Vladimir Bortko (Directing)

Actors' Tragedies. Behind the Scenes of Melodramas

The heroes of Soviet melodramas courageously overcame all obstacles in the name of love. They fought and conquered disease and even death. But in real life, the actors who embodied these melodramatic images were often helpless before the traps of fate. What challenge was filming a film about happy motherhood for Natalya Gundareva? Why did Zarechnaya Street become a dead end for the leading actress?

Release Date:2019-01-04

Character:Self - Режиссер

About Love

Beautiful Nina lives happily married, as she saw it, with intelligent Alexandr, professor of Sinology. But the debt for the mortgage begins to disturb the relationship of spouses. One day she meets Sergey, the head of the bank where her husband has debt, and so begins their passionate relationships. The story of the relationship with married Sergey hardly promises happiness, but Nina realizes that for the first time she feels true love.

Release Date:2017-03-23

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:21

The Soul of a Spy

The Russian spy in England, Alex Wilkie, is tasked with infiltrating American intelligence and identifying a mole – our intelligence officer, who transmits intelligence information to the enemy. The hero is forced to overcome incredible obstacles in order to gain the trust of the Americans...

Release Date:2015-08-28

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:5

Iron & Blood: The Legend of Taras Bulba

Set in the 16th century, this is a story about Ukraine's Cossack warriors and their campaign to defend their lands from the advancing Polish armies.

Release Date:2009-04-02

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:69

The Master and Margarita

The Master and Margarita is a Russian television production of Telekanal Rossiya, based on the novel The Master and Margarita, written by Soviet writer Mikhail Bulgakov between 1928 and 1940. Vladimir Bortko directed this adaptation and was also its screenwriter.

Release Date:2005-12-19

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Episode Count:10

Vote Count:78

Chest Imeyu

Лента рассказывает о реальных событиях конца февраля 2000 года, произошедших в Аргунском ущелье в Чечне. Бойцы 6-й роты 104 парашютно-десантного полка Псковской дивизии ВДВ вступили в жестокий бой с двадцатикратно превосходящими силами террористов. Десантники не дрогнули, не отступили и выполнили задание, ценой своей жизни преградив путь бандитам, прорывающимся из окружения.

Release Date:2004-12-12

Department:Production

Job:Producer

Vote Count:8

Честь имею

Release Date:2004-01-01

Department:Production

Job:Producer

Episode Count:5

The Idiot

The Idiot is a costume drama TV series produced by Russia TV Channel in 2003, based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel of the same title. The series' script is very close to Dostoevsky's original text, and the series features well-known Russian actors.

Release Date:2003-05-12

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Episode Count:10

Vote Count:27

Banditskiy Peterburg: Advokat

Detective Sergei Chelishchev leaves the police to find the real murderer of his parents. Everything changes when he meets his long-lost friend, a war veteran who joined local mafia following the fall of the Soviet Union.

Release Date:2000-05-10

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:3

Banditskiy Peterburg: Baron

Thief in law Yuri Mikheev, nicknamed Baron, together with his partner, robs the apartment of Mikhail Monakhov, a banker and deputy assistant close to the gangster structures, filled with antiques. Together with the jewels, they bring out Rembrandt's painting Aegina. The baron tells his partner that this is a good copy, realizing that in fact it is the original, stolen from the Hermitage. Soon the Baron ends up in prison, where he bequeaths to the journalist Andrei Seregin, who writes on criminal topics, to take the painting from his woman and return it to the Hermitage. Seregin takes on the investigation alone. The bandits, fearing that a story with a fake hanging in the Hermitage may come up, are trying with all their might to prevent this.

Release Date:2000-05-01

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:2

Gangster's Petersburg

A Russian detective series, based on 8 works of Andrei Konstantinov ("lawyer", "Justice / Attorney-2", "The Thief / Journalist-2", "Writer", "Inventor / Writer-2", "The prisoner "," Cop "," Scavenger ") and four works by other writers.

