Sick Product of a Sick System

Good concept, poorly executed.

Expected more

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

a comedy with many virtues - the director, the script, the performance of Yuri Nikulin, the dialog and the wise manner to critic the Soviet regime. part from a long and precious Russian comedies, it seduce first for Gayday courage. because the fake crime story is a precise fresco of society. and the dialogs reflects in great measure that "sin". than, it is a deep human comedy, the small incorrect details , the use of innocence and, maybe, the end, does it a form of parable , more than satire. a film for each age, beautiful and fresh, full of emotion and laughter. an old fashion Russian film. who can reminds, in a crazy period, the importance of small real important ingredients of life.

Here you can read the lyrics "The song about hares" in Russian (Cyrillic char set Windows 1251) from the film. Also it has the accords for the guitar.http://www.muzland.ru/songs.html?auth=20&song=8&simpl=onThe translation is:"The song about hares"In the dark-blue forest Where aspens are trembling, Where from the oaks-magicians The leaves fall - On the glade, the grass was mowed by the hares And while doing that they sang Strange words:"So, it all is equal to us So, it all is equal to us Even though we're afraid Of a wolf and an owl. The business we have At this horrible hour - We mow magic "no care"-grass".And oaks-magicians whisper something in the fog. Near the foul marshes someone's shadows arise. The grass was mowed by the hares - "no care"-grass" on the glade. And from horror more and more quickly They sing a little song:"So, it all is equal to us So, it all is equal to us Even though we're afraid Of a wolf and an owl. The business we have At this horrible hour - We mow magic "no care"-grass".

The last time I saw it was something like 10 years ago. Just recently I watched it again and was tempted to write about it. The physical humor here doesn't stand the test of time very well, and will bring nothing but a smirk to the faces of the young audiences, Russian and non-Russian alike. However, for the older generation, the names of Nikulin and Mironov are rather sacred, so there is no dispute about this film being considered a Soviet classic. Admittedly, the majority of the film's acclaim nowadays rests on the element of nostalgia, but not entirely. The duo of clumsy crooks played by Andrei Mironov and Anatoliy Papanov come off as quite impressive even today. Papanov's character is especially picturesque, delivering loads of caustic one-liners in his one-of-a-kind dialect that are just as hilarious as they were 30 years ago. Well, at least I think so, although I guess it's one of those "you either get it or you don't"-type things. Also, already mentioned by other reviewers Nonna Mordyukova's small role as a hawkish house manager is memorable as well. Unfortunately for foreign audiences, the whole appeal of this movie is of a rather esoteric nature. So, if you are not familiar with the realities of Soviet life or with Russian cultural folklore, you will just shrug your shoulders and ask what one of reviewers below asked: "where is the humor."

This movie was never intended for foreign audiences. It is simply way too Russian (or too Soviet, actually) to be funny for anyone not familiar with the realities of local life. Most of the real comedy comes from Mironov and Papanov, who play hilarious villains on the track to recover stolen jewels, mistakenly put into Nikulin's arm cast. Russian-speaking audiences will enjoy Papanov's one-of-a-kind "Ukrainian" accent, but the jokes are too ethnic for anyone else to understand. Nikulin (a circus clown turned great comic actor) isn't particularly believable in an unfamiliar role of a good guy (his characters usually also were drunken and hilarious crooks), but turns in an adequate performance. Mironov is at his usual fast-talking, silly self, and Papanov is a riot. Mordyukova steals several scenes in a small role of a house superintendant, a towering woman with a thunderous voice. Overall, a terrific Soviet comedy, the kind they simply don't make anymore.