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The Vanished Empire

Play trailer Poster for The Vanished Empire Released Jul 10, 2009 1h 45m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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75% Tomatometer 12 Reviews 67% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Two teenagers (Aleksandr Lyapin, Yegor Baranovsky) must re-evaluate their friendship after they both become involved with the same gal (Lidiya Milyuzina).

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The Vanished Empire

Critics Reviews

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G. Allen Johnson San Francisco Chronicle Shakhnazarov, who began his film career in the Soviet era and was about the age of his protagonists in '73, brings an authenticity to the material, as well as a certain wistfulness in his excellent re-creation of Brezhnev-era Moscow. Rated: 3/4 Oct 23, 2009 Full Review Robert Abele Los Angeles Times A nicely turned film about the crushing inevitability of change. Rated: 4/5 Sep 25, 2009 Full Review J. R. Jones Chicago Reader In the gray old days of Brezhnev and detente, Russian college students shimmy to "Sugar, Sugar" and shell out for black-market Levis, unaware that these are the best days of their lives Aug 20, 2009 Full Review Daniel Eagan Film Journal International Bland look at rebellious teens who experience the last days of the Soviet empire. Jul 10, 2009 Full Review Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat Spirituality & Practice A Russian film about a self-absorbed youth who is driven by an insatiable yearning to have whatever he wants. Rated: 3/5 Jul 9, 2009 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (3) audience reviews
Audience Member Unfortunately, it's less about the conflict between capitalist culture and Soviet culture than it is about the conflict between capitalist culture and ancient culture. Or, the former turns/degenerates into the latter. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member A coming-of-age drama set in '70's Russia. The movie is shot in retro style, giving it a feel of a '70's movie. It recreates the atmosphere of the times more or less accurately, but the main characters were not your typical youth - these kids are elite, from rich and well-tot-do families (by Soviet standards of the time that is). It's not obvious to a casual viewer that average young people's lives weren't nearly as good, even in Moscow. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review thomas a "??????????? ???????" (Vanished Empire) is a movie about the decay of Soviet Union that comes from the younger generation of the empire itself. I find it unique because unlike other Cold War era movies about Soviet Union, there is none of those "political" scenes which infest other USSR movies such as detaining of citizens by police, or secret spy showing up suddenly. Though the movie barely shows the political repression during the 1970s era (it is a coming-of-age drama, after all), in the whole the director Shakhnazarov shows how, beneath all those repression, there is a decaying of old values that comes gradually due to newer generations embracing new ideals of the West. Eventually, just like the Ancient Khwarezm Empire, this empire built on shaky foundations would simply...vanish. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Vanished Empire

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Movie Info

Synopsis Two teenagers (Aleksandr Lyapin, Yegor Baranovsky) must re-evaluate their friendship after they both become involved with the same gal (Lidiya Milyuzina).
Director
Karen Shakhnazarov
Screenwriter
Sergei Rokotov
Distributor
Kino International
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Russian
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 10, 2009, Limited
Release Date (DVD)
Feb 9, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA)
$9.3K
Runtime
1h 45m
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