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Encore, Once More Encore!

2025-06-27T15:46:37Z

93.124.3.80: /* External links */

{{Infobox film
| name = Encore, Once More Encore!
| image = EncoreOnceMoreEncore.jpg
| caption =
| director = [[Pyotr Todorovsky]]
| producer =Mira Todorovskaya
| writer =Pyotr Todorovsky
| starring = [[Valentin Gaft]] [[Irina Rozanova]] [[Yevgeny Mironov (actor)|Yevgeny Mironov]] [[Elena Yakovleva]] [[Stanislav Govorukhin]]
| music =Igor Kantyukov
| cinematography =Yuri Raisky
| editing =Olga Kolotikova
| studio =[[Mosfilm]]
| released = {{Film date|1992}}
| runtime = 96 minutes
| country = Russia
| language = Russian
| budget =
| gross =
}}
'''''Encore, Once More Encore!''''' ({{langx|ru|Анкор, ещё анкор!|Ankor, escho ankor!}}) is a 1992 post-war eccentric tragi-comedy set in the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was released in the United States on October 10, 1992.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kinoglaz.fr/u_fiche_film.php?num=31|publisher=Cinema russe et sovietique |title=Encore, Once More Encore! (1992)}}</ref>

The film has won 5 awards, including The Best Film [[Nika Award]], 1993.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://kino-nika.com/page91828.html|publisher=[[Nika Award]]|title=Лауреаты Национальной кинематографической премии "Ника" за 1992 год.}}</ref>

==Plot==
In a distant garrison town, life proceeds at a measured pace. The officers drink and debauch, while the soldiers serve. Meanwhile, the accidentally unleashed human emotions are suffocated by the atmosphere of cruelty and hypocrisy.

Lt. Poletaev ([[Yevgeny Mironov (actor)|Yevgeny Mironov]]) is an irrepressible character. Even the grim nature of service in the Red Army following World War II isn't enough to dampen his spirits. Instead, he keeps things lively by accompanying the base's chorus on his accordion, and by attempting to get women to join the chorus. He succeeds in both his aims. Not only that, but he also has romantic chemistry with one of the female singers ([[Irina Rozanova]]). Unfortunately for him, she is the live-in lover of his boss, Col. Vinogradov ([[Valentin Gaft]]).

==Cast==
*[[Valentin Gaft]] as Colonel Vinogradov
*[[Irina Rozanova]] as Lyuba Antipova
*[[Yevgeny Mironov (actor)|Yevgeny Mironov]] as Lieutenant Vladimir Poletaev
*[[Elena Yakovleva]] as Anya Kryukova
*[[Sergey Nikonenko]] as Captain Ivan Kryukov
*[[Larisa Malevannaya]] as Vinogradov's wife
*[[Andrey Ilin]] as sergeant
*[[Vladimir Ilyin (actor)|Vladimir Ilyin]] as Captain Liкhovol, intendant
*[[Lyudmila Gnilova]] as Barkhatova
*[[Stanislav Govorukhin]] as divisional commander

==Production==
"I made a film about love. About a Lieutenant, who fell in love with a Colonel's young and beautiful wife. The Colonel' s got two wives: the first from the pre-war times and the second whom he met in the war and fell head over heels. Pangs of conscience, painful doubts, sidelong glances. Only shot in the head can cleave this knot.", says director [[Pyotr Todorovsky]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0103698}}
*[http://rusact.com/?movietrailer&mid=1407 Movie Trailer]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} and {{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20130202045744/http://rusact.com/?moviepictures&mid=1407 Screenshots]}}
{{Pyotr Todorovsky}}
{{Nika Award Best Picture}}

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:1990s Russian films]]
[[Category:1990s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Pyotr Todorovsky]]
[[Category:Russian romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1992 drama films]]
[[Category:Mosfilm films]]
[[Category:Russian-language romantic comedy-drama films]]

{{1990s-Russia-film-stub}}

The Barber of Siberia

2025-06-27T14:38:42Z

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{{use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox film
|name = The Barber of Siberia
|image = Sibirskij cirulnik.jpg

|caption = Original Russian language poster
|director = [[Nikita Mikhalkov]]
|producer = Nikita Mikhalkov [[Michel Seydoux]]
|writer = Nikita Mikhalkov [[Rustam Ibragimbekov]] [[Rospo Pallenberg]]
|starring = [[Julia Ormond]] [[Richard Harris]] [[Oleg Menshikov]] [[Aleksei Petrenko]] [[Marina Neyolova]] [[Vladimir Ilyin (actor)|Vladimir Ilyin]] [[Daniel Olbrychski]] [[David Nykl]]
|music = [[Eduard Artemyev]] [[Anatoly Dokumentov]]
|cinematography = [[Pavel Lebeshev]]
|editing = Enzo Meniconi
|distributor =
|released = {{film date|1998|10|30|df=yes}}
|runtime = 180 minutes
|country = Russia France Italy Czech Republic United States
|language = Russian English
|budget = $35 million
|gross =
}}
'''''The Barber of Siberia''''' ({{langx|ru|Сибирский цирюльник}}, [[Transliteration|translit.]] ''Sibirskiy tsiryulnik'') is a 1998 Russian drama film that re-united the [[Academy Award]]-winning team of director, writer, producer and actor [[Nikita Mikhalkov]], screenwriter [[Rustam Ibragimbekov]] and producer [[Michel Seydoux]]. It was screened out of competition at the [[1999 Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/5307/year/1999.html |title=Festival de Cannes: The Barber of Siberia |access-date=2009-10-11|work=festival-cannes.com}}</ref> The film was selected as the Russian entry for the [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]] at the [[71st Academy Awards]], but was disqualified for not getting a print to Los Angeles in time as a nominee.<ref>Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences</ref><ref name="71stSubmissions">{{cite web |title=45 Countries Submit Films for Oscar Consideration |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |date=19 November 1998 |url=http://www.oscars.org/pressreleases/98.11.19.html |access-date=20 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990219094343/http://www.oscars.org/pressreleases/98.11.19.html |archive-date=19 February 1999 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

==Plot==
Jane Callahan ([[Julia Ormond]]), a beautiful American lady, writes to her son, a cadet at a famous [[military academy]], about a long kept secret. Twenty years ago she arrived in Russia to assist Douglas McCracken ([[Richard Harris]]), an obsessive engineer who needs the [[Grand Duke#Russian grand dukes|Grand Duke]] [[Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia|Alexei Alexandrovich]]'s patronage to sponsor his invention, a massive machine to harvest the Siberian forests. On her travels, she meets two men who would change her life forever: a handsome young [[Junker (Russia)|cadet]] Andrei Tolstoy ([[Oleg Menshikov]]) with whom she shares a fondness for opera, and the powerful General Radlov ([[Aleksei Petrenko]]) who is entranced by her beauty and wants to marry her. Tolstoy and Radlov, much to the surprise and indignation of the latter, become rivals for Jane's love. She confides a deep secret to Tolstoy, promises to marry him, and together they spend a passionate night of love fathering her child. But later he overhears Jane denying her interest in him to the General, in order to win the general's favour and be granted an audience with the Grand Duke. Distraught, Tolstoy attacks the General who arrests his young rival on false charges and banishes him to Siberia to seven years of hard labor and a further five years of exile.

==Cast==
* [[Julia Ormond]] as Jane Callahan-McCracken
* [[Richard Harris]] as Douglas McCracken
* [[Oleg Menshikov]] as Andrei Tolstoy / Andrew McCracken
* [[Aleksei Petrenko]] as General Nikolai Radlov
* [[Marina Neyolova]] as Andrei Tolstoy's mother
* [[Vladimir Ilyin (actor)|Vladimir Ilyin]] as Captain Pavel Mokin, the cadets' governor
* [[Daniel Olbrychski]] as Kopnovsky
* [[Anna Mikhalkova]] as Dunyasha, Tolstoy family's maide
* [[Avangard Leontiev]] as Nicolas, Andrei's uncle
* [[Elizabeth Spriggs]] as Countess Perepyolkina
* [[Mac McDonald]] as Sergeant "Mad Dog" O'Leary
* [[Yevgeny Steblov]] as [[Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia|Grand Duke Alexei]]
* [[Leonid Kuravlyov]] as Sergeant Major Bukin
* [[Robert Hardy]] as Forsten
* [[Marat Basharov]] as Cadet Polievskyy
* [[Nikita Tatarenkov]] as Cadet Alibekov
* Artyom Mikhalkov as Cadet Buturlin
* [[Georgiy Dronov]] as Cadet Nazarov
* [[Viktor Verzhbitsky]] as Grand Duke's aide-de-camp
* [[Alexander Lenkov]] as the scientist
* [[Pierre Narcisse]] as the Prince's servant
* [[Maria Maksakova Jr.]] as the boarding schoolgirl
* [[Nikita Mikhalkov]] as [[Alexander III of Russia|Tsar Alexander III]]

==Music==
* [[Chopin]] – [[Nocturnes, Op. 27 (Chopin)#Nocturne in D-flat major, Op. 27, No. 2|Nocturne in D-flat major, Op. 27, No. 2]]. Jane plays the piece while General Radlov proposes to her.
* [[Mozart]] – [[Piano Concerto No. 23 (Mozart)|Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488]] II Adagio. This is the movement that Jane's son plays to convince his [[drill sergeant]] that "Mozart was a great composer".

==See also==
{{Portal|Film|Siberia}}
* [[List of submissions to the 71st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film]]
* [[List of Russian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{official website|http://mikhalkov.comstar.ru/}} {{in lang|ru}}
*{{IMDb title|0120125}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20130201203426/http://rusact.com/?movietrailer&mid=25 Trailer]}} and {{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20130201140741/http://rusact.com/?moviepictures&mid=25 Screenshots]}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20000925105040/http://atimes.com/c-asia/AD17Ag02.html ''The Barber of Siberia stirs controversy''] Sergei Blagov, ''Asia Times'', 17 April 1999.
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|barber_of_siberia}}

{{Nikita Mikhalkov}}
{{Russian submission for Academy Awards}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barber of Siberia, The}}
[[Category:1998 films]]
[[Category:1990s historical comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Russian historical comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Russian romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Films set in 1885]]
[[Category:Films set in 1895]]
[[Category:Films set in 1905]]
[[Category:Films set in Moscow]]
[[Category:Films set in 19th-century Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Films set in Siberia]]
[[Category:Films set in the United States]]
[[Category:Films shot in the Czech Republic]]
[[Category:Films shot in Moscow]]
[[Category:Films shot in Nizhny Novgorod]]
[[Category:Films shot in Siberia]]
[[Category:Films shot in Portugal]]
[[Category:1990s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:English-language Russian films]]
[[Category:1990s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Nikita Mikhalkov]]
[[Category:Films scored by Eduard Artemyev]]
[[Category:French historical comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:English-language French films]]
[[Category:English-language Italian films]]
[[Category:English-language Czech films]]
[[Category:Russian multilingual films]]
[[Category:Czech multilingual films]]
[[Category:Italian historical comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Czech historical comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:French multilingual films]]
[[Category:American multilingual films]]
[[Category:Italian multilingual films]]
[[Category:1998 multilingual films]]
[[Category:Films produced by Michel Seydoux]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Nikita Mikhalkov]]
[[Category:Russian-language Czech films]]
[[Category:1990s French films]]
[[Category:1990s Russian films]]
[[Category:Russian-language historical romance films]]
[[Category:Russian-language historical drama films]]
[[Category:Russian-language romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:English-language historical comedy-drama films]]

White Sun of the Desert

2025-06-27T14:01:39Z

93.124.3.80: /* External links */

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = White Sun of the Desert
| image = Beloe Solntse Pustyni DVD.jpg
| director = [[Vladimir Motyl]]<ref name=mosfilm/>
| writer = [[Valentin Yezhov]] [[Rustam Ibragimbekov]]<ref name=mosfilm/>
| starring = [[Anatoly Kuznetsov (actor)|Anatoly Kuznetsov]] [[Spartak Mishulin]] [[Pavel Luspekayev]]
| producer = Experimental Studio of ''[[Mosfilm]]''
| music = [[Isaac Schwartz]] (song lyrics by [[Bulat Okudzhava]])
| cinematography = [[Eduard Rozovsky]]
| distributor = [[Lenfilm]] [[Mosfilm]]
| released = {{Film date|df=y|1970|3|30}}<ref name="rollberg"/>
| runtime = 85 min<ref name=mosfilm/>
| country = Soviet Union
| language = Russian
}}
{{Wikiquote}}
'''''White Sun of the Desert''''' ({{langx|ru| Белое солнце пустыни|Beloye solntse pustyni}}) is a 1970 Soviet [[Ostern]] film.<ref name="rollberg">{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema|author=Peter Rollberg|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2009|place=US|isbn=978-0-8108-6072-8|pages=745–746}}</ref>

Its blend of [[action comedy]], music and drama made it highly successful at the Soviet box-office and resulted in a number of memorable quotes. It retains high domestic approval. Its main theme song, "Your Noble Highness Lady Fortune" ([[:ru:Ваше благородие, госпожа удача|Ваше благородие, госпожа удача]], music: [[Isaac Schwartz]], lyrics: [[Bulat Okudzhava]], performed by [[Pavel Luspekayev]]) became a hit. The film is watched by Russian [[Astronaut|cosmonauts]] before most space launches as a good luck ritual.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Heath |first1=Roderick |title=White Sun of the Desert (Beloe Solntse Pustyni, 1970) |url=http://www.ferdyonfilms.com/2015/white-sun-of-the-desert-beloe-solntse-pustyni-1970/24306/ |publisher=Ferdy on Films |date=April 4, 2015}}</ref>

==Plot==
The setting is the east shore of the [[Caspian Sea]] (modern [[Turkmenistan]]) where the [[Red Army]] soldier Fyodor Sukhov has been fighting the [[Russian Civil War|Civil War]] in Russian Asia for a number of years. The movie opens with a panoramic shot of a bucolic Russian countryside. Katerina Matveyevna, Sukhov's beloved wife, is standing in a field. Awakening from this daydream, Sukhov is walking through the Central Asian desert – a stark contrast to his homeland.<ref name=script3/> He finds Sayid buried in the sand. Sukhov frees Sayid, and they strike a friendly but reticent relationship. Sayid, an austere Central Asian, comes to Sukhov's rescue in sticky situations throughout the movie. While traveling together they are caught up in a desert fight between a Red Army cavalry unit and [[Basmachi movement|Basmachi guerrillas]]. The cavalry unit commander, Rakhimov, leaves to Sukhov's temporary protection the [[harem]] of the Basmachi leader Abdullah, left behind by him. Rakhimov also leaves a young Red Army soldier, Petrukha, to assist Sukhov, and proceeds to pursue the fleeing Abdullah.
[[File:Comrade Sukhov by Moiseikin Jewellery House.jpg|thumb|left|A timepiece portraying the scene from the film when Sukhov sees Sayid buried in sand]]
Sukhov and women from Abdullah's harem return to a nearby shore village. There, Sukhov charges the local museum's curator with protecting the women, and prepares to head home. Sukhov hopes to "modernize" the wives of the harem, and make them part of the modern society. He urges them to take off their [[burqa]] and reject [[polygamy]]. The wives are loath to do this, though, and as Sukhov takes on the role of protector, the wives declare him their new husband.
[[File:Customs vereschagin.jpg|thumb|A monument to Vereshchagin]]
Soon, looking for a seaway across the border, Abdullah and his gang come to the same village and find Abdullah's wives. Sukhov is bound to stay. Hoping to obtain help and weapons, Sukhov and Petrukha visit Pavel Vereschagin, a former Tsar's customs official. Vereschagin warms to Petrukha who reminds him of his dead son, but after discussing the matter with his nagging wife, Vereschagin refuses to help Sukhov. Sukhov finds a [[machine gun]] and a case of [[dynamite]] that he plants on Abdullah's ship. Meanwhile, Abdullah has confronted his wives, and is preparing to punish them for their "dishonor", as they did not kill themselves when Abdullah left them. Sukhov manages to capture and lock Abdullah as a hostage, but after he leaves, Abdullah convinces Gyulchatai, the youngest wife of the harem, to free him and then kills Gyulchatai and Petrukha.

The museum curator shows Sukhov an ancient underground passage that leads to the sea. Sukhov and the women of the harem attempt to escape through the passage, but on arriving at the seashore they are impelled to hide in a large empty oil tank. Abdullah discovers that and plans on setting the oil tank on fire.

Enraged at the cold-hearted murder of Petrukha, Vereschagin decides to help Sukhov and takes Abdullah's ship. Sayid also helps Sukhov, and together they fend off Abdullah's gang. Vereschagin, unaware of the dynamite on the ship and not hearing Sukhov's shouted warnings, dies on the exploding ship.

Sukhov kills Abdullah and his gang, returns the harem to Rakhimov and bids farewell to Sayid. He then begins his journey home on foot, having refused a horse since a horse is merely "a nuisance".<ref name=sp7/>

==Cast==
*[[Anatoly Kuznetsov (actor)|Anatoly Kuznetsov]] as [[:ru:Красноармеец Сухов|''Fyodor Ivanovich Sukhov'']] – a [[Red Army]] soldier, who returns home on foot through the desert after recovering in a hospital from wounds sustained in the war. He shows much wisdom and skill in his actions and a gentle human side in his graphical dreams, in which he mentally writes letters to his beloved wife.
:[[Georgi Yumatov]] was chosen for the role, but was dismissed for a drunken brawl right before the shooting. Therefore, Motyl called for Kuznetsov, who was the second choice during the selection.<ref name=script/>
*[[Pavel Luspekayev]] as [[:ru:Павел Артемьевич Верещагин|''Pavel Vereschagin'']] – a former tsarist customs official. Vereschagin lives a lonely life as the only [[Russian people|Russian]], along with his wife, in a remote village. The walls of his house are covered with pictures of the military campaigns where he was awarded and wounded. The Civil War has left him without an official job and a place to go. He is a big man and a straightforward person with a tendency for alcoholism due to the nostalgia for his past. He has an arsenal of weapons that brings both conflicting parties (Sukhov and Abdullah's men) to his house at some point in the film. Initially neutral, he eventually takes the side of Sukhov.
:This was Luspekayev's last role. A World War II veteran and an experienced stage actor, both of his feet were amputated in the 1960s due to past injuries. Given Luspekayev's condition, Motyl wrote a script for a man on [[crutch]]es. Luspekayev refused, arguing that his character should appear not as a cripple, but as a strong person who died prematurely.<ref name=script/> While filming, he walked on prosthetic legs and had to take regular rests due to pain. He died in 1970.<ref name=pavel/><ref name=pavel2/>
*[[Spartak Mishulin]] as [[:ru:Саид|''Sayid'']] – a skilled man of few words. He seeks revenge on [[:ru:Джавдет|Dzhavdet]], a [[Basmachi movement|Basmachi]] gang leader who killed his father, robbed his family and buried him in sand for a slow death; otherwise his motives and reactions are unclear and unexpected. For example, after Sukhov dug him out, Sayid, instead of thanking him, says, "Why did you dig me out? There will be no rest while Dzhavdet is alive." Sayid suddenly appears every now and then to help Sukhov against bandits, but when asked why, simply replies that he has "heard shooting,"<ref name=sp2/> giving an impression that he just seeks Dzhavdet via any armed conflict nearby.
:In contrast with Luspekayev, this was one of the first movie roles for Mishulin, although he was previously active as a TV and stage actor.<ref name=filming/>
*[[Kakhi Kavsadze]] as [[:ru:Чёрный Абдулла|''Abdullah'']] – a cunning Basmachi leader with no respect for human life. Both he and Sayid originate from poor families, and their fathers were friends. However, contrary to Sayid, Abdullah took the path of banditry.<ref name=sp4/>
:Kavsadze, a [[Georgian people|Georgian]] by nationality, fit very well into the role of an Asian gang leader. However, he had never ridden a horse, while his character was supposed to be a keen horse rider. He never actually rides in the film, but only sits on a horse, or even on the shoulders of an assistant.<ref name=filming/>
*[[:ru:Годовиков, Николай Львович|Nikolai Godovikov]] as [[:ru:Петруха|''Petrukha'']] – a young Red Army soldier. He attempts to court Gyulchatai, aiming to start a family.
:Coincidentally, Godovikov started dating Denisova (one of the actresses who played Gyulchatai) after filming.<ref name=script/>
*[[Raisa Kurkina]] as ''Nastasia'', Vereschagin's wife and a homemaker.
*[[Galina Luchai]] as ''Katerina Matveyevna'', Sukhov's wife – she appears in the film only through Sukhov's dreams, to elaborate his character.
;Abdullah's wives<ref name=cast/>
* Alla Limenes – Zarina
* Tatyana Krichevskaya, [[Galina Dashevskaya]] and Galina Umpeleva as Dzhamilya
* Zinaida Rakhmatova as Gyuzel
* Svetlana Slivinskaya as Saida
* [[:ru:Чеботаренок, Велта Арнольдовна|Velta Chebotarenok (Deglav)]] as Khafiza
* [[:ru:Ткач, Татьяна Дмитриевна|Tatyana Tkach]] as Zukhra
* Lidiya Smirnova as Leila
* Zinaida Rachmatova as Zulfia
* Tatiana Fedotova and Tatiana Denisova as [[:ru:Гюльчатай|Gyulchatai]] – the youngest and most inquisitive wife of Abdullah. She is the only wife who interacts with outsiders, i.e., Sukhov and Petrukha.

Most of Abdullah's wives were portrayed by non-professional actors. As they wore [[burqa]]s most of the time, they were often replaced by other women, and even by male soldiers from the military unit stationed nearby.<ref name=motyl2/> Motyl shot a few semi-nude scenes involving some of the wives for character development, but those scenes were cut by censors.<ref name=script/>

==Weapons==
[[File:Lewis gun St Thomas 6.JPG|thumb|Sukhov supposedly uses a [[Lewis gun]] (bottom), though in some scenes it is replaced by a Russian [[Degtyaryov machine gun#Variants|DT]] gun with an attached dummy cooling shroud.<ref>[http://tainy.info/technics/pulemet-tovarishha-suxova/ Пулемет товарища Сухова] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603081730/http://tainy.info/technics/pulemet-tovarishha-suxova/ |date=3 June 2013 }}. tainy.info</ref> Abdullah's gang members carry rifles similar to the one shown on top.]]
[[File:MWP Nagant.JPG|thumb|[[Nagant M1895|Nagant revolver]] similar to that used by Sukhov]]
Weaponry is explicitly used to characterize and develop the characters. Sayid is found barehanded in the beginning; he acquires all his weapons through the film and uses them skillfully. Sukhov gives him a knife, which Sayid later throws to kill an attacker. He shoots a [[carbine]] taken from a bandit, whom he strangled using rope as a [[lasso]] (while helping Sukhov).<ref name=sp2/> His skills in riding are demonstrated when he jumps on a horse, back first, while walking backwards and keeping his enemy at gunpoint. He then slowly rides away, sitting backwards on the horse.

Vereschagin, despite having an arsenal of [[small arms]], fights barehanded, which accentuates his brute force and straightforwardness. Both Sukhov and Abdullah use handguns rather than rifles, as appropriate to their leading, officer-like positions. Sukhov carries a [[Nagant M1895]] revolver, a personal gift from brigade commander M. N. Kovun,<ref name=sp2/> whereas Abdullah uses a [[Mauser C96]]. To deal with Abdullah's gang, Sukhov fetches and fixes a machine gun. Petrukha has a rifle that jams and never fires when needed.<ref name=sp5/> Abdullah's gang members carry carbines and long knives characteristic of the time and region.

==Development and script==
The director, [[Vladimir Motyl]], said such films as ''[[Stagecoach (1939 film)|Stagecoach]]'' and ''[[High Noon]]'' influenced him and he has described the film as being a "cocktail" of both an adventurous Russian folktale and a [[western (genre)|western]]. Initially several directors, including [[Andrei Tarkovsky]] and [[Andrei Konchalovsky]], were offered the film but they turned it down, Motyl claims,<ref name=motyl/> for two main reasons. Firstly, Konchalovsky thought only [[United States|American]] actors could pull off the part of a lead role in a western, and secondly the screenplay was considered weak.<ref name=b1/> Motyl also initially turned down the offer, but then found himself in a no-choice situation, as he would not be given any other film to direct.<ref name=motyl2/><ref name=motyl/>

After the first version of the film was turned down by Mosfilm, Valentin Yezhov and Rustam Ibragimbekov were assigned to improve the script. Ibragimbekov was chosen by his nationality as an expert on the East, though in reality he was raised in Russia and never been in the region.<ref name=script3/> A war veteran told Yezhov a story of a harem abandoned by a [[Basmachi movement|Basmachi leader]] on the run, which became the pivot of the new script.<ref name=script/><ref name=b1/> Further rewriting came from Motyl after he replaced Konchalovsky as director. Motyl completely reshaped and put forward the character of Vereschagin – all his dialogues, as well as about 60% of the entire script, were rewritten and improvised during the filming. Motyl also came up with the idea of revealing Sukhov's personality through his dreams, in which he writes letters to his beloved wife. Those letters were composed by [[Mark Zakharov]], a friend of Motyl's.<ref name=motyl/>

Years later, Konchalovsky praised the final script as a masterpiece.<ref name=script3/>

==Filming==

Sukhov's dream scenes were filmed first, near [[Luga, Leningrad Oblast]], while the bulk of the film was shot on the western shore of the [[Caspian Sea]] near [[Makhachkala]], [[Dagestan]]. The sand dune scenes were shot in the [[Karakum Desert]] near [[Mary, Turkmenistan]], with the museum scenes filmed in the nearby ancient city of [[Merv]].<ref name=luga/> The distinctive [[wikisource:tk:Mary:Uly Gyzgala we Kiçi Gyzgala|Kyz Kala (Gyz Gala)]] fortress, for example, figures prominently. The dune scenes were demanding for actors, who had to make large circles in the scorching heat to approach the shooting location without leaving telltale traces in the sand. However, the heaviest burden fell on Mishulin, who spent in total several days in a box buried in sand while preparing for several takes of the opening scene.<ref name=script/><ref name=script2/> The village buildings and Vereschagin's house were temporary mockups that had to be regularly repaired due to damage from frequent winds.<ref name=motyl/>

Horse riding scenes were performed by the special stunt unit formed for the ''[[War and Peace (film series)|War and Peace]]'' film series. Although it did not perform any stunts in this film, one member of the unit died in an accident during filming. Some other accidents occurred due to poor overall discipline and security. For example, a cut is seen on Vereschagin's face when he fights on the ship. He received this cut in a drunken brawl the day before. Also, some [[Theatrical property|props]] were stolen by local thieves one night. Security was improved after Motyl hired a local criminal leader for the role of a member of Abdullah's gang.<ref name=script/><ref name=b1/>

The film involved two dangerous stunts, the first when Abdullah's officer, supposedly thrown out by Vereschagin, breaks through a second-floor window and falls to the sand below. The other is when Sukhov jumps from an oil tank set on fire. Both stunts were performed by Valentin Faber.<ref name=filming/>

==Soundtrack==
"{{ill|Your Noble Highness, Lady Luck|ru|Ваше благородие, госпожа удача}}" ({{langx|ru|Ваше благородие, госпожа Удача|lit=Vashe blagorodye, gospozha Udacha}}), sung by Vereschagin accompanied by a guitar, is a musical motif in the film. The lyrics talk about loneliness, humanity’s dependence on luck, and hope for love. These lyrics mirror many of the film's central themes, including Vereschagin's sadness and Sukhov's separation from Katerina. The song was written by Okudzhava on personal request by Motyl, who had worked with him in the past.<ref name=motyl/> A line from this song, "Nine grams into your heart, wait, don't call," is included as an homage in the script of the 1985 Soviet action film ''[[The Detached Mission]]''.

==Reception==
''White Sun of the Desert'' became one of the most popular movies of all time in the Soviet Union, where it has attained the status of a classic.<ref name="autogenerated2003">{{cite journal|author=David Gillespie|title=The Sounds of Music: Soundtrack and Song in Soviet Film |volume=62|issue=3|year=2003|pages=477–478|jstor=3185802|journal=Slavic Review|doi=10.2307/3185802 |s2cid=162189615 }}</ref> With 34.5 million viewers, it was one of the most popular films of 1970. The film received no awards during the Soviet era. It was nominated for the 1970 [[USSR State Prize]], but lost to ''[[By the Lake]]''. The latter one was seen as "ideologically correct", while the first one was seen as pure entertainment, i.e., of low ideological value.<ref name=r1/>{{clarify|date=March 2023|reason=see talk}} In the opinion of film director Motyl the film was not allowed to film festivals abroad, because the Soviet ideologists were sure that it will receive awards there, which was ideologically inadmissible. Only in 1998 was it awarded the [[Russian State Prize]] by a special decree of President [[Boris Yeltsin]], being recognized as culturally significant.<ref name=r1/>

The film received limited attention in the West.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} It was shown at a Soviet film festival at the Little Carnegie Theatre in 1973, meant to tie in with [[Leonid Brezhnev]]'s visit to the United States. [[Roger Greenspun]], the ''[[New York Times]]'' movie critic, classified it as an "escapist entertainment" (together with another Soviet film, a comedy ''[[Ivan Vassilyevich Changes His Profession]]'') and describes it as a "[[picaresque]] adventure".<ref>Roger Greenspun (23 June 1973) [https://www.nytimes.com/1973/06/23/archives/screen-simplicity-marks-soviet-films-in-festivalfive-premieres-held.html "Screen: Simplicity Marks Soviet Films in Festival:Five Premieres Held at Little Carnegie Collective-Farm Tale Is Among Features"]. ''The New York Times''.</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Памятник Сухову 1.jpg|thumb|Monument of Sukhov in [[Donetsk]]]]
In 1998, the creators of the film were awarded the 1997 [[Russian Federation State Prize]] in Literature and Arts, nearly 30 years after the film left the silver screen.<ref name=r1/> A Russian computer game was released based on the film.<ref name=pc/> Vereschagin became a symbol of a [[customs officer]], with monuments honoring him erected in [[Amvrosiivka]] (2001),<ref name=amvr/> [[Kurgan, Kurgan Oblast|Kurgan]] (2007),<ref name=kurgan/> Moscow (2008)<ref name=pavel/> and [[Luhansk]] (2011).<ref name=lugansk/> Monuments of Sukhov are known in [[Donetsk]] (ca. 2009) and [[Samara]] (2012)<ref name=samara/>

All crew members boarding Russian space flights are committed to watch "White Sun of the Desert" before the launch,<ref name=launch/><ref name="Cosmonauts traditions"/><ref name="BBC"/> and the names of Abdullah's wives are assigned to craters on [[Venus]]: Зарина, Джамиля, Гюзель, Саида, Хафиза, Зухра, Лейла, Зульфия, Гюльчатай.<ref name=venus/><ref name=venus2/>

==Popular quotes==
Many popular sayings have entered the [[Russian language]] from the film. The first is by far the best known.
*''The Orient is a delicate matter'' (Восток — дело тонкое); refers to any complicated or difficult matter, not necessarily "oriental" in nature.
*''I feel sorry for the great state'' (Мне за державу обидно); used in the face of failure of the state or collapse of its institutions. This phrase, among other things, was used as the title of several books by notable writers.<ref>E.g.
*{{cite book|author=Alexander Lebed|author-link=Alexander Lebed|title=За державу обидно--|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wcNNAAAAMAAJ|year=1995|publisher=Грэгори-Пэйдж|isbn=9785748200066}}
*{{cite book|author=Yury Mukhin|author-link=Yury Ignatyevich Mukhin|title=За державу обидно!|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wU0WAQAAIAAJ|year=2006|publisher=Яуза|isbn=978-5-87849-198-3}}
*{{cite book|author=Dmitry Puchkov|author-link=Dmitry Puchkov|title=За державу обидно: вопр. и ответы про СССР|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-0dBQwAACAAJ|year=2008|publisher=Крылов|isbn=978-5-9717-0723-3}}
*{{cite book|author=Aleksandr Kontorovich|author-link=:ru:Конторович, Александр Сергеевич|title=За Державу обидно!|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YfwvAAAAQBAJ|date=2014|publisher=Яуза : Эксмо|isbn=978-5-457-26138-9}}
</ref>
*''Are there questions? No, there aren't!'' (Вопросы есть? Вопросов нет!); refers to the commanding tone of an officer that will not hear objections to his command. This line was reused in the 2005 Afghanistan war epic [[The 9th Company]].
*''Customs gives the green light'' (Таможня дает добро!); refers to any type of approval, especially reluctant approval.
*''His grenades are the wrong caliber'' (Да гранаты у него не той системы); refers to or to comment upon any kind of excuse, particularly a pathetic one. The line wasn't scripted, but improvised by the actor. It is similar to the English "[[The wrong type of snow]]"
*''Gyulchatai, show your sweet face'' (Гюльчатай, открой личико); a popular Russian saying for boys to say to girls.
:Gyulchatai has become a [[placeholder name]] for a Central Asian girl.<ref>Arina Dolya, [https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/etnicheskie-prozvischa-v-angliyskom-i-russkom-yazykah-motivatsionnyy-aspekt/viewer Этнические прозвища в английском и русском языках]</ref>
*''Mahmud, light the fire'' (Махмуд, поджигай!); used when embarking cheerfully on some difficult potentially dangerous mission.
* ''I'm unlucky in death, maybe I'll be lucky in love'' (Не везёт мне в смерти, повезёт в любви); the refrain of the theme song

