My Friend Ivan Lapshin
Aleksei GermanCast
Andrei Boltnev 
Nina Ruslanova Andrei Mironov
Credits
Written by: Yuri German
Plot
In a provincial Russian town in the 1930s, the police chief Ivan Lapshin hunts a gang of bandits, and falls in love with an actress, Natasha. The story is seen through the eyes of a boy who lives in the same communal apartment. Aleksei German's 1984 film, shot in black and white with a crowded, vivid texture, was banned for two years in the Soviet Union, and is now regarded as a masterpiece.
Sinekatalog’s take
Aleksei German's masterpiece follows a 1930s police chief hunting bandits and loving an actress, seen through a boy's memory. Dense, crowded and extraordinary in its texture, it is a gritty, tragic portrait of Soviet life.Sinekatalog’s own editorial review – not a user or critic quote.
Ratings
IMDb: 7.4 / 10 (3,062 votes)
IMDb rating and vote count from the IMDb ratings dataset (October 2026). Scores change over time.
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