Ironiya sudby, ili S legkim parom! (TV 1975)

A group of old friends have a tradition of going to a public bathing house on New Years eve. Occasionally too much vodka and beer makes two of them unconscious. The problem is that one of ... See full summary »

Director:

Eldar Ryazanov

Writers:

Emil Braginskiy, Eldar Ryazanov

Stars:

Andrey Myagkov, Barbara Brylska, Yuriy Yakovlev

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Andrey Myagkov	...	Zhenya
Barbara Brylska	...	Nadya
Yuriy Yakovlev	...	Ippolit
Aleksandr Shirvindt	...	Pavel, Zhenya's Friend
Georgiy Burkov	...	Misha, Zhenya's Friend
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Liya Akhedzhakova	...	Nadya's Friend
Aleksandr Belyavskiy	...	Sasha
Lyubov Dobrzhanskaya	...	Zhenya's Mother
Olga Naumenko	...	Galya
Gotlib Roninson	...	Zhenya's Neighbour at the Airport
Eldar Ryazanov	...	Zhenya's Neighbour in the Plane
Lyubov Sokolova	...	Nadya's Mother
Valentina Talyzina	...	Nadya / Nadya's Friend (voice)

Storyline

A group of old friends have a tradition of going to a public bathing house on New Years eve. Occasionally too much vodka and beer makes two of them unconscious. The problem is that one of them (Sasha) has to go to Leningrad but another one (Zhenya) goes. Zhenya wakes up at Leningrad airport. Believing that he is still in Moscow he takes a taxi and goes home. The street name, building and even apartment number, the way an apartment complex looks the same and the key coincide completely - just typical Soviet-type 'economy' architecture. Imagine the surprise of Nadya when she enters her apartment and finds a man without trousers in her bed. What's more - Nadya's fiancé also finds him there...

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Plot Keywords:

apartment | new year | key | address | shower | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

31 December 1975 (Soviet Union)

Also Known As:

The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!

Filming Locations:

Cheremushki, Moscow, Russia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mosfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

192 min 192 min (2 parts) 184 min (original release)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The director Eldar Ryazanov cast the Polish actress Barbara Brylska as Nadya. However, as she didn't speak Russian, her voice was dubbed by Valentina Talyzina. Talyzina appears in a small part as Nadya's friend along with Liya Akhedzhakova.

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Goofs

The service phone number on Nadya's elevator is 241-84-44 and has 7 digits. However, phone numbers in Leningrad had only 6 digits in 1975 (whereas Moscow numbers had 7), thus revealing that the shooting was actually done in Moscow instead of Leningrad.

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Quotes

[Zhenya has just come back from chasing Ippolit]
Zhenya: I tried to chase him down, but he drove away... He drives faster than I run.

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Connections

Spoofed in Starye pesni o glavnom 3 (1998)

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Soundtracks

"Ya sprosil u yasenya"
Written by Mikael Tariverdiyev and V.Kirshon
Performed by Sergey Nikitin

User Reviews

Perfect encapsulation of the Russian spirit..

I love this movie. I watch it every 31st December with my family, and when I'm feeling down, I will put it on (even in the Summer, despite the movie being about New Year's Eve) and it'll instantly make me feel better.

The film, however, most probably, wouldn't be understood by the average foreigner. Let me explain..

Zhenya and his friends have a tradition of going to the "banya" (like a public bathing place) as a tradition every 31st of December. The celebration of Zhenya's engagement leads to all four men getting completely drunk. The dilemma, however, is that one of these men has to fly to Leningrad to celebrate New Year's Eve with his wife. By mistake, they send Zhenya to Leningrad. Being completely blacked out, Zhenya does not remember the flight or him getting a taxi when already in Leningrad. Coinsidently, the street on which Zhenya lives in Moscow exists in Leningrad as well. Zhenya, barely able to walk, enters the apartment building and makes his way up onto the 4th floor and opens the door with his key, and, without hesitating, makes himself comfortable and falls asleep on what he thinks is his bed.

A few minutes later, Nadya, a beautiful Russian woman, enters this same apartment - only it is really hers. Naturally, she is shocked to find a drunk stranger asleep on her bed. And her fiancé, who arrives shortly after, isn't thrilled to see drunk Zhenya either. The chemistry between Nadya and Zhenya grows as events begin to unravel...

The average foreigner will probably ask - "How is it possible that the apartment building and the apartment itself is identical to the one in Moscow? How could he even open the door with his key?" In Soviet times, buildings were built almost identically. There was no individuality. Flats looked the same. The furniture was the same. And, by luck, the key matched perfectly as well, although not surprisingly.

Anyway, this is a brilliantly funny, at times sad, film. It is a must see to anyone who is at least mildly interested in Russian people, culture or just the Russian way of life.