==References==
{{reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name=mosfilm>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090526063336/http://www.mosfilm.ru/films/about/beloje_solnce_pustyni.html Белое солнце пустыни]. mosfilm.ru</ref>
<ref name=script3>[[Neya Zorkaya]], [http://www.portal-slovo.ru/art/35998.php «Белое солнце пустыни» — рейтинг зрителя]. portal-slovo.ru</ref>
<ref name=sp7>Yezhov and Ibragimbekov, p. 7</ref>
<ref name=script>[http://cyclop.com.ua/content/view/322/1/1/73/ Белое солнце пустыни]. yclop.com.ua</ref>
<ref name=pavel>[http://www.newsru.com/cinema/10jan2008/monument.html "В Москве будет установлен памятник таможеннику Верещагину из "Белого солнца пустыни"]. Newsru (10 January 2008).</ref>
<ref name=pavel2>[http://www.c-cafe.ru/days/bio/18/031_18.php Павел Луспекаев. Верещагин – свой среди своих]. c-cafe.ru</ref>
<ref name=sp2>Yezhov and Ibragimbekov, p. 2</ref>
<ref name=sp5>Yezhov and Ibragimbekov, p. 5</ref>
<ref name=filming>[https://web.archive.org/web/20131019220804/http://kino-teatr.ru/kino/art/kino/29/ Я не догадывался, что стал знаменитым...] kino-teatr.ru (8 May 2006)</ref>
<ref name=sp4>Yezhov and Ibragimbekov, p. 4</ref>
<ref name=cast>[http://www.kino-teatr.ru/kino/movie/sov/475/annot/ Белое солнце пустыни]. kino-teatr.ru</ref>
<ref name=motyl2>[http://tv.km.ru/iznachalno_za_beloe_solncze_pust/textversion За год до смерти Владимир Мотыль рассказал о своей непростой кинематографической судьбе]. km.ru</ref>
<ref name=motyl>{{cite web |url=http://www.peoples.ru/art/cinema/producer/motyl/interview.html |title=Владимир Мотыль interview|access-date=23 January 2007 |language=ru }}</ref>
<ref name=b1>Федор Раззаков: ''Гибель советского кино. Интриги и споры. 1918–1972'', Эксмо, 2008, {{ISBN|978-5-699-26846-7}}</ref>
<ref name=luga>[http://www.trud.ru/article/30-12-2005/98903_anatolij_kuznetsov_beloe_solntse_menja_sogrelo_i_o.html АНАТОЛИЙ КУЗНЕЦОВ: "БЕЛОЕ СОЛНЦЕ" МЕНЯ СОГРЕЛО И ОБОЖГЛО] Trud (30 December 2005)</ref>
<ref name=script2>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160320220714/http://smena.ru/news/2005/02/04/4554/ Как снимали «Белое солнце пустыни»]. smena.ru (4 February 2005); ".. the heat during the shooting was such that chicken eggs could be cooked in sand within 10 minutes".</ref>
<ref name=r1>[http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/200046 Владимир Мотыль: в кино нужна госполитика]. Kommersant. №104 (1507) (11 June 1998)</ref>
<ref name=pc>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140203203152/http://www.zone-x.ru/showtov.asp?Cat_id=491023&Group_Id=2538 1С:Коллекция игрушек "Белое солнце пустыни"]. zone-x.ru</ref>
<ref name=amvr>[http://www.trud.ru/article/23-08-2001/28760_pamjatnik_tem_komu_za_derzhavu_obidno.html ПАМЯТНИК ТЕМ, КОМУ ЗА ДЕРЖАВУ ОБИДНО]. Trud (23 August 2001)</ref>
<ref name=kurgan>[http://vsesmi.ru/news/900587/1773897/ Курганские таможенники установили памятник Павлу Верещагину из «Белого солнца пустыни»]. vsesmi.ru (7 August 2007)</ref>
<ref name=lugansk>[http://podrobnosti.ua/society/2011/06/21/776649.html В Луганске открыли памятник Павлу Верещагину]. podrobnosti.ua (21 June 2011)</ref>
<ref name=samara>[http://ria.ru/culture/20121207/913858864.html Памятник товарищу Сухову из "Белого солнца пустыни" появился в Самаре]. ria.ru (7 December 2012)</ref>
<ref name=launch>[http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Gagarin/SEM7BO3UFLG_2.html ESA – 50 years of humans in space – Gagarin's traditions – printer version]. Esa.int. Retrieved on 18 April 2012.</ref>
<ref name="Cosmonauts traditions">{{cite web| url=http://suzymchale.com/kosmonavtka/ceremonies.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210052857/http://www.suzymchale.com/kosmonavtka/ceremonies.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=10 February 2007| title=Kosmonavtika| access-date=21 January 2007| language=ru}}</ref>

<ref name="BBC">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6529149.stm American space 'nerd' blasts off]. BBC (7 April 2007)</ref><ref name=venus>[http://galspace.spb.ru/nature.file/02010.html ЧЕТЫРЕ СТОЛЕТИЯ АСТРОНОМИИ]. galspace.spb.ru</ref><ref name=venus2>[http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/SearchResults?target=VENUS&featureType=Crater,%20craters Nomenclature Search Results]. wr.usgs.gov</ref>

}}

==Bibliography==
*Yezhov, Valentin and Ibragimbekov, Rustam (2001) ''Белое солнце пустыни'', Vagrius, {{ISBN|5-264-00694-6}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
*{{IMDb title|id=0066565|title=Beloe solntse pustyni}}
*{{Rotten Tomatoes|the-white-sun-of-the-desert}}
*[http://www.vothouse.ru/films/beloe_solntse_pustyni_text.html Final script] (in Russian)
* Watch [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqnqFhc9aho/ ''White Sun of the Desert''] online on the official [[Mosfilm]] [[YouTube]] channel (with English subtitles)
* {{Cite news|last=Eric|first=Berger|url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/04/i-was-bored-so-i-watched-the-movie-that-astronauts-must-view-before-launch/|title=I was bored, so I watched the movie that astronauts must view before launch|date=8 April 2020|work=Ars Technica|access-date=2020-04-08}}

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Twelfth Night (1955 film)

2025-06-27T13:55:04Z

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{{short description|Soviet film by Yan Frid}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Dvenadtsataya noch
| image = Twelfth_Night_(1955_film).jpg

| caption =
| director = [[Yan Frid]]
| producer = [[Yan Frid]]
| writer = [[Yan Frid]] [[William Shakespeare]] (play)
| based_on = ''[[Twelfth Night]]'' by [[William Shakespeare]]
| narrator =
| starring = [[Klara Luchko]] [[Alla Larionova]]
| music = [[Aleksey Zhivotov]]

| cinematography = Yevgeny Shapiro
| editing =
| studio = [[Lenfilm]]
| released = {{Film date|1955|11|21|Soviet Union|df=y}}
| runtime = 90 minutes
| country = Soviet Union
| language = [[Russian language|Russian]]
| budget =
| gross =
}}

'''''Twelfth Night''''' ({{langx|ru|Двенадцатая ночь}}, [[transliteration]] ''Dvenadtsataya noch'') is a 1955 [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Romance film|romantic]] [[comedy-drama]] film by [[Lenfilm]] based on [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]'s play ''[[Twelfth Night, or What You Will]]''. The script was written by [[Yan Frid]]. The film was released in the Soviet Union on 21 November 1955, and in the United States on 3 March 1956.

== Plot ==
During a storm at sea, a shipwreck separates twin siblings Viola and Sebastian. Viola lands in the country of Illyria, and later, her brother arrives there as well. Viola, meeting Duke Orsino, falls in love with him. To stay close to her beloved, she disguises herself as a man and takes the name Cesario to enter his service. Orsino, in love with the beautiful Olivia, sends "Cesario" to deliver messages of his love. However, Olivia instantly falls in love with "Cesario."

Olivia’s household is home to a lively group: her uncle Sir Toby, the servants Maria and Fabian, and the fool Feste. These four amuse themselves in various ways, often at the expense of others. One of their targets is Sir Andrew Aguecheek, a guest in the house. They also play a cruel prank on Olivia’s pompous steward, Malvolio.

In the end, after a series of comedic and occasionally dramatic situations where Sebastian is mistaken for Viola and vice versa, the twins are reunited. The misunderstandings are resolved: Sebastian finds happiness in marrying Olivia, while Orsino realizes that the person he truly loves is not Olivia, but Viola.
== Cast ==
* [[Klara Luchko]] as Viola/Sebastian
* [[Alla Larionova]] as Olivia
* [[Vadim Medvedev]] as Duke Orsino
* [[Mikhail Yanshin]] as Sir Toby Belch
* [[Georgi Vitsin]] as Sir Andrew Aguecheek
* [[Vasili Merkuryev]] as Malvolio
* [[Bruno Freindlich]] as Feste
* [[Sergei Filippov (actor)|Sergei Filippov]] as Fabian
* [[Anna Lisyanskaya]] as Maria
* [[Nina Urgant]] as maidservant
* [[Aleksandr Antonov (actor)|Aleksandr Antonov]] as Sea Captain
* [[Sergei Vladimirovich Lukyanov|Sergei Lukyanov]] as Antonio

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0049166}}
*{{in lang|ru}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20120216044117/http://www.lenfilm.ru/films/12night/12night.htm Twelfth Night] on [[Lenfilm]] official site

{{Yan Frid}}
{{Shakespeare}}
{{Twelfth Night}}

[[Category:1955 films]]
[[Category:Lenfilm films]]
[[Category:Films based on Twelfth Night]]
[[Category:1950s romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Soviet romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1950s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:Russian-language romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Yan Frid]]
[[Category:1950s Soviet films]]

{{1950s-USSR-film-stub}}

The Theme

2025-06-27T13:51:36Z

93.124.3.80: /* External links */

{{Short description|1979 film by Gleb Panfilov}}
{{About|the 1979 film|the Tracey Lee song|The Theme (It's Party Time)||Theme (disambiguation){{!}}Theme}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Theme
| image = The_Theme_1979_film_poster.jpg
| caption =
| director = [[Gleb Panfilov]]
| producer =
| writer = [[Aleksandr Chervinsky]] Gleb Panfilov
| starring = [[Mikhail Alexandrovich Ulyanov|Mikhail Ulyanov]] [[Inna Churikova]] [[Stanislav Lyubshin]] [[Yevgeni Vesnik]]
| music =
| cinematography =
| distributor = [[International Film Exchange|IFEX]] (US theatrical)
| released = {{Film date|1979|||USSR|1987|10|16|U.S. limited|df=y}}
| runtime = 99 minutes
| country = Soviet Union
| language = Russian
| budget =
}}

'''''The Theme''''' ({{langx|ru|Тема|Tema}}) is a [[1979 in film|1979]] [[Soviet film|Soviet]] [[comedy film]] directed by [[Gleb Panfilov]]. It tells the story of an egotistical playwright who thinks of himself as an artist, but who allows the system to make him write conformist plays.

The film was heavily censored on its release in 1979. The full version was not released until 1986; this version was awarded the [[Golden Bear]] at the [[37th Berlin International Film Festival]].<ref name="Berlinale">{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1987/03_preistr_ger_1987/03_Preistraeger_1987.html |title=Berlinale: 1987 Prize Winners |access-date=2011-02-27 |work=berlinale.de}}</ref>

==Plot==
Popular playwright Kim Yesenin ([[Mikhail Alexandrovich Ulyanov|Mikhail Ulyanov]]) with his mistress ([[Natalya Seleznyova]]) and friend ([[Yevgeni Vesnik]]) arrives in [[Suzdal]] on his [[GAZ Volga|Volga]], in search of historical themes for his new play, inwardly tormented by his own bias and experiencing a spiritual crisis. In Suzdal, he runs into the family of an old teacher Maria Alexandrovna (Yevgeniya Nechayeva) with venerable, traditional notions of morality and honor. Kim tries to woo the art historian and local museum guide Sasha ([[Inna Churikova]]), a pupil of Alexandrovna, but she just plainly tells him how mediocre and immoral his plays are.

Later Kim Yesenin is a secret witness to a farewell conversation of Sasha with her lover, nicknamed as "The Hirsute" ([[Stanislav Lyubshin]]). The Hirsute is a frustrated scientist and writer, planning to emigrate to the [[United States]] (in the scene of parting with The Hirsute, Sasha shouts: "What are you going to do in this America?!").

At night, Yesenin is trying to depart for Moscow, but changes his mind midway, turns around and crashes his car on the slippery road. In the final scene, severely wounded, he gets to a phone booth and calls Sasha. Without being able to communicate anything sensible to her, Yesenin loses consciousness. Lieutenant Sinitsyn (Sergey Nikonenko) who happens to pass by, picks him up onto his [[motorcycle]] which has a sidecar attached - and on this frame the picture ends. The subsequent fate of Yesenin is unknown.

==Cast==
* [[Mikhail Alexandrovich Ulyanov|Mikhail Ulyanov]] as Kim Yesenin, writer
* [[Inna Churikova]] as Sasha Nikolaeva, museum guide
* [[Stanislav Lyubshin]] as Gravedigger, dissident, Sasha's friend
* [[Yevgeni Vesnik]] as Igor Paschin, writer
* [[Yevgeniya Nechayeva]] as Maria Alexandrovna
* [[Natalya Seleznyova]] as Svetlana, Yesenin's disciple
* [[Sergey Nikonenko]] as Sinitsyn, policeman

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0079999}}
{{Gleb Panfilov}}
{{Golden Bear 1980-1999}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Theme, The}}
[[Category:1979 films]]
[[Category:1970s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:Films about writers]]
[[Category:Golden Bear winners]]
[[Category:Films directed by Gleb Panfilov]]
[[Category:Films set in Russia]]
[[Category:Films set in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Soviet romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Russian romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1970s romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Censored films]]
[[Category:1979 comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1970s Soviet films]]
[[Category:Russian-language romantic comedy-drama films]]

{{1970s-USSR-film-stub}}
{{comedy-drama-film-stub}}

Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures

2025-06-27T13:45:17Z

93.124.3.80: /* External links */

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures
| native_name = {{Infobox name module|language=ru|title=Операция «Ы» и другие приключения Шурика|nolink=yes}}
| image = Operatsiya.jpg

| caption = Film poster
| director = [[Leonid Gaidai]]
| producer =
| writer = {{ubl|Moris Slobodskoy|Yakov Kostyukovsky|Leonid Gaidai}}
| narrator =
| starring = {{ubl|[[Aleksandr Demyanenko]]|[[Aleksei Smirnov (actor)|Aleksei Smirnov]]|[[Natalya Seleznyova]]|[[Yuri Nikulin]]|[[Georgy Vitsin]]|[[Yevgeny Morgunov]]}}
| music = [[Aleksandr Zatsepin]]
| cinematography = Konstantin Brovin
| editing = Valentina Yankovskaya
| distributor = [[Mosfilm]]
| released = {{Film date|1965|8|16|df=y}}
| runtime = 94 min
| country = Soviet Union
| language = Russian
| budget =
| gross =
}}
'''''Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures''''' ({{langx|ru|link=no|Операция «Ы» и другие приключения Шурика|Operatsiya «[[Yery]]» i drugiye priklyucheniya Shurika}}) is a 1965 Soviet [[slapstick film|slapstick]] comedy film directed by [[Leonid Gaidai]], starring [[Aleksandr Demyanenko]], [[Natalya Seleznyova]], [[Yuri Nikulin]], [[Georgy Vitsin]] and [[Yevgeny Morgunov]]. The film consists of three independent parts: "Workmate" (Напарник, ''Naparnik''), "Déjà vu" (Наваждение, ''Navazhdeniye'') and "Operation Y"<ref name=note>The letter "Y" in the title of the film is in fact [[Yery]] ([[Cyrillic]]: '''Ы''', pronounced roughly as the vowel sound in the word "nib"), Operatsiya "Y", this codename sounds bizarre because no native Russian word starts with this letter. As ''Fool'' (Yu. Nikulin) answers to the "Why 'Y'?" question — "So that nobody would guess why!" The phrase became a common colloquialism in Russian used to answer odd questions.</ref> (Операция «Ы»).<ref name=kinoexp>{{cite web|url=http://www.kinoexpert.ru/index.asp?comm=4&num=291|script-title=ru:Операция "Ы" и другие приключения Шурика|publisher=KinoExpert.ru|language=ru|access-date=2010-06-12}}</ref><ref name=kinoros>{{cite web|url=http://kinoros.ru/db/movies/213/index.html/ |script-title=ru:Операция "Ы" и другие приключения Шурика (1965) |language=ru |access-date=12 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105175350/http://kinoros.ru/db/movies/213/index.html |archive-date=5 January 2010 }}</ref> The plot follows the adventures of Shurik, the naive and nerdy Soviet student who often gets into ludicrous situations, but always finds a way out very neatly.

It was a hit movie and became [[List of highest-grossing films in the Soviet Union|the leader of Soviet film distribution]] in 1965.<ref name=kinoexp />

==Plot==

==="Workmate"===
On a bus a [[:wikt:boor|boor]] and drunkard named Fedya takes a seat reserved for children and disabled persons and then refuses to let a young pregnant woman sit claiming that "she is neither a child nor handicapped". Shurik, who is riding on the same bus, puts on a pair of sunglasses, and pretends to be visually impaired. When Fedya is urged to let him sit in his seat, Shurik offers the seat to the pregnant woman. Fedya is enraged at being deceived and gets into a fight with Shurik. As a result, Fedya is arrested and sentenced to 15 days of [[Community service#Court ordered service|community service]] (administrative arrest in USSR). Ironically, he is sent to serve his term to the same construction site where Shurik works part-time. The manager puts them on the same work crew. Fedya does not do his work properly, bullies Shurik, and plots to get revenge on the young student. When Shurik finally hits back, the two get involved in a chase throughout the construction site using building equipment and various materials as weapons. In the end Fedya is subdued and "reeducated" by Shurik.

==="Déjà vu"===
[[File:Шурик и Лида (2).jpg|thumb|A monument to Shurik and Lida, Krasnodar]]
It's time for summer examinations at the University, and everyone is cramming for the exams. Shurik (and everyone else) is looking desperately for lecture notes and finally sees them in the hands of a girl on a streetcar, Lida, who is a student of the same university. As Shurik follows her reading the notebook over her shoulder, they become so deeply absorbed in reading the notes that Lida never looks up, instinctively assuming that Shurik is one of her fellow students. The two are completely engrossed in reading and never look at or speak to each other, following a sort of humorous pantomime.

They come into the girl's apartment and spend time there reading simultaneously with having a snack and resting, with the girl undressing, still completely unaware of each other's identity, then prepare to go back to the University. There Shurik is distracted from Lida's notebook by a fellow student and loses her as she walks in another direction. After passing the exam successfully, he is introduced to Lida by a mutual friend. Shurik does not recognize Lida but is enchanted by her. He walks her back home and, following an amusing incident involving a dog belonging to Lida's neighbors, finds himself in her apartment again, where he starts to feel [[Déjà vu|as if he has been there before]] since he can guess where all the things are placed and all the "objects, scents and sounds" seem familiar to him. Lida assumes that he might be a [[telepathy|telepathist]] and has an ability of [[precognition]]. She tells him to guess her wish that she has written on a piece of paper, "find the teddy bear". Shurik then kisses her. Although he failed to guess the wish, the kiss evokes romantic feelings in both of them, and they decide to meet again after the next exam.

As a subplot, another student, known by his nickname Numskull, tries to cheat his way through his Physics exam with the help of a concealed radio to communicate with another student, but has to dress up to an absurd degree to hide his crude equipment and attracts the examiner's attention by using radio jargon, but he seems to get away with it. However, the examiner promptly reveals a proper [[Signals intelligence|radio intercept]] suite in his bag, listens to the cheater calling him a fool, and then activates a [[Radio jamming|radio jammer]] before approaching the offender and blowing his cover. They both laugh at the disguise, and Numskull gets a 5 (excellent) for his design (it is an engineering college) and a 2 (failure) for the exam.

==="Operation Y"===
[[File:Arkhangelskoye Vadim Zadorozhnys Vehicle Museum S-3A IMG 9619 2150.jpg|thumb|Fool, Coward and Pro by their {{ill|CM3 S-3A|ru|СМЗ С-3А}}. Vadim Zadorozhny’s Vehicle Museum, Arkhangelskoye, Moscow Oblast.]]
A warehouse manager, trying to cover up his theft, hires three petty criminals nicknamed [[Coward, Fool, and Pro]] to stage a break-in. Their elaborate plan goes wrong when Shurik is asked by his landlady, an elderly woman who usually guards the warehouse, to babysit her granddaughter during her shift. Once that proves to be too much for him, he replaces her as a guard while she takes care of the child. Surprised, Coward fails to neutralize the guard using a handkerchief soaked in [[chloroform]] as planned, putting himself to sleep instead. The culmination of the story is the "Warehouse Battle", involving Shurik and the criminals using various impromptu weapons such as musical instruments and rapiers. Finally, an agitated woman arrives at the warehouse and finds Shurik and the trio lying on a floor asleep{{snd}}Coward having fainted earlier on, Fool and Pro having been "rendered harmless" by Shurik, and Shurik himself having fallen asleep after accidentally wiping his face with the chloroform soaked handkerchief. At the end of the segment, Shurik and the woman take the criminals to the police station.

==Production==
* The film was shot in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), [[Odessa]], [[Yalta]], in [[Mosfilm]] pavilions, at [[Sviblovo District]] of Moscow and near the [[Moscow State University]]. The filming was started on 27 July 1964. In October bad weather in Moscow hindered the completion of the outdoor scenes, so the shooting was relocated to Odessa and was complete on 22 November. The rest of the scenes were shot in Moscow and Leningrad. The lack of snow offered much difficulty filming the third episode about the burglary of a warehouse on a snowy winter night. In spring 1965 the editing of the film was mostly complete. The remaining short location shooting was made in Yalta.<ref name="vm1">{{cite news|title="Simply Shurik". One of the most popular characters of the Soviet Cinema came into the world 40 years ago|url=http://www.vmdaily.ru/article.php?aid=44434|access-date=5 February 2008|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003053553/http://www.vmdaily.ru/article/44434.html|archive-date=3 October 2011|date=26 March 2004|language=ru|work=Vechernyaya Moskva}}</ref>
* The film's plot is based loosely on a screenplay written by Moris Slobodsky and Yakov Kostyukovsky entitled ''Light-hearted Stories'' (Несерьёзные истории); it consisted of two novels about comical adventures of a young student Vladik Arkov, clumsy but very decent. A character of a "good guy" was popular in the Soviet art of that time, so Gaidai decided to follow this tendency shooting his next film. The story line was modified and the additional novel was written.<ref name="vm1"/>
* More than one hundred actors took a screen test for the role of the student Vladik, but Gaidai was not satisfied with any of them. He had his own personality in mind as a prototype of the character, so when he first saw a photo of Aleksandr Demyanenko and then met him in person, he noticed the likeness to himself in the actor, and believed that the humble Demyanenko in glasses would be able to portray the awkward, naive and honest student.<ref name="vm1"/>
*Before the shooting it was decided to dye Aleksandr's hair from brown to blond. Years later, his wife Lyudmila Akimovna recalled: "He was dyed mercilessly, until blisters appeared on his skin. The dyes were terrible back then. It is a good thing that Sasha's hair was so thick that despite all the experiments he did not go bald."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spb.aif.ru/culture/person/vlip_ochkarik_pyat_yarkih_roley_aleksandra_demyanenko|publisher=[[Argumenty i Fakty]]|title="Влип, очкарик"! Пять ярких ролей Александра Демьяненко}}</ref>
* Initially the name of the main character was Vladik (a diminutive of Vladislav). Later the director, impressed by Demyanenko, decided to name the character after the actor (Shurik is a diminutive of Aleksandr).<ref name="vm1"/>
* Among those who took part in the audition for the main role was actor Valery Nosik. Eventually he appeared in the film as a student-gambler. Mikhail Pugovkin, who played the role of the construction site manager, was initially cast for the role of Fedya.
* At the session of the Art Council after the preliminary watching of the film, the critics panned the acting of Morgunov and Vitsin, while praising Nikulin, and were insisting on deleting scenes where Alexei Smirnov appears in [[blackface]]. However, no changes were made.<ref name="vm1"/>

==Reception==
The film was enormously popular; it became [[List of highest-grossing films in the Soviet Union|the leader of Soviet film distribution]] in 1965 having 69.6 million viewers. The novel ''Déjà vu'', based on a story from a Polish magazine,<ref name="vm1"/> won the Grand Prix Wawel Silver Dragon at the [[Kraków Film Festival]] in Poland in 1965.<ref name=kinoexp/>

The film became a source of quotes for Soviet people.<ref>[https://citaty.info/movie/operaciya-y-i-drugie-priklyucheniya-shurika Операция «Ы» и другие приключения Шурика – цитаты из фильма]. In Russian</ref>

In spring 2012 a monument to Lida and Shurik reading the class notes over her shoulder was installed in front of the [[Kuban State Technological University]], [[Krasnodar]].<ref>[http://riarealty.ru/multimedia_photo/20150123/404210104_7.html Мученики науки: 9 самых выразительных памятников студентам в России]</ref> In the same year, a sculpture "A student rushing to class" was installed on the steps of the main building of [[Togliatti State University]], the prototype was Shurik from the film.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.tltsu.ru/media-tsu/TU/togliatti-university-2012/Tgy505.pdf |title=Сотворение образа |access-date=2022-05-29 |archive-date=2022-03-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308123317/https://www.tltsu.ru/media-tsu/TU/togliatti-university-2012/Tgy505.pdf }}. In Russian</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://augustnews.ru/podruzhka-dlya-shurika/ |title=Подружка для Шурика |access-date=2022-05-29 |archive-date=2020-11-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123214003/https://augustnews.ru/podruzhka-dlya-shurika/ }}. In Russian</ref> In 2015, a monument to Lida and Shurik sitting on a bench was installed in the frontyard of Ryazan State University.<ref>{{Cite web|language=ru|url=https://www.kp.ru/online/news/2244563/|title=В Рязани открыли памятник киногероям "Операции Ы"|author=Кудряшова Анастасия|website=Сайт «Комсомольской правды»|date=2015-12-08|accessdate=2020-12-12}}</ref> There is a monument to Shurik and Lida in Moscow, at the entrance to the building of the Moscow Economic Institute, [[Tekstilshchiki District]]<ref>[http://www.unmonument.ru/mon132.html Необычные памятники Москвы — Памятник Шурику и Лиде] {{Web archive|url=https://web.archive.org/20140311050639/http://www.unmonument.ru/mon132.html }} // unmonument.ru</ref>

==Video release==
At the end of the 1970s and the 1980s, the film was released on VHS as part of the series "Video Program of Goskino USSR". Starting in 1990, the film was released on VHS by the film association "Close-Up" (Krupniy plan) with Hi-Fi Stereo sound and encoded in [[PAL]]. Starting in 2001, Large Scale began fully restored releases of the film on DVD with enhanced video and sound quality using [[Dolby Digital]] 5.1 and Dolby Mono and incorporating subtitles. In 2012, the film was re-released in hardcover format by "Telesem'" magazine.

==Cast==
*[[Aleksandr Demyanenko]] as Shurik

==="Workmate"===
*[[Aleksei Smirnov (actor)|Aleksei Smirnov]] as Fedya the Boor
*[[Vladimir Basov]] as The Strict Policeman
*{{ill|Emmanuil Geller|ru|Геллер, Эммануил Савельевич}} as The Passenger with an Umbrella
*[[Rina Zelyonaya]] as An Old Woman in the bus
*{{ill|Viktor Uralsky|ru|Уральский, Виктор Владимирович}} as The Cook at the Construction Site
*[[Mikhail Pugovkin]] as Pavel Stepanovich, Construction Works Manager
*Valentina Berezutskaya as A Woman in the bus

==="Déjà vu"===
*[[Natalya Seleznyova]] as Lida
*Svetlana Ageyeva as Lida's friend
*Vladimir Rautbart as Professor
*[[Viktor Pavlov]] as "Numskull"
*[[Viktor Zozulin]] as Kostya, a [[radio technician]] and Numskull's friend
*[[Valery Nosik]] as The Student-[[Gambling|gambler]]
*{{ill|Georgy Georgiu|ru|Георгиу, Георгий Александрович}} as Lida's Neighbor
*[[Zoya Fyodorova]] as Lida's Neighbor

==="Operation Y"===
*[[Yuri Nikulin]] as "Fool"
*[[Georgy Vitsin]] as "Coward"
*[[Yevgeny Morgunov]] as "Pro"
*Vladimir Vladislavsky as The [[Warehouse]] Manager
*{{ill|Maria Kravchunovskaya|ru|Кравчуновская, Мария Александровна}} as The Gran
*Tanya Gradova as Lenochka
*Vladimir Komarovsky as The Truck Driver
*[[Aleksei Smirnov (actor)|Aleksei Smirnov]] as The Consumer at the Market

==Notes==

* [[SMZ cyclecar|S-3A]], a tiny car for the handicapped, featured in the ''Operation Y'' section of the film. It was used by Fool, Coward and Pro.
* Aleksandr Demyanenko was also featured as Shurik in the next film{{snd}}''[[Kidnapping, Caucasian Style]]''; it is considered a semi-sequel of "Operation Y".
* The criminal trio of [[Fool, Coward, and Pro]], portrayed by Nikulin, Vitsin and Morgunov, was featured in other movies written and directed by Gaidai, short films ''[[Dog Barbos and Unusual Cross]]'' (international title: ''Medor, le chien qui rapporte bien'') (1960), [[Moonshiners (1961 film)|''Moonshiners'']] (1961) and the 1967 hit ''[[Kidnapping, Caucasian Style]]''. In 1968, trio featured in [[Yevgeny Karelov]]'s ''[[Seven Old Men and a Girl]]'' comedy.<ref>{{IMDb title|0063579|Семь стариков и одна девушка (1968) }}</ref> Vitsin, Nikulin and Morgunov also appeared in Gaidai's 1962 film ''[[Strictly Business (1962 film)|Strictly Business]]''.
* The bus, where Shurik gets into a fight with the boor, is ZIL 158.
* In the segment ''Déjà Vu'' Shurik and Lida ride on a streetcar [[Tatra T3]], license plate 530. It was from one of the first series of these streetcars, later [[ČKD|Tatra]]'s have three doors instead of two. Also in that scene a [[MTV-82]] streetcar is visible (in typical coating with downfalling red line alongside).
* Tube radio in Lida's flat is RRR ''Dzintars'' (1960).<ref>[http://ser-buki.livejournal.com/30491.html Radios in Movies] (russian)</ref><ref>[http://www.radiopagajiba.lv/RRR/sakta/dzintars.htm Dzintars]</ref>

==References==

{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite journal |author=Saša Milić |title=Sight Gags and Satire in the Soviet Thaw: Operation Y and Other Shurik's Adventures |journal=[[Senses of Cinema]] |volume=33 |year=2004 |url=http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2004/33/operation_y/}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
*{{IMDb title|0059550}}
*[http://cinema.mosfilm.ru/films/film/1960-1969/operatsiya-y-i-drugie-priklyucheniya-shurika/ Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures] at official [[Mosfilm]] site with English subtitles
* {{YouTube|m3n4LptYWNo|''Operation "Y" and Shurik's Other Adventures'' (full movie in HD)|link=no}} (official upload by [[Mosfilm]])
*{{in lang|en}} [https://russianfilmhub.com/movies/operation-y-and-shuriks-other-adventures-1965/ "Operation Y" at RussianFilmHub.com]
*{{in lang|ru}} [http://kinoros.ru/db/movies/213/ "Operation Y" at Kinoros.ru]
*{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.kinoexpert.ru/index.asp?comm=4&num=291 "Operation Y" at KinoExpert.ru]

{{Leonid Gaidai}}

[[Category:1965 films]]
[[Category:1960s crime comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1960s romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Mosfilm films]]
[[Category:1960s Soviet films]]
[[Category:1960s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:Films set in Moscow]]
[[Category:Films set in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Films shot in Crimea]]
[[Category:Films shot in Moscow]]
[[Category:Films shot in Odesa]]
[[Category:Films shot in Saint Petersburg]]
[[Category:Films directed by Leonid Gaidai]]
[[Category:Films scored by Aleksandr Zatsepin]]
[[Category:Soviet romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Soviet crime comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Russian-language crime comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Russian-language romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Soviet anthology films]]

Office Romance

2025-06-27T13:43:01Z

93.124.3.80: /* External links */

{{About||romantic workplace relationships|Workplace relationships#Romantic|the Kathy Ryan photography book|Kathy_Ryan#Office_Romance}}

{{Infobox film
| name = Office Romance
| image = Office Romance.jpg
| caption = Original film poster
| director = [[Eldar Ryazanov]]
| writer = {{ubl|Eldar Ryazanov|[[Emil Braginsky]]}}
| native_name = {{Infobox name module|language=ru|title=Служебный роман|nolink=yes}}
| starring = {{ubl|[[Andrey Myagkov]]|[[Alisa Freindlich]]|[[Oleg Basilashvili]]|[[Svetlana Nemolyaeva]]|[[Liya Akhedzhakova]]}}
| music = [[Andrei Petrov]]
| cinematography = [[Vladimir Nakhabtsev]]
| distributor = [[Mosfilm]]
| released = {{film date|1977|10|26|df=y}}
| runtime = 159 minutes
| country = Soviet Union
| language = Russian
| budget = 500,000 [[Soviet ruble|rubles]]
| based_on = {{based on|''Co-workers''|Eldar Ryazanov|and Emil Braginsky}}
}}
'''''Office Romance''''' ({{langx|ru|links=no|italic=yes|Служебный роман|Sluzhebny roman}}) is a 1977 Soviet [[comedy film]] directed by [[Eldar Ryazanov]]. The film's plot is based on the stageplay ''Co-workers'' (''{{lang|ru|Сослуживцы}}'') written by Ryazanov and [[Emil Braginsky]], and tells the story of Ludmila Kalugina, head of a statistical bureau, and her subordinate, economist Anatoly Novoseltsev, who come from mutual aversion to love.

Filmed at [[Mosfilm]] in 1976 and released in 1977, ''Office Romance'' was a box office success, the leader of [[List of Soviet movies of the year by ticket sales|Soviet film distribution]] in 1978 and still enjoys wide popularity in the [[Post-Soviet states|former Soviet republics]]. Both [[romantic drama]] and [[screwball comedy]], the film is noted for its scenes of Moscow in the late 1970s, and for its comical depiction of the everyday life and customs of Soviet society during the [[Era of Stagnation]].

== Plot ==
In Moscow in 1976, Anatoly Yefremovich Novoseltsev, a clumsy but goodhearted single father of two sons, works at a statistical bureau. The bureau is under the leadership of an industrious and strict single woman in her late 30s, Ludmila Prokofievna Kalugina, nicknamed "our [[wiktionary:en:frump|frump]]" ({{lang|ru|наша мымра}}, also translated "our [[hag]]") by her subordinates. He vies for a promotion and a pay raise, but is too timid to bring up this discussion. He is encouraged by his good friend, former classmate and colleague Olga "Olya" Ryzhova, a married woman living in the suburbs, whose husband is recuperating from a major operation in [[Yessentuki]] and whose teenage son is an athlete. Another former classmate and old friend of his, Yuri "Yura" Grigorievich Samokhvalov, recently assigned back to Moscow from Switzerland, nominates his old friend as a head of the light industry department to Kalugina, but the nomination is rejected. Novoseltsev, heeding Samokhvalov's advice, nervously tries to flirt with "the Frump" at a party in Samokhvalov's apartment, but Kalugina is further repelled by his poor attempts to impress her. Eventually drunk, Novoseltsev becomes irritated and tells Kalugina that he considers her "dry, inhuman and heartless".

