"Director: Boris Barnet"

• By the Bluest of Seas | DVD | (12/11/2012) from £6.99   |  Saving you £11.00 (157.37%)   |  RRP £17.99

  A storm on the Caspian Sea lands two friends, sailor Yusuf and mechanic Alyosha , on the shores of Soviet Azerbaijan where they arrive at the ‘Lights of Communism’ kolkhoz. They are able to find work at the farm as most of the other workers are fighting a conflict on the Pacific Ocean. One of the administrators of the kolkhoz is the beautiful Masha who they both fall in love with. Their rivalry for her affections affects their work and threatens the community. By the Bluest Of Seas is one of the most lyrical and uplifting films of the Soviet era, eschewing propaganda in favour of a comedy about love and friendship.

• Outskirts | DVD | (12/11/2012) from £10.39   |  Saving you £7.60 (73.15%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Set on a small village on the Russo-German border, the war poisons the village community; close friendships are destroyed by vindictive nationalism, while a sweet romance between a Russian girl (Yelena Kuzmina, By the Bluest of Seas) and a German POW is greeted with suspicion and disapproval. On the front, soldiers face the absurdity of trench warfare, and at home returning veterans are unable to return to normal life; while intimations of the Russian Revolution makes themselves felt within the village. Made in 1933, Outskirts is one of the most ambitious films from the early sound period, ahead of its time with its camera movements and its use of sound, it is regarded as one of the greatest films of Russian cinema.