Oleg Yankovsky

Acting

Oleg Yankovsky

Born — Died

1944-02-23 — 2009-05-20

Place of birth

Bolshoy Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhskaya SSR, USSR

Known for

Acting

Credits

73 titles

Oleg Ivanovich Yankovsky (Russian: Оле́г Ива́нович Янко́вский; February 23, 1944 – May 20, 2009) was a Soviet/Russian actor who has excelled in psychologically sophisticated roles of modern intellectuals. In 1991, he became, together with Alla Pugacheva, the last person to be named a People's Artist of the USSR.

Known for

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson poster
7.8

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson is a series of five films produced by Lenfilm for the Soviet Central Television, split into eleven episodes, starring Vasily Livanov as Sherlock Holmes and Vitaly Solomin as Dr. Watson. They were directed by Igor Maslennikov and filmed in Russia (the then Soviet Union) between 1979 and 1986, and the series was one of the most successful in the history of Russian television.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson

1980

Mirror poster
7.9

A dying man in his forties recalls his childhood, his mother, the war and personal moments that tell of and juxtapose pivotal moments in Soviet history with daily life.

Mirror

1975

Memories of Sherlock Holmes poster
7.1

Detective television series based on the works of Arthur Conan Doyle. Five films about Sherlock Holmes, shot by Igor Maslennikov earlier, were remounted in 2000, a connecting story about Conan Doyle's literary secretary, Mr. Wood, who is preparing an anniversary collection of stories about Holmes for the beginning of the coming XX century. Sir Arthur receives huge mail every day, addressed not to him, but to Sherlock Holmes. And then one day a letter arrives with a plea for help, and Doyle begins an investigation...

Memories of Sherlock Holmes

2000

Mute Witness poster
6.5

When a mute makeup/special effects artist working on a low-budget slasher film gets locked in a dilapidated Moscow movie studio late one night, she thinks she witnesses the making of a snuff film. Thus begins a night of terror.

Mute Witness

1995

The Man Who Cried poster
6.1

A young refugee travels from Russia to America in search of her lost father and falls in love with a gypsy horseman.

The Man Who Cried

2000

Зона poster
8.6

No synopsis available yet.

Зона

2006

Film credits

2010s · 2 titles

2000s · 12 titles

The Man Who Cried poster
6.1

A young refugee travels from Russia to America in search of her lost father and falls in love with a gypsy horseman.

The Man Who Cried

2000

Hipsters poster
6.5

In this hit Russian musical, a group of friends flaunts Soviet authority in 1950s Moscow by embracing jazz. When Communist Mels falls for Polly, a free-spirited jazz fan, he risks losing his party membership by associating with her rebellious crew.

Hipsters

2008

Tsar poster
6.0

In 16th-century Russia in the grip of chaos, Ivan the Terrible strongly believes he is vested with a holy mission. Believing he can understand and interpret the signs, he sees the Last Judgment approaching. He establishes absolute power, cruelly destroying anyone who gets in his way. During this reign of terror, Philip, the superior of the monastery on the Solovetsky Islands, a great scholar and Ivan's close friend, dares to oppose the sovereign's mystical tyranny. What follows is a clash between two completely opposite visions of the world, smashing morality and justice, God and men. A grand-scale film with excellent leading roles by Mamonov and Yankovsky. An allegory of Stalinist Russia

Tsar

2009

Come Look at Me poster
6.5

The movie is about an old disabled lady who lives with her spinster daughter. The lady desperately wants her daughter to marry, and the daughter, driven by the supposed imminent death of her mother, invites a total stranger home and introduces him as her boyfriend. The man and the prospective mother-in-law eventually start to like each other, and he makes every effort to be liked by the daughter. With the intervention of a fantasy granddaughter, quasi-miraculous healing, and a lot of hilarious repartee in between, the movie has a happy ending.

