Russian Tv - Tumblr Posts

My top Russian Tv-Shows

Despite this being mainly a mandarinblr, I still try to practise my other languages so here are some of the most interesting tv-shows in russian for my fellow russian-learners and speakers and anyone interested.

Kitchen - Кухня This show has several spin-offs including Hotel Eleon and Grand which I will not mention as by the end of the last spin-off there are literally no characters from the original cast and the plot slightly goes of the rails. The actual show is set a french restaurant in Moscow where Max Lavrov, who just finished his military service decided to work at. The show follows the various challenges that Max faces at his new workplace, including the foul-tempered but very talented Chef Viktor Barinov who has a drinking problem and other interesting characters. It's quite funny and heart-warming, and it's a must-watch imo.

Youth - Молодёжка A pretty standard sports series tv plot. The hockey-team "Bears" are a meh team at best, but that all changes when a former National Hockey League player turned coach shows up to make a proper team out of them. I only watched the first season because after that the plot got a tad boring for me, but as far as sports series go, pretty good.

Law of the Lawless (Not the 1964 film!) - Бригада A cult-classic staple of only 15 episodes. The plot is a bit over the place at the beginning, as opening episodes sequence is a flashback to the start of the final episode but after that it's chronological, with the first episode w english subtitles here. 4 best friends start out as youths from early 1990s to 2000s, with one returning home after finishing his army service with plans for uni and the others just starting their lives. However, the Perestroika had significantly changed their lives, so eventually the gang turns from racketeering and petty crime to slowly becoming the mafia. The opening theme is worth watching alone, but then again I'm biased.

How I became Russian - Как я стал русским This comedy show is quite dear to me, as it follows an American journalist with russian and slavic roots navigating life and work in Russia as he works on a story about life in Russia for a major newspaper back home. He's back in his homeland but as a foreigner who finds his heritage utterly confusing. This series resonates with me, as despite having a good grasp of my cultures languages and customs, I still feel disconnected from my heritage at times, and this show has been a reassuring reminder that not being 100% attuned with your heritage is okay, and that there are many different ways of re-connecting with your culture.

Closed school - Закрытая Школа I was slightly tramuatized by this show when I first watched it 4ish years ago, in part due to how unhinged and off the rails the plot slowly but surely becomes. A descent into madness. Andrei and his sister are sent to study at the Logos boarding school, but are then informed that their parents have perished. Andrei doesn't believe this, so he sets off to investigate with his new friends and investigate he does. There are also some other background shenanigans going on, but the unraveling of the schools mystery remains the main interest, including its odd passageways and deeply disturbing history. As a thriller series, it honestly deserves that title.

Here are some shows that came out more recently that I think deserve a mention.

The Boy's Word: Blood on the Asphalt- Слова пацана кровь на осфальте I've only seen a few episodes out of the 8, but it's very Brigada-esque so far. During the mid-late 1980s when Perestroika is going on and the USSR is soon to be no more, 14 year old Andrei is trying to survive as he's constantly bullied at school and by gang-members. He makes friends with one of said gang members Marat, as he slowly descends into the world of street life. I'll finish watching this series sometime probably.

The new guy - Новенький 16-year old Max moves from his glamorous life in Moscow to a small-town Yurovsk due to his parents constant arguing, where he immediately doesn't get along with his clasmmates who think him stuck-up and start bullying him. One day Max goes missing and his classmates are the obvious suspects, as slowly but surely secrets start to emerge revealing everyone's lies. A pretty good suspense/thriller show, which covers the topics of bullying, coming of age and what it means to be an adult pretty well, despite the 4th and final season being kind of lackluster.

Central Russia's Vampires - Вампиры средней полосы Where to even begin with this show. I don't know whether I should introduce the trailer or the opening theme song mv. Basically the life of a small and unconventional vampire family living in Smolensk, presumably in central Russia, who get disturbed when bodies with distinct bite marks are found nearby. This results in the Guardians (aka the guys keeping vampires a secret and ensuring that no one acts out) taking over and investigating with the vampire leader Svyatoslav Vernidubovich given a week to find and punish the culprit. My odd plot description aside, the cast is why I adore this show. The recently turned Gen-Z wannabe blogger Zhenyok, the thousand year old grandpa Svyatoslav, the constantly annoyed Dr. Zhan Ivanovich (who is actually french and decided to hang around after Napoleon was defeated) and his ex-wife The Countess who honestly should have a spin-off show and many more characters.

