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Very best movie i ever watch

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

The movie is wildly uneven but lively and timely - in its own surreal way

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

like many Russian films, Vanished Empire could be understand especially by the public from the East. for the small detail, for the life style , for the relations between characters, for a special form of poetry. in same measure, it is an universal story of a teenager. and the only ingredient who does difference by many other films about same theme is the atmosphere of Brezhnev era. the mixture of nostalgia and emotions, the adventures of a teenager and his desires, fragments of the universe of his family members, the way to discover his roots, the love story who seems be a misunderstood, the final dialogue and the beautiful performance of Aleksandr Lyapin - who not represents a surprise - are tools for define a time more than a biography. nothing new. only the flavor of a period . honest presented, realistic reproduced at the level of an age of searches. humor and crisis of an empire. and few scenes who are potential of gem.

Karen Shakhnazarov's films are all, in a sense, "period pieces." They find a solid place in international film festival culture without ever quite winning the prize. "Vanished Empire" had a particularly personal ring for me, since I began my long-time study in and out of Soviet/Post-Soviet Russia in the period this film depicts (circa 1974), and had an uncomfortably eerie sense of deja-vu throughout the film. Searching for an American parallel, I came up with "American Graffiti," where Richard Dreyfus's character is caught between remaining in his Middle-American hometown or heading off to an Eastern college (as he does) and returning many years later to write about it.Shakhnazarov's film has a similarly autobiographical feel to it, although his young hero ends embracing, rather than rejecting, the culture from which he emerged: the Russian intelligentsia. The meticulous reproduction of the Soviet 1970's offers a vaguely satiric self- portrait, hinting at the educated class's role in preserving world culture and history while rejecting indoctrination into Soviet politics and values. Therefore, the young hero, Sergey's true love is not, as he believes, the "good girl," Lyuda, who prefers the ACTUAL recording of "Swan Lake" (a covert reference to the ballet's role in service to the state) contained in the black market record jacket of the Rolling Stone latest release to the Western contraband recording that Sergey has paid dearly for, expecting to win her affections. Sergey's instinctual pull towards rebellion keep him from romanic fulfillment, but bring him closer to his true self.Instead, Sergey comes to love and honor his dying mother, and follows his grandfather's advice by making a pilgrimage to the archaeological site that represented his family's life's work.In the ancient desert sands, Sergey finds the source of his earlier hallucinatory, drug-induced vision.Emblematic details (cars, records, ancient trinkets) speak to viewers with Shaknazarov's background. Reading them properly, however, requires something of the education Shaknazarov's hero gained in the intervening years between the "coming of age" story and the film's contemporary epilogue.

This is the kind of film which captures the spirit of the age, which gives us an excellent cast playing characters who are all too real, in their world, over 35 years ago. Everything that one could have heard about Leonid Brezhnev's Soviet Union can be found here. Compared to today, it was an era where life was simpler, yet offered far less opportunities than the West. Despite the differences, by the end of this film, it is very easy to relate to the characters, especially Sergei Narbakov, the protagonist, and his friend, Stepan Molodtsov. Our humanity is a shared experience.The outstanding performance by the Armenian actor, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, must not be overlooked, either. Alternating between old wisdom and very dry humor, he stands out as Sergei's grandfather. I have already recommended this film to friends who share with me an equal curiosity about the USSR, an acronym now consigned to history books.

We see few Russian films here in the U.S. and our familiarity with modern day Russian life is limited. Here we get a view of life in the Brezhnev 1970s. "Vanished Empire" reassures us that the Russians are just like everybody else, save for social conditioning and a scarcity of consumer goods. It's convincing characters are warm, animated and full of very familiar foibles. But it is charming how readily family and friends "do" for each other there,enthusiastically.Yet this is a society so parched for Western-style consumer goods that a used Japanese radio can get a buddy out of police custody, a nice jacket plus gas money can induce a cab driver to take someone to the hinterlands and back.Sergey, the focal character, is well and charmingly rendered by young Aleksandr Lyapin. Like a lot of 18 year old college boys he is impulsive and easily suggestible. His romance with girlfriend Lyuda is in full bloom but a call from his comrades can make him forget his commitments to the lady. More than once Sergey shows that loyalty to his buddies trumps faithfulness to his lover.Sergey's inattention to those who love him and his hijinks in school are forgiven, up to a point, because of his youth and charm. But the carefree life and luck of a teenager cannot last. Life becomes serious and the due bill for self-centered presumptions is, inevitably, presented.The women characters in this film are long suffering. Though not ill-treated physically, they are never valued above male comradeship. Their needs are not thought of, or not taken seriously. Lyuda's treatment by Sergey reminded me of the comment of an American exchange student who had boyfriends in the Soviet 1970s. Asked if she ever considered marrying any of them, she said "No." She said that, in Russia, "a woman might be loved but she will never be respected." Jim Smith