Come Look at Me

2000

Chinese Tea-Set poster
5.5

The film is set in 1913 Russia during the celebrations of the Tricentennial Anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty. Rich Russian merchants are celebrating their wealth by gambling and playing poker. They are traveling aboard the luxurious cruise liner "St. Nikolai" on Volga river, oblivious to the fact that several gangs of crooks and con-artists are stealing their money in the game. Their target is the wealthiest Russian tycoon Satanovsky.

Chinese Tea-Set

2000

The Lover poster
5.8

This is a remarkably subtle film–a character study that focuses on Mitya’s attempts to cope with each new startling phase of discovery. At first he mourns for his dead wife, but then he discovers that he didn’t really know her.

The Lover

2002

The Musicians from Bremen poster
3.0

The classic story about a musicians from Bremen is told in not so classical way.

The Musicians from Bremen

2000

Bed of Procust poster
6.5

The poet and journalist Ladima commits suicide and his friend, Fred Vasilescu, tries to find out the reasons of those actions. In his search he discovers a mysterious Miss T.

Bed of Procust

2002

Doctor Zhivago poster
5.4

Russian TV miniseries of Boris Pasternak's classic novel.

Doctor Zhivago

2006

Birds of Paradise poster
2.8

The events of the film take place in the Soviet Union in the early 1980s. It is forbidden to listen to foreign radio stations, it is not safe to voice one’s opinions in front of strangers. Words of truth are spoken only in private kitchens behind the curtained windows. The KGB tap phones, survey the ‘unreliable’ and consistently step by step destroy all forms of decent. The protagonists challenge the inhumane state machine, putting on stake their very lives and proving that nothing and nobody can stop a person who is on his way to achieve a true freedom.

Birds of Paradise

2008

Anna Karenina poster
5.6

In Imperial Russia, Anna, wife of the officer Karenin, goes to Moscow to visit her brother. On the way, she meets charming cavalry officer Vronsky, to whom she's immediately attracted. But in St. Petersburg’s high society, a relationship like this could destroy a woman’s reputation.

Anna Karenina

2009

Marriage poster
NR

About the hapless bridegroom Podkolesin, who escaped from the bride through the window, and the picky bride Agafya Tikhonovna, who can not choose the right one, Mark Zakharov saw the story of a man who wants to change something in his life, but is not capable of doing anything.

Marriage

2007

1990s · 13 titles

Mute Witness poster
6.5

When a mute makeup/special effects artist working on a low-budget slasher film gets locked in a dilapidated Moscow movie studio late one night, she thinks she witnesses the making of a snuff film. Thus begins a night of terror.

Mute Witness

1995

The Dream of Russia poster
6.3

Sumptuous filming of the journey of a shipwrecked Japanese expedition from the Pacific Ocean across Siberia to the court of Catherine the Great of Russia. A Russo-Japanese co-production of a unique event in history which was the hit of Cannes and other film festivals but did not receive wide distribution despite its huge scope, high production values, and very human story of culture clash.

The Dream of Russia

1992

Afghan Breakdown poster
5.2

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.

Afghan Breakdown

1991

The Passport poster
6.1

Merab, a Georgian taxi driver who mistakenly crosses into Israel while seeing off his Jewish brother, Yasha, gets stuck without documents. He gets entangled in bureaucratic nightmares, mistaken identity, and KGB plots while trying to return home.

The Passport

1990

Ivan & Abraham poster
6.4

In 1930s Poland Christian boy Ivan goes to live with a Jewish family to learn a trade. He becomes friends with Abraham, the son of the family. However, anti-Semitism is rife in their environment, and they flee to escape an upcoming conflict. Journeying together, they demonstrate their inseparability.

Ivan & Abraham

1993

The Fatal Eggs poster
4.2

Based on the motifs of M. Bulhakow's story with the same title. The thing about the scientist-zoologist Persikow, whose unique invention makes the rate of formation and development of organisms grow thousands of times. The experiment subjects eggs of the anaconda, which by mistake go to the mad director of the model chicken farm, dealing with rebuilding the hen population in the country. Irradiated reptiles, hatching from eggs, start to devour.

