Russia Is Cold: The Movie

Rating: 8/10 (31 January 2017)

Breathtakingly gorgeous. The score (and its fitting use of the balalaika) and the acting are superb. Its sweep is unsurprisingly epic. It's a fascinating look at a particular time period of Russia, the birth of Communism and the turmoil it caused.
I'm not sure I buy all of its machinations however. Julie Christie is fabulous as Lara but their love together wasn't passionate enough for me. He abandoned his wife and kid quite easily (go to Paris and look for them! damn you). And even his giving up on Lara was weak and reeked of plot manipulation for the wraparound story.
There are scenes I will never unsee, rooted deep in some Russian compartment of indelibility in my mind. A train blasting through the snow in the countryside. Frost creeping and cracking along a window pane, softly illumined by a candle inside. Houses literally covered entirely in snow. Stunning, truly, in its believability and grandeur.