Release Date:2000-05-01

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Character:Семен Бородатый

Episode Count:15

Vote Count:10

The Circus Burned Down and the Clowns Scattered

A film director Nikolai Khudokormov is on the brink of his 50th anniversary. He has the whole life rich in events under his belt: creative quests, several marriages and children. Now he has to live with an old insane Mother and seems to be indifferent to what is going on around. But at the same time he is obsessed by the idea to make a film which will be his best one. Nikolai makes every effort to raise the money for this project. And all the time he is followed by a mysterious stranger. She is a beautiful young creature who speaks to him about the vanity of the world and the meaningless of a human life. Finally, Nikolai realizes that he is speaking to the Death herself.

Release Date:1998-02-21

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:5

Streets of Broken Lights

Russian detectives unwind the ball of the most intricate and cruel crimes. They are consummate professionals, the best cops in town. Even on the most dangerous missions, this quartet never loses their sense of humor. It is it that helps them find the most incredible ways out of any situation. They uphold the law and emerge victorious.

Release Date:1998-01-04

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Episode Count:2

Vote Count:16

Good Luck, Gentlemen!

Release Date:1993-03-02

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Character:

Afghan Breakdown

During the main withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, a company of hardened paratroopers under the command of Major Bandura are joined by Steklov, the son of a high-ranking officer.

Release Date:1991-01-01

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:16

Heart of a Dog

"Heart of a Dog" is a Soviet film adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s iconic novella. Set in 1920s Moscow, it tells the satirical and darkly humorous story of a stray dog named Sharik, who is transformed into a human by Professor Preobrazhensky through a daring medical experiment. The resulting man, Poligraf Poligrafovich Sharikov, embodies the social and ideological tensions of early Soviet society. With its sharp critique of class struggle, human nature, and the perils of radical change, the film is celebrated for its faithful adaptation, brilliant performances, and rich allegorical depth.

Release Date:1988-11-11

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:160

Having Lied Once...

Set in the Soviet Union the film is a chronicle of a life of one successful artist: his family, his friends, his clients, and his artworks.

Release Date:1988-02-02

Department:Writing

Job:Writer

Vote Count:4

Exceptions Without Rules

An almanac of short feature films based on stories by Mikhail Mishin from the collection of short stories "Pause in a Major".

Release Date:1986-05-03

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Character:passazhir v avtobuse (Isklyuchenie 3: «Golos»)

Vote Count:6

Without Family

A story about an orphan boy, abandoned by his family. He was raised by his kind adopted mother, and was sold by his adopted father in hardship to a traveling man who eventually, became his teacher and a father-figure. With his teacher, he learned to play music and perform on the street with 3 intelligent dogs and a monkey. He traveled through the towns of France, and through life twist and turn, eventually, lead to the ultimate search for his real family.

Release Date:1984-06-06

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:3

The Blonde Around the Corner

An unemployed astrophysicist finds a job of a docker at a grocery store, where he falls in love with a street-wise saleswoman in the produce department. But the groom runs away at the wedding reception.

Release Date:1983-06-06

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:17

My Father Is an Idealist

An elderly man - a naive, impractical artist of the musical comedy theater - writes an operetta about goodness. His son is a resuscitation doctor, very businesslike and practical, and teases him all the time. The marriage of Petrov Sr. to the young ballerina Alena also did not add harmony to their relationship. But one day, father and son suddenly realize how necessary they are to each other... When the young stepmother begins to be in danger during childbirth, the son stops being sarcastic and fulfills his human and filial duty.

Release Date:1981-04-20

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:1

The Investigation Commission

A nuclear power plant accident destroyed the RBMK reactor's technological channel, with the chief engineer and reactor calculations attributed. A special commission found fault and conducted full-scale surveys in Murmansk and Kirovsk.

Release Date:1979-02-26

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:2