The following morning, Novoseltsev seeks Kalugina to apologize, but inadvertently drives her to tears. Kalugina reveals that she is aware of her reputation among her subordinates. They have a heart-to-heart conversation, start getting closer and soon grow fond of each other. Kalugina gradually lets down the armor of a hardened woman and puts more efforts in improving her overall appearance which surprises her colleagues.

The relationship between Anatoly and Ludmila evolves, full of comical situations and repartees. At the same time drama unfolds between Olga Ryzhova and Yuri Samokhvalov who dated many years ago at the university. Despite both being married, Olga's romantic feelings are rekindled by Samokhvalov's recent arrival at the office. He, however, treats her just as an old friend and colleague. Olga begins to write him love letters that she passes to him through Vera "Verochka", the Frump's secretary, an efficient intel gatherer and an enormous gossip, who eventually reads the letters and leaks the affairs to the entire office. Samokhvalov, weary of the letters, relays the situation to the meddlesome Shura, the bureau's labor union committee activist, an accountant and the office's [[busybody]]. The letters, which he gives to Shura and asks her to "sort out the problem" at the committee, are then confiscated by Kalugina, who reprimands Samokhvalov for his tactlessness and demands that the matter is handled privately between him and Ryzhova. Later, Ryzhova, broken-hearted and humiliated, asks Samokhvalov to return the letters to her and returns to her work and life routine.

Once learns about Samokhvalov's heartless handling of Ryzhova's indiscretion, Novoseltsev angrily confronts him and later Shura for her gossip tendency. Samokhvalov retaliates by disclosing Novoseltsev's initial "plan" to Kalugina. She is shocked and thinks he is just another man deserting her like her last lover. She summons him to her office, appoints him as head of the light industry department and announces her intention to end their relationship while sarcastically praises his plan to achieve the promotion. Ashamed, Novoseltsev admits that while he initially pursued her with ulterior motives, has grown to appreciate her as an excellent leader and love her, to which Kalugina refutes. Frustrated, Novoseltsev rejects the promotion and tenders his resignation, which Kalugina continuously denies to spite him. This situation climaxes into a fiery spat that turns into a loud scuffle right in the office as a furious Ludmila chases Novoseltsev out of the building. They jump on a back seat of her service car and as Novoseltsev manages to comfort Ludmila, and they are seen embracing. A subtitle suggests that in 9 months there will be three boys in Novoseltsev's family, implying another son for the couple.

==Casting and production==
*Alisa Freindlich was the film director's primary choice for the role of Kalugina. Eldar Ryazanov created the character with Freindlich in mind. Moreover, he started working on the screenplay seriously only after securing consent of all the actors he wanted to cast to participate in the film. It was a rare case in Soviet cinema when a director would be allowed to cast all actors of his own choice without preliminary screen-tests and approval of the Art Council.<ref name="mk1"/><ref name="elryaz">{{cite news|title="Eldar Ryazanov about his collaboration with Alisa Freindlich and making of "Office Romance""|url=http://eldar-ryazanov.ru/index.php?r=11&m=62&p=20|access-date=2008-01-17|language=ru|publisher=eldar-ryazanov.ru}}</ref> Ryazanov worried that Freindlich would not be able to come to Moscow for shooting of the film because of stage performances and rehearsals she was busy with in her native Leningrad. So he assured both the actress and her management that she would be allowed to go to Leningrad on the first demand. It came out that she was compelled to leave for the theater often, and thus traveled between Moscow and Leningrad all the time.<ref name="mk1">{{cite news|title="Office Romance"- the novel about love and friendship|date=2007-11-26|url=http://www.mk.ru/blogs/MK/2007/10/26/cinema/320320/|access-date=2008-01-17|language=ru|work=[[Moskovskij Komsomolets]]}}</ref>
*In order to create a genuine image of a frumpy boss, Ryazanov and Freindlich searched through all the wardrobes of the studio for baggy, old-fashioned clothes. Cameraman Vladimir Nakhabtsev brought to the studio the old thick-frammed glasses that belonged to his father - they helped to complete the image.<ref name="mk1"/><ref name="mk2"/>
*Ryazanov took some risk casting Andrey Myagkov for the second time for the role of a clumsy intellectual, similar to this in 1975 hit ''[[The Irony of Fate]]''. Not everyone agreed with the director's decision upon casting. Oleg Basilashvili didn't like the role of the "villain" Samokhvalov. Like Freindlich, he had to travel frequently between Moscow and Leningrad due to obligations on the Leningrad stage, and he believed that his worn-out look would be ideal to portray an unkempt and humble Novoseltsev. Later, during the shooting he admitted that the director's choice was right. But it was a hard task for make-up artists to make a glossy complacent Samokhvalov out of the exhausted Basilashvili, and, on the contrary, a sloppy bachelor Novoseltsev out of the refined Myagkov.<ref name="mk1"/><ref name="elryaz"/><ref name="mk2">{{cite news|title=The 30 year long "Office Romance"|date=2007-11-29|url=http://www.mk.ru/blogs/idmk/2007/10/29/Bulvar/320028/|access-date=2008-01-17|language=ru|work=[[Moskovskij Komsomolets]]}}</ref>
*One of few roles for which screen-tests were taken was the role of the activist Shura. Actress Ludmila Ivanova, who in real life was head of a local labor union committee at the [[Sovremennik Theatre]], got into the role quickly and was the most convincing when she shouted out: "Comrades, donate 50 copecks!"

==Audience reaction, critical reception and awards==
''Office Romance'' was a Soviet hit movie in 1978 having 58.4 million viewers,<ref>{{cite web|title=Office Romance at KinoExpert.ru|publisher=KinoExpert.ru|url=http://www.kinoexpert.ru/index.asp?comm=4&num=306#1|access-date=2007-12-25|language=ru}}</ref> and still remains one of the most popular Soviet-era films in Russia and other former Soviet republics. [[Alisa Freindlich]] and Andrey Myagkov were named Best Actors of the year by readers of ''[[Soviet Screen]]'' magazine.

The film received general approval from critics; there was not one negative review of the film. High artistical level, skills and organic collaboration of director and actors were noted, as well as vivid portrayal of Moscow, comic elements in parallel with investigation of moral issues.

Members of the State Art Council nominated the leading actors for the [[USSR State Prize]]. Alisa Freindlich was the only lead one who didn't receive the Prize - according to the rules of that time, an actor couldn't be given a new prize within two years of getting a previous one, and Freindlich had already been awarded for her stage performance a year before the release of the film.<ref name="mk1"/><ref name="mk2"/>

On the 40th anniversary of the film's release, Google released a [[Google Doodle]].<ref>{{cite web |title=104th Anniversary of Film "Office Romance" |url=http://www.google.com/doodles/104th-anniversary-of-film-office-romance |date=October 26, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20171025233316/http://www.google.com/doodles/104th-anniversary-of-film-office-romance |archive-date=October 25, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Google создал дудл в честь юбилея фильма "Служебный роман" |url=http://www.aif.ru/society/web/google_sozdal_dudl_v_chest_yubileya_filma_sluzhebnyy_roman |publisher=aif |date=October 26, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20171025233631/http://www.aif.ru/society/web/google_sozdal_dudl_v_chest_yubileya_filma_sluzhebnyy_roman |archive-date=October 25, 2017}}</ref>

In 2011 a remake was released, titled ''[[Office Romance. Our Time]]'', with [[Sarik Andreasyan]] serving as director.

==Soundtrack==
The songs from the film, performed by Alisa Freindlich and Andrey Myagkov, became hits in the USSR.

*"Моей душе покоя нет" (For The Sake O' Somebody; verbatim: "My soul has no rest") by [[Andrei Petrov]]{{snd}}[[Robert Burns]], translation by [[Samuil Marshak]]{{snd}}the main theme; two versions sung by Alisa Freindlich and Andrey Myagkov.
*"Нас в набитых трамваях болтает" (We Are Jolted in Crowded Trams) by Andrei Petrov{{snd}}[[Yevgeny Yevtushenko]], sung by Andrey Myagkov.
*"Обрываются речи влюблённых / Облетают последние маки" (Lovers' Talks Stop Suddenly / The Last Poppies Shed Their Petals) by Andrei Petrov{{snd}}[[Nikolay Zabolotsky]]{{snd}}Two songs with the same music by different lyrics, sung by Alisa Freindlich and Andrey Myagkov respectively.
*"Песенка о погоде" (A Song About Weather), also known as "У природы нет плохой погоды" (Nature Has No Bad Weather), by Andrei Petrov{{snd}}Eldar Ryazanov, sung by Alisa Freindlich.
*"Увертюра" (Overture) by Andrei Petrov{{snd}}[[Robert Burns]]{{snd}}based on the main theme and "Lovers' Talks Stop Suddenly", opens the film.
*"Утро" (Morning), instrumental by Andrei Petrov.
*"Дождь" (Rain), instrumental by Andrei Petrov, based on "A Song About Weather".
*"Танец воспоминаний" (The Dance of Remembrances), instrumental by Andrei Petrov, based on the main theme.
*"Осень" (Fall), instrumental by Andrei Petrov
*"Финал" (Final) by Andrei Petrov{{snd}}Robert Burns, based on the main theme.<ref>{{cite web|title=Songs from "Office Romance"|url=http://songkino.ru/songs/sl_roman.html|access-date=2007-12-30|language=ru}}</ref>

In 2004, [[DJ Groove]] from Saint Petersburg released remixes of the main themes of the film that were frequently broadcast by local radio stations.<ref>{{cite web|title=DJ Groove Служебный Роман on YouTube|url=//www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo43iulgCW0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518142558/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo43iulgCW0 |archive-date=2018-05-18 |url-status=dead|access-date=2007-12-30}}</ref>

==Cast==
{| class="wikitable"
! Actor
! Role
|-
| [[Andrey Myagkov]] || Anatoly Yefremovich Novoseltsev
|-
| [[Alisa Freindlich]] || Ludmila Prokofievna Kalugina
|-
| [[Oleg Basilashvili]] || Yuri Grigoryevich Samokhvalov
|-
| [[Svetlana Nemolyayeva]] || Olga Petrovna Ryzhova
|-
| [[Liya Akhedzhakova]]|| office secretary Verochka
|-
| [[Lyudmila Ivanova]] || labor union activist Shura
|-
| [[Georgi Burkov]] || logistics manager
|-
| [[Pyotr Shcherbakov]] || Pyotr Ivanovich Bublikov
|-
| Nelly Pshennaya || Samokhvalov's wife
|-
| Alik Denisov || Vova Novoseltsev
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote|Office Romance}}
*{{YouTube|cmylNwnR9qQ|Office Romance, Episode 1 (in Russian with English subtitles)}}
*{{YouTube|JPjr65ncLL8|Office Romance, Episode 2 (in Russian with English subtitles)}}
*{{IMDb title|0076727|Office Romance}}
*[http://www.slujebroman.narod.ru/ A Tribute to the Film] {{in lang|ru}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051105003840/http://ab-freindlih.narod.ru/foto-roman.htm Film Gallery 1]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080314112518/http://www.ilovecinema.ru/films/sluzhebniy_roman/images/ Film Gallery 2]

{{Eldar Ryazanov}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1977 films]]
[[Category:Mosfilm films]]
[[Category:1970s Soviet films]]
[[Category:1970s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:1970s screwball comedy films]]
[[Category:1970s romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Eldar Ryazanov]]
[[Category:Workplace comedies]]
[[Category:Soviet romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Films set in 1976]]
[[Category:Films set in Moscow]]
[[Category:Films set in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Films shot in Moscow]]
[[Category:Films scored by Andrey Petrov]]
[[Category:Soviet films based on plays]]
[[Category:Russian romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1977 comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Russian-language romantic comedy-drama films]]

Dark Eyes (1987 film)

2025-06-27T13:34:13Z

93.124.3.80: /* External links */

{{Infobox film
|name = Dark Eyes
|image = Dark Eyes.jpg
|caption = Film poster
|director = [[Nikita Mikhalkov]]
|producer = [[Carlo Cucchi]] [[Silvia D'Amico Bendico]]
|writer = [[Alexander Adabashyan]] Nikita Mikhalkov [[Suso Cecchi d'Amico]] [[Anton Chekhov]] (stories)
|starring = [[Marcello Mastroianni]] [[Marthe Keller]] [[Yelena Safonova]] [[Pina Cei]] [[Vsevolod Larionov]] [[Innokenti Smoktunovsky]]
|music = [[Francis Lai]]
|cinematography = [[Franco Di Giacomo]]
|editing = [[Enzo Meniconi]]
|distributor = [[RUSCICO]]
|released = {{Film date|1987|09|09|df=yes}}
|runtime = 118 minutes
|country = Italy Soviet Union
|language = Italian / [[Russian language|Russian]] / French
|budget =
}}
'''''Dark Eyes''''' ({{langx|it|Oci ciornie}} {{IPA|it|ˈɔːtʃi ˈtʃɔrnje|}}; a transcription of {{langx|ru|Очи чёрные}} {{IPA|ru|ˈotɕɪ ˈtɕɵrnɨjɪ|}}) is a 1987 Italian and Soviet romantic comedy-drama film directed by [[Nikita Mikhalkov]]. Set in Italy and Russia in the years before the First World War, it tells the story of a married Italian man who falls in love with a married Russian woman. Starring [[Marcello Mastroianni]] and [[Yelena Safonova]],<ref name="NY Times.com">{{cite web |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/12245/Dark-Eyes/details |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100403204154/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/12245/Dark-Eyes/details |url-status=dead |archive-date=2010-04-03 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2010 |title=NY Times: Dark Eyes |accessdate=2009-04-01}}</ref> it received positive reviews from critics. The title of the film refers to a [[Dark Eyes (Russian song)|popular Russian song]] of the same name written by Yevhen Hrebinka in 1843.

== Plot ==
Romano is sitting at a table in the empty restaurant aboard an Italian ship, having a drink. When Pavel, a middle-aged Russian on his honeymoon cruise, enters the room, the two men strike up a conversation. Romano mentions that he once travelled to Russia because of a woman, and an intrigued Pavel asks to hear his story.

Born from a poor family, Romano graduated as an architect but he never had a chance to practice his profession following his marriage to a very wealthy woman called Elisa, who is busy running a bank she has just inherited. With little to do, Romano takes a solitary holiday at an expensive spa. There he meets Anna, a Russian woman vacationing on her own, who tells him about her poor background and her marriage to a rich man for security. After one night together, Anna leaves Romano a farewell letter and travels back to Russia.

Having decided that he wants to spend his life with her, Romano, on pretence of exploring business opportunities, travells to Russia to Anna's remote town. While Anna's husband is busy hosting a reception for a distinguished foreign guest, Romano follows Anna around and manages to secretly meet with her in an henhouse. Romano promises that if she will wait for him, he will travel to Italy and separate from his wife.

Once back to Italy, he discovers that his Elisa's bank had collapsed and bailiffs have put her palatial house up for sale. Elisa welcomes Romano holding the letter he has received from Anna, and asks him if he has a lover in Russia. Romano denies it, and the two somehow reconcile. Later Elisa unexpectedly inherits a legacy and as such the couple is able to resume their opulent lifestyle.

After hearing Romano's story, Pavel mentions that his wife too has left a very unhappy marriage and how it took him a long time to persuade her to remarry. The conversation is abruptly interrupted by the ship's cook, who comes in and tells Romano to start laying the tables for lunch. Pavel, having realized that Romano is employed on the ship, excuses himself and goes to look for his wife, who turns out to be Anna.

== Production ==
The film was inspired by four of [[Anton Chekhov]]'s stories, most notably ''[[The Lady with the Dog]].'' It was adapted by a Soviet-Italian team that included [[Alexander Adabashyan]], [[Suso Cecchi d'Amico]] and [[Nikita Mikhalkov]], who also directed the film. Mastroianni's voice was dubbed by Mikhalkov himself for the Russian edition. This was the last film of Silvana Mangano.

==Cast==
* [[Marcello Mastroianni]] as Romano Patroni
* [[Silvana Mangano]] as Elisa, Romano's wife
* [[Marthe Keller]] as Tina, Romano's mistress
* [[Isabella Rossellini]] as Claudia, Romano's daughter
* [[Pina Cei]] as Elisa's mother
* [[Yelena Safonova]] as Anna Sergeyevna, the Governor's wife
* [[Innokenti Smoktunovsky]] as the Governor of Sysoyev
* [[Vsevolod Larionov]] as Pavel Alekseev

==Location==
Principal photography took place in [[Montecatini Terme]] in [[Tuscany]], and in the Volga town of [[Kostroma]]. Some scenes were shot in the [[Vladimir Palace]], [[Peter and Paul Fortress]] in [[Leningrad]].

==Reception==
===Critical response===
''Dark Eyes'' has an approval rating of 100% on [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], based on 9 reviews, and an average rating of 7.84/10.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dark_eyes_1987|title = Dark Eyes (1987)|website = [[Rotten Tomatoes]]}}</ref>

===Awards===
Mastroianni received the award for [[Best Actor Award (Cannes Film Festival)|Best Actor]] at the [[1987 Cannes Film Festival]]<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/425/year/1987.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Dark Eyes |accessdate=2009-07-19|work=festival-cannes.com}}</ref> and was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Actor]]. Safonova was awarded the [[David di Donatello]] as Best Actress. Costume Designer Carlo Diappi was awarded the [[Ciak#Ciak d'oro|Ciak d'oro]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ciakmagazine.it/ciak-doro-2018-tutti-i-premi/ |title=Ciak d'Oro 2018: tutti i premi - Ciak Magazine |website=www.ciakmagazine.it |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180610154945/http://www.ciakmagazine.it/ciak-doro-2018-tutti-i-premi/ |archive-date=2018-06-10}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[1987 in film]]
*''[[The Lady with the Dog (film)|The Lady with the Dog]]'' (1960)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0093664|title=Dark Eyes}}

{{Nikita Mikhalkov}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dark Eyes (Film)}}
[[Category:1987 films]]
[[Category:1987 in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:1980s romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1980s Italian-language films]]
[[Category:1980s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:Films based on short fiction]]
[[Category:Films based on works by Anton Chekhov]]
[[Category:Films set in Russia]]
[[Category:Films set in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Films shot in Russia]]
[[Category:Films directed by Nikita Mikhalkov]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Suso Cecchi d'Amico]]
[[Category:Films scored by Francis Lai]]
[[Category:Soviet multilingual films]]
[[Category:Italian multilingual films]]
[[Category:1987 multilingual films]]
[[Category:Soviet romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Italian romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Nikita Mikhalkov]]
[[Category:1980s Italian films]]
[[Category:1980s Soviet films]]
[[Category:Russian-language romantic comedy-drama films]]

Afonya

2025-06-27T13:19:59Z

93.124.3.80: /* External links */

{{short description|1975 film}}
{{For|the Russian male first names of which "Afonya" is a diminutive|Afanasy|Agafon}}
{{Infobox film
|name =Afonya
|image =Afonyaposter.jpg
|caption =Film poster
|director =[[Georgiy Daneliya]]
|writer =[[Alexander Borodyanski]]
|cinematography =[[Sergei Vronsky]]
|starring =[[Leonid Kuravlyov]] [[Yevgeny Leonov]] [[Yevgeniya Simonova]]
|music =[[Mieczysław Weinberg]]
|studio =[[Mosfilm]]
|released = {{Film date|1975|10|13}}
|country =Soviet Union
|runtime =92 min.
|language =Russian
|gross = $21.3 million
}}
'''''Afonya''''' ({{langx|ru|Афоня}}) is a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[romantic film|romantic]] [[comedy-drama film]] produced by [[Mosfilm]] and first released in 1975. The film became the [[List of Soviet films of the year by ticket sales|Soviet box office leader]] of 1975 with a total of 62.2 million ticket sales. The film was shot on location in [[Yaroslavl]].<ref name="ВТ">[http://www.vokrug.tv/product/show/Afonya/ История создания фильма Афоня] // Вокруг ТВ</ref><ref>[http://www.yar.rodgor.ru/news/yar_gorod_oblast/9277/ Афоня и штукатур Коля снова в Ярославле!] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509094625/http://www.yar.rodgor.ru/news/yar_gorod_oblast/9277 |date=2013-05-09 }}. ''Родной город''</ref>

==Plot summary==
[[Plumber]] – Afanasy "Afonya" Borshchov ([[Leonid Kuravlev]]) and his friend Fedulov ([[Borislav Brondukov]]) spend all day and night avoiding work and finding opportunities to drink. Afanasy takes "[[Bribery|kickbacks]]" from [[Customer|clients]] and is often in trouble with the local committee for his behaviour. Afanasy also often uses foreign or old-fashioned names to introduce himself to strangers to seem more interesting.

Afanasy meets plasterer Kolya ([[Yevgeny Leonov]]) in a pub, gets drunk and comes home. When his girlfriend sees the state he's in, she leaves him. The next morning he can't even remember yesterday's drinking companion.

Things continue to go downhill for Afanasy. When student interns from the vocational school are allocated to the plumbers, ZhEK master Vostryakova ([[Valentina Talyzina]]) doesn't allocate any to him, fearing that he will not teach them well. Afanasy begs for trainees and gets two. Having worked with him for one day and having seen his attitude and working methods, the trainees refuse to work with him anymore. When Afanasy returns home, Kolya arrives to live at his place for a while, having been thrown out of his house by his wife.

At a dance Afanasy meets young nurse Katya Snegireva ([[Yevgeniya Simonova]]), who knows about him through her brother, who used to play in Afanasy's volleyball team. Afanasy doesn't pay her much attention, because he's more interested in older women and already has his eye on one at the dance. However, a romantic walk with the older woman after the dance is over before it begins – Afanasy is challenged to a fight by a hooligan, who he'd quarreled with at the dance. The hooligan's friends join in, and finish the unequal fight. Katya worries for Afanasy's safety, and calls the police- which will only bring Afanasy to the committee's attention again.

At a regular work call Borshchov meets Helen ([[Nina Maslova]]) and falls in love at first sight. He starts finding any excuse to work in her flat - even fooling a tenant, astronomer ([[Gotlib Roninson]]), by swapping his new Finnish sink for an old one, so he can install the Finnish sink in Helen's home as a gift. In his dreams Afanasy sees a family idyll with his wife Helen and their perfect children.

Katya Snegireva, head over heels for Afanasy, keeps engineering new meetings with him, and stops at nothing to attract his attention: "Afanasy! someone called, I thought it was you...".<ref name="ВТ"/> Afonya is completely oblivious to her feelings.

Meanwhile Afanasy’s run in with the police catches up with him and, for persistent drunkenness, truancy and fighting Afanasy is threatened with being sacked at a meeting of the local committee. In addition, if he doesn't restore the Finnish sink he's definitely going to be fired. Afanasy takes a porcelain sink with flowers to Helen to swap with the Finnish sink, but meets Helen coming home with company. She makes her feelings quite clear: she has her own life among fashionable and wealthy men, and Afanasy is just a plumber.

Afanasy, depressed, goes to a restaurant with Fedulov and tries to escape into drunkenness, but it doesn't help. In his drunken state he goes to Katya Snegireva's home and proposes marriage, and wakes up next to her in the morning. Katya tells him she's due to move to Africa with work and wonders if she should cancel for Afanasy.

Afanasy then decides to go back to his village, to his aunt Frosya ([[Raisa Kurkina]]), a simple and modest woman who had brought him up. In the village, he meets his childhood friend Fidget ([[Savely Kramarov]]) and, in a joyous moment sends the city a telegram resigning from his job and giving up his apartment. Only then does he learn that Aunt Frosya died two years ago. The village people had sent him a telegram, which he hadn't received because he had moved house and didn't tell them his new address. From his neighbor, Uncle Yegor ([[Nikolai Grinko]]) Afanasy learns that Frosya deeply missed him and even wrote letters to herself from his name, posting them in a nearby village, then receiving them and reading them to neighbors, who understood that she really wrote the letters herself, but didn't betray it so as not to hurt Frosya's feelings. Frosya had died sitting in front of the window, waiting for Afanasy.

Afanasy’s depression deepens – he has lost everything and has nowhere to go. He goes to the post office and tries to call Katya Snegireva on her memorable phone number 50-50-2, or as he says himself, "rug-rug or two." The answer comes back - Katya has left. Finally frustrated, he goes to the [[airport]]. He does not care where he's going or what will happen to him. Things have gotten so bad that a local policeman has to be convinced Afanasy is the man in his passport photograph, so grim has he gotten since it was taken. Finally, just when Afanasy is heading to the [[AN-2]] aircraft, a familiar girlish voice calls out. It's Katya, suitcase in hand: "Afanasy!, someone called, I thought it was you... "<ref name="ВТ"/>

== Cast ==
* [[Leonid Kuravlev]] as ''Afanasy "Afonya" Borshchov''<ref name="ВТ"/>
* [[Yevgeniya Simonova]] as ''Katya Snegireva''<ref>[http://www.ivyar.ru/?section=afonya&map=1 «ИОАНН ВАСИЛЬЕВИЧ» трапезные палаты : ПИВНАЯ «АФОНЯ»]</ref>
* [[Yevgeny Leonov]] as ''Kolya''
* [[Savely Kramarov]] as ''Fidget''
* [[Nina Maslova]] as ''Elena (Elena, Helene), Beauty of the 139th flats''
* [[Borislav Brondukov]] as ''Fedulov''
* [[Igor Bogolyubov]] as ''old Peregar''
* [[Valentina Talyzina]] as ''Vostryakova''
* [[Vladimir Basov]] as ''Vladimir Ivanovich''
* [[Nikolay Parfyonov (actor)|Nikolay Parfyonov]] as ''Fomin, Boris Petrovich''
* [[Gotlib Roninson]] as ''astronomer ("Archimedes")''
* [[Raisa Kurkina]] as ''Aunt Frosya''
* [[Nina Ruslanova]] as ''Tamara''
* [[Nikolai Grabbe]] as ''the chief of housing offices''
* [[Nikolai Grinko]] as ''Uncle Yegor''
* [[Gennady Yalovich]] as ''the director in the theater''
* [[Radner Muratov]] as ''Marat Rakhimov''
* [[Tamara Sovchi]] as ''cashier''dining
* [[Yusup Daniyal]] as ''cashier dining companion''
* [[Mikhail Vaskov (actor)|Mikhail Vaskov]] as ''the policeman at the airport''
* [[Peter Lyubeshkin]] as ''Uncle Pavel Shevchenko''
* [[Renee Hobua]] as ''not featured in the film, although there is in the credits''
* [[Alexei Vanin]] as ''Ivan Orlov, Elena's husband''
* [[Capitolina Ilienko]] as ''a participant in the meeting of housing the office''
* [[Aleksandr Potapov (actor)|Aleksandr Potapov]] as ''employee of housing offices''
* [[Mikhail Svetin]] as ''the driver Voronkov''<ref name="ВТ"/>
* [[Tatiana Rasputina]] as ''a dance partner Afonyia''
* [[Alexander Novikov (actor)|Alexander Novikov]] as ''a bully with a beard''

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0072613}}
*{{YouTube|IszoiMr-nBs|Afonya (in Russian with English subtitles)}}

{{Georgiy Daneliya}}

[[Category:1975 films]]
[[Category:1970s romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Soviet romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1970s Soviet films]]
[[Category:1970s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:Films about alcoholism]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1970s]]
[[Category:Films set in Russia]]
[[Category:Films set in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Films shot in Moscow]]
[[Category:Films shot in Yaroslavl Oblast]]
[[Category:Films directed by Georgiy Daneliya]]
[[Category:Mosfilm films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Mieczysław Weinberg]]
[[Category:1975 comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Russian-language romantic comedy-drama films]]

The Irony of Fate

2025-06-27T13:07:54Z

93.124.3.80: /* External links */

{{short description|1976 Soviet television film}}
{{about|the film|the eponymous concept|Irony#Types of irony{{!}}Irony of fate (cosmic irony)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox television
| image = Irony of Fate poster.jpg
| native_name = {{nativename|ru|«Ирония судьбы, или С лёгким паром!»}}
| image_size = 220
| image_alt =
| caption = Promotional poster
| genre =
| creator =
| based_on =
| writer = [[Emil Braginsky]] Eldar Ryazanov
| screenplay =
| story =
| director = [[Eldar Ryazanov]]
| starring = [[Andrey Myagkov]] [[Barbara Brylska]] [[Yury Yakovlev]] [[Lyubov Dobrzhanskaya]]
| narrated =
| theme_music_composer = [[Mikael Tariverdiev]]
| country = [[Soviet Union]]
| language = Russian
| num_episodes = 2
| producer = Evgeny Golynsky
| editor =
| cinematography =
| runtime = 184 minutes
| company = [[Mosfilm]]
| budget =
| network = [[Programme One]]
| released = {{Start date|1976|01|01|df=y}}
| related = ''[[The Irony of Fate 2]]''
}}

'''''The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!''''',{{efn|{{lang-rus|«Ирония судьбы, или С лёгким паром!»|r=„Ironija sudjby, ili S ljogkim parom!“|p=ɪˈronʲɪjə sʊdʲˈbɨ {{!}} ˈilʲɪ s‿ˈlʲɵxʲkʲɪm ˈparəm}}; {{lit|The Irony of Fate, or [[wikt:с лёгким паром|With A Light Steam!]]}}}} usually shortened to '''''The Irony of Fate''''', is a 1976 Soviet [[romantic comedy]] [[television film]] directed by [[Eldar Ryazanov]] and starring [[Andrey Myagkov]], [[Barbara Brylska]], [[Yury Yakovlev]] and [[Lyubov Dobrzhanskaya]]. The screenplay was written by [[Emil Braginsky]] and Ryazanov, loosely based on the director's 1971 play, ''Once on New Year's Eve'' ({{langx|ru|Однажды в новогоднюю ночь}}).

Filmed at the [[Mosfilm]] Studios, ''The Irony of Fate'' doubles as a [[screwball comedy]] and a love story tinged with sadness. It was one of the most successful Soviet television productions and remains a highly popular [[New Year's Eve]] classic in [[Russia]] and the [[post-Soviet states]], with millions tuning in to rewatch it every New Year's Eve.

==Plot==
The key subplot is the drab uniformity of [[History of the Soviet Union (1964–1982)|Brezhnev-era]] public architecture. This setting is explained in a humorous [[animation|animated]] prologue (directed and animated by cartoonist [[Vitaly Peskov]]) in which architects are overruled by politicians and [[red tape]]. As a result, the identical, functional but unimaginative [[Residential building series|multistory apartment buildings]] found their way into every city, town, and suburb across the Soviet Union.<ref>Frederick Edwin Ian Hamilton, Kaliopa Dimitrovska Andrews, Nataša Pichler-Milanović ''Transformation Of Cities In Central And Eastern Europe'' 2005 Page 159 "... industry started and by the early 1960s new housing districts built in five-storey blocks of modern industrialized panel construction had been established all around the socialist countries (e.g. in Moscow, popularly known as "Kruschevki")."</ref>

Following their annual tradition, a group of friends meet at a ''[[Banya (sauna)|banya]]'' (a traditional public "sauna" bathhouse) in [[Moscow]] to celebrate [[Novy God|New Year's Eve]]. The friends all get very drunk toasting the upcoming marriage of the central male character, Zhenya Lukashin ([[Andrey Myagkov]]) to Galya ([[Olga Naumenko]]). After the bath, one of the friends, Pavlik ([[Aleksandr Shirvindt]]), has to catch a flight to [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]] and the entire group is going to take him to the airport. By the time the group makes it to the airport, Zhenya and Pavlik are passed out. The remaining friends cannot remember which person from their group is supposed to travel. They mistakenly get Zhenya onto the plane instead of Pavlik.

Zhenya spends the entire flight sleeping on the shoulder of his annoyed seatmate (Eldar Ryazanov in a brief comedic [[cameo appearance]]). The seatmate helps Zhenya get off the plane in Leningrad. Zhenya wakes up in the Leningrad airport, believing he is still in Moscow. He stumbles into a taxi and, still quite drunk, gives the driver his address. It turns out that in Leningrad there is an identical address that belongs to an apartment buildings of a design identical to Zhenya's building in Moscow. He takes the elevator to "his" apartment and, surprisingly, the key fits in the door (as alluded to in the introductory narration, "...building standard apartments with standard locks"). Inside, even the furniture is nearly identical to that of Zhenya's apartment, but Zhenya is too drunk to notice any minor differences.

Meanwhile, the apartment's resident, Nadya Shevelyova ([[Barbara Brylska]]), comes home and finds Zhenya asleep on her bed. To make matters worse, Nadya's fiancé, Ippolit ([[Yuriy Yakovlev (Soviet actor)|Yuri Yakovlev]]), shows up without an advance notice. Ippolit becomes furious, refuses to believe Zhenya and Nadya's explanations, and storms out. Zhenya is about to leave to get back to Moscow but circumstances make him return repeatedly. Nadya wants to get rid of Zhenya as soon as possible, but there are no flights to Moscow until the next morning. Additionally, Zhenya tries repeatedly to call Moscow and explain to Galya what has happened. Eventually, he does contact Galya, but she is furious and hangs up on his call. Ippolit also calls Nadya's apartment and hears Zhenya answer. Although Zhenya is trying to be available to receive potential calls from Galya, Ippolit also refuses to accept the truth of the situation. Nadya goes to the railway station and buys a train ticket to Moscow for Zhenya, but he drops it out the window and refuses to leave. It seems more and more clear that Zhenya and Nadya are the only two people who understand the night's circumstances.

Thus, Zhenya and Nadya are compelled to spend New Year's Eve together. At first, they continue to treat each other with animosity, but gradually their behavior softens, and the two fall in love. In the morning, a drunken Ippolit barges into the apartment and amazes Zhenya and Nadia with his erratic behavior (he takes a shower right in his winter coat and hat) and at the same time logical and close to the truth arguments about what happened on this New Year's Eve. Ippolit, wet "with tears", leaves Nadia for good. The duo feel that everything that has happened to them was a delusion, and they make the difficult decision to part. With a heavy heart, Zhenya returns to Moscow. Meanwhile, Nadya reconsiders everything and, deciding that she might have let her chance at happiness slip away, takes a plane to Moscow to find Zhenya. She has no difficulty finding him as their addresses are the same, and her key matches his lock.

