The best Aleksandr Pankratov-Chyornyy’s movies

The film is based on the play by Alexander Ostrovsky “Without a Dowry”. The action takes place on the banks of the Volga in the fictional provincial town of Bryakhimov in 1877-1878. Harita Ignatyevna Ogudalova, a noblewoman of a good and respected family, a widow with three adult daughters, became impoverished after her husband’s death, but she does everything to arrange her daughters' life and marry them to sufficiently rich and noble grooms. In the absence of funds, she keeps an open house, hoping that a society of beautiful and musical young ladies will attract single men rich enough to marry loveless women. Kharita’s only “at a loose end” daughter is the youngest - Larisa Dmitrievna Ogudalova, who is not indifferent to several wealthy gentlemen at once, among whom Sergey Sergeyevich Paratov is a handsome, charming, smarty, frivolous and rich gentleman.

Ivan Mirosnikov, a cheeky young man in the Gorbachev era, is trying to figure out what to do with his life (he's not in college, and the 2-year mandatory military service is looming large ahead of him). Meanwhile, he lives with his divorced mother, and works as a courier at a Russian newspaper. Through his job, he meets patronizing Professor Kuznetzov and his rebellious daughter Katya. To annoy the professor, Ivan claims to have an affair with Katya. To his surprise, Katya backs his story up.

The story starts in a Siberia where world's biggest diamond was found. It is so valuable that it may not only pay off the enormous national debt, but also allow every Russian citizen to move to the Canary Islands. However, Mafia plans to steal the massive gem but a notorious thief, Vasia, ruins their plans. Mafia and militia begin chasing him, but soon Vasia learns that he has brothers as between the chase he runs into well known Jewish conductor and a gypsy baron who are triplet brothers.

Simultaneously nihilistic and heartening, Ward No. 6 is based on a story by Chekov, in which a psychiatric doctor becomes a patient in his own asylum. Updated to contemporary Russia, the film is a cocktail of anxieties and riddles, showcasing how easy it is to become what we fear most.

Wartime, summer 1941. Train carrying criminals gets under enemy fire and crashed. Out of all of the living are only a young lieutenant of the NKVD and two prisoners - the thief and repressed Communist party worker.

A music student is expeled from school because he loves jazz, a kind of music that represents the US capitalism. He hires two street musicians to form a dixie band, and goes from one city to another trying to gain fame.

A not-so-young man who likes women tries to organize a girl to his son.

A flutist in the forgotten past, at present the husband of a “big man’s” daughter and head of one of the Chief Directorate’s sections felt unwell one day: the forty-year-old man had a pain in his heart. This unpleasant incident provided an opportunity to meet a nurse named Lida. However, their stormy love affair ended, with Filimonov returning to normal life and an unloved wife.

A young romantic loves step dance but there is only one person who knows this forgotten art. Beglov was a step dance super star back in 50s but as step became unpopular he lost everything. He hates even this word - 'chechotka' (step dance). But somehow the young man convinces him to become his coach and manager.

The saleswoman of the village store Pasha Nikitina generously distributed all the money from the proceeds to the villagers in debt, when they were left without a salary through the fault of the Chairman. The audit appeared suddenly — and Pasha began to demand money back. Not having received debts, the heroine turned for help to her brother, who immediately responded to her misfortune: he sent money and came himself…

Succumbing to the persuasion of a friend, Natalia takes a private agent with the goal of obtaining compromising material at all costs, exposing the love affairs of her faithful husband Alexander, who is going on vacation to warm countries. But embarrassment happens: the client’s photo is lost, and the real Casanova appears in the agent’s field of vision.

A very sick girl asks her father to get her a live elephant. Based on the early stories by Alexander Kuprin.

In Russia, there has long been a society of billiards, whose members are scattered throughout the country. Many of them have long become millionaires. And they should thank the old school teachers for this. Most of these old people live starving and lonely. In order to somehow brighten up their old age, the new generation of billiards decided to chip in and give their teachers a big mansion, where there will be decent food, good medical care and fresh air. No one refused his share of the contribution, except for an authority by the name of Savitsky. Soon, he completely changes his mind and organizes an ambush on the road, takes away not only his own money, but also his total money. The barely surviving couriers report this to all members of the community. The group comes up with a decent punishment by sending him a professional pool player nicknamed Classic. The bandit will have to fight with a virtuoso who prefers to play for large sums in order to save money.