloist, killed friend and teammate Kuznetsov. For this reason, Kuznetsov is cooperating with the prosperous businessman Igor Samarin, who has his own accounts with the Soloist…
The story unfolds in St. Petersburg during the season of White Nights, when night becomes curiously indistinguishable from day. Masha has struck it lucky: she is about to wed an American, Tim, eager to bring home a beautiful Russian wife. This marriage can take her light-years beyond her simple provincial roots, but for now Masha has a family to take care of, and she dutifully sends all the wages she earns to them. To save money she even dupes her fiancée by returning the expensive wedding dress he has bought for her to the boutique and sawing an identical one for herself. The night before the wedding Masha hastens to meet Tim, but fails to make it to the other side of the River Neva before the drawbridge is raised. The betrothed find themselves standing on the pavement with the mighty river between them...
Cologne towards the end of the Second World War. The city is in ruins, everyone is afraid, many are dead. It is a time of great inhumanity. Cologne’s young Edelweiss Pirates refuse to submit to the pressure of the Nazi regime. They fight with the Hitler Youth and scrawl anti-war propaganda on walls. Karl is an Edelweiss Pirate; his younger brother, Peter, is in the Hitler Youth movement. The two young men have been alone ever since their mother’s death in a bombing raid; their father is serving at the front, and their older brother, Otto, has been killed in action. Otto’s financée, Cilly, is doing her best to survive the war with her children. Carl is trying to help her.
During Christmas, in the winter sky are shining magic stars and miracles happen. The story of a talented man who had a gift and love.
Director Lydia Bobrova pictures the bleak life in the Russian countryside by showing some events in the life of three brothers and their families. The three brothers are different in character, but all suffer from the dreariness of kolchoz life. The title is derived from a nostalgic Russian song. The wild geese have the possibility of moving on to milder climes, a possibility that Russian country people don’t have.
Young Sasha is brought into a state-run children's home because his mother died early and his father spends most of his life in prison. The conditions are like in a penal institution. Sasha tries several times to escape and to search for his father.
With a brother dedicated to punk rock stardom at any cost and a drunken father who chases skirt between robotic dancing lessons from the TV, young Senka stands as much chance of nurture as the hero of Truffaut's 400 Blows. The amazing thing about Ogorodnikov's film is that it was made in Russia. Clearly, plenty of Soviet teenies share the nihilistic feelings of their Western counterparts, and the extensive footage of safety-pin chic at concerts perhaps points to a sound export instinct on the director's part. Senka's brother Kostya is under pressure from Howmuch, a very heavy rocker, to steal a synthesiser from the Community Centre, so to protect him Senka steals it himself. The story occupies little more space than the music, but the performances are splendid enough to lodge Senka's predicament in the heart.