==Cast==
* [[Andrey Myagkov]] as Yevgeny Mikhaylovich Lukashin, "Zhenya" (vocals by [[Sergey Nikitin (musician)|Sergey Nikitin]])
* [[Barbara Brylska]] as Nadezhda Vasilyevna Shevelyova, "Nadya" (dubbed over by [[Valentina Talyzina]], vocals by [[Alla Pugacheva]])
* [[Yury Yakovlev]] as Ippolit Georgievich, Nadya's fiancé
* [[Lyubov Dobrzhanskaya]] as Marina Dmitriyevna, Zhenya's mother
* [[Olga Naumenko]] as Galya, Zhenya's fiancée
* [[Aleksandr Shirvindt]] as Pavlik, Zhenya's best friend/author's text
* [[Georgi Burkov]] as Misha, Zhenya's friend
* Valentina Talyzina as Valya, Nadya's friend
* [[Liya Akhedzhakova]] as Tanya, Nadya's friend
* [[Aleksandr Belyavsky (actor)|Aleksandr Belyavsky]] as Sasha, Zhenya's friend
* [[Gotlib Roninson]] as man at the airport
* [[Eldar Ryazanov]] as Zhenya's fellow passenger on board
* [[Lyubov Sokolova (actress)|Lyubov Sokolova]] as Olga Nikolayevna, Nadya's mother

==Soundtrack==
{{Infobox album
| name = Ирония судьбы или С лёгким паром!
| type = soundtrack
| artist = [[Mikael Tariverdiev]]
| cover =
| alt =
| released = {{Start date|2009||}}
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio =
| genre =
| length = {{Duration|m=41|s=03}}
| label = {{ill|Bomba Music|ru|Bomba Music}}
| producer = Vera Tariverdieva
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title =
| next_year =
}}
After reading the script, composer [[Mikael Tariverdiev]] was puzzled by its genre diversity. As a result, he defined it for himself as a Christmas fairy tale, and for musical accompaniment he chose eight [[Russian romance|romances]] – "about love, about happiness, about jealousy, about kindness, about the desire to be understood" – which at first sound like a sharp counterpoint to what is happening on the screen, but then "scissors between the sound and the picture converged".<ref>{{discogs release|id=21519526|name=''Ирония судьбы или С лёгким паром!'' BoMB033-907 LP}}</ref>

The soundtrack for ''The Irony of Fate'' was partly released on [[Mikael Tariverdiev]]'s LP in 1976 by [[Melodiya]].<ref>{{discogs master|442457|name=''Музыка из кинофильмов «Ольга Сергеевна», «Ирония судьбы»''}}</ref> A full soundtrack was released in 2009 by Bomba Music (Russia)<ref>{{discogs release|id=23015678|name=''Ирония судьбы или С лёгким паром!''}}</ref> and in 2016 by Earth (UK).<ref>{{discogs release|id=9379765|name=''Tariverdiev – The Irony Of Fate (Original Score)''}}</ref>

Male vocals are mostly performed by [[Sergey Nikitin (musician)|Sergey Nikitin]], female vocals – by [[Alla Pugacheva]]. Initially, [[Anna German]] was preparing to perform songs for the film, but the recording did not take place – the funds for the invitation of a foreign singer were not included in the estimate.<ref>[https://7days.ru/stars/privatelife/anna-german-pochemu-ona-lyubila-vysokikh-muzhchin.htm Анна Герман: почему она любила высоких мужчин?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703052317/https://7days.ru/stars/privatelife/anna-german-pochemu-ona-lyubila-vysokikh-muzhchin.htm |date=3 July 2023 }}. In Russian</ref>
{{Track listing
| collapsed =
| headline =
| extra_column = Artist
| total_length = 41:03

| all_writing =
| all_music = Mikael Tariverdiev

| title_width =
| writing_width =
| music_width =
| lyrics_width =
| extra_width =

| title1 = Overture ({{lang|ru|Увертюра|italic=yes}})
| note1 = ''instrumental''
| writer1 =
| lyrics1 =
| music1 =
| extra1 =
| length1 =2:43

| title2 = What Is Happening to Me? ({{lang|ru|Со мною вот, что происходит|italic=yes}})
| note2 =
| writer2 =
| lyrics2 = [[Yevgeny Yevtushenko|Y. Yevtushenko]]
| music2 =
| extra2 =
| length2 =2:28

| title3 = Hope ({{lang|ru|Надежда|italic=yes}})
| note3 = ''instrumental''
| writer3 =
| lyrics3 =
| music3 =
| extra3 =
| length3 =4:24

| title4 = Expectation of the New Year ({{lang|ru|В ожидании новово года|italic=yes}})
| note4 = ''instrumental''
| writer4 =
| lyrics4 =
| music4 =
| extra4 =
| length4 =1:14

| title5 = No One's Home ([[:ru:Никого не будет в доме…|Никого не будет в доме]])
| note5 =
| writer5 =
| lyrics5 = [[Boris Pasternak|B. Pasternak]]
| music5 =
| extra5 =
| length5 =2:17

| title6 = Snow Over Leningrad ({{lang|ru|Снег над Ленинградом|italic=yes}})
| note6 = ''instrumental''
| writer6 =
| lyrics6 =
| music6 =
| extra6 =
| length6 =2:45

| title7 = Along My Street For Many Years ({{lang|ru|По улице моей который год|italic=yes}})
| note7 =
| writer7 =
| lyrics7 = [[Bella Akhmadulina|B. Akhmadulina]]
| music7 =
| extra7 =
| length7 =2:48

| title8 = The Third Stroitelnaya Street ({{lang|ru|На Третьей улице строителей|italic=yes}})
| note8 = ''instrumental''
| writer8 =
| lyrics8 =
| music8 =
| extra8 =
| length8 =1:15

| title9 = On Tikhoretskaya ([[:ru:На Тихорецкую состав отправится|На Тихорецкую состав отправится]])
| note9 =
| writer9 =
| lyrics9 = M. L'vovsky
| music9 =
| extra9 =
| length9 =1:29

| title10 = Happy New Year ({{lang|ru|С Новым Годом!|italic=yes}})
| note10 = ''instrumental''
| writer10 =
| lyrics10 =
| music10 =
| extra10 =
| length10 =2:46

| title11 = I Like ([[:ru:Мне нравится, что вы больны не мной…|Мне нравится, что вы больны не мной]])
| note11 =
| writer11 =
| lyrics11 = [[Marina Tsvetaeva|M. Tsvetaeva]]
| music11 =
| extra11 =
| length11 =1:35

| title12 = Aria by Moscow Guest ({{lang|ru|Ария московского гостя|italic=yes}})
| note12 =
| writer12 =
| lyrics12 = A. Aronov
| music12 =
| extra12 =
| length12 =1:53

| title13 = The Last Waltz ({{lang|ru|Последний вальс|italic=yes}})
| note13 = ''instrumental''
| writer13 =
| lyrics13 =
| music13 =
| extra13 =
| length13 =1:45

| title14 = I Asked the Mirror ({{lang|ru|Хочу у зеркала, где муть и сон|italic=yes}})
| note14 =
| writer14 =
| lyrics14 = M. Tsvetaeva
| music14 =
| extra14 =
| length14 =1:36

| title15 = I Asked the Ash Tree ({{lang|ru|Я спросил у ясеня|italic=yes}})
| note15 =
| writer15 =
| lyrics15 = [[Vladimir Kirshon|V. Kirshon]]
| music15 =
| extra15 =
| length15 =3:08

| title16 = Do Not Leave Your Lover ({{lang|ru|С любимыми не расставайтесь|italic=yes}} / [[:ru:Баллада о прокуренном вагоне|Баллада о прокуренном вагоне]])
| note16 =
| writer16 =
| lyrics16 = A. Kochetkov
| music16 =
| extra16 =
| length16 =4:26

| title17 = Melody ({{lang|ru|Мелодия|italic=yes}})
| note17 = ''instrumental''
| writer17 =
| lyrics17 =
| music17 =
| extra17 =
| length17 = 4:33
}}

==Reception==
The two consecutive episodes of ''The Irony of Fate'' were originally broadcast by the Soviet central television channel, [[Programme One]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vokrug.tv/product/show/Ironiya_sudby_ili_S_legkim_parom/|script-title=ru:Ирония судьбы, или С легким паром!|trans-title=The Irony of Fate|language=ru|publisher=vokrug.tv.ru|access-date=25 December 2012|archive-date=7 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107074000/http://www.vokrug.tv/product/show/Ironiya_sudby_ili_S_legkim_parom/|url-status=live}}</ref> on 1 January 1976, at 18:00.<ref name="A">{{cite web|url=http://market.umh.ua/files/file/download/s_legkim_parom.pdf|script-title=ru:почти рождественская История|trans-title=Almost A Christmas Tale|language=ru|author1=Krigel, Mikhailo|author2=Danilenko, Larissa|year=2012|publisher=Vidavichny Dim UMH|access-date=25 December 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130325170736/http://market.umh.ua/files/file/download/s_legkim_parom.pdf|archive-date=25 March 2013}} p. 7.</ref> The film was a resounding success with audiences: author Fedor Razzakov recalled that "virtually the entire country watched the show";<ref name = "B">{{cite book|author=Razzakov, Fedor|title=Gibelʹ sovetskogo kino|year=2008|publisher=Exmo|isbn=9785699268467}} p. 133.</ref> the [[Audience measurement|number of viewers was estimated]] to have been about 100 million.<ref>Krigel, Danilenko. p. 10.</ref> In response to popular demand, the feature had a first re-run on 7 February. By 1978, after several further broadcasts of the picture, the accumulated number of viewers for all of the showings including the first was estimated at 250 million.<ref name = "B"/> A shortened 155 minute version was released to cinemas on 16 August 1976;<ref name = "C">{{cite web|url=http://test.russiancinema.ru/index.php?e_dept_id=2&e_movie_id=2519|script-title=ru:Ирония судьбы, или С легким паром!|trans-title=The Irony of Fate|language=ru|publisher=russiancinema.ru|access-date=25 December 2012|archive-date=27 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927172801/http://test.russiancinema.ru/index.php?e_dept_id=2&e_movie_id=2519|url-status=dead}}</ref> which sold 7 million tickets.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kommersant.ru/doc/840749/|script-title=ru:Судьба иронизирует дважды|trans-title=A Double Irony of Fate|language=ru|author=Alexeev, Alexey|date=14 January 2008|publisher=[[Kommersant]]|access-date=25 December 2012|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303212914/http://kommersant.ru/doc/840749/|url-status=live}}</ref> The readers of ''[[Sovetsky Ekran|Sovetskii Ekran]]'', the official publication of the [[State Committee for Cinematography]], voted ''The Irony of Fate'' as the best film of 1976, and chose [[Andrey Myagkov]] as the best actor of the year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://akter.kulichki.com/se/10_1983|trans-title=''Sovetskii Ekran'' Competition Winners|script-title=ru:Победители конкурса журнала "Советский экран"|language=ru|date=October 1983|publisher=akter.kulichki.com|access-date=1 March 2011|archive-date=23 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123080243/http://akter.kulichki.com/se/10_1983|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1977, Ryazanov, Braginsky, cinematographer [[Vladimir Nakhabtsev]], composer [[Mikael Tariverdiev]] and actors [[Barbara Brylska]] and Myagkov were all awarded the [[USSR State Prize]] in recognition of their participation in making the film.<ref name = "C"/>

George Faraday commented that while it was basically a [[happy ending]] romantic comedy, ''The Irony of Fate'' had a "socially critical undertone." It could be interpreted as an "explicit commentary... On the soulless uniformity of the Soviet urban landscape".<ref>{{cite book|author=Faraday, George|title=Revolt of the Filmmakers: The Struggle for Artistic Autonomy and the Fall of the Soviet Film Industry|year=2000|publisher=Penn State Press|isbn=9780271019833|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/revoltoffilmmake00geor}} pp. 98–99.</ref> Simultaneously, however, critics accused the director of creating an escapist film which allowed the Soviet audience to turn away from the "unattractive features" of their country's reality. In a 1977 issue of ''Sovetskii Ekran'', Ryazanov responded that "to reassure, to encourage the viewer – it is not such a sin." He rejected the claims his pictures were meant to please state authorities, stating their optimistic nature was "spontaneous" rather than "forced".<ref>{{cite book|author=Lawton, Anna|title=Kinoglasnost: Soviet Cinema in Our Time|year=1992|publisher=CUP|isbn= 9780521388146}} pp. 14–15.</ref>

In his book ''Problems in the Russian House'',{{efn|{{lang-rus|Неполадки в русском доме|r=Nepoladki v russkom dome|p=nʲɪpɐˈɫatkʲɪ v‿ˈruskəm ˈdomʲe}}}} [[Sergey Kara-Murza]] posted a critical article in which he reproached Ryazanov for the "[[anti-Sovietism]]" nature of his heroes, as well as for the formation and cultivation of images of "internal emigrants" by him. In his opinion, the heroes of the film are "typical [[intelligentsia|intelligents]] of those years with social traits close to this circle," who, however, are well over thirty but they do not have a family and children, while having energetic mothers [almost implausible for a post-war generation] who care about their comfort and material well-being. The subtle signs of the "far-fetched elitism, aristocracy" of the film's characters were picked up and assimilated by a very significant part of the [[intelligentsia]], who eventually "enthusiastically accepted [[Perestroika]] and applauded [[Andrei Sakharov|Sakharov]]".<ref>''Кара-Мурза С. Г., Телегин С. А.'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=NwchAQAAMAAJ Неполадки в русском доме] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223070058/https://books.google.ru/books?id=NwchAQAAMAAJ&hl=ru&source=gbs_navlinks_s |date=2021-12-23 }}. — {{abbr|М.|Moscow}}: Алгоритм. — Серия «Горячая линия». — 443 с. — 3000 экз. — ISBN 5-699-09616-7. In Russian</ref>

In 2019, [[archdeacon]] Vladimir Vasilik analyzed several themes of the film – orphanhood and fatherlessness of the Soviet intelligentsia of the Khrushchev-Brezhnev era, love and betrayal, drunkenness, blizzard as an image of Fate and a metaphor of infernal fun for the New Year, – and described the film as "a monument to the era of late socialism with all its greatness and tragedy," which at the same time "carries the reflection of the love fading on earth from people who have experienced God-abandonment." Longing for God is transmitted primarily "in songs and poems that serve as a chorus in ancient tragedy."<ref name=vasilik>[https://pravoslavie.ru/126796.html?ysclid=lnjz71sit685986590 О ДУХОВНОМ СОДЕРЖАНИИ ФИЛЬМА «ИРОНИЯ СУДЬБЫ, ИЛИ С ЛЕГКИМ ПАРОМ!». Протодиакон Владимир Василик] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231205122841/https://pravoslavie.ru/126796.html?ysclid=lnjz71sit685986590 |date=5 December 2023 }}. ''In Russian''</ref>

==Legacy==
The film is widely regarded as a classic piece of Russian popular culture and is traditionally broadcast in Russia and almost all former Soviet republics every [[New Year's Eve]] (Andrew Horton and Michael Brashinsky likened its status to that held by [[Frank Capra]]'s 1946 ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]'' in the United States as a holiday staple).<ref name = "D">{{cite book|author1=Horton, Andrew |author2=Brashinsky, Michael |title=The Zero Hour: Glasnost and Soviet Cinema in Transition|year=1992|publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=9780691019208}} p. 171.</ref> The soundtrack of the film was also highly appreciated and places among the most famous and recognizable music of an era in post-Soviet countries.<ref>[https://www.culture.ru/materials/254480/zvukovye-filmy-mikaela-tariverdieva «Звуковые фильмы» Микаэла Таривердиева] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123063758/https://www.culture.ru/materials/254480/zvukovye-filmy-mikaela-tariverdieva |date=23 January 2023 }}. In Russian</ref> This tradition was discontinued in [[Ukraine]] in 2015 when licence holder [[STB (TV channel)|STB]] decided not to broadcast the movie after the actress [[Valentina Talyzina]] was banned from entering Ukraine for "statements contradicting the interests of our national security".<ref>[http://www.unian.info/society/1608241-sbu-issues-entry-ban-against-140-russian-artists.html SBU issues entry ban against 140 Russian artists] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004025622/https://www.unian.info/society/1608241-sbu-issues-entry-ban-against-140-russian-artists.html |date=4 October 2020 }}, [[UNIAN]] (5 November 2016) [http://tass.com/world/910576 Ukraine’s State Security Service bans 140 Russian cultural figures from entering country] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108141700/https://tass.com/world/910576 |date=8 November 2020 }}, [[TASS news agency]] (5 November 2016)</ref><ref>{{in lang|uk}} [https://ukr.media/ukrain/250831/ "The Irony..." on New Year's Eve will not be shown, although no ban] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161106062008/https://ukr.media/ukrain/250831/|date=6 November 2016}}, [[Ukr.Media]] (29 December 2015)</ref>

In 2006, The [[Novy God|New Year's Eve]] musical film "The First Fast", shown on [[Channel One (Russia)|Channel One]], included a mini-sequel to "The Irony of Fate". Ippolit and Nadia meet after 30 years. During the heartful conversation, it turns out that Zhenya and Nadia broke up quite quickly and Ippolit is still not married. To Nadia's question, "Why?" he answers: "I've been waiting for you. And I keep waiting." Nadia doesn't know what to answer and whispers "Don't be sad". Ippolit remains alone. Gleb Kolondo (Vatnikstan) considered: "It seemed to be better than [[The Irony of Fate 2|Bekmambetov's [film]]] two years later".<ref>[https://vatnikstan.ru/culture/starye-pesni-o-glavnom/?ysclid=lqkfdbz8xw59860340 Убрать стеночку — и в прошлое. «Старые песни о главном» как модель рая постсоветской России] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231225045944/https://vatnikstan.ru/culture/starye-pesni-o-glavnom/?ysclid=lqkfdbz8xw59860340 |date=25 December 2023 }}. In Russian</ref>

==Sequel==
A sequel, ''[[The Irony of Fate 2]]'', was released in December 2007, becoming a box office hit and grossing over $55 million to a production budget of $5 million.

The film starred [[Konstantin Khabensky]] and [[Elizaveta Boyarskaya]] as the grown-up children of Lukashin and Sheveleva who have managed to get into the same situation as their parents did.

Andrey Myagkov, although he took part in the filming, eventually expressed his regret and dissatisfaction with the final result.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.gazeta.ru/culture/2018/12/25/a_12107119.shtml |title="Не одобряю": Андрей Мягков против "Иронии судьбы" |access-date=2021-12-23 |archive-date=2021-12-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223070707/https://www.gazeta.ru/culture/2018/12/25/a_12107119.shtml }}. In Russian</ref>

==Remakes==
In 2015, an [[Cinema of India|Indian remake]] of the film [[I Love NY (2015 film)|''I Love NY'']] was released, starring actors [[Sunny Deol]] and [[Kangana Ranaut]]. The film performed poorly critically and was a box office flop.

In 2022, an [[Cinema of the United States|American remake]] of the film ''[[About Fate]]'' was released. It was directed by [[Maryus Vaysberg]] and starred [[Emma Roberts]] and [[Thomas Mann (actor)|Thomas Mann]] in the lead roles.<ref>{{Citation |last=Vaysberg |first=Marius |title=About Fate |date=2022-09-08 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14456350/ |type=Comedy, Romance |publisher=Aldamisa Entertainment, American International Pictures (AIP), Contentious Media |access-date=2022-12-29 |archive-date=30 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230130657/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14456350/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2022, [[TNT (Russian TV channel)|TNT]] TV channel released a parody of Sulba's Irony called "[[The Self-Irony of Fate]]" starring [[Timur Badtrudinov]], [[Olga Buzova]], [[Olga Kartunkova]], [[Philipp Kirkorov|Philip Kirkorov]].

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0073179}}
* ''[https://russianfilmhub.com/movies/the-irony-of-fate-or-enjoy-your-bath-1975/ The Irony of Fate]'' on Russian Film Hub
* {{YouTube|id=lVpmZnRIMKs|title=''The Irony of Fate: Part 1''}}
* {{YouTube|id=5TmGPeowN-0|title=''The Irony of Fate: Part 2''}}

{{Eldar Ryazanov}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irony of Fate 1, The}}
[[Category:1976 television films]]
[[Category:1976 comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1976 romantic drama films]]
[[Category:1970s musical comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1970s romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1970s screwball comedy films]]
[[Category:Comedy-drama television films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Eldar Ryazanov]]
[[Category:Films set around New Year]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1970s]]
[[Category:Films set in Moscow]]
[[Category:Films set in Saint Petersburg]]
[[Category:Films set in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Films shot in Moscow]]
[[Category:Films shot in Saint Petersburg]]
[[Category:Mosfilm films]]
[[Category:Romance television films]]
[[Category:1970s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:Russian musical comedy films]]
[[Category:Russian romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Russian television films]]
[[Category:Soviet musical comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Soviet romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Soviet television films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Mikael Tariverdiev]]
[[Category:1976 musical films]]
[[Category:Films with live action and animation]]
[[Category:Russian-language musical comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Russian-language romantic comedy-drama films]]

The Pokrovsky Gate

2025-06-27T12:33:52Z

93.124.3.80: /* External links */

{{Infobox film
|name = The Pokrovsky Gate
|image = Pokrovskie_Vorota_back.png
|caption = Back cover of Russian-language DVD
|director = [[Mikhail Kozakov]]
|producer =
|writer = [[Leonid Zorin]]
|starring = [[Oleg Menshikov]] [[Inna Ulyanova]] [[Anatoly Ravikovich]] [[Leonid Bronevoy]] [[Viktor Bortsov]]
|music = [[Georgy Garanian]] [[Bulat Okudzhava]]
|cinematography = {{ill|Nikolay Nemolyayev|ru|Немоляев, Николай Владимирович}}
|editing = [[Irma Tsekavaya]]
|distributor = [[Mosfilm]]
|released = {{Film date|1982}}
|runtime = 140 minutes
|country = Soviet Union
|language = Russian
|budget =
}}
'''''The Pokrovsky Gate''''' ({{langx|ru|Покровские ворота|Pokrovskiye Vorota}}) is a 1982 Soviet musical comedy-drama film produced for television by [[Mosfilm]]. It was directed by [[Mikhail Kozakov]] and stars [[Oleg Menshikov]], [[Leonid Bronevoy]], and [[Inna Ulyanova]]. The [[screenplay]] is based on a 1974 [[play (theatre)|stage play]] by [[Leonid Zorin]].

Featured in the film are three songs written and performed by renowned "[[Bard (Soviet Union)|bard]]" [[Bulat Okudzhava]]: "Chasovye Lyubvi" ("Sentries of Love"), "Zhivopistsy" ("Painters"), and "Pesenka ob Arbate" ("Ditty about [[Arbat Street|Arbat]]").<ref>http://www.ozon.ru/context/detail/id/1670793/ {{in lang|ru}}</ref>

The title refers to a [[Town square|square]] on [[Moscow]]'s [[Boulevard Ring]] near which the film's main characters reside.<ref>See [http://www.hello-online.ru/content.php?contid=160 Moscow Boulevard Ring: the Prechistensky Gate] for a historical perspective. An illustration of the historical Pokrovsky Gates in old Moscow can be seen here: [http://pokrovka.narod.ru/]
</ref>

==Plot==
The story takes place in the 1950s. Konstantin “Kostik” Romin ([[Oleg Menshikov]]) has come to Moscow to study [[history]] and is staying with kindly aunt Alisa ({{ill|Sofya Pilyavskaya|ru|Пилявская, Софья Станиславовна}}), who lives in a "[[Kommunalka|communal apartment]]" building there. His life soon becomes intertwined with those of the other residents. Among them are Margarita Pavlovna ([[Inna Ulyanova]]) and both her former husband Lev Khobotov ([[Anatoly Ravikovich]]), a publisher of foreign poetry, and her new beau, World War II veteran and engraver-turned-teacher Savva Ignatevich ([[Viktor Bortsov]]).

The main plot revolves around the congenial Khobotov’s attempts to find happiness with newfound love Lyudochka ([[Yelena Koreneva]]), while constantly being [[thwart]]ed by the controlling Margarita. Another tenant is [[Musical comedy|musical comedian]] Arkady Velyurov ([[Leonid Bronevoy]]), who is trying to revive his faltering career and escape from his own loneliness. He has become enamored of a young competitive swimmer, Svetlana ([[Tatyana Dogileva]]), who rebuffs his advances but takes a fancy to the opportunistic Kostik.

Kostik finds his own [[love interest]], Rita<ref>A diminutive form of "Margarita", a source of some irony; when she introduces herself to a bewildered Khobotov as "Margarita", Kostik interjects "Rita! RI-TA!"</ref> ({{ill|Valentina Voilkova|ru|Воилкова, Валентина Дмитриевна}}), for whom he decides to forsake his [[Playboy (disambiguation)|playboy]] lifestyle. In the end he becomes the catalyst for both Khobotov and Velyurov to find some measure of happiness: the former elopes with Lyudochka with the help of Kostik's pal Savransky, and the latter is elated that Svetlana attends one of his concerts in response to a telegram Kostik had urged him to send.

==Main idea of the film==

<gallery widths="200" heights="200" class="centre" caption="Gallery" mode=nolines>

File:Moscow 1957 - Gorky Street towards Kremlin II.jpg|(3) Moscow 1957. Gorky Street towards Kremlin II. The main action of the picture takes place in 1956-1957.
</gallery>
{{center|"The Pokrovsky Gate" is a film-memory, the hero of which, watching the demolition of an old Moscow house in the early 1980s, mentally returns to the days of his youth. The main action of the picture takes place in Moscow, period 1956-1957, shown in the photo above (3).}}

Quotation about the movie:
{{blockquote|text=
{{lang|ru|Скрылись за поворотом пятидесятые, отшумели шестидесятые, уже восьмидесятые проросли. Мы смотрим на развалины скворечника на {{ill|Улица Покровка|ru|lt=Покровке}} с не меньшей грустью, чем режиссёр Михаил Козаков. С улыбкой, но не без горечи, он спрашивает больше себя, чем нас: «Молодость, ты была или не была? Кто ответит, куда ты делась?» (Костик)}}
--- The fifties disappeared around the bend, the noisy sixties grew silent, the eighties were already sprouting. We look at the ruins of the birdhouse on {{ill|Pokrovka Street|ru|Улица Покровка|lt= Pokrovka}} with no less sadness than the director Mikhail Kozakov. With a smile, but not without bitterness, he asks himself more than us: “Youth, have you been or not? Who will answer, where have you gone? "(Kostik)
|multiline=yes
|author= Гербер, Алла Ефремовна (Gerber, Alla Efremovna)
|title=''Скворечник на Покровке''
}}<ref name="Советская Культура">{{cite journal|author=Гербер А.|authorlink=Alla Gerber |title=Скворечник на Покровке |publisher=[[Kultura (newspaper)|Soviet culture]] |location=Moscow|date=17 Feb 1983 |volume=21 |number=5653 |page=4|language=ru|trans-title=Birdhouse on Pokrovka}}</ref>

==Cast==
<div style="float:right">
[[Image:Pokrovskie Vorota outline.png|thumb|right|see table at left and image above]]
</div>

{| class="wikitable"
! Actor !! Role
|-
| '''1''' [[Yelena Koreneva]] || ''Lyudochka''
|-
| '''2''' [[Oleg Menshikov]] || ''Konstantin “Kostik” Romin''
|-
| '''3''' [[Inna Ulyanova]] || ''Margarita Pavlovna''
|-
| '''4''' [[Viktor Bortsov]] || ''Savva Ignatevich''
|-
| '''5''' [[Yevgeny Morgunov]] || ''Soyev (Velyurov's friend and collaborator)''
|-
| '''6''' [[Leonid Bronevoy]] || ''Arkadi Velyurov''
|-
| '''7''' [[Tatyana Dogileva]] || ''Svetlana Popova''
|-
| '''8''' {{ill|Valentina Voilkova|ru|Воилкова, Валентина Дмитриевна}} || ''Rita''
|-
| '''9''' [[Anatoly Ravikovich]] || ''Lev Yevgenevich Khobotov''

|}

== Other parts==
*[[Rimma Markova]] as doctor
*[[Igor Dmitriev]] as Gleb Nikolaevich Orlovich
*[[Natalia Krachkovskaya]] as Olga Yanovna Soyeva
*Mikhail Kazakov as Konstantin Romin, after 25 years
*[[Emmanuil Geller]] as Savelich (voiced by [[Georgy Vitsin]])
*[[Sofya Pilyavskaya]] as aunt Alisa

==References==
<references />

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0083465}}
*''[http://exler.ru/films/12-09-2005.htm Detailed synopsis and discussion with many screen shots]'' {{in lang|ru}}
*''[http://ocr.krossw.ru/html/zorin/zorin-pokrovskie-ls_1.htm Complete text of Zorin play]'' {{in lang|ru}}
*''[http://mbronnaya.theatre.ru/actors/strakhov/13967/ Пьесу легендарного драматурга покажут в московском театре]'' {{in lang|ru}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pokrovsky Gate, The}}
[[Category:Films set in the 1960s]]
[[Category:1982 films]]
[[Category:Mosfilm films]]
[[Category:1980s Soviet films]]
[[Category:1980s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:1980s romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1980s romantic musical films]]
[[Category:1980s musical comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Soviet romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Soviet musical comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Films set in 1956]]
[[Category:Films set in 1957]]
[[Category:Films set in Moscow]]
[[Category:Films set in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Films shot in Moscow]]
[[Category:Films set in hospitals]]
[[Category:1982 musical films]]
[[Category:Russian-language romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Russian-language romantic musical films]]
[[Category:Russian-language musical comedy-drama films]]

Kidnapping, Caucasian Style

2025-06-27T12:18:50Z

93.124.3.80: /* External links */

{{short description|1967 Soviet comedy film}}
{{about|the original 1967 Soviet film|the 2014 remake|Kidnapping, Caucasian Style!}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Prisoner of the Caucasus or Shurik's New Adventures
| image = Kidnapping, Caucasian Style.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Film poster
| native_name =
| director = [[Leonid Gaidai]]
| producer = [[Mosfilm]]
| writer = {{ubl|Yakov Kostyukovsky|Moris Slobodskoy|Leonid Gaidai}}
| screenplay =
| story =
| based_on = 
| narrator =
| starring = {{ubl|[[Aleksandr Demyanenko]]|[[Natalya Varley]]|[[Yuri Nikulin]]|[[Yevgeny Morgunov]]|[[Georgy Vitsin]]|[[Vladimir Etush]]|[[Frunzik Mkrtchyan]]}}
| music = [[Aleksandr Zatsepin]]
| cinematography = Konstantin Brovin
| editing =
| studio =
| distributor = [[Mosfilm]]
| released = {{Film date|1967|4|1|df=y}}
| runtime = 82 minutes
| country = Soviet Union
| language = Russian
| budget =
| gross = 76.54 million tickets<ref name="Kino"/>
}}
{{wikiquote}}

'''''Prisoner of the Caucasus or Shurik's New Adventures''''' ({{langx|ru|link=no|Кавказская пленница, или Новые приключения Шурика}}){{#tag:ref|The full name of the film is Кавказская пленница, или Новые приключения Шурика, ''Kavkazskaya plennitsa, ili Novie priklyucheniya Shurika'', literally translating to '''''A Female Prisoner of the Caucasus or Shurik's New Adventures'''''. The title is a hint to the title ''[[The Prisoner of the Caucasus (disambiguation)|Prisoner of the Caucasus]]''|group="n"}} is a 1967 Soviet romantic [[musical comedy film]] dealing with a plot revolving around [[bride kidnapping]], an old tradition that used to exist in certain regions of the [[Northern Caucasus]].

The film was directed by [[Leonid Gaidai]]. It is the last film featuring the trio of the "Coward" ([[Georgy Vitsin]]), the "Fool" ([[Yuri Nikulin]]), and the "Pro" ([[Yevgeny Morgunov]]), a group of bumbling antiheroes similar in some ways to the [[The Three Stooges|Three Stooges]]. The film premiered in Moscow on 1 April 1967.

==Background and production==
As a result of the popularity of the earlier film, ''[[Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures]]'', Yakov Kostyukovsky and Moris Slobodsky requested [[Mosfilm]] to support a new film about the character of Shurik. The screenplay for the new film was initially titled "Shurik in the mountains" and was divided into two parts. The first part, "Prisoner of the Caucasus", was about the student Nina who comes to visit her relatives in the Caucasus and is kidnapped by a local director named Okhokhov. The second part, "Snow Man and Others", was about a scientific expedition seeking the [[Yeti]] in a mountainous region, with the Coward, the Fool, and the Pro pretending to be the Yeti by way of hiding from the local militia. In the end, Shurik and Nina were supposed to expose the trio. As the process went forward, it was decided to focus on just the first part of the screenplay.

''Kidnapping, Caucasian Style'' followed the success of Gaidai's previous film, ''[[Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures]]'', which featured some of the same characters (Shurik, and the trio of [[Coward, Fool, and Pro]]).<ref name="Trud06">{{cite news|first=Anatoly |last=Starodubets |title=В плену у "Кавказской Пленницы" (Interview with Yakov Kostyukovsky) |date=8 April 2006 |url=http://info.trud.ru/trud.php?id=200604080620601 |access-date=18 February 2007 |language=ru |work=[[Trud (Russian newspaper)|Trud]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070417045410/http://info.trud.ru/trud.php?id=200604080620601 |archive-date=17 April 2007 }}</ref> According to one of the writers, Yakov Kostyukovsky, Gaidai had decided that the trio had reached the height of their popularity and did not want to feature them again. Kostyukovsky and co-writer Slobodsky convinced Gaidai to film ''Kidnapping, Caucasian Style''.<ref name="Trud06"/>

Yuri Nikulin and Evgeny Morgunov initially refused to be part of the film as they felt the screenplay was too unrealistic. In the end, Gaidai convinced both actors to reprise their roles by agreeing to make some adjustments to the screenplay. It also took a long time to cast the role of Nina, with more than 500 screen tests completed before [[Natalya Varley]] was selected for the role. Because she worked as a circus [[Tightrope walking|tightrope walker]] prior to acting, she had an easier time with the stunt work and physicality required in the role. On the other hand, her relative lack of acting experience made the dialogue scenes more challenging for her.<ref>[https://www.1tv.ru/doc/pro-kino-i-teatr/kavkazskaya-plennica-rozhdenie-legendy-dokumentalnyy-film «Кавказская пленница. Рождение легенды».]</ref>

In the case of the character of Saakhov, there were disagreements between Gaidai and the actor playing Saakhov, [[Vladimir Etush]]. While Etush thought Saakhov should be played as an accomplished, intelligent man who takes himself seriously, Gaidai wanted more of an over-the-top performance.

