Elena Safonova

Aboard a ship late in the 19th-century, a middle-aged Italian tells his story of love to a Russian. In a series of flashbacks filmed almost entirely in creams, whites, and ochers, the clownish and superfluous Romano Patroni leaves his wife's opulent home to visit a spa where he falls in love with a Russian woman whose marriage is a horror... (imdb)

In Nazi-occupied Paris, a young accompanist named Sophie Vasseur gets a job with famed singer Irene Brice. As Irene's husband Charles, a businessman collaborating with the Nazis, wrestles with his conscience, Sophie becomes obsessed with Irene, taking on the role of maid as well as accompanist, living life vicariously through Irene's triumphs and affairs. (imdb)

Ivan is old Russia: thick, dour, hard-working, often brutish; he misses Communism. He drives a taxi and one night meets Alexi, a new Russian, a musician, an alcoholic, irresponsible. Alexi stiffs Ivan for the fare, so Ivan tracks him down and a love-hate relationship ensues. (imdb)

Olga lives with her five-year-old son, and dreams of a happy family life with Vadim, the man she loves. But Vadim is married, and their rare hasty meetings fill Olga with bitter feelings of resentment. One day a prince charming, Herbert, appears in Olga's life. He is intelligent, handsome, and single. What would be her choice? (fusionwings.com)

"Butterflies" is a Soviet-Polish feature film (psychological detective story), filmed in 1991 by director Andrei Malyukov and based on a script by Elena Raiskaya.

The main character, a Russian girl Irina, lives in Geneva, where she emigrated at the age of seven with her mother, Marina. An old friend of Marina's offers Ira to work as a translator for Ivan Tashkov, who is in prison. According to the Swiss authorities, Tashkov is a crime boss, but he does not consider himself such. (imdb)