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12 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Great spoof of the American Western, 11 October 2005
10/10
Author: viy46 from United States

Really funny, sweet, and moving take on the American western done by a soviet female director. Mr. First comes to a small town in the wild west to introduce the population to the art of cinematography. He brings a projector and an array of silent movies, including romance and comedy. Rowdy cowboys discover a different way of life and try to improve their own existence. Amazing cast, Tabakov is especially endearing as a saloon owner torn between greed and love for the movies. Surprisingly effective fight scenes could probably challenge those of the American counterparts. Karachentsov gives it his best with some of the best fight moves I've seen. Mironov is great, as usual, as an idealist out to change the world and bring enlightenment to the wild wild west. Highly recommended as a comedy, romance, western, and a meditation on the role of art and mass entertainment in our society.

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12 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Funny !!!, 5 January 2001
Author: reidaks from Los Angeles

I saw this movie when I was in Russia. I must admit it is a low budget movie, but it has an excellent acting. It is very good comedy. I don't really know if its available in US, but if you have a chance I would recommend it!

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12 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Perfect comedy, 21 May 2001
Author: sasha-1 from Daugavpils, Latvia

That's a beautiful comedy with a number of Russian film stars. The plot is rather unusual for a comedy western. One of the first cinematographers(his name is Mr.First performed by Andrey Mironov) arrives in a sleepy Wild West town and brings a primitive film projector with a number of bobbins of first Chaplin-like films. Every night he shows films in the local saloon and his arrival has a dramatical effect on the local cowboys(probably "cowboys" will seem rather strange for real Americans, but don't forget the film is made in Russia and they also have some stereotypes about the Wild West). After his arrival they stop fighting with each other,stop speaking bad words, start behaving very politely("like real gentlemen"), and in the evenings come to the saloon to have a drink of ... milk, instead of whiskey!!! After solving many problems and passing through a wall of misunderstanding Mr.First makes a lot of friends and eventually the local beauty Diana falls in love with him. The film has a lot of funny episodes and twists e.g. the local Comanches start the war with the cowboys only to have a possibility to go to the movie saloon as well.It's really worth watching the film wherever you live.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
One of the best soviet comedies, 2 September 2008
10/10
Author: kurciasbezdalas from Lithuania

This is one of those good old soviet comedies. The humor in these films is pretty innocent but still very funny. This film contains many Russian stars of that time. The plot is quite original. It's about a town in Wild West who's people are only drinking and fighting every single day and about an intelligent man who arrive to the town to introduce towns people with Cinematography. Soon people of town get fascinated by cinema, they stop drinking and fighting and become more polite to each other. The movie is really funny and interesting. Though this is not a action film, i've noticed some well choreographed fighting scenes. This film is really worth your time.

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1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
A tough lesson taught by a Russian female director, 5 May 2006
10/10
Author: Andrei Pavlov from Archangel, Russia

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This movie is hot. It seems to be the only real representative of western in Russian cinema. And this one makes us proud. It was directed by a woman! I repeat: it was directed by a woman! I watched it a number of times already.

The plot goes here. The very beginning of the 20th century. Wild West. A cinema devotee - Mr First - comes to an American town where everybody drinks, fights, and swears. Mr First introduces the world of black-and-white cinema to the cowboys and the life changes. All the good movies he shows them have a direct effect on their living. The population of the town stops all the drinking, fighting, etc. The people start to respect each other and to behave in a good manner. Mr First leaves the town for some time. During his absence some freak comes to town - Mr Second - who is also a cinema devotee, but he is into some nasty types of movies. As a result of watching those "nasties" the people turn into violent morons again.

By being "hot" I mean fist-fighting, swearing, numerous shootings, easy catchy songs, lots of nice women, tons of whiskey being consumed, hundreds of cigars being smoked over and over, macho-Indians and of course macho-cowboys. This movie has it all. Damn, I still remember nearly all the songs of this movie. And those crazy fights and quarrels in the saloon - they alone deserve an Oscar. On top of it it has a clever story to deliver. All this makes this film one of the very best movies of our time.

Please, throw away something from the IMDb top 250 and put this one onto the top list. That will be fair. Think it over: a girl directs a western, makes it in an insane manner with lots of fighting and shooting, and what is more, makes it thought-provoking. This deserves the ultimate worldwide recognition. No wonder we all went to cinema multiple times to watch it again and again. Even the tough American flicks of the 1980-s could not overwhelm our perception of this picture.

A goof: in one scene the drunk one-eyed cowboy looses his band and becomes a two-eyed cowboy - that's ridiculous.

10 out of 10, very enjoyable for all generations. Thanks for attention.

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