The Fatal Eggs

1995

Assassin of the Tsar poster
5.6

A new doctor from Moscow arrives at a provincial mental institution. His interest is the peculiarities of the psyche of a patient who believes that he is Yakov Yurovsky, the man who assassinated the last Russian tsar. In the course of their conversations it transpires that the patient is a kind of philosopher, not without a gift for suggestion. In a while the doctor himself falls under his patient’s influence: he tends to relive that fatal night of June 16-17, 1918 when, without any investigation or trial, Tsar Nicholas II, who had recently abdicated, was murdered, together with his wife, daughters and incurably ill heir. Soon the doctor realizes that the tragedy of the last Russian tsar is in part his own tragedy, too...

Assassin of the Tsar

1991

Revizorro poster
4.7

An adaptation of the play by Ukrainian playwright Mykola Gogol, set in Tsarist Russia during the 19th century. A provincial town plagued by bribery, abuse of power, embezzlement, and other corrupt practices. One day, Mayor Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky summons the town officials and announces that an inspector is on their way.

Revizorro

1996

Alissa poster
5.9

The son of an editor discovers that one of his father's writers is a former criminal from the Eastern bloc.

Alissa

1998

Crusader poster
4.1

At the filming movie about the crusaders, in Turkey, with one of the stunts died in accident. Death of a stuntman was rigged by criminals, who smuggled a large shipment of drugs in the coffin. Producer Anton is killed, money stolen...

Crusader

1995

Paradise Apple poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Paradise Apple

1998

Dark poster
4.8

This story of the beginning of the century about a terrorist and a prostitute combined the inhumanity and sacrifice of terrorism - a disastrous and noble delusion that originated in Russia and spread throughout the world.

Dark

1992

The First Love poster
5.0

Based on the story of the same name by I. Turgenev. A story about the romantic feeling of falling in love with a young man for whom everything is for the first time.

The First Love

1995

1980s · 16 titles

Nostalgia poster
7.8

Russian poet Andrei Gorchakov journeys through Italy with his interpreter Eugenia to research the life of an 18th-century Russian composer who once lived abroad. Isolated and consumed by an unrelenting longing for his homeland, Andrei becomes drawn to Domenico, a radical mystic obsessed with spiritual redemption. Through austere imagery and extended temporal rhythms, Tarkovsky examines exile, memory, and the profound melancholy of being unable to belong fully to either place or language.

Nostalgia

1983

My Twentieth Century poster
6.5

A tale of twin girls, Dóra and Lili, who are born in 1880 Budapest at the same moment Thomas Edison presents his electric lightbulb to the world. The sisters are soon orphaned and separated in childhood, and follow different paths: one grows up to be a naïvely idealistic, bomb-toting anarchist, the other a pampered, hedonistic courtesan. Their paths cross once again on the Orient Express on New Year's Eve 1899...

My Twentieth Century

1989

To Kill a Dragon poster
7.1

Dragon is a bloody dictator, who kills every opponent. People live hopelessly, until Lancelot comes to save the beautiful Elsa. Lancelot can only win, if all people become free from fear, that is feeding the Dragon's power. Dragon's multiple personalities, ranging from a "dragon" to a "samurai" to a "Nazi", scare the hell out of all people, except Lancelot. Finally Dragon drops all his masks, to become the most dangerous of his incarnations - "himself". And the battle begins

To Kill a Dragon

1988

Flights in Dreams and in Reality poster
6.5

On the eve of his fortieth anniversary Sergei Makarov looks back at his life and learns that he has achieved nothing. He was not able to be happy and to bring happiness to the closest people in his life, neither to his long-suffering wife nor young mistress nor friends nor work... It is about the men who never grew up and could not find themselves in the time of stagnation – gifted, charming, but infantile and lost, they never were able to realize themselves...

