This late 60s Russian films is set in 1920, just 3 years after the October revolution. Folks had the choice between red and white, revolution and contra revolution. In that torn-apart-time, one man, the comedian Wolodja, tries to mediate, not between different ideologies, but social life and art.
While others just want to wash away their gloom, he reflects on the everyday sorrows and the role of art in that time of changes.
Like in most Russian films, not only of that time, you have to read between the lines, to get the whole meaning. Although its basic atmosphere is quite tempered, there is a much darker, more realistic inhere. The self-ironic Russian cinema is worth a look, take this one.
While others just want to wash away their gloom, he reflects on the everyday sorrows and the role of art in that time of changes.
Like in most Russian films, not only of that time, you have to read between the lines, to get the whole meaning. Although its basic atmosphere is quite tempered, there is a much darker, more realistic inhere. The self-ironic Russian cinema is worth a look, take this one.