==Plot==
A kind, yet naïve, ethnography student named Shurik ([[Aleksandr Demyanenko|Alexander Demyanenko]]), known from earlier films as a student at a polytechnic institute, goes to the [[Caucasus]] to learn ancient customs and traditions practised by the locals, including "myths, legends, and toasts". At the start of the film, Shurik is making his way along a mountain road in the Caucasus on a donkey. He comes upon a truck driver named Edik whose truck refuses to start. The donkey gets stubborn and neither man is able to get his respective mode of transportation going.
{{external media
| float = right
| width = 300px
| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq9AlegdOEA ''If I were a Sultan''] ("Eсли б я был султан…") Trying to encourage Nina to have some breakfast, the trio, led by Fool (Nikulin) entertain her with a song about the pros and cons of having three wives at once. They get carried away a bit with their own performance, and Nina escapes.}}

Suddenly, a young woman named Nina ([[Natalya Varley]]) comes walking down the road. The donkey immediately begins to move after her and the truck starts working again. Nina is "a higher education student, an athlete, a member of the [[Komsomol]], and last but not least — a beauty". Her uncle, Comrade Dzhabrail ([[Frunzik Mkrtchyan]]), works as a chauffeur for Comrade Saakhov ([[Vladimir Etush]]), who is the director of the regional agricultural cooperative and the wealthiest and most powerful man in town. Saakhov likes Nina and invites her to take part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new [[civil registry]]. Shurik shows up to the ribbon-cutting completely drunk because the locals refused to tell him local [[toast (honor)|toast]]s unless he drank to each of them. He ends up becoming disorderly and the [[militsiya]] carts him off.

Meanwhile, Saakhov decides to marry Nina and strikes a deal with Dzhabrail to purchase the bride in return for 20 head of sheep and an imported Finnish [[Rosenlew]] refrigerator. Rather than asking for Nina's agreement (which her uncle realizes would be impossible to get), they decide to kidnap her instead. The trio of the Coward, the Fool, and the Pro, hired to do the job, find it difficult to get Nina alone because she has started to spend a lot of time with Shurik. At this point, Saakhov has the idea to unwittingly get Shurik in on it by telling him that the kidnapping of the bride is a local custom. Dzhabrail meets with Shurik in a restaurant and tells him this story, lying to him that Nina has already agreed to marry Saakhov and that she wants to be kidnapped in order to comply with tradition. Shurik is devastated, because he is in love with Nina, but thinking that this is what she wants, he agrees to help.

[[File:Oreh Nikulina.JPG|thumb|200px|Yuri Nikulin's [[Juglans regia]] has become an object of cultural heritage.]]
Nina has gone camping and spends a night in a [[sleeping bag]]. Shurik bids her an emotional good-bye; misunderstanding him, she shrugs and also says good-bye. Shurik then zips her up in her sleeping bag and signals to the Coward, the Fool, and the Pro, who run over to grab the helpless Nina and transport her to Saakhov's [[dacha]]. Soon after, Shurik learns that the kidnapping was real and that the story about it being a custom was a lie. Shurik immediately runs to the militsiya, but Saakhov (who Shurik does not realize is involved) is waiting for him outside. Saakhov explains to Shurik that if he says anything, the militsiya will arrest him as a co-conspirator and suggests they go straight to the local prosecutor instead. Shurik agrees, but Saakhov tricks him by leading him to a house where there is a party going on and getting him to drink, then calling doctors from the local psychiatric clinic and having Shurik committed.

Meanwhile, at Saakhov's dacha, the trio of kidnappers lock Nina in a room and try to cheer her up by bringing food and singing songs. Nina pretends to be interested, but then when the kidnappers are distracted, she tries to run away. She is stopped by her uncle and forced to return to her room, where she is locked up. Saakhov arrives with a bottle of wine and goes in to speak with Nina, but runs out moments later covered from head to toe in the wine. Deciding to give Nina some time to "think about it", Dzhabrail and Saakhov drive away from the dacha, leaving the trio of kidnappers in charge of Nina.

At the hospital, Shurik finally realizes that Saakhov is the one behind the kidnapping. Shurik escapes from the psychiatric ward and happens to run into Edik, the truck driver he had met at the beginning of the film. Together, they drive toward Saakhov's dacha. When they arrive, they have changed into doctors' uniforms and convince the Coward, the Fool, and the Pro that they are doing emergency vaccinations against a dangerous [[hoof-and-mouth disease]] that is affecting the area. Under this guise, they inject the trio with sedatives. While Edik is performing the injections, Shurik goes up to Nina's room. Still thinking that he was in on the kidnapping, she hits him over the head with a fruit plate, runs out of the room, jumps out of a first-floor window, and steals one of the trucks.
[[File:Adler Trumpf Junior Cabriolet 1938.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The trio arrive in a red [[Adler Trumpf Junior]] similar to the one pictured.<ref name="Lomakovka">{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.lomakovka.ru/Adler.html Model page] at the [[Lomakovka]] AutoMotoMuseum, Moscow.</ref>]]
A car chase ensues in which the kidnappers chase Nina while Shurik and Edik chase the kidnappers. The kidnappers catch up with Nina, commandeer her vehicle, and tie her up, but at that moment the sedative begins to take effect and they all fall asleep. Shurik catches up with the truck right before it veers off the road and stops it. He begins to untie Nina, but she attacks him, still thinking that he is in league with the kidnappers. To reveal his feelings for her, Shurik kisses Nina before he finishes untying her.

The action moves to Saakhov's apartment at night. He is alone. Suddenly, Nina, Shurik, and Edik appear, holding rifles, dressed in masks, and calling themselves the enforcers of the "law of the mountains". Saakhov does not recognize them and, scared to death, jumps out of the window. Edik shoots him with his shotgun, which turns out to be loaded with nothing more than salt. He hits him in the rump and, when Saakhov is brought up on charges in court the next day, he is unable to sit. The film ends with Shurik walking Nina to a bus and then following after her on his donkey.

==Cast==
*[[Aleksandr Demyanenko]] as Shurik
*[[Natalya Varley]] as Nina (voiced by [[Nadezhda Rumyantseva]])
*[[Vladimir Etush]] as Saakhov
*[[Frunzik Mkrtchyan]] as Dzhabrail
*[[Ruslan Akhmetov]] as Edik
*[[Yuri Nikulin]] as the Fool
*[[Georgy Vitsin]] as the Coward
*[[Yevgeny Morgunov]] as the Pro
*[[Donara Mkrtchyan]] as Nina's aunt
*[[Mikhail Gluzsky]] as the hotel manager
*[[Nina Grebeshkova]] as the nurse
*[[Georgy Millyar]] as the [[Dominoes|domino]] player
*[[Pyotr Repnin]] as the doctor
*[[Noy Acaliani]] as the hotel employee
*[[Ammanuil Geller]] as the [[shashlik]] seller
*[[Georgy Svetlani]] as the old man by the beer stall
*[[Leonid Dovlatov]] as the judge
*[[Georgy Ahundov]] as the domino player

==Censorship==

During production, the screenplay was also altered by [[Censorship in the Soviet Union#Soviet censorship of film|Soviet censors]].<ref>[https://www.kinopoisk.ru/media/article/2926482/ Несмешные руки-ножницы: Что вырезала цензура из советских кинокомедий]</ref> For instance, a phrase yelled by the Coward was originally written as: "Long live ''the Soviet'' justice system, the most humane justice system in the world!" was changed to "Long live ''our'' justice system, the most humane justice system in the world!" as the original was viewed as too obviously mocking the Soviet justice system. After release, it became the biggest Soviet hit of 1967 and became known as one of the greatest Russian comedies of all time.

The censors of [[Goskino]] had decided to prevent the film's release but [[Leonid Brezhnev]], who was sworn in as the [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] less than a year before, saw the film and expressed his fondness for Gaidai's work. Due to Brezhnev's appreciation, the censors reconsidered their initial decision and the movie was officially released.<ref name="Trud06"/>

==Reception==
The film topped the [[List of highest-grossing films in the Soviet Union|Soviet box office]] in 1967 with 76.54 million viewers.<ref name="Kino">{{cite web|script-title=ru:Кавказская пленница, или Новые приключения Шурика |publisher=KinoExpert.ru |url=http://www.kinoexpert.ru/index.asp?comm=4&num=23 |access-date=18 February 2007 |language=ru |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070103084503/http://kinoexpert.ru/index.asp?comm=4&num=23 |archive-date=3 January 2007 }}</ref>

==Soundtracks==
;"[[Pesenka o medvedyakh]]" ("A little song about bears")
The song was recorded by [[Aida Vedishcheva]] (Vais), with Varley [[lip-synch]]ing during the performance of the song in the film. Varley accompanies her performance with a brief display of the "[[Twist (dance)|twist]]", conveying — in concert with the fast-paced melody — the light-hearted and optimistic theme of the song.

;"Yesli b' ya byl sultan" ("If I were a sultan")
The song was performed by Nikulin, with Vitsyn and Morgunov featured in the chorus. It is a comical song about the polygamy practiced in Middle Eastern cultures, with Varley dancing in a style partly reminiscent of the Old Tbilisi dance theme during its performance.

==Popular quotes==
Many popular sayings have entered the [[Russian language]] from the film.
* 'My great grandfather always said: "I desire to buy a house, but I don't have the means to do it. I have the means to purchase a goat, but I don't desire it." So let us drink to our desires always meeting our capabilities.'<ref>[https://subslikescript.com/movie/Kidnapping_Caucasian_Style-60584 Kidnapping, Caucasian Style (1967) - full transcript]</ref>

==Remake==
In 2014, the film was remade as ''[[Kidnapping, Caucasian Style!]]''. The remake was criticized for how closely it resembled Gaidai's version and it is considered by some to be one of the worst films of all time.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.gazeta.ru/culture/2014/08/21/a_6185217.shtml |script-title=ru:Шурик в Запределье|language=ru|work=[[Gazeta.ru]]|date= 22 August 2014|access-date=19 February 2019}}</ref>

==References==
;Notes
{{reflist|group="n"}}

;Sources
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{YouTube|P2_sjEURwgo|''Kidnapping, Caucasian Style'' (full movie in HD)|link=no}} (official upload by Mosflim)
*{{IMDb title|0060584}}
*[http://cinema.mosfilm.ru/films/film/1960-1969/kavkazskaya-plennitsa-ili-novie-priklyucheniya-shurika/ Kidnapping, Caucasian style] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111070727/http://cinema.mosfilm.ru/films/film/1960-1969/kavkazskaya-plennitsa-ili-novie-priklyucheniya-shurika/ |date=11 November 2013 }} at official [[Mosfilm]] site with English subtitles

{{Leonid Gaidai}}

[[Category:1967 films]]
[[Category:1960s adventure comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1960s romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1960s romantic musical films]]
[[Category:1960s musical comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1960s Soviet films]]
[[Category:1960s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:Russian-language romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Russian-language romantic musical films]]
[[Category:Russian-language musical comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Soviet adventure comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Soviet romantic comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Soviet musical comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Films about kidnapping]]
[[Category:Films directed by Leonid Gaidai]]
[[Category:Films scored by Aleksandr Zatsepin]]
[[Category:Films set in Russia]]
[[Category:Films set in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Films shot in Crimea]]
[[Category:Films shot in Sochi]]
[[Category:Mosfilm films]]
[[Category:Journalism adapted into films]]

Dreams of Love – Liszt

2025-06-27T10:16:38Z

93.124.3.80: /* External links */

{{About|the 1970 film|the composition by Liszt|Liebesträume}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Dreams of Love – Liszt
| image = Dreams of Love – Liszt.jpg
| director = [[Márton Keleti]]
| writer = Daniil Del
| starring = [[Imre Sinkovits]] [[Ariadna Shengelaya]] [[Sándor Pécsi]] [[Klara Luchko]] [[Igor Dmitriev]]
| music = [[Franz Liszt]] [[Ferenc Farkas]]
| cinematography = [[István Hildebrand]]
| editing = [[Mihály Morell]]
| studio = [[MAFILM]] [[Lenfilm]]
| distributor = Ellman Film Enterprises (USA)
| released = {{Film date|1970}}
| runtime = 174 minutes
| country = Hungary Soviet Union
| language = Hungarian English German French Russian
}}

'''''Dreams of Love – Liszt''''' ({{langx|hu|Szerelmi álmok – Liszt}}, also known in English as ''The Loves of Liszt'') is a Hungarian-Soviet epic musical/drama [[Film producer|produced]] and [[Film director|directed]] by [[Márton Keleti]], based on the biography of the Hungarian composer and pianist [[Franz Liszt]].

While the movie was criticized for some of its historical inaccuracies, its epic scope and intense scenes of virtuoso musical performances won wide praise and has been credited with affecting the cultural landscape of the 1970s Eastern Europe.

==Plot summary==
An epic film about the Hungarian [[virtuoso]] [[pianist]] and [[composer]] [[Franz Liszt]]. He is an international star giving performances all over Europe and goes on a concert tour to [[Saint Petersburg|St. Petersburg]], Russia. Liszt's brilliant piano playing impressed the Russian royalty and aristocracy. Even the Russian Tsar stops talking when Liszt plays his piano. Liszt becomes a friend of the Russian composer [[Mikhail Glinka|Glinka]]. Liszt's beautiful music touches everyone's heart. Women are pursuing him and his lengthy affair with countess [[Marie d'Agoult]] is in trouble.

In Russia, Liszt meets the beautiful [[Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein|Princess Carolyne]], they fall in love, and she soon leaves her husband for Liszt. She becomes a [[muse]] and inspiration for Liszt, and his last and strongest love. Inspired by his love for Carolyne, Liszt creates the most beautiful romantic piano composition, "[[Liebesträume|Liebestraum]]" (also known as "Dream of Love") dedicated to her, and the piece becomes a classic hit. But the church does not allow Liszt to marry Carolyne, because she could not terminate her first marriage. The unmarried couple moves to the city of [[Weimar]], where Liszt becomes the music director for the royal orchestra. This becomes the most productive and happy period in Liszt's life.

The brilliant pianist and composer Franz Liszt becomes a superstar. He tours many countries and makes people happy with his music, albeit his love life is in trouble. Carolyne cannot terminate her marriage while her husband is alive. Her relatives are against Liszt. She and Liszt remain unmarried, and Liszt suffers from emotional pain until the end of his life. Being loved by the public, Liszt is never really happy in his personal life, so he expresses himself making beautiful music.

== Cast ==
* [[Imre Sinkovits]] as ''[[Franz Liszt]]''
* [[Ariadna Shengelaya]] as ''[[Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein]]''
* [[Sándor Pécsi]] as ''Gaetano Belloni, Liszt's secretary''
* [[Klara Luchko]] as ''[[Marie d'Agoult]]''
* [[Igor Dmitriev]] as ''prince Nikolay Petrovich Wittgenstein''
* Larisa Trembovelskaya as ''[[Lola Montez]]''
* [[Tamás Major]] as ''Pope [[Pius IX]]''
* [[Klári Tolnay]] as ''[[Cosima Wagner|Cosima]], Liszt's daughter''
* [[Lajos Básti]] as ''[[Ágoston Trefort]]''
* [[Ferenc Bessenyei]] as ''[[Mihály Vörösmarty]]''
* [[Ádám Szirtes]] as ''Miska, Liszt's servant''
* [[Petr Shelokhonov]] as ''[[Mikhail Glinka]], Russian composer''
* Sándor Suka as ''[[Joseph Haydn]], Austrian composer''
* Natalya Baytalskaya as ''[[Vera Timanova]]''
* Gennady Bednostin
* [[Irina Gubanova]] as ''Olga Yanina''
* Tibor Bitskey as ''Liszt's friend''
* Kornél Gelley as ''priest''
* [[Peter Huszti]] as ''[[Franz Joseph I of Austria]]''
* Sergei Ivanov as [[Nicholas I of Russia]]
* [[György Kálmán]] as ''police officer''
* Sergei Karnovich-Valua as [[Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]]
* [[Zsolt Kocsy]] as ''Franz Liszt in his childhood''
* Ivan Kolejev
* Valentin Kulik as ''[[Sigismond Thalberg]]''
* Vasili Leonov as ''[[Alexander Borodin]]''
* [[Gábor Mádi Szabó]] as ''Liszt's father''
* [[Vera Szemere]] as ''Liszt's mother''
* [[László Márkus]] as ''[[Miklós Esterházy]]''
* Sergei Polezhayev as ''courtier''
* Emmanuil Schwarzberg
* Anatoli Shvedersky as ''[[Gustav Adolf, Cardinal Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillinsgfürst]]''
* [[Bertalan Solti]]
* [[Géza Tordy]] as ''[[Carl Czerny]]''
* Marina Yurasova as ''[[Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (1786–1859)|Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia]]''
* [[Éva Ruttkai]] (voice dubbing for the character of Carolyne in the Hungarian version)
* [[Ildikó Pécsi]] (voice dubbing for the character of Lola Montez in the Hungarian version)

==Production==
* This is a joint Hungarian-Soviet production of MAFILM Studio 3 and Lenfilm Studio.
* Production dates: 1968–1970.
* Filmed in the [[Soviet Union]], [[East Germany]] and [[Hungary]].
* Liszt's historic performance in Russia was filmed at St. Petersburg Bolshoi Philharmonic Hall.
* [[Sviatoslav Richter]] plays piano for the character of Liszt, including études and the famous "[[Liebesträume|Liebestraum]]".
* The Hungarian version runtime is 174 minutes.
* The Soviet version is reduced down to 150 minutes, with some scenes deleted.
* The American version is reduced to 130 minutes, with many scenes deleted.
* Released in 1970 in Hungary and the Soviet Union.
* Released on September 29, 1972, in Finland, and in December 1975, in the USA.

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|title=Szerelmi álmok - Liszt}}
* {{PORT.hu film|title=Szerelmi álmok – Liszt}}

{{Márton Keleti}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dreams of Love - Liszt}}
[[Category:1970 films]]
[[Category:1970s biographical drama films]]
[[Category:1970s Soviet films]]
[[Category:Russian-language biographical drama films]]
[[Category:Russian-language historical romance films]]
[[Category:Russian-language historical musical films]]
[[Category:Russian-language historical drama films]]
[[Category:Russian-language romantic musical films]]
[[Category:Russian-language musical drama films]]
[[Category:Russian-language romantic drama films]]
[[Category:Soviet biographical drama films]]
[[Category:Soviet historical drama films]]
[[Category:Soviet historical musical films]]
[[Category:Soviet musical drama films]]
[[Category:Soviet romantic drama films]]
[[Category:Russian biographical drama films]]
[[Category:Hungary–Soviet Union relations]]
[[Category:1970s Hungarian-language films]]
[[Category:1970s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:1970s romantic musical films]]
[[Category:Films set in the 19th century]]
[[Category:Films directed by Márton Keleti]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Nicholas I of Russia]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Franz Liszt]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Lola Montez]]
[[Category:Films about classical music and musicians]]
[[Category:Films about composers]]
[[Category:Biographical films about musicians]]
[[Category:Lenfilm films]]
[[Category:Hungarian multilingual films]]
[[Category:Soviet multilingual films]]
[[Category:1970s multilingual films]]
[[Category:Hungarian biographical drama films]]
[[Category:1970 drama films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Ferenc Farkas]]
[[Category:1970 musical films]]

Karavan Lyubvi

2025-06-27T09:46:51Z

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{{Infobox television
| image =
| caption =
| producer = [[Sofia Rotaru]]
| director = [[Sofia Rotaru]]
| writer =
| starring = [[Sofia Rotaru]]
| music = V. Matetskiy
| network = [[Soviet Central Television]]
| released = {{Start date|1991|01|01|df=y}}
| runtime = 33 minutes
| country = [[Soviet Union]]
| budget =
| language = Ukrainian Russian
}}

'''''Karavan Lyubvi''''' ([[Russian language|Russian]]: Караван Любви; English: "Caravan of Love") is a Soviet musical television film starring [[Sofia Rotaru]].

== History ==
The foundation ideas for the film appeared after Sofia Rotaru performed the song "Karavan lyubvi". The song was later (in 1993) included in the album with the same name: Caravan of Love. The musical film became a fruit of joint production of the Main Edition of Musical Programmes of the Central Television and of the theatre studio Club in 1991.

== Performed songs ==
Sofia Rotaru performed the following songs:

# Karavan lyubvi
# I'm Missing You a Lot
# Snowflake
# Such a Story
# Touch Me
# When the Separation is Closer
# Tea Roses in the Compartment
# Echo

*Composer: V. Matestskiy
*Lyrics: M. Shabrov, G. Pozhenyan

== Episodic roles ==
*Brass choir ensemble directed by [[Vladimir Matetskiy]]
*Show — Balley "Todes" (artistic director [[Alla Duhova]])

== See also ==
* Song [[Caravan of Love (song)]]
* Album [[Caravan of Love (album)]]

== External links ==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071113030937/http://www.fortuna-rotaru.narod.ru/tv_pyt/filmografy.htm Filmography of Sofia Rotaru]

[[Category:Soviet television films]]
[[Category:Ukrainian-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Sofia Rotaru]]
[[Category:1990s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:Russian-language musical films]]
[[Category:1991 television films]]
[[Category:Concert films]]
[[Category:1990s dance films]]
[[Category:Films about entertainers]]
[[Category:Soviet musical films]]
[[Category:Soviet-era Ukrainian films]]
[[Category:1991 musical films]]

{{1990s-USSR-film-stub}}
{{musical-film-stub}}

D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers

2025-06-27T09:34:53Z

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{{Short description|1978 film directed by George Jungvald-Khilkevitch}}
{{Infobox television
|image =D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers.jpg
|caption =
|director = [[Georgi Yungvald-Khilkevich]]
|producer =
|writer = [[Alexandre Dumas, père]] [[Mark Rozovsky]]
|narrator =
|starring = [[Mikhail Boyarsky]] [[Veniamin Smekhov]] [[Igor Starygin]] [[Valentin Smirnitsky]]
|music = [[Maksim Dunayevsky]]
|cinematography = [[Aleksandr Polynnikov]]
|editor = [[Tamara Prokopenko]]
|network =
|first_aired = {{Start date|1978|12|24|df=y}}
|last_aired = {{End date|1978|12|26|df=y}}
|runtime = 248 minutes (3 parts)
|country = Soviet Union
|language = Russian
|budget =
}}
'''''D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers''''' ({{langx|ru|«Д'Артаньян и три мушкетёра»|D'Artanyan i tri mushketyora}}) is a three-part [[swashbuckler]] [[Musical film|musical]] [[miniseries]] produced in the [[Soviet Union]] and first aired in 1978. It is based on the 1844 novel ''[[The Three Musketeers]]'' by [[Alexandre Dumas, père]].

The film stars [[Mikhail Boyarsky]] as [[D'Artagnan]], [[Veniamin Smekhov]] as [[Athos (fictional character)|Athos]], [[Igor Starygin]] as [[Aramis]], [[Valentin Smirnitsky]] as [[Porthos]], [[Margarita Terekhova]] as [[Milady de Winter]], [[Oleg Tabakov]] as [[Louis XIII of France|King Louis XIII]], [[Alisa Freindlich]] as [[Anne of Austria]], [[Aleksandr Trofimov (actor)|Aleksandr Trofimov]] as [[Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu|Cardinal Richelieu]], and [[Lev Durov]] as [[Comte de Troisville|Captain de Tréville]]. The film,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://listverse.com/2010/09/28/top-15-miniseries-of-all-time/|title=Top 15 Miniseries of all Time|date=28 September 2010 |publisher=Listverse|access-date=28 September 2010}}</ref> and its numerous songs became extremely popular in the Soviet Union throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, and is now considered a classic.

Three sequels were made: ''[[Musketeers Twenty Years After]]'' (1992), ''[[The Secret of Queen Anne or Musketeers Thirty Years After]]'' (1993) and ''[[The Return of the Musketeers, or The Treasures of Cardinal Mazarin]]'' (2009).

== Plot ==
The film consists of three parts:
*Part I: "Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnan" (Атос, Портос, Арамис и д'Артаньян)
*Part II: "The Queen's Diamond Studs" (Подвески королевы)
*Part III: "The Adventures Continue" (Приключения продолжаются)

===Episode One===

D’Artagnan, a young country bumpkin rides to Paris in hopes of becoming a musketeer. In Meung he is insulted by Rochefort, an agent of the Cardinal. A fight ensues, and d’Artagnan Is robbed and left bleeding.

Later he meets M. De Tréville, captain of the king's musketeers. Suddenly, he sees Rochefort and jumps out the window. He crashes into Athos, a wounded musketeer who calls him an idiot and challenged him to a duel at noon. D’Artagnan continues his chase, crashing into two other musketeers, Porthos and Aramis and gets challenged to two other duels.
Arriving for the first duel, Athos duels d’Artagnan until Porthos and Aramis arrive, and are astonished that they will all fight the same boy. The Cardinals Guards arrive and a fight ensues. The musketeers kill most of the guards and a few lucky ones escape. The musketeers make friends.
Later d’Artagnan rescues Constance, a married seamstress for the Queen and they fall in love. On the next morning, D'Artagnan meets his friends at a local tavern and tells Athos that he mysteriously got a letter from Cardinal Richelieu, asking to meet with him after sunset. Athos tells D'Artagnan, that he has no choice but to meet with him. D'Artagnan then meets the Cardinal at his estate. He tries to sway D'Artagnan to his side with the promise of wealth, high ranking military career, and respect from the nobility.

Although D'Artagnan declines the offer, Richelieu threatens and warns him of what could happen if he continues to interfere with his plans. D'Artagnan returns to his friends, and tells them he refused to serve the Cardinal, and Athos advises D'Artagnan to be careful with his choices, now that he has made an enemy of Richelieu. Later the same night, Richelieu meets with Milady Winter, one of his best spies and agents, and she tells him that the Duke of Buckingham has arrived in Paris.

===Episode Two===

After receiving word from Milady that the Duke has arrived in Paris, the Cardinal sends Rochefort and De Jussac to stop the Duke but it fails, and Rochefort tells him that D'Artagnan aided the Duke in escaping with the Queen's Diamond Studs, which the Queen gave the Duke, her lover, as a gift. Richelieu immediately plots his revenge on the Queen for rejecting him. He goes to her husband, King Louis XIII, whom he easily manipulates into holding a ball in the royal palace in 10 days, and he tells Louis to tell his wife to wear her diamond studs that Louis had previously given her as a present.

Queen Anne, realizing she is in trouble from the Cardinal's wrath, she tells her loyal maid, Constance, to find someone to go to London and back in 10 days to deliver the studs. However, the Cardinal orders Rochefort to close all of France's ports until further notice. Constance recruits D'Artagnan and he recruits his friends and they sent out to London. However, De Jussac races to the port and deploys squads of Cardinal Guards across the countryside with a single order: Stop D'Artaganan, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis at any cost. Although D'Artagnan makes it past the blockade of guards, his friends stay behind to distract the guards. He then battles and defeats De Jussac, again, and steals the Cardinal's letter from him, allowing him to go to London from France's ports. Upon arriving, he discovers that 2 of the 12 diamond studs are stolen by Milady from the Duke. Milady arrives to Richelieu, giving him the studs, which he plans to use to extort the Queen, in return he gives Milady money, and a nobility title. D'Artaganan stays overnight in the Duke's palace, while the Duke orders his jeweler to make 2 new diamond studs to save Anne. The next day D'Artagnan races with the studs to France even riding overnight to desperately make it to Paris to save Constance's life from the Cardinal. He delivers the studs to the Queen saving her and Constance, but Richelieu sends Milady to capture Constance but it fails and she is forced to poison her. Constance dies, and D'Artagnan swears vengeance.

===Episode Three===

The Cardinal then manipulates Louis into declaring war on England. D'Artagnan is made a Musketeer and De Tréville promises him the rank of lieutenant if D'Artagnan performs heroic deeds. The [[Siege of La Rochelle]] begins with King Louis personally being present and Cardinal Richelieu as Siege Commander. Meanwhile, the Cardinal and Milady orchestrate D'Artagnan's assassination, which fails and the assassin tells him that Milady hired him. D'Artagnan returns to their hotel and tells Athos about this, and Athos tells him the Milady is Lady Winter and she killed Constance. He also tells him the Tragic Story of Count De la Fère who fell in love with Milady, only to discover that she is basically a prostitute who tricks guys and destroys their family's honor, the enraged Count tried to kill her only to be almost killed by her, both thought each other died. Due to Athos' anger and wrath while telling the tale, D'Artagnan figures out that Athos is Count De la Fère.

They then chase after Milady who tried to poison D'Artagnan, but fail. Athos knows that D'Artagnan is close to finding Milady so he and the rest of the Musketeers recruit a retired executioner whose family name was destroyed after Milady seduced his brother. They hunt down Milady and execute her, legally, because they confiscated Richelieu's letter, which allows someone to execute a person with the Cardinal's consent. After returning to the battlefield, they are arrested by Richelieu for Milady's murder, but he is forced to let them go after they show him his letter, allowing them to execute a person with his consent.

Left with no other option, Richelieu offers to reward them by giving them the rank of lieutenant of the King's Musketeers, but the group say they are going to resign from service after the war, and the Richelieu should give it to D'Artagnan instead. Athos says to redeem themselves for leaving the battlefield, the 4 of them to hold of a fortress for an hour under fire without retreat to prove their loyalty to France. Richelieu agrees to give D'Artagnan the rank of lieutenant but only after they hold off the fortress for an hour, hoping that they would die. However, an hour passes, and the 4 musketeers return to camp being hailed as heroes by both the King's Musketeers and the Cardinal Guards. Richelieu, honoring his word, makes D'Artagnan lieutenant of the King's Musketeers.

== Location ==
The miniseries was filmed in different locations around the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic]] (present-day [[Ukraine]]), using several of the country's fortresses and old cities, such as [[L'viv]]. Some scenes were filmed in the [[Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn]] in [[Estonia]].<ref>[http://tallinncity.postimees.ee/1361050/pealinn-filmis-lisaks-noukogude-kinoklassikale-joudis-tallinn-ka-hollywoodi "Pealinn filmis: lisaks nõukogude kinoklassikale jõudis Tallinn ka Hollywoodi."] ''[[Postimees]]'' 26. August 2013. {{in lang|et}}</ref>

== See also ==
* ''[[Dog in Boots]]'', an animated parody film that satirizes ''D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers''.<ref name="stengazeta">{{cite web|url=http://www.stengazeta.net/news.html?news=5298|title=Animated parodies of Efim Gamburg|date=October 2, 2008|language=ru|access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref>
* ''[[The Three Musketeers (2013 TV Series)|The Three Musketeers (2013)]]'', a Russian film adaptation by [[Sergei Zhigunov]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0076998}}

{{Georgi Yungvald-Khilkevich}}
{{Alexandre Dumas, père}}
{{The Three Musketeers}}

[[Category:1978 films]]
[[Category:1970s historical musical films]]
[[Category:1970s historical adventure films]]
[[Category:Soviet historical musical films]]
[[Category:Soviet historical adventure films]]
[[Category:Russian historical adventure films]]
[[Category:Films based on The Three Musketeers]]
[[Category:1970s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:Soviet television miniseries]]
[[Category:Odesa Film Studio films]]
[[Category:1970s Soviet television series]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1620s]]
[[Category:Films set in France]]
[[Category:Films set in Paris]]
[[Category:Films shot in Lviv]]
[[Category:Films shot in Odesa]]
[[Category:Films scored by Maksim Dunayevsky]]
[[Category:1970s television miniseries]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Cardinal Richelieu]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Louis XIII]]
[[Category:Russian swashbuckler films]]
[[Category:Television shows based on The Three Musketeers]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Anne of Austria]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham]]
[[Category:1978 musical films]]
[[Category:Russian-language historical adventure films]]
[[Category:Russian-language historical musical films]]

The Crazy Day or The Marriage of Figaro

2025-06-27T09:33:57Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox television
|image = Figarorussiandvdcover.jpg
|caption = DVD cover with [[Philipp Kirkorov]], [[Lolita Milyavskaya]] and [[Boris Khoshnyansky]]
|director = Semen Gorov
|starring = [[Sofia Rotaru]] [[Philipp Kirkorov]]
|network = [[NTV (Russia)|NTV]]
|released = {{Start date|2003|12|31|df=y}}
|network2 = [[Inter (TV channel)|Inter]]
|released2 = {{Start date|2004|01|01|df=y}}
|runtime = 131 minutes
|country = Russia Ukraine
|language = Russian
}}

'''''Crazy Day or The Marriage of Figaro''''' ({{langx|ru|Безумный день, или женитьба Фигаро}}) is a modern comedy musical staged by television channels [[NTV (Russia)|NTV]] (Russia) and [[Inter (TV channel)|Inter]] (Ukraine) in association with Melorama Production, under direction of [[Semen Gorov]] in 2003, based on the 1784 [[Pierre Beaumarchais]]' play ''[[The Marriage of Figaro (play)|The Marriage of Figaro]]''. The musical was aired for the first time on the New Year's night of 2004.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newsru.com/russia/31Dec2003/tv.html|title = Что смотреть на Новый год по телевизору|date = 31 December 2003}}</ref>

== Plot==
The day before his wedding, handsome and merry Figaro, played by Boris Hvoshnyansky, learns of the bride Susanna (Anastasia Stotskaya), but he has a rival - voluptuous Count Almaviva, played by Philip Kirkorov. Earl intends to use the old right of the first night in his possessions and to steal from the lovers their happiness. The case becomes more complicated as another lover - Marceline (Sofia Rotaru) claims her love for Figaro as well, requiring a considerable amount of money to return and marry her. Figaro uses infinitely jealousy count to his wife Rosine, played in the movie by Lolita Miliavskaya. The reason for the jealousy becomes innocent infatuation by Kerubino young countess' page, who played by Andrei Danilko. A whole series of changing, humorous situations and misunderstandings leads finally to all the love and harmony. Figaro gets his parents and wife. The Earl once again loves his Rosine, as small Cherubin successfully avoided serving in the army.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kp.ru/daily/23175/25307/|title = Киркоров со Стоцкой чуть не сломали кровать|date = 10 December 2003}}</ref>

== Cast==
*[[Philipp Kirkorov]] as [[Count Almaviva]]
*[[Lolita Milyavskaya]] as [[Countess Rosine]]
*[[Boris Khoshnyansky]] as [[Figaro (character in operas and plays)|Figaro]]
*[[Anastasiya Stotskaya]] as Suzanne
*[[Sofia Rotaru]] as [[The Marriage of Figaro (play)#Characters|Marceline]]
*[[Boris Moiseev]] as [[Antonio]] the gardener
*[[Ani Lorak]] as [[Fanchette]]
*[[Verka Serduchka|Andriy Danylko]] as Cherubin
*[[Vitaly Linetsky]] as Bazile
*[[Vladimir Goryansky]] as [[Don Guzman Brid'Oison]] (judge)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://russart.com/?mid=175 RussArt.com] (Russian)
*[http://www.kinoexpert.ru/index.asp?comm=4&num=16713 Kinoexpert] (Russian)
*[http://dvd.home-video.ru/cgi-bin/show.cgi?t=1&id=8617 Film description] (Russian)

{{Figaro Trilogy}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crazy Day Or The Marriage Of Figaro}}
[[Category:Russian television films]]
[[Category:2004 television films]]
[[Category:2004 films]]
[[Category:Russian films based on plays]]
[[Category:Russian musical films]]
[[Category:2000s Russian films]]
[[Category:2000s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:2004 musical films]]
[[Category:Films based on The Marriage of Figaro]]
[[Category:Russian-language musical films]]

{{tv-film-stub}}
{{2000s-Russia-film-stub}}

The New Gulliver

2025-06-27T08:46:05Z

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{{Infobox film
| name = The New Gulliver
| image = New-Gulliver-poster.jpg
| caption = Soviet theatrical poster
| director = [[Aleksandr Ptushko]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Fairy-Tale Films Beyond Disney: International Perspectives|page=126|publisher=Routledge|place=New York|year=2016|ISBN=978-0-415-70929-3|author=Jack Zipes, Pauline Greenhill, Kendra Magnus-Johnston}}</ref>
| producer =
| writer = [[Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky]] (uncredited)<ref name='Krzh'>''Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky. The Complete Works in 5 Volumes. Volume 1''. ed. by Vadim Perelmuter. Saint Petersburg: Symposium, 2001, 688 pages. {{ISBN|5-89091-132-5}}</ref> Aleksandr Ptushko [[Grigori Roshal]]
| based_on = {{based on|[[Gulliver's Travels]]||[[Jonathan Swift]]}}
| starring = Vladimir Konstantinovich Konstantinov (Gulliver) Ivan Yudin Shaolin Santiago (unconfirmed)
| music = Lev Shvarts
| cinematography = Nikolai Renkov
| editing =
| studio = [[Mosfilm]]
| distributor = [[Gosudarstvennoe Upravlenie Kinematografii i fotografii]] (1935-Soviet Union) [[Serlin-Burstyn]] (1935-US) [[Artkino Pictures]] (1940-Argentina) [[Sovexportfilm]] (1948-Austria)
| released = {{Film date|df=y|1935|3|25}}
| runtime = 75 min
| country = Soviet Union
| language = Russian
| budget =
}}
'''''The New Gulliver''''' ({{langx|ru|Новый Гулливер}}, ''Novyy Gullivyer'') is a Soviet [[stop motion]]-[[animation|animated]] cartoon, and the first to make such extensive use of puppet animation, running almost all the way through the film (it begins and ends with short live-action sequences).<ref>The animation for [[Ladislas Starevich]]'s ''[[The Tale of the Fox]]'' was completed in 1930, but the film was not released until 1937.</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema|author=Peter Rollberg|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2016|place=US|ISBN=1442268425|pages=591–593}}</ref> The film was released in 1935 to widespread acclaim and earned director Aleksandr Ptushko a special prize at the International Cinema Festival in Milan. The part of Gulliver was played by Vladimir Konstantinov, who was born in 1920 and died in 1944 near [[Tallinn]] in the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Second World War]]. This was his first and only film role.