Flights in Dreams and in Reality

1983

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Hound of the Baskervilles - Part 1 poster
7.3

The Hound of the Baskervilles is a 1981 Soviet film adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's novel The Hound of the Baskervilles. It was the third installment in the TV series about adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. A potent streak of humour ran through the film as concerns references to traditional British customs and stereotypes, ensuring the film's popularity with several generations of Russophone viewers. Other features of this best entry in the series include excellent exterior shots which closely match the novel's setting in the Dartmoor marshland, as well as an all-star cast: in addition to the famous Livanov -Solomin duo as Holmes and Watson, the film stars the internationally acclaimed actor/director Nikita Mikhalkov as Sir Henry Baskerville and the Russian movie legend Oleg Yankovsky as the villain Stapleton.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Hound of the Baskervilles - Part 1

1981

The Hat poster
6.2

The hero of the movie is a popular composer and jazz performer. He is certainly a gifted man. However, his character is... to put it mildly, uncomfortable. He lives by emotions, he cares little about the fate of people who love him. Some will think that he is right in his own way; some will think that he missed something important in life. But anyway, one thing is certain: God is helping him.

The Hat

1981

Andrey Tarkovsky in Nostalghia poster
6.7

A poetic and intimate scene-by-scene look into the filming of Tarkovsky's 'Nostalghia'.

Andrey Tarkovsky in Nostalghia

1984

Love by Request poster
6.0

Two people: Igor, an ex-athlete living aimlessly and chasing rubles to get drunk and Vera, a dowdy librarian, try to find their luck by planning to fall in love with each other based on "psychological conditioning".

Love by Request

1982

Evenings on a farm near Dikanka poster
7.3

A fantasy film on the theme of the early works of Nikolai Gogol, tightly interwoven with his personality and biography.

Evenings on a farm near Dikanka

1983

The Theater Is My House poster
7.0

A.N. Ostrovsky recalls the first period of his creative work (1849–1859), when he began collaborating with the Maly Theatre and with masters of the Russian stage such as L.P. Kositskaya, M.S. Shchepkin, and P.M. Sadovsky. Almost every character in this film is a real historical figure.

The Theater Is My House

1987

We, the Undersigned poster
5.9

The main events unfold in the train. The acceptance committee from Moscow, revealing deficiencies in the constructed bakery, did not sign the act of its delivery. But the fate of not only many people associated with the construction, but also the life of the town as a whole depends on this. Lyonya Shindin — a conscientious and decent man — is trying by all means and by any means to change the decision of the commission...

We, the Undersigned

1981

The Kreutzer Sonata poster
6.4

A revelatory discussion on a train. Based on Leo Tolstoy's novel of the same name.

The Kreutzer Sonata

1987

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Hound of the Baskervilles - Part 2 poster
7.5

The second part of the Soviet TV adaption.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Hound of the Baskervilles - Part 2

1981

The House That Swift Built poster
5.7

An immaculate, vivid and breathtaking implementation of Swift's romanticism.

The House That Swift Built

1985

The Trustees poster
10.0

A television play based on A.N. Ostrovsky's play *"The Last Victim"*, filmed for the 180th anniversary of the playwright's birth. This play features the fateful passion of a young woman, an irresistible seducer, vast wealth, and a desire to destroy one's soul in debauchery.

The Trustees

1982

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Hound of the Baskervilles poster
8.0

When Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead in his country house, Dr James Mortimer asks Sherlock Holmes for help to save Sir Henry Baskerville, the only known heir, from the curse that haunts Baskerville family.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Hound of the Baskervilles

1981

1970s · 16 titles

Mirror poster
7.9

A dying man in his forties recalls his childhood, his mother, the war and personal moments that tell of and juxtapose pivotal moments in Soviet history with daily life.

Mirror

1975

The Very Same Munchhausen poster
7.6

A philosophical and poetic portrait of the famous (or maybe infamous?) Baron Munchhausen. His crazy, yet very merriment, stories, views and behavior is what sets him apart from others. He becomes alienated from the society that failed to grasp his brilliance. In fact, his brilliance is what underlines the faults with the society itself. It's a beautiful yet tragic story that is filled with dense and intellectual dialogue.

