10 Russian crime films worth watching

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

You will find both classics and undeservedly forgotten masterpieces and novelties of the criminal genre.

10. Dyuba-dyuba

• Russia, 1992.
• Drama, melodrama, crime.
• Duration: 140 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 6, 6.

Andrei, a student of the screenwriting department of VGIK, is forced to return to his native provincial town. To free his former lover Tanya from prison, the guy goes to steal. He simply does not see other options. But the freed girl is not very grateful to her “knight”.

The film, based on the script of the original Pyotr Lutsik and Alexei Samoryadov, even got to the Cannes Film Festival in 1993. Nevertheless, the film safely remained in the early nineties, and few people remember about it. But in vain. "Dyuba-dyuba" is not only a monument of a bygone era, but also demonstrates one of the most unusual and vivid roles of Oleg Menshikov.

9. Bull

• Russia, 2019.
• Drama, crime.
• Duration: 99 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 6, 6.

Dashing 90s. The real rulers of Russia have become the leaders of criminal gangs. Anton Bykov (aka Byk), left without a father, decides to earn a living by racketeering and robbery - like many of his friends. After the regional arrow, Byk ends up in a police station, he faces a prison sentence. The guy is freed by one of the prominent Moscow crime bosses. Naturally, such a service has its own high price.

The debut of VGIK graduate Boris Akopov last year unexpectedly won at the Kinotavr festival. The director is not afraid to openly cite his favorite films and series about criminal Russia after the collapse of the USSR and visually imitate them. And they all begin with the letter "B" (like the "Bull" itself): "Brother", "Brigade", "Boomer".

8. Boomer

• Russia, 2003.
• Drama, crime.
• Duration: 110 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 6, 9.

1999, late autumn. After a not very successful criminal showdown, four bandits are hiding from pursuit in a recently hijacked black "boomer". They need to leave the capital and lay low somewhere in the forests of the Moscow region. Everyone is on their nerves - the heroes are well aware that they will not be forgotten so easily. Fleeing from urban competitors, the fugitives get involved in local squabbles.

Debutant Pyotr Buslov does not pretend to generalize. He makes a movie about "specific boys" in a very delicate situation. The chosen road-movie genre fits the story perfectly: the "boomer" takes friends farther and farther from the capital, but does not solve their problems in any way. They see a different Russia, but it is no better than the one that they already know so well.

7. Man's buff

• Russia, 2005.
• Thriller, comedy. crime.
• Duration: 111 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 1.

The action takes place in 1995 in Nizhny Novgorod. Two bandits work for a major crime boss Sergei Mikhailovich. They frankly flunked one of his orders: they killed a chemist who perfectly makes drugs, whom the boss wanted to protect, and left a couple of corpses in his laboratory. A redistribution of the drug business is brewing in the city. Two blunt performers find themselves in the center of a bloody showdown.

Zhmurki is both scary and funny movie. By the middle of the 2000s, it was already possible to openly make fun of stupid, but in their own way charming little bandits. Yes, the six either fell victim to a showdown, or went into bodyguard. But the example of the main characters shows how such characters cleverly moved to government offices.

6. How Vitka Garlic took Lyokha Shtyr to the nursing home

• Russia, 2017.
• Drama, crime, comedy.
• Duration: 90 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 2.

27-year-old Vitka Garnok wants to run away from his unloved wife and harmful mother-in-law. He grew up in an orphanage and does not remember his parents. He always lacked warmth, and he had already managed to harden his heart. Suddenly, the young man finds out that he has a father, a criminal, and now also a cripple. Vitka is going to take him to a disabled home and take possession of a relative's apartment. Before traveling by minibus in Russia, the guy has no idea how many adventures and dangerous encounters await him.

Debutant Alexander Hunt talks about how unnecessary - including each other - the characters have absolutely nowhere to go. And there are too many such people in the vastness of the country. The soundtrack "Socket" performed by Husky fits perfectly into the theme and atmosphere of this sad and vivid film.

5. Fan

• USSR, 1989.
• Crime, sports, action.
• Duration: 81 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 3.

A karatist nicknamed Kid, after complicity in a robbery, miraculously turns out to be in the army, and not in the zone. He returns home cruel and embittered. The guy begins to trade in racketeering and participate in underground fights without rules. He must lose the most important fight in his life: a gangster boss nicknamed Mater has put a lot of money on his opponent. However, the Kid wins and gets into trouble.

This is the best Russian perestroika film about martial arts and martial arts. Young actor Alexei Serebryakov, who played the main role, is at once similar to Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme. The picture tells about the spike between crime and sports that was widespread at that time. People flowed smoothly from one area of life to another and back.

4. Needle

• USSR, 1988.
• Thriller, drama.
• Duration: 76 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 5.

Moro returns to his native Alma-Ata and stays with his old friend Dina. The girl became a drug addict, and illegal drugs are sold right in her apartment. Moro takes Dina to the Aral Sea. There she seems to begin to come to her senses, but after returning home, she again sits on the needle. Then the young man decides to deal with the leaders of the drug business in the city.

The main advantage of Rashid Nugmanov's picture is, of course, Viktor Tsoi in the title role. This is perhaps his most famous film work. Tsoi plays a little of himself, a little of Bruce Lee, whom the singer has always tried to be like the WAY OF THE DRAGON: THE PERSONALITY AND CREATIVITY OF VICTOR Tsoi (ORIENTAL CODES SYSTEM). The soloist of "Kino" brought several of his iconic compositions to the film at once: "Boshetunmai", "A Star Called the Sun", "Blood Type" and more.

3. Beyond the last line

• USSR, 1991.
• Drama, crime.
• Duration: 107 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 7.

After leaving prison, the titled boxer finds himself alone, without money and without a job. The former athlete is not allowed to leave for Germany to coach the local national team, and he is forced to engage in criminal activities. After some time, the guy can no longer extort money from entrepreneurs and other bandits. Then the former accomplices want to put him behind bars again.

The role of the leader of the gang a year before his death was played by Igor Talkov. In addition, several of his compositions sound at once in the film. According to the idea of the director Nikolai Istanbul, the criminal performed by the famous singer has long crossed the last line, there is no turning back. He is opposed by a former boxer, who still has a chance to remain a decent person.

2. Brother

• Russia, 1997.
• Action, drama, crime.
• Duration: 100 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 8, 2.

Returning from the army to his native provincial town, Danila Bagrov realizes that he has nothing to do here. He goes to St. Petersburg, where his older brother has been doing fine for several years. He makes a living dishonestly, and soon he draws the executive and naive Danila into his affairs.

The killer, played by Sergei Bodrov, Jr., has become a cult hero, and Brother has long been considered the main film of the 90s and 90s. Music plays a special role in the film. This was the original idea of Alexei Balabanov: he wanted to create a film about bandits and musicians. Vyacheslav Butusov, Nastya Poleva, Sergey Chigrakov and many others starred in the role of themselves.

1. Gentlemen of Fortune

• USSR, 1971.
• Drama, comedy, crime, detective.
• Duration: 84 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 8, 5.

The head of the kindergarten turns out to be like two peas in a pod like a bandit who stole a unique relic - the helmet of Alexander the Great. Militiamen ask a kind and intelligent man to turn into his double - a villain in order to get into the credibility of his accomplices. The bandit himself escapes from prison and wants to meet with fellow thieves.

The film "Gentlemen of Fortune" was the leader of the Soviet film distribution in 1972. The picture was watched by over 65 million viewers. And it is still considered a hit that is regularly shown on public channels. And the phrases from the film have long become winged.