== Plot ==
The story, a Communist re-telling of the 1726 novel ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]'' by [[Jonathan Swift]], is about a young boy who dreams of himself as a version of Gulliver who has landed in [[Lilliput and Blefuscu|Lilliput]] suffering under capitalist inequality and exploitation.

The [[Pioneer movement|pioneer]] Petya Konstantinov (Vladimir Konstantinov), as an award for the best young OSVOD member of [[Artek (camp)|Artek]], receives his favorite book — ''Gulliver's Travels'' by Jonathan Swift. Together with other pioneers who repaired the [[sailboat]] "Artek" with their own hands, he goes on for a walk to the Adalara's [[island]]s which are near the [[Young Pioneer camp|summer camp]]. There, during vacation, children ask the [[Pioneer movement|leader]] to read them aloud Petya's book. Petya falls asleep while reading and finds himself in the world described in the book.

In the dream, Petya travels by ship, but during sailing, his vessel is attacked by pirates. Together with three captives, the boy fights with them and wins, but at this moment, the pirate ship crashes into the rocks. The teenager recovers ashore, surrounded and tied up by Liliputians. He is put to sleep with a potion. At this time in the parliament, there is a debate on what to do with the new Gulliver. Ministers on behalf of the king make the decision to use Gulliver for military purposes. The boy is transported to the city by means of 15 [[tractor]]s and a special platform. Petya is awoken by the king who puts a [[sceptre]] up to his nose. He learns about the decision which was made by the parliament, but disagrees with it. After that under his feet a [[military parade]] passes.

At this time, somewhere in cellars, a [[meeting]] of workers passes. Strike is appointed next day. The workers decide to find out who he is and find Petya's [[notebook]] on Russian language from which they learn that he is for the mighty union of workers from all around the world.

Petya is fed from the [[conveyor]], with a [[crane (machine)|crane]] being used to feed him. The whole Royal Court is present, and the [[corps de ballet]] performs. When they start singing to him how well people live under the leadership of the wise king, Petya interrupts the singer and starts singing the pioneer song. It is picked up by workers in the cellars. The court disperses in horror.

The police chief decides to kill Petya, and instructs employees of the underground plant to make a batch of weapons. The workers warn him, and the police learns about it immediately, but at this time, strike already begins. Workers take over the [[arsenal]]. The police tries to poison the boy, but he doesn't swallow the [[poison]] and spits it out, having pretended that he has died. Military operations begin. Insurgents are thrown to the sea by armed forces of Liliputia, but Petya goes into action, he seizes the royal ships. Workers on the earth develop success, undermine land mines and tanks. The guard and the court runs away. The king does not manage to hold on to the tower and, when falling, seizes an arrow of the tower clock. Petya blows in the horn which inexplicably appears in his hands, removes the bell from the city tower belfry and then shakes it in a manner of a hand bell. Then he proclaims: "The meeting of free Liliputiya I declare open!" and wakes up from the laughter of companions as he said the last phrase aloud.

==Creators==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! !! English !! [[Russian language|Russian]]
|-
| Scenario
| Grigory Roshal [[Alexander Ptushko]]
| Григорий Рошаль Александр Птушко
|-
| Directing
| Directed by the honored artist of the republic A. L. Ptushko
| Постановка заслуженного артиста республики А. Л. Птушко
|-
| The director of photography
| N. S. Renkov
| Н. С. Ренков
|-
| The operator
| I. Shkarenkov
| И. Шкаренков
|-
| The artist of dolls
| Sarrah Mokil
| Сарра Мокиль
|-
| The artist of scenery
| Y. Shvets
| Ю. Швец
|-
| Sculpture
| Olga Tayozhnaya
| Ольга Таёжная
|-
| Painting
| A. Nikulin
| А. Никулин
|-
| Properties
| A. Zharenov
| А. Жаренов
|-
| The composer
| Lev Shvarts
| Лев Шварц
|-
| The sound technician
| A. Korobov
| А. Коробов
|-
| The text of songs
| Samuil Bolotin
| Самуил Болотин
|-
| The chief of group
| A. Minin
| А. Минин
|-
| Animator
| Fyodor Krasniy (in credits it isn't specified)
| Фёдор Красный (в титрах не указан)
|}

==Awards==
*1934 — the 2nd International film festival in Venice, the award "For the Best Program"
*1935 — the International film festival in Moscow, the certificate of honor of Mosfilm studio
*The certificate of honor Sarr Mokil "For expressive types"

==History==
After experimenting with various animation techniques from 1928 to 1932, including the combination of puppets and live action in the same frame, Ptushko (along with the animation crew he had assembled over the years) began work on his first feature film. Written and directed by Ptushko, ''The New Gulliver'' was one of the first feature-length films to combine stop-motion animation with live-action footage (the first few were made by [[Willis O'Brien]], who was responsible for ''[[The Lost World (1925 film)|The Lost World]]'' and ''[[King Kong (1933 film)|King Kong]]'').

After the film's success, Ptushko was allowed by [[Mosfilm]] to set up his own department, which became known as "the Ptushko Collective," for the making of stop-motion animated films. This group of filmmakers would produce another fourteen animated shorts from 1936 to 1938, and a new feature, ''[[The Golden Key (1939 film)|The Golden Key]]'', in 1939.

=="My Liliputian-Girl"==
In the children's movie, there was also a place of the parody to bourgeois and "antinational" art against which furiously fought in the USSR. Decadent love romances, in particular performed by [[Alexander Vertinsky]], were a sign of petty-bourgeois, pre-revolutionary and emigrant bourgeois life, Chansons had to parody them. However, the song of the impresario Fo-Lya "My Liliputian-Girl" (the text — Samuil Bolotin, music — Lev Schvarts) became a classic, alongside Vertinsky's songs which it parodied. The song goes:<blockquote>My liliputian-girl, come to me, We will stay minute alone! With you it is careless as a bird, I will be turned, My liliputian-girl, my dream! My liliputian-girl, my love, Having mixed words, I sing without words: "La-la-la-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la-la!" My liliputian-girl, my dream!</blockquote>

==Technique==
''The New Gulliver'' featured 3,000 different puppets. Each of the puppets had a detachable head, which made them capable of a wide range of expressions and personality. A live actor and mechanically operated puppets were used in some shots, while in others, both the Lilliputians and the boy were animated puppets (a full-size puppet of the boy was constructed).

The main puppet characters (the Abbott, the Dandy, the Financier, the King, the Chief of Police, the Prime Minister) had, according to Ptushko, "from two to three hundred interchangeable heads with various facial expressions".<ref>{{cite book
| last = Pettigrew
| first = Neil
| author-link = Neil Pettigrew
| title = The Stop-Motion Filmography
| publisher = MacFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
| date = 1999
| pages = 509–511
| isbn = 0-7864-0446-9 }}</ref>

==Production==
*[[Sigismund Krzhizhanovsky]] was the real screenwriter of the movie, yet his name wasn't listed in the credits.<ref name='Krzh' />
*Many scenes in which dolls and the living actor participated, were removed frame by frame, as usual animation movies. Thus it was necessary to the actor not to move for a long time while phases of the movement of dolls were removed.
*When scoring animated part of the movie Liliputians spoke by the accelerated voices of adults. Petya, on the contrary, spoke the slowed-down teenager's voice.
*Figures of capitalists were molded in the spirit of posters of those times: ugly, big-bellied, on thin legs. At the same time each figure was peculiar, individual. Figures of workers were less ugly, but all are stuck together on one template, from plasticine, on a wire framework. Their figures entirely from one-color material, with well traced lines of persons, but thus it is impossible even to understand, whether there are shirts on them. It was made specially that "proletarians" didn't look the parody.
*In the movie eras sometimes mix up:
**capitalists drive about in cars, but in ancient wigs;
**Fo-Lya is represented in a dress coat, but wears the fitting leggings and a wig;
**soldiers use [[gas mask]]s, but are dressed in armor (though in general their silhouettes reminds the French soldiers of the end of [[World War I]] — the Intermilitary period).
**The chief of secret police is dressed in a "musketeer's" suit of the 17th century, with jack boots and a wide hat with a feather, and the first minister already of fashion of the beginning of the 18th century — in a wig, a camisole and drawers. At the same time police officers are dressed as classic English "[[Police uniforms and equipment in the United Kingdom#Uniform history|bobbies]]" — in raincoats, [[cape]]s and high helmets, and firefighters are equipped in the form typical for the first half of the 20th century and the 1930s.
*Small mistake: though Petya in a dream was in English clothes, at it found a matchbox, the member book of Osvodovets and a notebook on the native language, all with inscriptions in Russian. Liliputians, certainly, both read and speak Russian, all resolutions and decrees are also in Russian. But on an arsenal "ARSENAL" (Latin script) is written.
*[[Ilya Ilf]] and [[Yevgeny Petrov (writer)|Evgeny Petrov]] mention in the book ''One-storey America'' that during a walk on Broadway they saw ''New Gulliver'' in an American cinema.

==Reception==
Writing for ''[[The Spectator]]'' in 1936, [[Graham Greene]] gave the film a good review, commenting that "even if the theme seems to us a little dusty, [...] the execution and invention awake our admiration". Comparing the story to ''[[Alice in Wonderland]]'', Greene notes that "there are moments of delightful satire", and praises "the marvellous ingenuity of the puppets [as] beyond praise. One soon begins to regard them as real people and to give critical applause to the performers."<ref>{{cite journal |last= Greene|first= Graham|author-link= Graham Greene|date= 27 November 1936|title= The New Gulliver/Bullets or Ballots/The White Angel|journal= [[The Spectator]]}} (reprinted in: {{cite book|editor-last= Taylor|editor-first= John Russell|editor-link= John Russell Taylor|date= 1980|title= The Pleasure Dome|url= https://archive.org/details/pleasuredomegrah00gree/page/120|publisher= Oxford University Press|pages= [https://archive.org/details/pleasuredomegrah00gree/page/120 120-121]|isbn= 0192812866}})</ref>

* [[Charlie Chaplin]] gave high praise to the movie.
* Czech directors, founders of Czech animation [[Karel Zeman]], [[Jiri Trnka]] and [[Hermina Tyrlova]] acknowledged the influence of the film on their work. "The New Gulliver" "served as an example of the innovative use of the possibilities of the animated screen, and in particular the art of the film puppet, an immediate inspirational impulse in the work"<ref>Sergei Asenin. Cartoon world: Ideas and images of animation of the socialist countries. - Moscow, 1986. - 288 p. — 25,000 copies.</ref>

==Video release==
At the beginning of the 1990s, the movie was released on videotapes by the film association "Krupnyy Plan". At the beginning of the 2000s, it was reissued on VHS by the Master Teyp company.

On 10 March 2005, the movie was released on DVD by Soyuz Video studio. Restored versions of the movie on DVD were also issued by the Retro-klub, Vostok V, Videobaza and Music-treyd company.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0026793}}
* [http://www.rusfilm.pitt.edu/2002/if2/new-gulliver-program-notes.html More in-depth plot summary and analysis]
* [https://www.animatsiya.net/film.php?filmid=1009 ''The New Gulliver'' with subtitles in English and other languages]

{{Gulliver's Travels}}
{{Aleksandr Ptushko}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Gulliver, The}}
[[Category:1935 films]]
[[Category:1935 animated films]]
[[Category:1930s stop-motion animated films]]
[[Category:Soviet animated films]]
[[Category:Soviet black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Soviet adventure comedy films]]
[[Category:Soviet children's fantasy films]]
[[Category:Soviet fantasy comedy films]]
[[Category:1930s Soviet films]]
[[Category:1930s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:Russian animated feature films]]
[[Category:Films based on Gulliver's Travels]]
[[Category:Films directed by Aleksandr Ptushko]]
[[Category:Films with live action and animation]]
[[Category:Animated films based on Gulliver's Travels]]

The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks

2025-06-27T08:30:02Z

93.124.3.80: /* External links */

{{Short description|1924 film by Lev Kuleshov}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks
| image = Mr West.jpg
| caption = Film poster
| director = [[Lev Kuleshov]]
| producer =
| writer = {{Ubl|[[Nikolai Aseyev (writer)|Nikolai Aseyev]]|[[Vsevolod Pudovkin]]|[[Lev Kuleshov]]}}{{r|Salys}}
| narrator =
| starring = {{Ubl|[[Porfiri Podobed]]|[[Boris Barnet]]|[[Aleksandra Khokhlova]]|[[Vsevolod Pudovkin]]}}
| cinematography = [[Aleksandr Levitskii]]{{r|Salys}}
| country = Soviet Union
| language = {{Ubl|[[Silent film|Silent]]|[[Russian language|Russian]] and [[English language|English]] [[intertitle]]s}}
| budget =
| gross =
| runtime = 86 minutes{{r|Salys}}
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1924|4|27|ref1=<ref name=Salys/>|}}
}}

'''''The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks''''' ({{langx|ru|Необычайные приключения мистера Веста в стране Большевиков|Neobychainye priklyucheniya mistera Vesta v strane bolshevikov}}) is a 1924 Soviet [[silent film|silent]] [[Comedy film|comedy]] film directed by [[Lev Kuleshov]]. Kuleshov considered the film a "verification" of his theories around [[film editing|editing]] and [[montage (filmmaking)|montage]], and he drew inspiration from [[Cinema of the United States|American cinema]], which he found more engaging than Russian cinema.

The film follows J. S. West and Cowboy Jeddy, two Americans who visit the [[Soviet Union]] after the [[Russian Revolution]]. West is wealthy but naive, and he expects the country to be barbaric. A Soviet gang leader exploits West's fears by staging a fake arrest and trial, then offers to "rescue" him in exchange for money. When West is actually rescued by the Soviet police, he realizes his expectations and stereotypes were wrong and celebrates the country.

Upon its initial release, the film garnered popularity among Soviet audiences; however, Soviet critics criticized its emphasis on American themes and its lack of political engagement. Despite its initial popularity, the film was censored two years after its release. Today, critics and historians often consider ''Mr. West'' the beginning of a "golden age" of Soviet cinema. The movie satirizes American perceptions of the Soviet Union.

==Plot==
J. S. West, director of the [[YMCA]], plans to visit the [[Soviet Union]]. His wife reads magazine articles that portray Russians as barbarians, and asks him to bring Cowboy Jeddy as a bodyguard. When West and Jeddy arrive in [[Moscow]], a thief steals one of their suitcases and brings it to a gang leader named Zhban. Realizing that West is wealthy and distrusts Russians, Zhban concocts a plan to scam him.

West and Jeddy hire a taxi, but Jeddy gets separated and forgets the car's license plate. Frustrated and concerned for West's safety, he hijacks a carriage. When the police try to arrest him, Jeddy escapes by fleeing along rooftops, then unexpectedly reunites with Ellie, a woman he once saved from being mugged in the United States. Ellie vouches for his character, explaining that he falsely believed Russians were savages, and convinces the police to let him free.

Zhban returns West's suitcase, claiming he recovered it from a barbarian, and invites West to stay with him for safety. He gives West a fake tour of Moscow, which purportedly shows that the [[Moscow State University]] and [[Bolshoi Theatre]] have been destroyed. One of Zhban's gang members, the Countess, tries to seduce West. Zhban hires another group of criminals to dress as exaggerated Russian stereotypes, kidnap West and the Countess, stage a show trial, and sentence them to death. Zhban then "rescues" West and the Countess in exchange for West's money.

Zhban's scheme is interrupted by the police, who arrive with Jeddy and Ellie. The police give West a real tour of Moscow, showing him the still-standing University and Theatre and a military parade. Impressed, West sends home a telegram asking his wife to burn the magazines and hang up a picture of [[Vladimir Lenin]].

==Cast==

* [[Porfiri Podobed]] as J. S. West
* [[Boris Barnet]] as Cowboy Jeddy
* [[Aleksandra Khokhlova]] as The Countess
* [[Vsevolod Pudovkin]] as Zhban
* [[Sergey Komarov (actor)|Sergey Komarov]] as The One-Eyed Man
* [[Leonid Obolensky]] as The Dandy
* [[Valia Lopatina]] as Ellie

==Background==

''The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks'' was produced and set in the aftermath of the [[Russian Revolution]]. Led by Vladimir Lenin, the [[Bolsheviks]] overthrew the Russian government, [[Murder of the Romanov family|executed the Tsar and his family]], fought [[Russian Civil War|a civil war]], and established the [[communism|communist]] Soviet Union.{{sfn|Gillespie|2000|pp=1-3}} Western countries largely condemned the revolution's violence; the United States would not [[Diplomatic recognition|diplomatically recognize]] the Soviet Union until 1933.<ref name="Salys">{{cite book |last1=Salys |first1=Rimgaila |editor1-last=Salys |editor1-first=Rimgaila |title=The Russian Cinema Reader |date=2013 |publisher=Academic Studies Press |location=[[Boston|Boston, Massachusetts]] |isbn=978-1-61811-212-5 |pages=87–94 |chapter=The Extraordinary Adventures Of Mr. West In The Land Of The Bolsheviks}}</ref>

Lenin nationalized the country's film industry in 1919, but his 1921 [[New Economic Policy]] required it to fund itself. The state paid for new Soviet cinema with profits from imported American films. These imported films were extremely popular, leading [[Lev Kuleshov]] to coin the term ''amerikanshchina'' (''American[[wikt: -itis|-itis]]'').<ref name="CCW">{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Tony |last2=Youngblood |first2=Denise J. |title=Cinematic Cold War: the American and Soviet struggle for hearts and minds |date=2010 |publisher=University Press of Kansas |location=Lawrence (Kan.) |isbn=9780700617432 |page=37}}</ref>

Many Russian filmmakers left after the revolution, but Kuleshov stayed and worked to develop a new Soviet cinema.{{r|Salys}} He organized a workshop called the Kuleshov Collective to develop a new approach to filmmaking.<ref name="AZ">{{cite book |last1=Rollberg |first1=Peter |title=The A to Z of Russian and Soviet cinema |date=2009 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |location=Lanham, Md |isbn=978-0-8108-7619-4 |pages=379–383 |url=https://archive.org/details/atozofrussiansov0000roll/page/194/mode/2up?view=theater}}</ref> His approach was informed by film shortages. The workshop staged theatrical "films without film", using curtains and lighting to represent cuts and close-ups{{sfn|Kovacs|1976|p=37}} and a "spacial metric grid" to visualize the hypothetical movie screen.{{sfn|Olenina|2013|pp=319–321}} He developed a preference for short shots over long shots to avoid mistakes.<ref name="Dialog">{{cite book |editor1-last=Cooke |editor1-first=Paul| last1=Roberts |first1=Graham |title=World Cinema's 'Dialogues' with Hollywood |date=2007 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=Basingstoke |chapter=Dream Factory and Film Factory: The Soviet Response to Hollywood 1917-1941 |isbn=978-1403998958 |pages=39–41 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781403998958}}</ref> Kuleshov believed editing distinguished film from theater, and considered [[montage (filmmaking)|montage]] as fundamental to cinema as [[harmony]] is to music.<ref name="Taylor">{{cite journal |last1=Taylor |first1=Richard |title=A 'Cinema for the Millions': Soviet Socialist Realism and the Problem of Film Comedy |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |date=1983 |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=440–441 |doi=10.1177/002200948301800305 |jstor=260546 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/260546 |issn=0022-0094|url-access=subscription }}</ref> He rejected [[Konstantin Stanislavski]]'s [[Stanislavski's system|acting method]], which focused on psychology and emotion. Instead, Kuleshov wanted his actors to emphasize precise, legible movements.{{sfn|Olenina|2013|p=299}} He found Hollywood action and [[slapstick]] more engaging than the work of Russian directors like [[Aleksandr Khanzhonkov]], and felt cinema should be efficient and industrial to help its audience embrace modernity.<ref name="Kepley">{{cite book |last1=Kepley |first1=Vance |editor1-last=Salys |editor1-first=Rimgaila |title=The Russian Cinema Reader |date=2013 |publisher=Academic Studies Press |location=Boston, [Massachusets] |isbn=978-1-61811-212-5 |pages=95–100 |chapter=Mr. Kuleshov in the Land of the Modernists}}</ref>

==Production==

In 1924, the Kuleshov Collective released ''The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr West in the Land of the Bolsheviks'' as its first feature. Kuleshov himself directed the film, and his students, including [[Boris Barnet]] and [[Vsevolod Pudovkin]], played the lead roles.<ref name="Directory">{{cite book |last1=Beumers |first1=Birgit |title=Directory of World Cinema: Russia 2 |date=2015 |publisher=Intellect |location=Bristol |isbn=9781783204793 |pages=36–37 |chapter=Lev Kuleshov}}</ref> The movie was filmed from 15 December 1923 to 7 April 1924.{{sfn| Youngblood|1999|p=128}}

[[Nikolai Aseyev (writer)|Nikolai Aseyev]] wrote an initial script for the film, but Kuleshov and Pudovkin extensively rewrote it.{{r|Salys}} Kuleshov later said they kept only the characters' names.{{sfn|Christensen|1993|p=5}} The plot may have been influenced by a 1923 story in [[Krokodil]] called "The Adventures of Mr. Stupidhead in Russia", which also featured a foreigner who believes Russia is barbaric; when Mr. Stupidhead instead sees a functional society, he assumes it's a facade.<ref name="Yankees">{{cite book |last1=Federova |first1=Milla |title=Yankees in Petrograd, Bolsheviks in New York: America and Americans in Russian Literary Perception |date=2013 |pages=202–203 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=9781501758171}}</ref>
The film's working title was ''How Will This End?''<ref name="Subtext">{{cite book |last1=Petrić |first1=Vlada |editor1-last=Salys |editor1-first=Rimgaila |title=The Russian Cinema Reader |date=2013 |publisher=Academic Studies Press |location=Boston, [Massachusets] |isbn=978-1-61811-212-5 |pages=101–105 |chapter=A Subtextual Reading of Kuleshov’s Satire Mr. Kuleshov in the Land of the Modernists (1924)}}</ref> Its ultimate title alludes to adventure stories like ''[[The Legend of Thyl Ulenspiegel and Lamme Goedzak|The Legend of the Glorious Adventures of Tyl Ulenspiegel in the Land of Flanders and Elsewhere]]''.{{r|Salys}}

Kuleshov and his actors choreographed scenes and rehearsed using stopwatches and [[metronome|metronomes]] to avoid wasting film.{{sfn|Kovacs|1976|p=37}}{{sfn|Gillespie|2000|p=26}} In one scene, Boris Barnet fell while traversing a tightrope, claiming that Kuleshov left him hanging for a half hour while criticizing his insufficient training.{{sfn| Youngblood|1999|p=128}}

==Style==
[[File:Mr West (1924).webm|thumb|upright=1.5|thumbtime=4|''The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks'']]

''The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks'' is a satirical comedy.{{r|AZ}} Kuleshov considered the film a "verification" of his approach to montage and production, and Rimgaila Salys describes it as a "compendium" of his cinematic ideas. The film includes chases and stunts inspired by popular American cinema, rapid editing, [[slow motion]], flashbacks, and re-contextualized documentary footage.{{r|Kepley}} Kuleshov includes visual jokes (such as Zhban getting hit with a [[wikt: жбан|žban]]), parodies of religious icons, and references to films like ''[[Neighbors (1920 film)|Neighbors]]'', ''[[The Cabinet of Dr Caligari]]'', and ''[[Dr Mabuse the Gambler]]''.{{r|Salys}}<ref name="RA">{{cite book |last1=Levitina |first1=Marina L. |title="Russian Americans" in Soviet film: cinematic dialogues between the US and the USSR |date=2015 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |location=London New York |isbn=978-1-78453-031-0 |pages=89–92}}</ref> The cinematography and editing reflect the characters' mindsets: when West is homesick, the film superimposes American faces onto Soviet women,{{sfn|Gillespie|2000|p=30}} and when Jeddy forgets West's license plate number, it shows the number 999 dissolve into 666.<ref name="FF">{{cite book |last1=Harte |first1=Tim |title=Fast forward: the aesthetics and ideology of speed in Russian avant-garde culture, 1910 - 1930 |date=2009 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |location=Madison, Wis |isbn=9780299233235 |page=181}}</ref> Instead of simply providing exposition, the [[intertitle|title cards]] offer comments like "Comfort is a relative concept".{{r|Salys}} In one instance, an intertitle explains that West sees the room spinning, and the camera shows the spinning room that he perceives.{{r|Yankees}}

Kuleshov arranged objects, characters, and motion along grid lines and 45 degree angles, which he felt made the action easiest for audiences to understand. For example, when Jeddy crosses the tightrope between buildings, the wire is horizontal and the buildings are vertical.{{sfn|Olenina|2013|pp=319–321}}{{r|Kepley}} In one scene, a jug is placed close to the camera to emphasize its eventual destruction; Kuleshov determined the most impactful framing of the jug using a mathematical formula he devised.{{r|Kepley}}

The actors' performances are physical and exaggerated.<ref name="NFP">{{cite book |last1=Gaggiotti |first1=Miguel |title=Nonprofessional Film Performance |date=2023 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |pages=39–45 |location=Cham, Switzerland |isbn=978-3-031-32381-2 |language=en}}</ref> In contrast, the production design is minimalist. Many scenes avoid sets by using [[close-up|close-ups]]{{r|RA}} or filming against solid black backgrounds.{{r|Kepley}} This was partly a stylistic choice to focus on the actors and key objects, and partly a response to material shortages.{{r|Salys}}

==Themes and analysis==
J. S. West is modeled on [[Harold Lloyd]].{{r|Dialog}}{{r|Salys}} He is gullible, effeminate, [[bourgeoisie|bourgeois]], naive, prudish, and excessively patriotic, waving an American flag when arriving in Moscow and wearing American flag socks.{{r|RA}}{{r|Salys}}{{r|Yankees}} Jeddy, modeled on [[Tom Mix]]{{r|Dialog}} and [[Douglas Fairbanks]],{{r|Salys}} is a caricature of a [[cowboy]], complete with a [[lasso]] and gun.{{r|RA}}{{r|Yankees}} His appearance and behavior are conspicuously out of place in snow-covered Moscow.{{sfn|Gillespie|2000|p=28}} West and Jeddy are satirical characters, but they are portrayed as well-intentioned and more noble than the Russian criminals.{{r|Salys}} For example, West's patriotism inspires him to fight like a "real American" to defend himself and the Countess. As Jeddy learns that Russia does not match his stereotypes, he also stops looking like a stereotypical cowboy. By the end of the film, he wears plain contemporary clothes.{{r|Yankees}}

The film satirizes Western perceptions of the Soviet Union,{{r|AZ}} but it has also been read as critiquing the Soviet Union itself. Rimgaila Salys says the film showcases the negative effects of Lenin's New Economic Policy.{{r|Salys}} Vlada Petrić suggests that West's kidnapping and show trial, as well as the police raid that saves him, echo the tactics of the Soviet [[secret police]]. He argues that Soviet audiences would have recognized the implication that the gang does represent the Bolsheviks after all, and he interprets West's final telegram as mocking unrealistic communist rhetoric.{{r|Subtext}} Peter Christensen believes the name "J. S. West" not only alludes to the [[Western world]] and the [[American frontier|Wild West]], but also to [[Edward Bellamy]]'s 1888 novel ''[[Looking Backward]]'', in which a time traveler named Julian West visits a utopian Socialist future. In Christensen's analysis, this allusion emphasizes the Soviet Union's failure to achieve Bellamy's ideals. He notes that the film depicts Russia as a nation of poor criminals, and that the ending merely celebrates pre-revolutionary architecture, not anything created by the Bolsheviks themselves.{{sfn|Christensen|1993|p=6–12}} Conversely, Marina Levitina does interpret the film's final shot of a Russian radio tower as a boast of new technological achievements.{{r|RA}}

Greta Matzner-Gore observes that the film is built around nested and metatextual imitations, highlighting cinema's potential to mislead. West's kidnappers imitate pictures of Americans who were imitating stereotypical Russians, but in reality, the "Americans" in the photos were played by the same Russian actors who "imitate" them. She notes that the film compares Zhban to a [[film director]], commanding actors in a performance and orchestrating [[visual effects]] to deceive Mr. West, and that West remains equally credulous throughout the film. He accepts the police officer's tour exactly as he accepted Zhban's fake tour, and he's impressed by the military parade, which a title card asserts is "real" although it's actually an editing trick.<ref name="Copy">{{cite journal |last1=Matzner-Gore |first1=Greta |title=A Copy of a Copy (of a Copy): The Search for Authenticity in "Mess-Mend" and "The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks" |journal=Ulbandus Review |date=2013 |volume=15 |pages=156–158 |jstor=23595429 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23595429 |issn=0163-450X}}</ref> Likewise, David Gillespie finds the ending "ambivalent". He notes that the film consistently emphasizes false images of Russia, and therefore the audience can't be confident the closing images are actually true.{{sfn|Gillespie|2000|pp=30–31}} The ending includes an incongruous scene of factory workers, which is unconnected to the plot and not observed by West himself. Denise Youngblood speculates Kuleshov may have been forced to include the scene,<ref name="SCSE">{{cite book |last1=Youngblood |first1=Denise J. |title=Soviet Cinema in the Silent Era, 1918–1935 |date=2014 |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin, TX |isbn=978-0292761117 |pages=32–33}}</ref> but Miguel Gaggiotti suggests the film juxtaposes the workers' naturalism against the artificiality of the parade, emphasizing that the parade is merely another performance.{{r|NFP}}

==Reception and legacy==
Audiences responded positively to ''Mr. West''{{'}}s accessible American style,{{r|SCSE}} and it was Kuleshov's most popular film.{{sfn| Youngblood|1999|p=59}} In retrospect, it is considered the beginning of a "golden age" of Soviet cinema.{{sfn|Gillespie|2000|p=1}}{{sfn|Kenez|1992|p=51}}{{sfn|Christensen|1993|p=3}} Peter Christensen notes that the film has endured better than other Soviet comedies of the time,{{sfn|Christensen|1993|p=16}} and David Gillespie considers it a "masterpiece of technique".{{sfn|Gillespie|2000|pp=30–31}} The film also has historical value as a record of Moscow in the 1920s, showcasing architecture like the original [[Cathedral of Christ the Saviour]].{{sfn|Gillespie|2000|p=28}}

