Yu-Lan Chen

Birth : 1913-10-18,

Death : 2006-02-01

History

Yu-Lan Chen (also known as Iolanda Chen) was a Soviet cinematographer. Born in China, her family moved to Moscow, where later on she pursued a degree in Cinematography at Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography. Chen worked on a number of films including an epic four-part adaptation of War and Peace.

Movies

Sofiya Perovskaya
Director of Photography
A biopic, looking at one of the major leaders of the assassination of Czar Alexander II.
War and Peace, Part IV: Pierre Bezukhov
Director of Photography
As Moscow is set ablaze by the retreating Russians, the Rostovs flee their estate, taking wounded soldiers with them, and unbeknownst to them, also Andrei. Pierre, dressed as a peasant, tries to assassinate Napoleon but is taken prisoner. As the French are forced to retreat, he is marched for months with the Grande Armée, until being freed by a raiding party. The French are defeated by Kutuzov in the Battle of Krasnoi. Andrei is recognized and is brought to his estate. He forgives Natasha on his deathbed. She reunites with Pierre and they marry as Moscow is being rebuilt.
War and Peace, Part III: The Year 1812
Director of Photography
In 1812, Napoleon's Army invades Russia. Kutuzov asks Bolkonsky to join him as a staff officer, yet the prince requests a command in the field. Pierre sets out to watch the upcoming confrontation between the armies. During the Battle of Borodino, he volunteers to assist in an artillery battery. Bolkonsky's unit waits in the reserve, but he is hit by a shell. Both Anatol and Bolkosnky suffer severe wounds. The French Army is victorious and advances on Moscow.
The Tunnel
Director of Photography
Romania, 1944. Six intelligence agents, Russians and Romanians, at the cost of their own lives, prevented the Nazis from destroying a strategically important object — a tunnel on the path of the Soviet Army.
War and Peace, Part II: Natasha Rostova
Director of Photography
In the end of 1809, Natasha attends her first ball. Andrei falls in love with her and intends to marry her, but her father demands they wait. The prince travels abroad, and Natasha desperately longs for him. But she then meets Anatol Kuragin and forgets of Andrei. At the last minute, she regrets and abandons her plans to elope with Anatol. Bolkonsky hears of this and declares their betrothal is over. Pierre, trying to calm her down, suddenly announces he loves her.
War and Peace
Director of Photography
A seven-hour epic adaptation of the novel by Leo Tolstoy. The love story of young Countess Natasha Rostova and Count Pierre Bezukhov is interwoven with the Great Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon's invading army.
War and Peace, Part I: Andrei Bolkonsky
Director of Photography
The first film of a four-part adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s 1869 novel. In St. Petersburg of 1805, Pierre Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of a rich nobleman, is introduced to high society. His friend, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, joins the Imperial Russian Army as aide-de-camp of General Mikhail Kutuzov in the War of the Third Coalition against Napoleon.
Five Days, Five Nights
Director of Photography
Five Days, Five Nights (Fünf Tage, Fünf Nächte) takes place in Dresden in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. While Dresden is in ruins, over two thousand paintings by artists including Rembrandt, Raphael, Rubens, Giorgione, and Vermeer have disappeared from the city’s Old Masters Picture Gallery. Red Army captain Leonov and his soldiers have been ordered to recover the lost paintings. During the next five days, Dresden’s residents join the search for the collection. A secret Nazi document offers a first lead…
The Communist
Director of Photography
A young ordinary communist, Vasiliy Gubanov, was among many who took part in the construction of the most important facility for the young republic, the power plant. He did his job in a way that was beyond human ability. He could love, too, with a passion and a passion for self, but his life was cut short very early.
Urok istorii
Director of Photography
Admiral Ushakov
Camera Operator
Historical epic about the legendary Russian naval commander of the 18th century, admiral Fyodor Ushakov, and his fight for Crimea during the Russo-Turkish War.
Rainis
Director of Photography
A biopic of Rainis (born as Jānis Pliekšāns), a Latvian poet, playwright, translator, and politician, whose works had a profound influence on the literary Latvian language, and the ethnic symbolism he employed in his major works has been central to Latvian nationalism.
The Tale of the
Camera Operator
The film is about the exploit of the destroyer "Neistoviy", who fought during the Great Patriotic War on the Barents Sea.
The Great Glinka
Director of Photography
Zoya
Director of Photography
The true story of one of Russia's most beloved national heroines. During the Nazi siege of Moscow, a fearless 18-year-old girl named Zoya risked her life as a partisan fighter. Captured by the Germans, Zoya endured unspeakable tortures at the hands of the Gestapo but still refused to betray her comrades. Even on the gallows, Zoya defiantly spoke out against the Nazis and everything they stood for. In a series of flashbacks, this film re-creates not merely Zoya's death, but also her life.