The Very Same Munchhausen

1979

For Better and for Worse poster
5.8

In December 1825, distinguished members of the Russian military, most of whom were quite affluent and of noble lineage, took it upon themselves to stir revolution against the autocratic and tyrannical Czar Nikolai I in the wake of his not honoring the drafting of a constitution for the Russian people. The revolution failed miserably and the conspirators (known as the Decembrists) were weeded out by the czar himself. One by one, each of the conspirators confess and are systematically exiled to the harsh winters of Siberia, slated to work and wither in a prison/mine. The wives of the conspirators are faced with the prospect of leaving the bosom of wealth and family (including their own children) to be with their husbands in the brutal Siberian locale. If they agree to this, they face having their illustrious social stations stripped away and certain disdain from everyone around them...

For Better and for Worse

1975

Other People's Letters poster
6.2

Zina is sixteen. She is a manipulative schoolgirl living in a small Russian town among sincere and simple people. Zina is nice on the surface, but so unable to enjoy normal life, that she is desperately trying to hurt someone. She tries to seduce and compromise a handsome young man, but he is smart enough to see through her and escapes from her trap. Zina manipulates her classmates so she looks like a victim. Now Zina's teacher, Vera, a sweet and loving lady, takes care of her trying to save the troubled girl, but in return, Zina becomes extremely crafty to hurt the teacher.

Other People's Letters

1975

Me, Francysk Skaryna poster
NR

A film about the Belarusian publisher and educator Francis (Georgy) Skaryna, who lived in the first half of the 16th century, the founder of the first Belarusian printing house in Vilnius and the author of fundamental research in the field of linguistics.

Me, Francysk Skaryna

1970

Speech for the Defence poster
4.6

Valya supported her lover, denied herself everything, devotedly and sincerely loved him. He answered her with black ingratitude. Struck in the very heart, Valya decides to commit suicide with him.

Speech for the Defence

1977

My Tender and Affectionate Beast poster
6.1

An aristocrat falls for a young woman who brings him ruin. Based on Chekhov's story. AKA A Hunting Accident, The Shooting Party.

My Tender and Affectionate Beast

1978

Trust poster
3.8

In December 1917, a Finnish delegation arrives in St. Petersburg to meet Vladimir Lenin to seek recognition of Finland's independence.

Trust

1976

Ordinary Miracle poster
7.3

A wizard invents characters who all come to life and start to arrive at his house: a King, his servants, a princes, a bear trapped in a man's body - the usual lot. The Plot mainly rotates around the bear, who the wizard had turned into a man. The Bear, who wishes to be a bear once again, can turn into his old self if he were to kiss a princess. It gets complicated when he falls in love with that princess, that arrived at the wizard's house. For how can they be together, if a single kiss will destroy their love?

Ordinary Miracle

1978

A Sentimental Romance poster
4.8

The film is set in the 1920s. Shura Sevastyanov is an aspiring journalist in a small newspaper, with two-classes of a parochial school behind him. In the spirit of building communism, he is an ardent fighter against philistinism in all its forms. He denies the phenomenon of love, believing that it does not exist and that there is only friendship and sexual desire of man to woman.

A Sentimental Romance

1976

Wrath poster
9.0

Historical drama about the Tatarbunar uprising in southern Bessarabia in September 1924. The plot is based on the complicated relationship between two brothers standing on opposite sides of the barricades. The betrayal of one of the brothers led to a spontaneous uprising of the poor, which swept the entire south of Bessarabia and was brutally suppressed by the punitive occupation forces.

Wrath

1974

Feedback poster
6.0

The film raises acute issues in construction, where, back in the 1970s, all the social shortcomings of large-scale but short-term production projects were concentrated: premature completion of projects, mismanagement, weak control, theft, and fraud.

Feedback

1978

The Bonus poster
6.3

A small construction team led by Potapov suddenly refuses to receive a bonus payment from their company for exceeding performance targets. The team accuses its construction company HQ with artificially reducing the targets, so they can be easily exceeded. It makes the management looks good, yet leads to frequent downtime reducing earnings for common construction workers even with fake bonuses. On a hastily organized meeting the management tries to subdue the "unruly" gang leader charging that he cannot know all details. It turned out that Potapov and his team prepared a detailed business analysis, which proved their point. Managers, who had different interests and positions, have to decide how to deal with the real problem leading to unexpected results.

