Cold Summer of 1953 (Kholodnoe leto pyatdesyat tretego)Described by many as a Soviet Seven Samurai or Magnificent Seven, this tale of a small town's solution to its victimisation by bandits ended up being a massive success at the Soviet box office.
Proshkin's film contains all of the generic thrills of its filmic cousins whilst managing to provide a gutsy critique of the Soviet system at both the time it is set (just after Stalin's death) and during its release, in the wake of Gorbachev's fateful reforms.