Doomsday - Конец Света Satan decides to come back to Earth and start the apocalypse, for which he needs his son Dimyan who should become the Antichrist but to his dismay, Dimyan doesn't really care about world domination and money, he just wants to get married to his fiancee Galya and live happily ever after. Chaos ensues as satan tries to persuade Dimyan to join him, whilst Angel vs Demon shenanigans occur in the background. I honestly had no idea that this type of show could even be produced due to the censors and yet it was. It's kind of slightly similar to Good Omens with all the apocalypse stuff and the Angels and Demons eventually teaming up? Good Omens adjacent. Except more gritty with much darker humour. The actor who plays satan is Yuri Kolokolnikov who actually starred in game of thrones so if you're a fan of his acting, do try this show.

Alisa can't wait - Алиса не может ждать Alisa is a 15-16 (don't remember her exact age) year old girl who is going blind and she decides to do something really drastic to ensure that her life will be comfortable after she loses all sight. There's a noticeable build-up to what she's actually planning during the episodes, as her homelife is less than ideal, with her older sister stuck in an unhappy marriage and a turbulent relationship with her parents. This is one of the few shows that really left a deep impression on me but it deals with some very sensitive and potentially upsetting topics so be aware if you're giving it a go.

This list may be updated in the future, so if there are any other shows that I may have missed do share them!

I FINALLY finished reading Master and Margarita.

I have no words to describe just how long it took me to finish reading this one single book, but now that I did I can finally cross it out on my main reading list after it has been waiting there ever since the pandemic.

That's why I decided to finally get around watching the most recent Master and Margarita movie and honestly? Not bad.

Plotwise I think they did great considering the amount of material that they had to fit into a 2hr 30min-ish movie.

The casting was spot-on, the German actor August Diehl played Woland/The Devil, which was really surprising as his Russian was really good.

Another pleasant surprise was that the actor who played Satan (Yuri Kolokolnikov, he was also in GoT!) in Doomsday/Конец света starred along as Koroviev, which really showed a new interesting side to his acting.

Music, costumes and especially the scenery was really good, my only slight disappointment was that Behemoth the cat got significantly less screen-time and that he wasn't as behemoth and chaotic as described (see below - I just think that the movie Behemoth doesn't really match the energy of the book Behemoth)

Nonetheless, it's a solid 8 from me, so I recommend checking out Мастер и Маргарита/ Master and Margarita!

Apparently a new Major Grom/Майор Гром movie just came out (like a week ago) and now I have to wait until it's available to watch online in good quality because I refuse to besmirch this potential masterpiece by watching it in 360p with barely distinguishable audio.

In a rewatching Бригада (Law of the Lawless) for the nth time kind of mood.

And now, a few months later I finally saw the new Major Grom movie Майор Гром: Игра and I have ponderings.

Overall a pretty solid movie, I had no idea what it would be about as I blocked all tags to avoid spoilers. The plot was a tad chaotic and to some extent more violent (literally, first few minutes in and bam! chaos) and unlike the previous movie, it didn't really have that particular flavour of comedy to back it up. It was almost 3 hours long but the fast-pace was enough to keep the momentum going. There were also a few cameos that had me going??? Because there were definitely a few celebrities that I did not expect to feature in this movie.

Chaos aside, the storyline was interesting as there were a few directions going on at once, and as an action movie it's definitely good. Thing is, I don't know if it was intended to be an action movie as it looks like one but it feels like it's supposed to have a more nuanced plot? Maybe it's just me but anyone who watched this movie feel free to share your thoughts.

The soundtrack was epic, Sergey Shnurov's Dragon was just 10/10 and now my playlist has once again expanded. There were other songs but this song that they used during the credits really stuck in my head.

I won't spoil it, but overall it's heavier than the previous Major Grom movie, so whilst I can recommend watching it, be aware that it can get a tad gory in my opinion.

Apparently a new Major Grom/Майор Гром movie just came out (like a week ago) and now I have to wait until it's available to watch online in good quality because I refuse to besmirch this potential masterpiece by watching it in 360p with barely distinguishable audio.

The new Patsanki/Пацанки season is out and as usual I have mixed feelings. For those that don't know, this is a russian reality tv show (there's also a Ukrainian one called Від пацанки до панянки translated as from Tomboy to Lady) about young girls that have a variety of issues and they usually come from difficult circumstances and harsh environments. They then join the project "Пацанки " where they spend several weeks learning and "getting better" as they transform from tomboys to "ladies", with one girl being eliminated each week.

On one hand, it's good that they're trying to help as these girls also receive practical and psychological help as they resolve their issues, but on the other hand publicly broadcasting the personal struggles and issues of these girls for all of the internet and the viewers to see seems wrong, almost exploitative. I get that it's a reality project, but it seems odd and dubious to me. Some of the earlier seasons featured a lot of controversial topics and sensitive things so this show is not lighthearted. This season they're apparently sent to an island??? And there's a new host, someone that I never even thought that would host this show, so who even knows what will happen at this point.