Top 10 Movies from Russia and the Soviet Union

Who would’ve thought a crash course in history could be so jaw-droppingly gorgeous? Filmed inside the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Alexander Sokurov’s spectacular pageant follows a ghostly narrator as he travels through three hundred years of Russian history. With a run time of ninety-six minutes, this monumental movie stars 2,000 actors moving between thirty-three rooms…and the whole thing was shot in one, long take. Finished in less than a day and featuring truly unbelievable choreography, “Russian Ark” is a brilliant testament to post-Soviet filmmaking.

Shot, for the most part, in haunting black and white, this period piece is one of several Andrei Tarkovsky films to make our list. Set in the brutal world of medieval Russia, this epic follows Andrei Rublev, history’s greatest icon painter, on his journey from idealistic monk to skeptical cynic back to a believer. Both lyrically beautiful and shockingly violent, Tarkovsky’s film ponders the artist’s role in a world plagued by cruelty and bloodshed. The film was so complex, spiritually and politically, that the Soviets banned this masterpiece for years before releasing a censored version in 1971.

The epitome of arthouse, Andrei Tarkovsky’s “The Mirror” doesn’t need a plot to convey its powerful emotions. Loosely based on the director’s life, this avant-garde drama shows the world through the eyes of a dying man who remembers the various stages of his short life. Flashing backwards and forwards in time, “The Mirror” also changes from black-and-white to color and includes passages of poetry read by Tarkovsky’s dad. Despite censors’ best efforts to shelve the film, “The Mirror” lives on as Tarkovsky’s most personal work.

Millions of Russians died in World War II, but until the 1950s, filmmakers were forbidden from discussing these horrors. So when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gave artists freedom to explore taboo subjects, Mikhail Kalatozov created “The Cranes Are Flying.” This heartbreaking drama tells the story of two lovers separated by war. Not only does it feature realistic battle scenes, it focuses on the struggles of women left behind. This anti-war film changed how many Westerners viewed Soviets and even won the Palme d’Or.

One of the most horrifying movies ever made, this grisly film follows a thirteen-year-old boy who’s plunged into hell when Nazis invade his homeland. Hoping for glory and excitement, the boy joins up with Russian partisans, but after Germans murder his family, he slowly descends into madness. Taking its title from a chapter in the Book of Revelation, “Come and See” features some of the most disturbing images of any war film ever. Bloody, shocking, and emotionally devastating, this Soviet film is a scathing attack on war itself.

Who needs a story when you’ve got a camera? Working over three years in three different cities, radical director Dziga Vertov created “Man with a Movie Camera,” a silent documentary that purportedly shows what an ordinary day in an average Soviet town would look like. In addition to amazing images of city life and meta-shots of the cameraman and editor, Vertov’s experimental classic pioneered film techniques such as split screens, jump cuts, slow motion, and Dutch angles. Basically, “Man with a Movie Camera” wrote the book on editing and cinematography.

When psychologist Kris Kelvin arrives on a mysterious space station, he finds himself lost in a world where past and present collide. Floating above the ocean planet of Solaris, Kris discovers the cosmonaut crew suffering from severe psychological problems…and that’s when his dead wife shows up, which may or may not give Kris a chance to make amends for past mistakes. A patient film full of dreamlike shots, “Solaris” isn’t your standard space opera. Instead, Andrei Tarkovsky’s sci-fi masterpiece is a slow-moving meditation on love, loss, and grief.

At over seven hours long, this cinematic take on Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel gives new meaning to the word “epic.” The most expensive Soviet film of its day, director Sergei Bondarchuk successfully turned a supposedly unfilmable book into a full-blown spectacle. Released in four parts, “War and Peace” follows lovers caught in the Napoleonic War and features a cast in the tens of thousands. With historical props, beautiful costumes, and elaborate battle scenes starring actual soldiers, “War and Peace” impressed audiences everywhere and won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

What would you do to make your wishes come true? In Andrei Tarkovsky’s surreal art drama, people must travel into the Zone, a mysterious site fenced off from the world. Led by a professional guide called a Stalker, two men head into the Zone to find the fabled Room, a mystical chamber that fulfills dreams. Full of long takes and otherworldly imagery, this cult favorite is an eerie experience that demands your full attention and strangely shadows the Chernobyl disaster seven years before it occurred.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- “Brother” (1997)
- “Strike” (1925)
- “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors” (1964)
- “Storm Over Asia” (1928)
- “Okraina” (1933)

Directed by Sergei Eisenstein, this is often hailed as one of the greatest movies ever made. Ordered by the Soviets to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Potemkin mutiny, this masterwork of silent propaganda tells the story of sailors who rise up against their cruel commanders. But when their rebellion spreads onshore, the Tsarist government strikes back, leading to a bloody massacre and one of cinema’s greatest scenes. A powerful and politically charged flick, “Battleship Potemkin” also introduced the world to the film technique known as montage.

Do you agree with our list? What’s your favorite Soviet or Russian film? For more incredible Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.