Weird Old Russian Film Poster Collection
This morning I’ve spent a fair few hours looking through old Russian film posters. Why? You may ask. My response to that question is a) why not? and b) you have a look, they’re great. I’ve taken the hard work out of it for you. There’s a big bunch below and I hope you’ll enjoy them all.
The first films to be aired in Russia were brought in by the Lumière brothers in May 1896. That same month, Lumière cameraman Camille Cerf made the first film in Russia, recording the coronation of Nicholas II at the Kremlin.
For much of Russian cinema’s existence it has been heavily sponsored by the powers that be. During World War I films were anti-German and nationalistic, and during the Russian Revolution the films carried anti-Tsarist themes.
We don’t get many Russian films over here of course, we’ve got plenty of our own and according to a recent survey, most English people can’t speak Russian. Shame really. But the Russian film industry is still booming. Their biggest ever box office hit was a Rom Com released in 2007 by the name of ‘The Irony of Fate 2’ which grossed more than $55 million. I bet it was awesome. It pales in comparison to Avatar’s $2.7 billion, but Russia doesn’t have quite the same marketing budget I don’t suppose.
These film posters I’ve got for you today span the 20’s through to the 70’s. Some of them look very weird indeed, some look very cool indeed and some are a bit of both. Have a gander.
This first one has been made for Anacondas 2 I believe. It’s as if they’ve never seen a snake, or a picture of a snake, or indeed know what a snake is at all?
One can only imagine what the plot line is in this next one? Maybe it’s an old school equivalent of ‘The Hangover’.
I don’t know the title to this one, but I call it ‘War Dog’
Maybe an early version of Forrest Gump?:
The progenitor of Chewbacca?:
‘The Two Horsemen of the Apocalypse’ (the other two are off sick today).
More oddities on the next page….