Despite the film's success, Kuleshov was criticized for his focus on aesthetics and technique over ideology{{sfn|Gillespie|2000|p=24}} and his focus on American characters;{{sfn| Youngblood|1999|p=59}} six of Kuleshov's 13 films would feature American characters and themes.{{r|RA}} In particular, [[Viktor Shklovsky]] criticized the film for not being sufficiently Russian.{{r|SCSE}} Critics unfavorably compared Kuleshov to [[Sergei Eisenstein]] and [[Vsevolod Pudovkin]], whose films were unequivocally pro-Bolshevik.{{sfn|Gillespie|2000|p=24}} By September 1926, ''Mr. West'' was censored.{{sfn|Kenez|1992|p=97}} Despite this backlash, Kuleshov was eventually awarded the [[Order of Lenin]] shortly before his death in 1970.{{sfn|Kovacs|1976|pp=34–35}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Christensen |first1=Peter G. |date=Fall 1993 |title=Contextualizing Kuleshov's 'Mr. West' |journal=Film Criticism |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=3–19 |jstor=44075988 |issn=0163-5069}}
* {{cite book |last1=Gillespie |first1=David C. |date=2000 |title=Early Soviet Cinema: Innovation, Ideology and Propaganda |url=https://archive.org/details/earlysovietcinem0000gill |location=London |publisher=Wallflower |pages=1–37 |isbn=1-903364-04-3}}
* {{cite book |last1=Kenez |first1=Peter |date=1992 |title=Cinema and Soviet Society, 1917–1953 |location=Cambridge; New York |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-42863-7}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Kovacs |first1=Steven |date=Spring 1976 |title=Kuleshov's Aesthetics |journal=Film Quarterly |volume=29 |issue=3 |page=37 |doi=10.2307/1211711 |issn=0015-1386 |jstor=1211711}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Olenina |first1=Ana |date=Fall 2013 |title=Engineering Performance: Lev Kuleshov, Soviet Reflexology, and Labor Efficiency Studies |journal=Discourse |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=297–336 |doi=10.13110/discourse.35.3.0297 |jstor=10.13110/discourse.35.3.0297 |issn=1522-5321}}
* {{cite book |last1=Youngblood |first1=Denise J. |date=1999 |title=Movies for the Masses: Popular Cinema and Soviet Society in the 1920s |url=https://archive.org/details/moviesformassesp00youn |publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-37470-7}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{IMDb title|0015167}}
* {{YouTube|Rqz53CnWZJA | title= The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks }} (English subtitles)

{{Lev Kuleshov}}
{{Soviet Union–United States relations|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Extraordinary Adventures of Mister West in the Land of the Bolsheviks, The}}
[[Category:1924 films]]
[[Category:1920s fantasy comedy films]]
[[Category:Soviet fantasy comedy films]]
[[Category:Soviet romantic comedy films]]
[[Category:Russian fantasy comedy films]]
[[Category:Soviet propaganda films]]
[[Category:Soviet silent feature films]]
[[Category:Anti-Americanism]]
[[Category:Films directed by Lev Kuleshov]]
[[Category:Soviet Union–United States relations]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Soviet black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Russian black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Russian silent feature films]]
[[Category:Films set in Moscow]]
[[Category:Films set in Ohio]]
[[Category:Silent fantasy comedy films]]

Mother (1926 film)

2025-06-26T17:57:09Z

93.124.3.80: /* External links */

{{Short description|1926 film by Vsevolod Pudovkin}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Mother
| image = Плакат к фильму «Мать» (неизвестный художник).jpg

| caption =
| director = [[Vsevolod Pudovkin]]
| producer =
| writer = Nathan Zarkhi
| based_on = ''[[The Mother (1906 novel)|The Mother]]'' by [[Maxim Gorky]]
| starring = [[Vera Baranovskaya]] [[Nikolai Batalov]]
| music = David Blok {{small|(1935)}} [[Tikhon Khrennikov]] {{small|(1970)}}
| cinematography = [[Anatoli Golovnya]]
| editing =
| distributor =
| studio = [[Gorky Film Studio|Mezhrabpomfilm]]
| released = {{Film date|1926|10|11|df=y}}
| runtime = 89 minutes
| country = Soviet Union
| language = [[Silent film]] Russian [[intertitle]]s
}}
'''''Mother''''' ({{langx|ru|Мать|links=no}}, ''Mat'') is a 1926 [[Cinema of the Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Drama (film and television)|drama film]] directed by [[Vsevolod Pudovkin]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema|author=Peter Rollberg|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2009|place=US|ISBN=978-0-8108-6072-8|page=470}}</ref> It depicts the radicalization of a mother, during the [[Russian Revolution of 1905]], after her husband is killed and her son is imprisoned.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/filmpublic00manv#page/112/mode/2up|pages=112–116|publisher=[[Pelican Books]]|title=The Film and the Public|year=1955|author=Roger Manvell|author-link=Roger Manvell}}</ref> Based on the 1906 novel ''[[The Mother (1906 novel)|The Mother]]'' by [[Maxim Gorky]], it is the first installment in Pudovkin's "revolutionary trilogy", alongside ''[[The End of St. Petersburg]]'' (1927) and ''[[Storm Over Asia (1928 film)|Storm Over Asia]]'' (aka ''The Heir to Genghis Khan'') (1928).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vokrug.tv/product/show/mat/|publisher=VokrugTV|title=Мать}}</ref>

The film was banned in the United Kingdom in 1930 after the Masses Stage and Film Guild applied for permission to screen it in London.<ref>{{cite news |title=Russian Film Banned |work=Belfast News-Letter |date=25 February 1930 |accessdate=28 December 2018 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000038/19300225/117/0007| via = [[British Newspaper Archive]]|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The film was voted number 8 on the prestigious [[Expo 58#International film poll|Brussels 12]] list at the 1958 World Expo.

In 1968, ''Mother'' underwent a restoration at [[Mosfilm]], adding a soundtrack by [[Tikhon Khrennikov]].<ref>[http://home.wanadoo.nl/ovar/khrenn.htm "Tikhon Khrennikov – Works"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918062327/http://home.wanadoo.nl/ovar/khrenn.htm |date=18 September 2008 }} [http://www.khrennikov.ru/worklist/music_films "Музыка к фильмам" (film music)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317165530/http://www.khrennikov.ru/worklist/music_films |date=17 March 2014 }}, Tikhon Nikolaevich Khrennikov home page {{in lang|ru}}</ref>

== Plot summary ==
[[File:Mother (1926).webm|thumb|left|thumbtime=63|''Mother'' (1926)]]
Russia, 1905. Vlasov is a [[pipefitter]] at a factory, an alcoholic, and an abusive husband and father. His long-suffering wife, Pelageya, is protected by their adult son, Pavel. Pavel later agrees to hide a small cache of handguns for local revolutionary socialists under the floorboards of the family home. His mother secretly observes this. Vlasov — a large, hulking man — is plied with vodka by agents of the [[Black Hundred]], a reactionary group, who plan to use him as a thug against the instigators of a planned workers' strike at the factory. During the mayhem of the failed strike, Vlasov is accidentally shot to death by a revolutionary. Pelageya is devastated and pleads with her son to cooperate with the Tsarist police and army who are pressing his case. He refuses. Naively thinking that revealing her son's hidden cache will redeem him, Pelageya betrays her son's secret to the authorities. He is, nevertheless, arrested and tried for sedition under the cool gaze of a bust of [[Nicholas II]] and the contemptuous glare of local bourgeois society. His judges are bored with the proceedings and his defense council is incompetent. He receives a sentence of heavy labor for life. Pelageya now makes common cause with the revolutionaries who are planning to foment a prison break during a [[May Day]] protest. In the prison yard, the inmates overwhelm the guards and escape. Pavel escapes separately and makes a daring flight across the river on ice floes while under fire. Pavel and his mother are briefly reunited, but he is shot dead by Tsarist troops in the very act of embracing her. Now thoroughly radicalized, Pelageya becomes a defiant standard-bearer holding aloft the [[Red flag (politics)|socialist flag]] and is gloriously trampled to death under the hooves of a cavalry charge. A final montage presents images of fortresses, churches, factories and, lastly, the battlements and towers of the [[Kremlin]] with the same flag waving triumphantly on top.

==Cast==
* [[Vera Baranovskaya]] as Pelageya Nilovna Vlasova, the Mother
* [[Nikolai Batalov]] as Pavel Vlasov, the Son
* [[Aleksandr Chistyakov (actor)|Aleksandr Chistyakov]] as Vlasov, the Father
* Anna Zemtsova as Anna, a Revolutionary Girl
* [[Ivan Koval-Samborsky]] as Vessovchtchnikov, Pavel's Friend
* [[Vsevolod Pudovkin]] as Police Officer
* V. Savitsky as Isaik Gorbov, the Foreman
* N. Vidonov as Misha, a Worker
* F. Ivanov as Prison Warden (uncredited)
* Ivan Bobrov as Young Prisoner (uncredited)
* [[Vladimir Uralsky]] as Student (uncredited)
* [[Aleksandr Gromov]] as Revolutionary (uncredited)

==Style==
Pudovkin wrote in his book ''Film technique and Film acting'' that "In my earlier film, ''Mother'', I tried to affect the spectators, not by the psychological performances of an actor, but by plastic synthesis through editing."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/filmtechniqueact00pudo#page/n22/mode/2up|page=xvii|title=Film technique and Film acting. The cinema writings of V.I. Pudovkin|publisher=Vision Press Limited|author=Vsevolod Pudovkin|year=1954}}</ref>

[[Grigori Roshal]] praised Pudovkin for his innovative style; "Being the first to introduce the idea of creating characterizations by means of montage in films, he has done in the cinema what [[Dickens]] did in novels."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/experimentinfilm00unse#page/157/mode/2up|pages=157–159|publisher=The Grey Walls Press Ltd.|title=Experiment in the Film|editor=Roger Manvell|year=1949}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|id=0017128|title=Mother}}
* {{Internet Archive film|id=Mother_883|name=Mother}}
* {{Internet Archive film|id=pudovkinmat|name=Mat}}

{{Vsevolod Pudovkin}}
{{The Mother}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1926 films]]
[[Category:Soviet revolutionary propaganda films]]
[[Category:Gorky Film Studio films]]
[[Category:Soviet black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Soviet silent feature films]]
[[Category:Films based on Mother (novel)]]
[[Category:Films directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin]]
[[Category:Russian-language drama films]]
[[Category:1926 drama films]]
[[Category:Silent Soviet drama films]]
[[Category:1920s Soviet films]]
[[Category:1920s Russian-language films]]

The End of St. Petersburg

2025-06-26T17:53:04Z

93.124.3.80: /* External links */

{{short description|1927 film}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The End of St. Petersburg
| image = The End of St. Petersburg, poster.jpg
| caption =
| writer = Nathan Zarkhi
| starring = Aleksandr Chistiakov [[Vera Baranovskaia]] Ivan Chuvelev V. Obolenskii
| cinematography = [[Anatoli Golovnya]]
| director = [[Vsevolod Pudovkin]] [[Mikhail Doller]]
| distributor = [[Mezhrabpom]]
| released = {{film date|1927|12|14|df=y}}
| country = Soviet Union
| runtime = 87 minutes (Kino DVD edition)
| language = [[Silent film]] Russian intertitles
}}

'''''The End of St. Petersburg''''' ({{langx|ru|Конец Санкт-Петербурга|Konets Sankt-Peterburga}}) is a 1927 [[silent film|silent]] [[drama (film and television)|drama film]] directed by [[Vsevolod Pudovkin]] and produced by [[Mezhrabpom]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema|author=Peter Rollberg|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2009|place=US|ISBN=978-0-8108-6072-8|pages=211–212}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/stream/closeup02macp#page/n385/mode/2up/search/russia|pages=30–35|magazine=[[Close Up (magazine)|Close Up]]|publisher=[[Pool Group]]|title=The End of St. Petersburg|date=April 1928|author=E. Hellmund-Waldow}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.vokrug.tv/product/show/konets_sankt-peterburga/|publisher=VokrugTV|title=Конец Санкт-Петербурга}}</ref> Commissioned to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the [[October Revolution]], ''The End of St Petersburg'' was to be one of Pudovkin's most famous [[film]]s and secured his place as one of the foremost [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Soviet montage theory|montage]] [[film directors]].

A political film, it depicts the injustice of the Tzar regime, the World War I and [[Bolsheviks]]'s rise to power in 1917. The plot covers the period from about 1913 to 1917. Political figures of the time are not shown; the emphasis is on the struggle of ordinary people for their rights and for peace against the power of capital and the autocracy.

The film forms part of Pudovkin's 'revolutionary trilogy', alongside [[Mother (1926 film)|''Mother'']] (1926) and ''[[Storm Over Asia (1928 film)|Storm Over Asia]]'' (aka ''The Heir to Genghis Khan'') (1928).

The film inspired the composer [[Vernon Duke]] to write his eponymous oratorio (completed in 1937). {{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Конец Санкт-Петербурга (1927).webm|thumb|''The End of St. Petersburg'' (1927)]]

==Plot==
A [[peasant]] boy leaves his rural community and arrives in [[St. Petersburg]] to obtain employment. He stays in the [[basement apartment]] of a Bolshevik worker. When the workforce at the Lebedev factory goes on [[Strike action|strike]], the Bolshevik worker's wife fears their family will starve.

The boy is offered a job in the Lebedev factory. He naively tells the management which employees started the strike, and he leads them to the Bolshevik worker's home. This results in the Bolshevik worker and his fellow [[Communism|communists]] being arrested. The boy is shocked by the consequences of his actions.

The boy goes to the factory office, hoping to convince the boss to free the Bolshevik worker. After a violent fight with the management, the boy is arrested and forcibly enlisted in the [[Imperial Russian Army]]. Meanwhile, the [[aristocracy]] decides to enter [[World War I]].

The war continues for three years, during which the Russian military suffers [[World War I casualties|many casualties]]. In 1917, the Imperial government has prioritized making weapons over feeding its people, and [[February Revolution|starving citizens riot]]. The [[Nicholas II of Russia|Tsar]] is overthrown and the [[Russian Provisional Government|Provisional Government]] is instated, to the delight of the [[upper class]].

The [[working class]] decides to overthrow the [[Capitalism|capitalist]] ministers. The Russian soldiers are called back from the front to support the Provisional Government and "save the [[Russian Revolution|Revolution]] from communist traitors." The Bolshevik worker appears as the soldiers get ready to march on the city. The boy appears and makes his way to the front and orders the soldiers to lower their weapons, which they obey. The Bolshevik worker convinces the military to join the Soviet cause.

The Soviets attack the [[Winter Palace]] and, after a violent battle, emerge victorious. The next morning, the wife comes looking for her husband. She shares potatoes with the soldiers and tends to the boy, who had been wounded. She is happily reunited with her husband in a church. The film declares "St. Petersburg is no more," and "Long live the City of Lenin."

==Cast==
[[File:End spb.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Ivan Chuvelev in film]]
*Alexander Chistyakov - Bolshevik worker
*[[Vera Baranovskaya]] - His wife
*Ivan Chuvelev - Peasant boy
*[[Sergey Komarov (actor)|Sergey Komarov]] - Bailiff
*[[Nikolai Khmelyov]] - Speculator
*Alexander Gromov - Bald Bolshevik
*Vladimir Obolensky - Lebedev, manufacturer
*Mikhail Tereshkovich - Journalist
*Mark Tsibulskiy - Speculator
*Vladimir Chuvelev - Scab
*Vsevolod Pudovkin - Soldier (uncredited)
*[[Vladimir Fogel]] - German officer (uncredited)
*[[Serafima Birman]] - Lady with a fan (uncredited)
*Victor Tsoppi - Anti-German "patriot" in a top hat (uncredited)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0018066}}
* {{YouTube|id=-Pe72HmPFt8|title=The End of St. Petersburg (1927)}}

{{Vsevolod Pudovkin}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:End of Saint Petersburg, The}}
[[Category:1927 drama films]]
[[Category:1927 films]]
[[Category:Soviet silent feature films]]
[[Category:Soviet revolutionary propaganda films]]
[[Category:Soviet black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Soviet World War I films]]
[[Category:Drama films based on actual events]]
[[Category:World War I films set on the Eastern Front]]
[[Category:Films set in Saint Petersburg]]
[[Category:Gorky Film Studio films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin]]
[[Category:Films directed by Mikhail Doller]]
[[Category:1920s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:Russian-language drama films]]

The Night Before Christmas (1951 film)

2025-06-25T21:57:00Z

93.124.3.80: /* External links */

{{Infobox film
| name = The Night Before Christmas
| image = The_Night_Before_Christmas_(1951_film).jpg
| caption =
| director = Valentina Brumberg Zinaida Brumberg
| producer =
| writer = Zinaida Brumberg [[Mikhail Yanshin]] Valentina Brumberg
| starring = [[Mikhail Yanshin]] Alexei Zhiltsov Vladimir Gribkov [[Vera Maretskaya]] Liliya Gritsenko [[Nikolai Gritsenko]]
| music = [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov]]
| cinematography =
| editing = [[Valentina Ivanova]]
| distributor =
| released = {{Film date|1951|01|01}}
| runtime = 50 minutes
| country = Soviet Union
| language = Russian
| budget =
}}
'''''The Night Before Christmas''''' ({{langx|ru|Ночь пе́ред Рождество́м}}, '''''Noch pered Rozhdestvom''''')<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141006184804/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/147948/Noch-Pered-Rozhdestvom/overview The New York Times]</ref> is a 1951 Russian animated feature film directed by the "grandmothers of the Russian animation", [[Brumberg sisters]], and produced by the [[Soyuzmultfilm]] studio in Moscow. The film is based on [[Nikolai Gogol]]'s 1832 story "[[Christmas Eve (Gogol)|The Night Before Christmas]]".

The animation features heavy use of [[rotoscoping]], known as "Éclair" in the Soviet Union, and is an example of the [[History of Russian animation#Socialist Realism|Socialist-Realist period in Russian animation]]. The film is in the [[public domain]] in Russia and is widely available on numerous Home video and DVD releases, mostly along with other films.

==Plot==
Action of the animated film happens in [[Dykanka]], in [[Ukraine]]. Noticed by nobody, in the sky two are turned: the witch on a sweeper which gathers stars in a sleeve, and the devil who hides moon in a pocket, thinking that the come darkness will keep houses of the rich Cossack the Chub invited to the clerk on kutia and hated to the devil the smith Vakula (who painted a picture of the Last Judgement and the devil on a church wall) won't dare to come to the Chub's daughter Oksana.

The forelock with the godfather isn't known whether to go in such darkness to the clerk, however decide and left. The beauty Oksana stays at home. Vakula comes, but Oksana urges on him. The gone astray Forelock, without godfather, decided to come back home because of the blizzard arranged with the devil knocks at the door. However, having heard the smith, the Forelock decides that got to other hut. The forelock goes to Vakula's mother, Solokha who and is that witch who stole stars from the sky.

To Oksana her girlfriends come. On one of them Oksana notices the cherevichks embroidered by gold (that is shoes) and is proud declares that will marry Vakula if that brings it cherevichks, "which the queen carries". In crowd going round carol-singing the smith again meets Oksana who repeats the promise apropos the cherevichks. From Vakul's grief it decides to be drowned, throws all bags, except the smallest, and runs away.

Having slightly calmed down, Vakula wants to try one more means: he comes to the Zaporozhets to Big-bellied Patsyuk who "is similar to the devil" a little, and receives a confused answer that the devil at it behind shoulders. Anticipating nice production, the devil jumps out from a bag and, having mounted upon the smith's neck, promises to it same night Oksana. The cunning smith, having grasped the devil by a tail and having crossed it, becomes a master of the situation and orders to carry to the devil itself to St. Petersburg, directly to the queen.

Having appeared in St. Petersburg, the smith comes to Zaporozhetses with which got acquainted in the fall when they passed through Dykanka. By means of the devil he achieves that it was taken on reception to the queen. Marveling luxury of the palace and strange painting, the smith appears before the queen and asks from it imperial shoes. Touched by such naiveté, Ekaterina pays attention of Denis Fonvizin standing at some distance to this passage, and Vakule gives shoes.

Having returned, the smith takes out a new cap and a belt from a chest and goes to the Forelock with a request to give for it Oksana. The forelock seduced with gifts and angry with perfidy of Solokha's agrees. It is echoed also by Oksana ready to marry the smith "and without chereviks".

==Creators==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! !! English !! Russian
|-
| Directors
| Valentina Brumberg Zinaida Brumberg
| Валентина Брумберг Зинаида Брумберг
|-
| Scenario
| Zinaida Brumberg [[Mikhail Yanshin]] Valentina Brumberg
| Зинаида Брумберг Михаил Яншин Валентина Брумберг
|-
| Art Directors
| Nadezhda Stroganova Pyotr Repkin [[Aleksandr Belyakov (art director)|Aleksandr Belyakov]]
| Надежда Строганова Пётр Репкин Александр Беляков
|-
|Composer
|[[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov]]
|Николай Римский-Корсаков
|-
| Artists
| V. Rodzhero I. Troyanova O. Gemmerling Nikolai Petritskiy K. Malyshev Y. Tannenberg V. Valerianova
| В. Роджеро И. Троянова О. Геммерлинг Николай Петрицкий К. Малышев Е. Танненберг В. Валерианова
|-
| Animators
|[[Nikolay Fyodorov (film director)|Nikolay Fyodorov]] [[Roman Abelevich Kachanov|Roman Kachanov]] Boris Meyerovich Roman Davydov Y. Kazantseva Faina Yepifanova Yelizaveta Komova I. Bashkova Grigoriy Kozlov K. Nikiforov Tatyana Fyodorova Valentin Lalayants Tatyana Taranovich L. Popov Konstantin Chikin Boris Dezhkin Gennadiy Filippov Boris Butakov [[Fyodor Khitruk]] Lidiya Reztsova
|Николай Фёдоров Роман Качанов Борис Меерович Роман Давыдов Е. Казанцева Фаина Епифанова Елизавета Комова И. Башкова Григорий Козлов К. Никифоров Татьяна Фёдорова Валентин Лалаянц Татьяна Таранович Л. Попов Константин Чикин Борис Дежкин Геннадий Филиппов Борис Бутаков Фёдор Хитрук Лидия Резцова
|-
| Camera Operators
| Nikolai Voinov [[Elena Petrova]]
| Николай Воинов Елена Петрова
|-
| Executive Producer
| Y. Bliokh
| Я. Блиох
|-
| Sound Operator
| [[Nikolai Prilutskiy]] V. Oranskiy
| Николай Прилуцкий В. Оранский
|-
| Voice Actors
|[[Mikhail Yanshin]] (Chub, the cossack) Alexei Zhiltsov (village head) Vladimir Gribkov (devil) [[Vera Maretskaya]] (Solokha, the witch) Liliya Gritsenko (Oksana) [[Nikolai Gritsenko]] (Vakula, the smith)
|Михаил Яншин (казак Чуб) Алексей Жильцов (голова) Владимир Грибков (чёрт) Вера Марецкая (ведьма Солоха) Лилия Гриценко (Оксана) Николай Гриценко (кузнец Вакула)
|-
|Narrator
|[[Alexey Gribov]]
|Алексей Грибов
|-
|Editor
|[[Valentina Ivanova]]
|Валентина Иванова
|}

==Video==
Since the beginning of the 1990s the animated film is released by the film association "Krupnyy Plan" on videotapes. In the mid-nineties the animated film is also released in the VHS collection "The Best Soviet Animated Films" of Studio PRO Video together with other animated films, reissued in 1995 by Soyuz studio on VHS separately.

From the first half of the 2000s the animated film was issued on the disks DVD Soyuz studio, and also entered in one their releases of the collection "Gold Collection of Favourite Animated Films", and in gift editions by New Year and orthodox Christmas.

==See also==
* [[History of Russian animation]]
* [[List of animated feature films]]
* [[The Night Before Christmas (1913 film)|''The Night Before Christmas'' (1913 film)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|1550321}}
*{{YouTube|WfjXEesZ0NA|«The Night Before Christmas»}} (Russian)
*{{YouTube|1E7uOXiQLNw|«The Night Before Christmas»}} (Russian with English subtitles)
*[http://www.animator.ru/db/?ver=eng&p=show_film&fid=3011 ''The Night Before Christmas''] at the [[Animator.ru]] (English and Russian)
*[http://www.myltik.ru/index.php?topic=db&fe=multview&multid=834 ''The Night Before Christmas'' at myltik.ru] (Russian)

{{Soyuzmultfilm feature films}}
{{Roman Abelevich Kachanov}}
{{Christmas Eve (Gogol)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Night Before Christmas (1951 film), The}}
[[Category:1951 animated films]]
[[Category:1951 films]]
[[Category:Animated Christmas films]]
[[Category:Soviet Christmas films]]
[[Category:Animated films based on works by Nikolai Gogol]]
[[Category:Films directed by the Brumberg sisters]]
[[Category:Films set in Ukraine]]
[[Category:Soviet animated films]]
[[Category:1950s Soviet films]]
[[Category:1950s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:Rotoscoped films]]
[[Category:Soyuzmultfilm]]
[[Category:1950s Christmas films]]
[[Category:Films set in Saint Petersburg]]
[[Category:Works based on Christmas Eve (Gogol)]]

The Gift to Stalin

2025-06-25T15:00:48Z

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{{More citations needed|date=January 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Gift to Stalin
| image = The Gift to Stalin.jpg
| caption =
| director = [[Rustem Abdrashev]]
| producer = [[Boris Cherdabayev, Aliya Uvalzhanova]]
| writer = [[Pavel Finn]]
| starring = [[Nurjuman Ikhtimbayev]] [[Dalen Shintemirov]] [[Yekaterina Rednikova]] [[Bakhtiar Khoja]]
| cinematography = [[Khasan Kidiraliev]]
| released = {{Film date|2008|10|02|Pusan International Film Festival|2008|10|16|df=y}}
| runtime = 97 minutes
| country = Kazakhstan Russia Poland Israel
| language = Russian
| budget =
| gross =
}}
'''''The Gift to Stalin''''' is a 2008 joint Kazakhstani/Russian/Polish/Israeli film by [[Kazakhfilm]] that tells the story of a little Jewish boy named Sasha who is sent to [[Kazakhstan]]. He is saved from death by an old Kazakh man, Kasym, who takes the boy into his home. The film is set in 1949 and is based on the memoirs of [[Russian Jews|Russian Jewish]] writer [[David Markish]], also portrayed in his trilogy ''A New World for Simon Ashkenazy''.

The title, ''The Gift to Stalin'', has two meanings. The first one Sasha’s dream He hopes that if he gives Stalin a gift, he will be able to see his parents again, not knowing that they have been killed. The second context is that in 1949 the Soviet government carried out a nuclear test ([[RDS-1]]) on [[Joseph Stalin]]’s 70th anniversary.<ref group=nb>During Stalin's life, his official birth year was 1879.</ref> When Sasha visited his Kazakh ''[[aul]]'' many years later, he found it destroyed by the nuclear explosion.<ref>[https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/art/2020/06/689_32113.html "Gift Brings Kazakhstan Closer to Korea"], ''[[Korea Times]]''</ref>

==Awards==
*2009: Grand Prix at the [[Busan International Film Festival]]
*2009:Three awards at the [[Warsaw Jewish Film Festival]], Grand Prix, the best full feature, and best actor (Dalen Shintemirov) <ref>[http://www.wjff-archive.pl/pl/2009/nagrody/konkursowe-kamery-dawida "2009 Nagrody i honorowe"]</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=nb}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|1305027|The Gift to Stalin}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gift To Stalin, The}}
[[Category:2000s Russian films]]
[[Category:2000s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:Russian drama films]]
[[Category:Russian-language drama films]]
[[Category:2008 films]]
[[Category:2008 drama films]]
[[Category:Films about Jews and Judaism]]
[[Category:Films set in 1949]]
[[Category:Films about Joseph Stalin]]

{{2000s-drama-film-stub}}

First Squad

2025-06-25T14:59:06Z

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{{Short description|2009 film directed by Yoshiharu Ashino}}
{{update|date=October 2013}}
{{Infobox film
| name = First Squad: The Moment of Truth
| native_name = {{Infobox Japanese|child=yes|hide=no|header=none|kana=ファースト・スクワッド}}
| image = First Squad poster.jpg
| caption =
| director = Yoshiharu Ashino<ref>[http://www.generalworks.com/databank/movie/title2/fsquad.html First Squad info] {{in lang|ja}}</ref>
| producer = [[Eiko Tanaka]] Aljosha Klimov Misha Shprits
| writer = Aljosha Klimov Misha Shprits
| screenplay =
| studio = [[Studio 4°C]] Molot Entertainment Film Company
| story =
| based_on =
| starring = Elena Chebaturkina Michael Tikhonov Ludmila Shuvalova Damir Eldarov Irina Savina Aleksandr Gruzdev Sergei Aisman
| narrator =
| music = [[DJ Krush]] The 3ug3reeder
| cinematography = João da Costa Pinto Sergey Akimov Kumiko Sakamoto
| editing =
| distributor = Molot Entertainment Film Company
| released = {{Film date|2009|5|13|[[2009 Cannes Film Festival|Cannes]]|2009|10|15|Russia}}
| runtime = 73 minutes
| country = Russia Japan
| language = Russian
| budget =
| gross = $ 292 377<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1343712/?ref_=bo_se_r_1|title=First Squad: The Moment of Truth (2009)|website=Box Office Mojo}}</ref>
}}
'''''First Squad: The Moment of Truth''''' ({{langx|ja|ファーストスクワッド}} ''Fāsuto sukuwaddo'', {{langx|ru|Пе́рвый отря́д|translit=Perviy otryad}}) is a joint animation project of Japan's [[Studio 4°C]] and Russia's Molot Entertainment. It won the ''[[Kommersant]]'' newspaper's prize.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-06-30/4c-first-squad-wins-award-at-moscow-intl-fim-fest|title=4°C's ''First Squad'' Wins Award at Moscow Int'l Fim Fest|date=2009-06-30|publisher=[[Anime News Network]]|access-date=2009-10-11}}</ref>

==Plot==
Set during the opening days of [[World War II]] on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] (autumn and winter of 1941/1942). Its main cast are a group of [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] teenagers with extraordinary abilities; the teenagers have been drafted to form a special unit to fight the invading [[Wehrmacht|German army]]. They are opposed by a [[Schutzstaffel]] (SS) officer who is attempting to raise from the dead a supernatural army of crusaders from the 12th-century Order of the Sacred Cross (i.e. the [[Teutonic Order|Teutonic Knights]]) and enlist them in the [[Nazi]] cause.

Most of the teenage crew die, except for the protagonist Nadya. She is taken to a secret Soviet lab that studies supernatural phenomena, especially contacts with the dead. Nadya's task is to dive into the world of the dead for reconnaissance. There, in the Gloomy Valley, she meets her dead friends and persuades them to continue fighting.

==Voice Cast==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Character !! Russian voice actor !! English voice actor
|-
! Nadya
| Elena Chebaturkina || [[Cassandra Lee Morris]]
|-
! Leo
| Michael Tikhonov || Joey Morris
|-
! Zena
| Ludmila Shuvalova || [[Carrie Keranen]]
|-
! Marat
| Damir Eldarov || [[Tony Oliver]]
|-
! Valya
| Irina Savina || [[Bryce Papenbrook]]
|-
! General Below
| Aleksandr Gruzdev || [[Michael McConnohie]]
|-
! Baron Von Wolff
| Sergei Aisman || Phineas
|}

==Ligalize's video clip==
On the eve of May 9, 2005, a video clip was released, based on the track "Наша с тобой победа" ("Our victory") by Russian rap artist [[Ligalize]]. The clip was directed by Daisuke Nakayama, produced by Aljosha Klimov and Misha Shprits and depicted an epic fight between Soviet [[Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization|Pioneers]] and Nazi soldiers, with the German side in possession of [[mecha]] and various supernatural soldiers. Among the featured locations are the [[Palace of the Soviets]] and [[Mayakovskaya (Moscow Metro)|Mayakovskaya metro station]], Moscow.

