At Home Among Strangers, Stranger at Hom

Nikita Mikhalkov, 1974; 97m

Already by the mid-'70s one of the top Soviet actors, Nikita Mikhalkov decided to turn his hand to directing-and came up with this remarkable, action-packed "eastern" that remains for many critics his finest film. During the Civil War (1917-1922), Shilov (Yuri Bogatyryov), a Red Army soldier, is assigned to guard an armored car carrying gold needed to pay for food. While barreling across the steppes, the train is robbed and Shilov is taken prisoner. Even though he had bravely fought against the bandits, Shilov is suspected to be working for them and he infiltrates the bandits' camp to clear his name and recover the money. Heavily influenced by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid a great favorite in Russia's Mikhalkov's film focuses much more on the camaraderie of its characters than on the battling ideologies of Red vs. White that so often dominate other Soviet "easterns."