The Bonus

1975

Lad from Our Town poster
NR

The young officer Sergei Lukonin faced severe trials: the war in Spain, an injury, escape from captivity, and the battles at Khalkhin Gol. Yet, he overcomes all hardships, showing courage and conviction in the justice of the cause he is fighting for.

Lad from Our Town

1978

72 Degrees Below Zero poster
5.3

Antarctic station "Vostok" threatens conservation due to lack of fuel. Volunteer squad is called to take fuel, but will soon begin "Polar autumn" in Antarctica. No one has walked this way, when the temperature drops below 71 degrees Celsius and freezes fuels.

72 Degrees Below Zero

1977

Under a Stone Sky poster
7.1

In the autumn of 1944, contrary to the order of the Nazi command to evacuate to the south, residents of the Norwegian town of Kirkenes took refuge in an abandoned mine. The command of the Soviet Army became aware of the intentions of the Nazis to blow up the old tunnels of the city, but the Soviet soldiers managed to prevent the tragedy.

Under a Stone Sky

1974

1960s · 1 titles

Series credits

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson poster
7.8

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson is a series of five films produced by Lenfilm for the Soviet Central Television, split into eleven episodes, starring Vasily Livanov as Sherlock Holmes and Vitaly Solomin as Dr. Watson. They were directed by Igor Maslennikov and filmed in Russia (the then Soviet Union) between 1979 and 1986, and the series was one of the most successful in the history of Russian television.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson

1980

Memories of Sherlock Holmes poster
7.1

Detective television series based on the works of Arthur Conan Doyle. Five films about Sherlock Holmes, shot by Igor Maslennikov earlier, were remounted in 2000, a connecting story about Conan Doyle's literary secretary, Mr. Wood, who is preparing an anniversary collection of stories about Holmes for the beginning of the coming XX century. Sir Arthur receives huge mail every day, addressed not to him, but to Sherlock Holmes. And then one day a letter arrives with a plea for help, and Doyle begins an investigation...

Memories of Sherlock Holmes

2000

Зона poster
8.6

No synopsis available yet.

Зона

2006

Open Book poster
5.2

No synopsis available yet.

Open Book

1980

Tonight poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Tonight

2012

Police Sergeant poster
8.0

A young police officer, Sergeant Nikolai Zakharov, who is simultaneously completing his studies at the University's Law Faculty, is assigned to investigate the assault and robbery committed against Alexei Severtsev, an applicant who has come from a distant city to study at a Leningrad university.

Police Sergeant

1975

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Hound of the Baskervilles poster
7.3

The third part of the Soviet TV series based on the works of Arthur Conan Doyle about Sherlock Holmes. The events of the film take place in 1889. The country doctor Mortimer comes to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who visited the detective's apartment the day before in his absence and forgot his cane there. Mortimer tells the legend of the Hound of the Baskervilles, a hellish hound that has been haunting the Baskerville family from Devonshire for several centuries, and reports the mysterious death of Sir Charles Baskerville, the owner of the Baskerville Hall estate. The newspapers write that Charles Baskerville's death was caused by a heart attack, allegedly he was very unwell, but Mortimer does not believe a single word of them, since he found tracks of a huge dog not far from the body of the deceased.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Hound of the Baskervilles

1981

Обыкновенное чудо poster
8.2

No synopsis available yet.

Обыкновенное чудо

1979

Doctor Zhivago poster
7.3

The attempted murder of a high-society lawyer draws Yuri Zhivago, a naive young doctor, into a world of passion and intrigue.

Doctor Zhivago

2006

Щит и Меч poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Щит и Меч

1968

Anna Karenina poster
1.0

In Imperial Russia, Anna, wife of the officer Karenin, goes to Moscow to visit her brother. On the way, she meets charming cavalry officer Vronsky, to whom she's immediately attracted. But in St. Petersburg’s high society, a relationship like this could destroy a woman’s reputation.

Anna Karenina

2013

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Мы, нижеподписавшиеся

1981

Behind the camera