Semnadtsat mgnoveniy vesny

Addictive spy serial with rich characters and performances [Bronevoy's Müller, Tabakov's Schellenberg; the pastor, who possesses both a buffoonishness and real dignity], and a slow pace which is to service the volume of exposition [it is also the novelist's own adaptation]. Its humorous or melodramatic interjections never clash with the melancholy sensibility. Solid technicals and use of music, with poetic flourishes which pretty much land up until the over-long, over-expository very end.

It's fascinating as a piece of Soviet cultural history, but as a narrative, the pace is slow as molasses. There are long stretches of filler with people watching newsreels, playing chess. And there's lots of actual newsreel footage too.

Stierlitz is such a badass "Bond" character in this series that it's hard not to like him. With a runtime of over 13 hours it does drag a bit in parts, but towards the end it picks up the pace and becomes a really solid WW2-based spy thriller, despite its several historical inaccuracies. Remarkable soundtrack by Mikael Tariverdiev.