Elem Klimov

Directing

Elem Klimov

Born 1933-07-09 · Stalingrad, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Volgograd, Russia]

Elem Germanovich Klimov (Russian: Эле́м Ге́рманович Кли́мов; 9 July 1933 – 26 October 2003) was a Soviet Russian film director. He studied at VGIK, and was married to film director Larisa Shepitko. Klimov is best known in the West for his final film, 1985's Come and See (Иди и смотри), which follows a teenage boy in German-occupied Belarus during the German-Soviet War and is often considered one of the greatest war films ever made. He also directed dark comedies, children's movies, and historical pictures.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Come and See poster
8.2

The invasion of a village in Belarus by German forces sends young Florya into the forest to join the weary Resistance fighters, against his family's wishes. There he meets a girl, Glasha, who accompanies him back to his village. On returning home, Florya finds his family and fellow peasants massacred. His continued survival amidst the brutal debris of war becomes increasingly nightmarish, a battle between despair and hope.

Come and See

1985

Come and See poster
8.2

The invasion of a village in Belarus by German forces sends young Florya into the forest to join the weary Resistance fighters, against his family's wishes. There he meets a girl, Glasha, who accompanies him back to his village. On returning home, Florya finds his family and fellow peasants massacred. His continued survival amidst the brutal debris of war becomes increasingly nightmarish, a battle between despair and hope.

Come and See

1985

Larisa poster
6.3

Elem Klimov's tribute to his late wife, director Larisa Shepitko, killed in a car accident a year earlier. Features excerpts from all of her films, and archival audio of her discussing life and art.

Larisa

1980

Larisa poster
6.3

Elem Klimov's tribute to his late wife, director Larisa Shepitko, killed in a car accident a year earlier. Features excerpts from all of her films, and archival audio of her discussing life and art.

Larisa

1980

Agony: The Life and Death of Rasputin poster
6.7

As an adviser to the emperor Nicholas II, mystic Grigori Rasputin holds great influence over the empire. However, many in St Petersburg begin to regard Rasputin, with his strange practices and mesmerizing qualities, as a liability and plot his assassination. When Rasputin, known to many as the 'Mad Monk', leads Nicholas to embrace an ill-conceived military strategy, a group of determined conspirators set down a plan to eliminate him.

Agony: The Life and Death of Rasputin

1981

Sport, Sport, Sport poster
5.9

Combining staged scenes, newsreel footage, and documentary episodes, the history of the development of sports is presented, showing the stadiums of Moscow, Philadelphia, Stockholm and Mexico City in the past and future.

Sport, Sport, Sport

1970

Welcome, or No Trespassing poster
7.6

Children rebel against the strict rules and regulations they face during their time in a Communist Young Pioneer camp.

Welcome, or No Trespassing

1964

Farewell poster
6.5

Matyora is a small village on a beautiful island with the same name. The existence of the village is threatened with flooding by the construction of a dam. This is the story of the inhabitants of Matyora and their farewell to their homeland.

Farewell

1983

Adventures of a Dentist poster
6.4

Young dentist Chesnokov has a knack for painless tooth removal, much to the dismay of others, who fear unemployment and start to challenge Chesnokov.

Adventures of a Dentist

1967

The Groom poster
6.3

A young schoolboy tries to help the girl he likes to pass a test.

The Groom

1960

And Still I Believe poster
5.2

Originally called World '68, later retitled The World of Today Romm’s film was conceived as an impassioned, large-scale essay on the origins of the 20th century and the subsequent reality the disappointed director felt slipping away from him. The film itself slipped away from him and was left unfinished at the time of his death. His younger colleagues, Marlen Khutsiev, Elem Klimov and German Lavrov, completed the film from the elements he left behind in addition to segments from Ordinary Fascism, closing the film with Romm’s ultimately optimistic outlook: "And still I believe that man is sensible..."

And Still I Believe

1974

Look! The Sky! poster
8.0

The launch of the space rocket is scheduled for Wednesday. Final preparations are underway in the shed. Yulia, Borya, and Petya are waiting for Misha. But Misha has lost interest in the project — it's much more fun to play in the sea. And a garage is about to be built on the site of the shed. The only one who can't come to terms with the cancellation of the flight is little Alka. Early in the morning, he climbs into the spaceship and presses the “Start” button.

Look! The Sky!

1962