==Production==
In 2007, it was announced that a motion picture titled ''First Squad: The Moment of Truth''<ref>[http://www.first-squad.com First Squad] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819231147/http://www.first-squad.com/ |date=2018-08-19 }} — official site</ref> was in the works. Film is produced by [[Studio 4°C]] and recently created for this purpose studio Molot Entertainment, distributed by [[Amedia]]. Directed by Studio 4 °C director and animator Yoshiharu Ashino, cowritten and produced by Aljosha Klimov, Misha Shprits, with [[Eiko Tanaka]], featuring character development by Hirofumi Nakata, and music by Japanese musician [[DJ Krush]]. The film has been shown at [[Cannes Film Festival]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Studio 4C Goes To War In Russia! Brand New Trailer For Russian Anime FIRST SQUAD!|url=http://twitchfilm.net/news/2009/04/studio-4c-goes-to-war-in-russia-brand-new-trailer-for-russian-anime-first-s.php|date=2009-04-29|access-date=2009-09-04|publisher=Twitch|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091001195409/http://twitchfilm.net/news/2009/04/studio-4c-goes-to-war-in-russia-brand-new-trailer-for-russian-anime-first-s.php|archive-date=2009-10-01|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Locarno Film Festival]],<ref>{{cite news|title=FIRST SQUAD|url=http://www.pardo.ch/jahia/Jahia/home/film/cache/bypass?appid=11456_34&appparams=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pardo.ch%2Fjpwacatalog%2Fpardo%2Ffilm.do%3Fid%3D320621&resetAppSession=true|date=2009-04-29|access-date=2009-09-04|publisher=Locarno|archive-date=2009-08-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090828063444/http://www.pardo.ch/jahia/Jahia/home/film/cache/bypass?appid=11456_34&appparams=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pardo.ch%2Fjpwacatalog%2Fpardo%2Ffilm.do%3Fid%3D320621&resetAppSession=true|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Fantasporto]]<ref>{{cite news|title=Lista de filmes - Fantasporto 2010|url=https://jn.sapo.pt/Dossies/dossie.aspx?content_id=1503295&dossier=Fantasporto|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327102307/http://jn.sapo.pt/Dossies/dossie.aspx?content_id=1503295&dossier=Fantasporto|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 27, 2010|access-date=2010-02-28|publisher=Jornal de Notícias}}</ref> and Fantasia film festival.<ref>{{cite news|title=First Squad: The Moment of Truth, MONTREAL PREMIERE|url=http://www.fantasiafestival.com/2010/en/films/film_detail.php?id=11|date=2010-07-10|access-date=2010-07-14|publisher=Fantasia Festival|archive-date=2017-08-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824135659/http://www.fantasiafestival.com/2010/en/films/film_detail.php?id=11|url-status=dead}}</ref> On June 8, 2010, [[Anchor Bay Entertainment]] announced that they will distribute the film in the [[United States]] through [[Manga Entertainment]] and L.A. based XYZ Films.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mania.com/first-squad-moment-truth-acquired-anchor-bay_article_123094.html|title=First Squad Moment Truth Acquired By Anchor Bay|publisher=[[Mania.com]]|date=2010-06-08|access-date=2010-06-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611012021/http://www.mania.com/first-squad-moment-truth-acquired-anchor-bay_article_123094.html|archive-date=2010-06-11|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|http://www.first-squad.com}}
* {{IMDb title|1343712|First Squad}}
* {{anime News Network|ova|10231}}

{{Studio 4°C}}
{{Sony theatrical animated features}}

[[Category:2009 anime films]]
[[Category:2009 films]]
[[Category:Animated war films]]
[[Category:Eastern Front of World War II films]]
[[Category:Films set in 1941]]
[[Category:Films set in 1942]]
[[Category:Nazi zombie films]]
[[Category:2000s speculative fiction films]]
[[Category:Russian speculative fiction films]]
[[Category:Japanese speculative fiction films]]
[[Category:Russian animated films]]
[[Category:2000s Russian films]]
[[Category:2000s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:Studio 4°C]]
[[Category:Historical fantasy anime and manga]]
[[Category:Mecha anime and manga]]
[[Category:Anime and manga set in Russia]]
[[Category:Animated films set in Russia]]
[[Category:Russian World War II films]]
[[Category:Japanese World War II films]]
[[Category:Animated films set in hell]]
[[Category:2009 fantasy films]]
[[Category:Animated films set in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Animated films set in the 1940s]]
[[Category:Animated World War II films]]

Dobrinya and the Dragon

2025-06-25T14:57:10Z

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{{Infobox film
| name = Dobrinya and the Dragon
| image = Dobrinya and the Dragon (2006 animated feature film).jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = Ilya Maksimov ([[:ru:Максимов, Илья Михайлович|ru]])
| producer = [[Aleksandr Boyarsky]] Sergey Selyanov ([[:ru:Сельянов, Сергей Михайлович|ru]])
| writer = [[Aleksandr Boyarsky]] Ilya Maksimov Maksim Sveshnikov
| screenplay =
| story =
| based_on =
| starring = [[Yekaterina Gorohovskaya]] [[Sergey Makovetskiy]] [[Valeriy Solovyov]] [[Yuri Tarasov (actor)|Yuri Tarasov]] [[Andrey Tolubeyev]]
| narrator =
| music =
| cinematography =
| editing =
| studio = [[Melnitsa Animation Studio]] CTB Film Company
| distributor = Nashe Kino Karoprokat
| released = {{Film date|2006|03|15}}
| runtime = 65 minutes
| country = Russia
| language = Russian
| budget = $ 4,500,000
| gross = $ 6,864,576
}}

'''''Dobrinya and the Dragon''''' ({{langx|ru|Добрыня Никитич и Змей Горыныч}}, ''Dobrynya Nikitich i Zmey Gorynych'', {{literal translation|Dobrynya Nikitich and Zmey Gorynych}}) is a Russian [[traditional animation|traditionally animated]] [[feature film]] directed by Ilya Maksimov, made by [[Melnitsa Animation Studio]]. It opened in Russia on March 15, 2006. It is the second film in Melnitsa's ''[[The Three Bogatyrs]]'' series the first was ''{{ill|Alyosha Popovich and Tugarin Zmey|ru|Алёша Попович и Тугарин Змей}}''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.animator.ru/index.phtml?p=show_news&nid=572|title=В Москве показали «Добрыню Никитича и Змея Горыныча»|date=2006-03-11|website=[[Animator.ru]]|accessdate=2018-05-04|archive-date=2018-01-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117190736/http://www.animator.ru/index.phtml?p=show_news&nid=572}}</ref>

The plot is based on the [[mythology]] surrounding the title characters: [[Dobrynya Nikitich]] and [[Zmey Gorynych]]. The film contains many elements of parody and jokes about ''[[The Matrix]]'', ''[[Star Wars]]'', ''[[The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed]]'', ''[[Seventeen Moments of Spring]]'' and other famous movies.

Prince Vladimir's niece, Zabava, is kidnapped. Dobrynya Nikitich and his young apprentice, Yelisey, go to find her, discovering betrayal and treachery where least expected.

==Plot==
The Prince of Kiev accidentally learns that his niece, Zabava, fell in love with a simple messenger, Yelisey, and intends to escape with him. Dissatisfied with this, the prince decides to send Yelisey on an assignment, and Zabava to marry. The Prince tells Yelisey to bring the Bogatyr Dobrynya Nikitich an order - to collect a tribute from the Crimean Khan Becket. To the great displeasure of Dobrynya, the order contains a princely order to bring Yelisey along with him.

The Prince presents Zabava with many marriage proposals, but she does not like any of the candidates. In the meantime, Dobrynya Nikitich collects tribute from the khan by force, and rescues Yelisey, who had been taken prisoner. Back in Kiev, the noble merchant Kolyvan comes to the prince. Kolyvan, a gambling master, promises to forgive the Prince's large debt, if the Prince will let Kolyvan marry Zabava. The Prince reluctantly agrees, and Kolyvan, with the help of one of his debtors, the three-headed dragon [[Zmey Gorynych]], arranges the abduction of Zabava and hides her in a village.

Returning to Kiev, Dobrynya Nikitich and Yelisey notice that the prince and his boyars are mourning the missing princess. Dobrynya Nikitich is shocked when he finds out that the kidnapper is [[Zmey Gorynych]], because the dragon was his best friend. However, in response to Dobrynya's offer to go in search of Zabava, prince sends Dobrynya on vacation, but Dobrynya Nikitich and Yelisey, disobeying the order, go to see [[Zmey Gorynych]]. Meanwhile, Kolyvan declares himself the savior of Zabava and decides to marry her, but she refuses him. Then Kolyvan takes Zabava to Kudykina mountain - to another of Kolyvan's debtors [[Baba-Yaga]] and demands that she bewitch Zabava.

Dobrynya Nikitich and Yelisey come to [[Zmey Gorynych]], who declares that he is not involved in the kidnapping of the princess. However, the same night, feeling guilty for deceiving Dobrynya, Zmey Gorynych decides to rescue Zabava, and, on a camel, goes in search of Kolyvan, leaving an explanatory note. But Kolyvan, with the help of Baba Yaga's hut on chicken legs overcomes Zmey Gorynych and hides him with Zabava in the closet. The camel runs away.

The next morning, Yelisey finds Gorynych's note and tells Dobrynya about it. Dobrynya is very disappointed by the deceit of Zmey Gorynych. Together with Yelisey, Dobrynya goes in search of Kolyvan. In the meantime, the prince, upon learning of Dobrynya's departure, writes a letter to Kolyvan, and he asks Baba Yaga for help, but none of her spells can break the strong spirit of Dobrynya Nikitich. Then Kolyvan orders the khan Becket, who was also his debtor, to get rid of the hero. He takes Yelisey and the camel he found prisoner, but Dobrynya Nikitich rescues them and learns from the Khan that Kolyvan is hiding on Kudykina Mountain.

Zabava and [[Zmey Gorynych]] run away from the hut, but the latter cannot fly and thus begins to sink in the swamp. Dobrynya Nikitich and Yelisey come and rescue him. Then Baba Yaga, summoning an evil force, attacks the heroes. After a long battle, Dobrynya overcomes Baba Yaga. Kolyvan tries to escape, but Dobrynya Nikitich catches him and must decide what to do with him. While Dobrynya, Yelisey, Zabava, and Zmey Gorynych confer, Kolyvan escapes.

Dobrynya Nikitich, [[Zmey Gorynych]], Yelisey and Zabava return home. On the way Gorynych learns how to fly and flies away, and Dobrynya Nikitich, Yelisey and Zabava return to Kiev. The prince is very glad to see his niece, but still against her marriage to Yelisey. However, Dobrynya persuades the prince to change his mind, after which Yelisey and Zabava are married in a magnificent wedding.

==Box office==
The film opened at #2 in the box office in Russia and the [[Commonwealth of Independent States|CIS]], and grossed around $3,500,000.[http://www.boxofficemojo.com/intl/cis/?yr=2006&wk=11&p=.htm]

==See also==
*[[History of Russian animation]]
*[[List of animated feature films]]
*[[Prince Vladimir (film)]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0465967}}
* [http://ctb.ru/en/films/dobrynya-and-the-dragon/ Official website] at the CTB Film Company {{in lang|en}}
* [http://animator.ru/db/?ver=eng&p=show_film&fid=6899 ''Dobrynya Nikitich and Zmey Gorynych''] at the [[Animator.ru]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobrinya And The Dragon}}
[[Category:2006 films]]
[[Category:2006 animated films]]
[[Category:2000s adventure comedy films]]
[[Category:2000s children's comedy films]]
[[Category:2000s fantasy comedy films]]
[[Category:Animated films based on fairy tales]]
[[Category:Animated films based on Russian folklore]]
[[Category:Animated films based on Slavic mythology]]
[[Category:Russian adventure comedy films]]
[[Category:Russian children's fantasy films]]
[[Category:Russian animated fantasy films]]
[[Category:Animated adventure films]]
[[Category:Melnitsa Animation Studio animated films]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Vladimir the Great]]
[[Category:Works set in Kievan Rus']]
[[Category:Animated films about dragons]]
[[Category:2000s children's animated films]]
[[Category:2000s Russian films]]
[[Category:2000s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:Russian animated comedy films]]

Caucasia (film)

2025-06-25T14:54:31Z

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{{About|the film|other uses|Caucasia (disambiguation)}}
'''''Caucasia''''' ({{langx|az|Qafqaz}}) is a [[2007 in film|2007]] [[Cinema of Azerbaijan|Azerbaijani film]] [[Film director|directed]] by [[Farid Gumbatov]]. It was Azerbaijan's submission to the [[80th Academy Awards]] for the [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film]], but was not accepted as a nominee.<ref name="YahooMoviesSubmissions">{{cite web|url=http://oscars.movies.yahoo.com/news/iw/20071018/1355.html |title=A Record 63 Countries Vying For Best Foreign-Language Oscar Nod |publisher=[[Yahoo! Movies]] |date=2007-10-17 |accessdate=2008-08-22 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080926200107/http://oscars.movies.yahoo.com/news/iw/20071018/1355.html |archivedate=September 26, 2008 }}</ref><ref name="VarietyShortlist">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117979064.html?nav=news&categoryid=1982&cs=1|title=Oscar's foreign film race heats up|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|author=Gaydos, Steven|author2=McCarthy, Libby|date=2008-01-15|accessdate=2008-08-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630052904/http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117979064.html?nav=news&categoryid=1982&cs=1|archive-date=2008-06-30|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Film}}
*[[Cinema of Azerbaijan]]
*[[List of submissions to the 80th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|id=1167643|title=Caucasia}}

{{Azerbaijani submission for Academy Awards}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caucasia (Film)}}
[[Category:2007 films]]
[[Category:2007 drama films]]
[[Category:2000s Russian films]]
[[Category:2000s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:Azerbaijani-language films]]
[[Category:Russian-language drama films]]
[[Category:Russian drama films]]
[[Category:Azerbaijani drama films]]
[[Category:Nagorno-Karabakh War films]]

{{2000s-Russia-film-stub}}
{{Azerbaijan-film-stub}}
{{2000s-drama-film-stub}}

38 Parrots

2025-06-25T13:13:57Z

93.124.3.80: /* External links */

{{short description|Film series (1976–1991)}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox television
| image = 38 Parrots.jpg
| caption =
| director = [[Ivan Ufimtsev]]<ref name="ку">[https://www.kinopoisk.ru/film/46796/ 38 Parrots] at the [[KinoPoisk]].</ref>
| producer = [[Soyuzmultfilm]]
| writer = [[Grigoriy Oster]]
| starring = [[Nadezhda Rumyantseva]] [[Mikhail Kozakov]] [[Vasily Livanov]] [[Vsevolod Larionov]]
| music = [[Vladimir Shainsky]] [[Gennady Gladkov]] [[Aleksei Shelygin]]
| cinematography =
| first_aired = {{Start date|1976}}
| last_aired = {{End date|1991}}
| runtime = 9 [[minute|min]]
| country = Soviet Union
| language = Russian
| budget =
}}
'''''38 Parrots''''' ({{langx|ru|38 попугаев}}, [[Transliteration|translit.]] ''Tridtsat vosem popugaev'') is a series of ten children's animated films produced in the [[Soviet Union]] between 1976 and 1991 by [[Soyuzmultfilm]]. The series portrays the amusing adventures of four friends: the talkative [[chimpanzee]] Martyshka, the shy [[elephant]] Slonyonok, the eccentric [[parrot]] Popugai, and the thoughtful [[Boidae|boa]] Udav.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.film.ru/articles/sudbu-38-popugaev-reshili-martyshka-i-udav |author=Елена Константинова |title=Судьбу «38 попугаев» решили мартышка и удав |lang=ru |website=[[film.ru]] |date=2000-04-20}}</ref>

The title of the series comes from the very first episode, where Udav has his length measured in parrots. In most episodes the heroes solve paradoxes related to language and meaning. In one, for example, they discuss the number of nuts it takes to make a whole pile. In another, they tackle the problem of how to convey a greeting without it disappearing in transit.

The series was created by Ivan Ufimtsev and [[Leonid Shvartsman]], and scripted by children's author [[Grigoriy Oster]]. The characters were voiced by popular actors [[Nadezhda Rumyantseva]] (Martyshka), [[Mikhail Kozakov]] (Slonyonok), [[Vasily Livanov]] (Udav) and [[Vsevolod Larionov]] (Popugai). The series' music is written by [[Vladimir Shainsky]], [[Vladimir Shainsky|Gennady Gladkov]] and Aleksei Shelygin.<ref name="И">{{cite web |url=http://books.interros.ru/index.php?book=mult&id=25&mode=print |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070831034340/http://books.interros.ru/index.php?book=mult&id=25&mode=print |archive-date=2007-08-31 |title=Наши мультфильмы |lang=ru |author=Сергей Капков |website=Издательская программа «Интерроса»}}</ref>

==List of episodes==
* "38 Parrots" / {{lang|ru|38 попугаев}} (12 July 1976)
* "Udav's Grandmother" / {{lang|ru|Бабушка удава}} (19 April 1977)
* "How to Cure Udav" / {{lang|ru|Как лечить удава}} (7 September 1977)
* "Where is Slonyonok Going" / {{lang|ru|Куда идёт слонёнок}} (18 December 1977)
* "Hello to Martyshka" / {{lang|ru|Привет мартышке}} (13 February 1978)
* "And What if It Works!" / {{lang|ru|А вдруг получится!}} (12 April 1978)
* "Gymnastics for the Tail" / {{lang|ru|Зарядка для хвоста}} (29 March 1979)
* "Tomorrow Will be Tomorrow" / {{lang|ru|Завтра будет завтра}} (5 August 1979)
* "The Great Closure" / {{lang|ru|Великое закрытие}} (14 January 1985)
* "Unobvious Textbook" / {{lang|ru|Ненаглядное пособие}} (15 July 1991)

==See also==
* [[History of Russian animation]]
* [[List of stop-motion films]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0211896}}

{{Yuriy Norshteyn}}

{{1970s-animation-film-stub}}
{{1970s-USSR-film-stub}}

[[Category:Film series introduced in 1976]]
[[Category:1976 animated short films]]
[[Category:1976 films]]
[[Category:1977 animated short films]]
[[Category:1977 films]]
[[Category:1978 animated short films]]
[[Category:1978 films]]
[[Category:1979 animated short films]]
[[Category:1979 films]]
[[Category:Animated films set in jungles]]
[[Category:1985 animated short films]]
[[Category:1985 films]]
[[Category:Fictional chimpanzees]]
[[Category:1991 animated short films]]
[[Category:1991 films]]
[[Category:Soviet animated short films]]
[[Category:Animated films about birds]]
[[Category:1970s stop-motion animated films]]
[[Category:Soyuzmultfilm]]
[[Category:Fictional parrots]]
[[Category:Animated films about elephants]]
[[Category:Animated films about snakes]]
[[Category:1970s Soviet films]]
[[Category:1970s Russian-language films]]

The Story of a Crime

2025-06-25T12:58:47Z

93.124.3.80: /* External links */

{{more citations needed|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Story of a Crime
| image = The Story of a Crime poster.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Film poster
| native_name = История одного преступления
| director = [[Fyodor Khitruk]]
| producer =
| writer =
| screenplay = [[Michael Volpin]]
| story =
| based_on = 
| starring =
| narrator = [[Zinovy Gerdt]]
| music = Andrey Babaev
| cinematography =
| editing =
| studio = [[Soyuzmultfilm]]
| distributor =
| released = {{film date|1962}}
| runtime = 19 min. 54 sec.
| country = [[Soviet Union]]
| language = Russian
| budget =
| gross = 
}}
'''''The Story of a Crime''''' ({{langx|ru|История одного преступления}}, [[Transliteration|translit.]] ''Istoriya odnogo prestupleniya'') is a 1962 [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] animated [[Short film]] directed by [[Fyodor Khitruk]] and based on a screenplay by [[Michael Volpin]]. It was produced by [[Soyuzmultfilm]]. The score is by {{Interlanguage link|Andrey Babaev|ru|3=Бабаев, Андрей Аванесович}}, with sound editing by [[George Martynuk]].

It was the first film by Khitruk, whose role in the [[history of Russian animation]] led him to be recognized as a [[People's Artist of the USSR]] and a [[Merited Artist of the Russian Federation|Meritorious Artist]], and to receive the [[Order of the Red Banner of Labour]] and the [[Order "For Merit to the Fatherland"]]. The film is a hybrid of [[Traditional animation]] and [[Cutout animation]]

== Plot summary ==
Noises at night made by rude neighbors cause the very friendly and peaceful Vasily Mamin to commit a crime. The cartoon serves as an explanation as of why such a brutal crime is committed at the beginning. It is a flashback at how Mamin spent his last 24 hours before the crime. The character is having a drastic change in his life, but if we think about on our self, is it wrong?

== Voice cast ==
* [[Zinovy Gerdt]] as ''Narrator''

== Awards ==
* 9th [[International Short Film Festival Oberhausen|International Short Film Festival]] in [[Oberkhauzen]] ([[Federal Republic of Germany]]), 1963
* Diploma and ''The Golden Gates'' Prize of the 7th International Cinema Festival in [[San Francisco]], 1962

== External links ==
*{{IMDb title|0487622}}
*[http://www.animator.ru/db/?ver=eng&p=show_film&fid=2101 ''The Story of a Crime''] at [[animator.ru]]
*[http://www.tamperefilmfestival.fi/2000/eng/anim.htm Dazzling animations] at [[Tampere Film Festival]] web page
*[http://www.awn.com/mag/issue3.12/3.12pages/moritzkhitruk.php3 The Spirit Of Genius: Feodor Khitruk] by [[William Moritz]]
*[http://www.kinokultura.com/reviews/R7-05alesha.html Konstantin Bronzit, Alesha Popovich and Tugarin the Serpent (Alesha Popovich i Tugarin Zmei) (2004)] at [[Kinokultura.com]]

{{Fyodor Khitruk}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Story of a Crime, The}}
[[Category:1962 films]]
[[Category:Soviet animated short films]]
[[Category:Soyuzmultfilm]]
[[Category:Films directed by Fyodor Khitruk]]
[[Category:1960s Soviet films]]
[[Category:1960s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:1962 animated short films]]

{{1960s-USSR-film-stub}}
{{1960s-short-animation-film-stub}}

I Remember Everything, Richard

2025-06-25T12:38:25Z

93.124.3.80: /* External links */

{{short description|1966 film produced during Soviet period at the Riga Film Studio.}}
{{Infobox film
| name = I Remember Everything, Richard (Rock and Splinter)
| image = I Remember Everything, Richard.jpg
| caption =
| director = [[Rolands Kalniņš]]
| producer =
| writer =
| narrator =
| starring = {{ubl|Eduards Pāvuls|[[Antra Liedskalniņa]]|Harijs Liepiņš|Pauls Butkēvičs|[[Uldis Pūcītis]]}}
| music = Ludgards Gedravičus
| cinematography = Miks Zvirbulis
| editing =
| distributor = {{ubl|[[Riga Film Studio]]|Gilde Film Studio}}
| released = {{Film date|1966}}
| runtime = 83 minutes
| country = USSR ([[Latvian SSR]])
| language = Latvian
| budget =
| gross =
}}

'''''I Remember Everything, Richard''''' ({{langx|lv|Es visu atceros, Ričard}}) is a 1966 film<ref name="Neiburgs">{{cite news|last1=Neiburgs|first1=Uldis|title=Aftermath: What happened to the Latvian Legionnaires after the war?|url=https://eng.lsm.lv/article/features/features/aftermath-what-happened-to-the-latvian-legionnaires-after-the-war.a271634/|accessdate=27 May 2018|publisher=[[Public Broadcasting of Latvia]]|date=16 March 2018}}</ref> produced during Soviet period at the [[Riga Film Studio]]. Another name for the film is '''''Rock and Splinters''''' ({{langx|lv|Akmens un šķembas}}), which is normally applied to the uncut version.

The film's director was [[Rolands Kalniņš]].

==Plot==
Three friends — Jānis, Zigis, and Ričards — are mobilized into the [[Latvian Legion]] during [[World War II]], where they fight against the [[Red Army]] in the [[Volkhov River|Volkhov]] Marshes. Zigis is killed while attempting to [[desertion|desert]] to the Soviets. After the war, Jānis is [[amnesty|amnestied]] and remains in [[Latvian SSR|Soviet Latvia]], accepting the new order, while Ričards is missing. Twenty years later, the two surviving friends meet again. Ričards, who has returned from abroad on a secret mission, has become an agent of Western intelligence services hostile to the Soviet regime.

The film portrays the events surrounding the participation of the [[Latvian Legion]] in battles against the Soviets on the [[Leningrad Front]], particularly during the [[Battle of Leningrad]], with the focus on a critical moment where Ričards takes part in executing a captured Latvian [[Red Army]] soldier to save his friend Zigis. Afterward, Ričards is sent to Germany, recruited by Western powers, and tasked with a mission in Latvia to destroy the [[Latvian Warriors' Monument]] at the [[Brothers' Cemetery, Riga]].

In the finale, Ričards kills his friend Jānis and realizes that he has lost everything—his wife, his friend, and his homeland. His secret mission is exposed, and he is arrested.

While produced during the Soviet period and full of [[Soviet propaganda]] clichés, the film rather objectively describes the events surrounding the participation of the [[Latvian Legion]] in battles against Soviets on the [[Leningrad Front]] during World War II.<ref name="Neiburgs" />

==Cast==
The film's cast included several notable Latvian actors: [[Eduards Pāvuls]], [[Antra Liedskalniņa]], [[Harijs Liepiņš]], [[Pauls Butkēvičs]], [[Uldis Pūcītis]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|1783236}}
* [http://www.latfilma.lv/s/048/ Akmens un šķembas on VHS - Gilde Film Studio]
* {{YouTube|njYeeqgvJ5s}} (in Latvian)

[[Category:1966 films]]
[[Category:1966 war films]]
[[Category:1960s Soviet films]]
[[Category:1960s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:Russian-language war drama films]]
[[Category:Soviet war drama films]]
[[Category:Soviet World War II films]]
[[Category:Soviet black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Soviet-era Latvian films]]
[[Category:Latvian drama films]]
[[Category:Films shot in Latvia]]
[[Category:Films set in Latvia]]
[[Category:Latvian-language films]]

[[Category:Latvian Legion]]
[[Category:Riga Film Studio films]]

{{1960s-USSR-film-stub}}
{{Latvia-film-stub}}

Guys from the Army Band

2025-06-25T12:31:38Z

93.124.3.80: /* External links */

{{more citations needed|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Guys from the Army Band
| image = Guys_from_the_Army_Band.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Original Russian film poster
| native_name = 
| director = [[Henrik Malyan]]{{-}}[[Henrik Margaryan]]
| producer = 
| writer = 
| screenplay =
| story =
| based_on = 
| starring = [[Levon Tukhikyan]]{{-}}[[Frunzik Mkrtchyan]]{{-}}[[Armen Khostikyan]]{{-}}[[Sos Sargsyan]]
| narrator = 
| music =
| cinematography =
| editing =
| studio = [[Armenfilm]]
| distributor = 
| released = {{Film date|1960}}
| runtime = 87 minutes
| country = Soviet Union
| language = Armenian, Russian
| budget =
| gross = 
}}

'''''Guys from the Army Band''''' ({{langx|hy|Նվագախմբի տղաները}}, {{langx|ru|Парни музкоманды}}) is a [[1960 in film|1960]] Soviet-Armenian [[comedy film]] directed by [[Henrik Malyan]] and [[Henrik Margaryan]].

==Plot==
[[Bolshevik]] Tsolak Darbinyan infiltrates the [[First Republic of Armenia|Dashnak Army]] as a musician of the Army music band. Despite the initial personal conflict with band leader Arsen, he is able to win the friendship of young band musicians, including Arsen, and to persuade them to back him on the eve of the Bolshevik invasion to Armenia.

==Cast==
*[[Levon Tukhikyan]] - Tsolak Darbinyan
*[[Frunzik Mkrtchyan]] - Arsen
*[[Armen Khostikyan]] - Zaven
*[[Sos Sargsyan]] - Artashes

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0361966|title=Guys from the Army Band}}

[[Category:1960 films]]
[[Category:1960 comedy films]]
[[Category:Soviet black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Armenian-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Henrik Malyan]]
[[Category:Films set in Armenia]]
[[Category:Soviet comedy films]]
[[Category:Russian-language comedy films]]
[[Category:Soviet-era Armenian films]]
[[Category:Armenfilm films]]
[[Category:Russian military bands]]
[[Category:Armenian comedy films]]
[[Category:Armenian black-and-white films]]
[[Category:1960s Soviet films]]
[[Category:1960s Russian-language films]]

{{1960s-comedy-film-stub}}
{{1960s-USSR-film-stub}}
{{Armenia-film-stub}}

Fitil

2025-06-25T12:29:31Z

93.124.3.80: /* External links */

{{Infobox television
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| genre = Anthology, Comedy
| creator =
| director = Various, including Leonid Gaidai
| composer = Nikita Bogoslovsky (for some episodes)
| country = Soviet Union, Russia
| language = Russian
| num_seasons =
| num_episodes = 608
| producer =
| runtime = Varies by episode
| network = [[Russia-1]]
| first_aired = {{Start date|1962||}}
| last_aired = {{End date|2008||}}
| related = Yeralash
}}
'''''Fitil''''' ({{lang-rus|Фитиль|p=fʲɪˈtʲilʲ}}, ''Fuse'') is a popular Soviet short film and television [[anthology series]] which ran for 608 episodes. Some of the episodes were aimed at children, and were called {{lang|ru|Фитилёк, Fitilyok}}, ''Little Fuse''.
Each issue contained from the few short segments: documentary, fictional and animated ones. Fitilyok eventually became an entirely separate show for children and was renamed [[Yeralash]], (Russian: Ералаш) meaning "jumble" or "mishmash."

It was directed by various artists, including [[Leonid Gaidai]] who presented his famous trio of [[Yuri Nikulin|Nikulin]], [[Georgy Vitsin|Vitsin]] and [[Evgeni Morgunov|Morgunov]] to the cast.<ref>[http://igorugolnikov.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=73:fitil&catid=47:2009-01-23-15-48-00&Itemid=145 О ТСЖ «Фитиль» на сайте Игоря Угольникова]</ref>

It was called "the [[anecdote]]s from the [[Soviet government]]" in the [[USSR]].

==List of episodes==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Number<ref>[http://kinozhurnal-fitil.webnode.ru/ Неофициальный сайт сатирического киножурнала «Фитиль»]</ref>
!Year
!Plot
!Description
!Author and editor
!Director
!Cameraman, soundman and film editor
!Artist
!Composer
!Actors
!Studio
|-
|rowspan="4" |1
|rowspan="4" |1962
|In one boot
|"Head of city pensioners" Tyutiryutin goes on a fishing trip. On his return his wife tells him, that in a meeting held in his absence, he was called a "fool". Tyutiryutin calls all his subordinates together, demanding to know who had called him a "fool". In the end he learns that he was called "fisherman", and not "fool".
|[[Sergey Mikhalkov]]
|[[Igor Ilyinsky]], Arkady Koltsaty
|
|
|
|[[Igor Ilyinsky]], {{ill|Olga Viklandt|ru|Викландт, Ольга Артуровна}}
|[[Mosfilm]]
|-
|Task
|School task about "eyewash"
|{{ill|Leonid Lench|ru|Ленч, Леонид Сергеевич}}
|[[Lev Kulidzhanov]], {{ill|Isaak Magiton|ru|Магитон, Исаак Семёнович}}
|
|
|
|[[Muza Krepkogorskaya]]
|[[Gorky Film Studio]]
|-
|Beet
|Short animation about beet
|
|[[Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin]]
|
|
|
|
|[[Soyuzmultfilm]]
|-
|Living corpse
|Two men pretend to be dead, to avoid having to make alimony payments
|{{ill|Mark Abramov|ru|Абрамов, Марк Александрович}}
|{{ill|Andrey Tutyshkin|ru|Тутышкин, Андрей Петрович}}
|{{ill|Vladimir Nikolaev (cinematographer)|ru|Николаев, Владимир Васильевич (кинооператор)|lt=Vladimir Nikolaev}}
|{{ill|Georgy Kolganov|ru|Колганов, Георгий Николаевич}}
|[[Nikita Bogoslovsky]]
|[[Sergey Filippov]], [[Yevgeny Morgunov]], [[Lyubov Sokolova (actress)|Lubov Sokolova]]
|{{ill|Tsentrnauchfilm|ru|Центрнаучфильм|lt=Mosnauchfilm}}
|-
|rowspan="6" |3
|rowspan="6" |1962
|Ears
|The head of the department makes a meaningless tirade about "if only there were mushrooms growing in your mouth" and what happens from this. His "efficiency" and "initiative" are noticed. They pull him up by the ears. Now he's a deputy manager, and his ears have grown. Again he is pulled up, he is already a manager with even longer ears. Then he delivers his meaningless speeches from a high rostrum, and his ears are very long. Who's pulling him by those ears?
|{{ill|Leonid Likhodeev|ru|Лиходеев, Леонид Израилевич}}, [[Sergey Mikhalkov]]
|{{ill|Andrey Tutyshkin|ru|Тутышкин, Андрей Петрович}}
|
|
|
|[[Ivan Lyubeznov]]
|
|-
|People's rubles
|A steel plant in [[Cherepovets]] receives equipment that is not used
|L. Pankin, [[Sergey Mikhalkov]]
|L. Pankin
|L. Pankin
|
|
|
|[[Central Studio for Documentary Film|CSDF]] (?)
|-
|The virus of indifference
|About problems of growing corn
|{{ill|Vladimir Kapninsky|ru|Капнинский, Владимир Васильевич}}, [[Sergey Mikhalkov]]
|{{ill|Vladimir Pekar|ru|Пекарь, Владимир Израилевич}}, [[Vladimir Popov (animator)|Vladimir Popov]]
|
|
|
|{{ill|Yefim Berezin|ru|Березин, Ефим Иосифович}}, {{ill|Yury Timoshenko|ru|Тимошенко, Юрий Трофимович}}
|[[Soyuzmultfilm]]
|-
|Without thinking twice
|About dismissive treatment with ancient monuments in [[Vitebsk]]
|{{ill|Yuri Yegorov (director)|ru|Егоров, Юрий Павлович (режиссёр)|lt=Yuri Yegorov}}
|{{ill|Yuri Yegorov (director)|ru|Егоров, Юрий Павлович (режиссёр)|lt=Yuri Yegorov}}
|{{ill|Yuri Yegorov (director)|ru|Егоров, Юрий Павлович (режиссёр)|lt=Yuri Yegorov}}
|
|
|
|[[Central Studio for Documentary Film|CSDF]] (?)
|-
|Revanchist
|Anti-fascist cartoon
|{{ill|Mark Abramov|ru|Абрамов, Марк Александрович}}, [[Sergey Mikhalkov]]
|[[Vyacheslav Kotyonochkin]]
|
|
|
|
|[[Soyuzmultfilm]]
|-
|Covered
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|}

== See also ==
* ''[[Yeralash]]'', another Soviet popular TV series for children
* ''[[Multiplikatsionniy Krokodil]]''

==References==
*{{cite news|first=Aleksandr|last=Shuplov|url=https://rg.ru/2005/08/25/mihalkov.html|title="Фитиль" становится союзным |publisher=[[Rossiyskaya Gazeta]]|date=25 August 2005|accessdate=27 June 2021|language=Russian}}
*{{cite news|first=Aleksandr|last=Gamov|url=https://www.kp.ru/daily/26130/3022400/|title=Степашин посоветовал Голиковой возродить киножурнал "Фитиль"|publisher=[[Komsomolskaya Pravda]]|date=10 September 2013|accessdate=27 June 2021|language=Russian}}
*{{cite web|url=http://liders.rusarchives.ru/andropov/docs/pismo-glavnogo-redaktora-satiricheskogo-kinozhurnala-fitil-sv-mikhalkova.html|title=Письмо Генеральному секретарю ЦК КПСС |publisher=[[Russian State Archive of Contemporary History]]|accessdate=27 June 2021|language=Russian}}

=== Notes ===
{{reflist}}

== External links==
* [http://imdb.com/title/tt0172190/ Big Fitil (1963)] at [[IMDb]]
* {{YouTube|6WLE9jUdllw|''Cards Don't Lie''}} starring [[Faina Ranevskaya]]

[[Category:Russia-1 original programming]]
[[Category:Russian comedy television series]]
[[Category:1962 Soviet television series debuts]]
[[Category:1960s Soviet television series]]
[[Category:2008 Russian television series endings]]
[[Category:1960s Soviet films]]
[[Category:1960s Russian-language films]]

{{1960s-USSR-film-stub}}
{{short-comedy-film-stub}}