White Sun of the Desert (1969) is one of the most popular Russian films of all time and is ritually watched by cosmonauts before space launches.
The Ostern, or “Eastern” – not to be confused with the Red Western (Eastern European films that took place in the American West) – was the Soviet and Eastern Bloc riff on the Western film genre. They were made from the late 50’s and on into the 80’s, with the high-water mark being hit in the 70’s. The adventure, action and comedy took place on the steppes and in the Asian parts of the Soviet Union and tended to chronicle the Russian Revolution and the Civil War that followed it. Read more
