My Friend Ivan Lapshin (1985)

Russian provincial town in the middle of the 1930s Stalin's Great Purge. Ivan Lapshin, the head of the local police, does what he has to do. And he does it well.

Director:

Aleksey German

Writers:

Yuri German (novel), Eduard Volodarskiy

Stars:

Andrei Boltnev, Nina Ruslanova, Andrey Mironov

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Andrei Boltnev	...	Ivan Lapshin
Nina Ruslanova	...	Natasha Adasova
Andrey Mironov	...	Khanin
Aleksey Zharkov	...	Okoshkin
Zinaida Adamovich	...	Patrikeyevna
Aleksandr Filippenko	...	Zanadvorov
Yuriy Kuznetsov	...	Superintendent
Valeriy Filonov	...	Pobuzhinskiy
Anatoly Slivnikov	...	Bychkov
Andrey Dudarenko	...	Kashin
Semyon Farada
Nina Usatova
Valeri Kuzin	...	Narrator (voice)
Lidiya Volkova
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yuri Aroyan

Storyline

Russian provincial town in the middle of the 1930s Stalin's Great Purge. Ivan Lapshin, the head of the local police, does what he has to do. And he does it well.

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Plot Keywords:

soviet union | ussr | narrator | stalin's purge | chief of police | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was shot in the early 1980s, but was not released until the perestroika reforms because it took an ironic look at Soviet idealism.

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Connections

Referenced in Wear (2015)

User Reviews

Magnificent

I just heard about German, I mean I knew something about his Krustaliov but I couldn't find it. Now, reading all this reviews about him, little in number but strong in appreciations as they are, I wanted to see his Ivan Lapshin. I just managed to see it with good quality, English subtitles on Youtube. I was amazed, German is in a league of his own, like Bela Tarr but more enjoyable. No wonder he made only six or something movies in his entire career. If all the other movies of him are of the same quality as this one I can understand the effort that he puts in such works of art. His long takes are so much better than,let's say, those artificial ones of Angelopoulos. He is so much more modest than a lot of filmmakers who wonder around at festivals hunting an award or two. He is pristine, alive, every shot of this movie contains something magical. Bravo!

Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

January 1985 (Soviet Union)

Also Known As:

My Friend Ivan Lapshin

Filming Locations:

Astrakhan, Russia

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lenfilm Studio, Pervoe Tvorcheskoe Obedinenie

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1