Baba Yaga portrayed by Soviet actor Georgy Millyar.
Georgy Frantsevich Millyar was a Soviet and Russian actor, best known for playing evil spirits in Soviet fairy tale films, including the witch Baba Yaga in films such as Vasilisa the Beautiful, Jack Frost, Fire, Water, and Brass Pipes and The Golden Horns.
Got a crush on this space captain Buran from a weird (in a cool way) soviet cartoon called The Mystery of the Third Planet. The music there is soooo good😭✋
Appreciation post for my absolute favourite person in the world and my favourite soviet actor as well, Alexandr Abdulov, who plays Koroviev in Master and Margarita (2005) !!
Yall please check out his movies, they are honestly incredible ‼️ also i love him so much🫶🏼
The general opinion about the soviet union varies from person to person, but I think many can agree that the movies that came from this time period were phenomenal.
Here are my top favorite movies that I recommend, which also have generally good english subtitles.
Hussar Ballad
A rare musical-comedy gem that I absolutely adore. Shura Azarova, a 17 year old girl joins the army to fight against Napoleon. Plot twist: She's pretending to be a guy and starts falling for a fellow soldier, who she actually engaged to but he has no idea that his new friend is actually a girl (she doesn't like him in the beginning and no wonder lmao). Has a lot of catchy numbers, especially давным давно/ a long time ago/ davnim davno. It may seem a little weird, but watch the first 10 minutes, I guarantee that it will not be a waste of your time.
2. Ivan Vassilvveich changes profession/Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future.
A scientist successfully creates a time-machine but accidentally sends his building's manager and a thief all the way back in time to Ivan IV The Terrible's reign, whilst sending the actual Tsar to the modern decade. Chaos ensues for all.
3. Prisoner of the Caucasus/Shurik's New Adventures/Kidnapping, Caucasian Style
(I had no idea this movie had this many translations lol)
A kind but naive student named Shurik goes to the Caucasus on vacation where he meets a young woman named Nina, who he ends up accidentally kidnapping (yes, he's that much of a dumbass but he was told that bride kidnapping is a tradition that Nina follows and God forbid that anyone uses this thing called communication). It works out in the end just as chaotically as it started.
4. The Garage
A cooperative is planning on buliding a garage for its members except for it now has to be reduced and there won't be enough space for everyone so someone's going to be left out. The comitee ignores said members objections, so someone locks them in for the night leading to them spending the night locked inside the museum which is also the meeting spot. It's actually quite funny, despite the odd description, but I am writing it whilst extremely caffeinated so bear with me here.
5. Unbelievable Adventures of Italians in Russia (Невероятные приключения итальянцев в России).
A fantastic comedy. An elderly lady of soviet origin reveals to her grandaughter that there's a treasure buried in Leningrad. However, the wrong people hear about it, so they try to outwit each other in their race to Russia. Pretty funny, especially when the actual treasure hunting commences.
6. The Bremen Town Musicians
An animated movie, but nonetheless deserving a mention. The troubadour with his gang of friends made from a donkey, a dog, a cat and a rooster travel around singing, until he meets a princess but the king doesn't approve of them etc. Pretty standard story, but the singing is amazing, especially Troubadours song "Luch solntsa zolotovo/Луч солнца золотого/ Beam of the Golden Sun" with the translation here sung by Muslim Magomayev who honestly deserves a separate post dedicated because his voice is amazing. The english subtitles are a bit iffy here, but nonethless it's worth a watch as it's only 20 or so minutes long.
7. The Mystery of the Third Planet
Also an sci-fi animated movie, but the staple of my childhood. Captain Zelyoniy and Professor Seleznyoviy with his daughter go around various planets collecting new species for the zoo. However, on one of the planets they end up discovering something odd and before they know it, they're right in the middle of a conspiracy and a famous missing captain. Fantastic soundtrack and great animation.
There are many more movies that I'd definitely recommend, so this list will be updated sometime in the future.