18 Masterpieces of Soviet Cinema You Can Watch for Free on YouTube
Some of the greatest films ever made from some of history's greatest filmmakers - prepare to have your minds blown
Cinephiles, stop everything: I’ve just discovered much of Mosfilm’s catalogue of Soviet-era films — including restored, HD copies of their most revered titles — are available on YouTube for free. For. Free. I’m talking Sergei Eisenstein’s films, Andrei Tarkovsky’s films, and, spectacularly, all four parts of Sergei Bondarchuck’s War and Peace presented in such vivid splendor that you will gasp — gasp! — at some of the images on your screen.
If you’re not a rabid international film fanatic, you might be wondering, “Hey, Cole, just what is Mosfilm?” Great question from the reader in Ontario, Canada. Mosfilm is one of the oldest and largest film studios in Europe and the Russian Federation today. Founded 100 years ago, it was the production unit for the U.S.S.R. Meaning, it produced cinema and television for the communist state, but within that theoretically political role, filmmakers accomplished miracles and even changed how the rest of the world made their films. The greatest example might be Eisenstein’s early work, which basically created modern film language as we know it through the introduction of montage/juxtaposition.
These films are not just a treat for cinephiles, I should add. They are essential to any filmmaker’s education - from editors to screenwriters to directors. What I mean is that international cinema expands your understanding of the form beyond the super-comfy, familiar, one might even say staid traditions of your own culture/market. You can read more about my thoughts on this subject here: “There Are More Ways to Tell a Screen Story Than Hollywood Wants You to Believe”.
Long story short: to help you in your journey into international cinema, I’ve curated the following collection of 18 Soviet-era films available for you to watch for free and study on YouTube - including such masterpieces as Battleship Potemkin, the War and Peace quadrology, Solaris, and Come and See.
Enjoy!
FIVE FILMS FROM SERGEI EISENSTEIN…
BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (1925)
Eisenstein created the language of film in many ways, a language still used around the world today.
STRIKE! (1925)
Dir. Sergei Eisenstein
Be awed by the fact that Eisenstein helmed two of the most foundational films in cinema in the same year. What a hack.
ALEXANDER NEVSKY (1938)
Dir. Sergei Eisenstein
IVAN THE TERRIBLE (1945)
Dir. Sergei Eisenstein
IVAN THE TERRIBLE (1946…though it wasn’t officially released until 1958)
Dir. Sergei Eisenstein
FOUR FILMS BY ANDREI TARKOVSKY…
If it wasn’t for Sergei Eisenstein kind of inventing what we think of as cinema today, I’d say Tarkovsky was the most influential Russian director to ever live. His work has left its stamp on so many other significant directors (watch these films and then rewatch Alex Garland’s films, to understand better what I mean by this).
IVAN’S CHILDHOOD (1962)
ANDREI RUBLEV (1966)
SOLARIS (1972)
THE MIRROR (1975)
STALKER (1979)
SERGEI BONDARCHUCK’S WAR AND PEACE…
Parts 1 to 4 (1966-67)
These films are staggeringly beautiful, yes, but also, the scope of them boggles the mind. Endless palace locations. Exquisite costumes on hundreds. The Soviet government even recruited the army, thousands of thousands of men on horseback. I guess if there was one positive of Russians living under a repressive, murderous, totalitarian regime for decades, it’s art like this.*
*Not really. Totalitarianism and its first cousin fascism are, like, really bad.
TWO FILMS FROM MIKHAIL KALATOZOV…
THE CRANES ARE FLYING (1957)
This film features one of the greatest tracking shots of all time, which you can read more about here.
SOY CUBA (1964)
This film also features one of the greatest tracking shots of all time, which you can read more about here. On some days, I’d argue it’s actually at the top of the list.
THE ONE AKIRA KUROSAWA DIRECTED…
DERSU UZALA (1975)
Believe it or not, Kurosawa, a director most filmmakers would rank in the top ten ever to live, went through a stretch in his career when Japanese studios refused to finance his work. So…he went to the Soviet Union.
THE GREATEST ANTI-WAR FILM EVER MADE?
COME AND SEE (1985)
If it’s not the greatest, it's pretty damn close.
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What a great curated list. We stumbled upon Dersu Uzala when looking for a lesser-known Kurosawa film. And we did a review: https://reidsonfilm.substack.com/p/dersu-is-built-different
The inspiration for Yoda - who knew?
Wow! Thank you for this. I also found Ballad of a Soldier, which I’ve wanted to watch since reading the novel in uni Russian, just two years after Brezhnev became First Secretary.