Ironiya sudby. Prodolzhenie (2007)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Timur Bekmambetov

Writers:

Timur Bekmambetov (writer)
Emil Braginsky (idea)

Release Date:

21 December 2007 (Kazakhstan)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Mystery | Romance

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Surrealism | Love | Winter | Sequel To Cult Comedy

Cast

Konstantin Khabenskiy	...	Kostya Lukashin
Elizaveta Boyarskaya	...	Nadyusha (as Liza Boyarskaya)
Sergey Bezrukov	...	Irakliy
Barbara Brylska	...	Nadya
Andrei Miagkov	...	Zhenya Lukashin
Yuriy Yakovlev	...	Ippollit
Valentina Talyzina	...	Nadya's friend
Mikhail Efremov	...	Santa Claus
Viktor Verzhbitskiy	...	Homeless mystery man
Yevgeniya Dobrovolskaya	...	Snow White
Roman Madyanov	...	Patrol Officer
Konstantin Murzenko
Anna Semenovich	...	Woman with a kid
Ville Haapasalo	...	Drunken Finn
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dato Bakhtadze	...	Artur
Vladimir Putin	...	President (archive footage)
Sergei Rubeko	...	Man with New-Year-tree
Eldar Ryazanov	...	Kostya's neighbor in plane

Also Known As:

Ирония судьбы, или С новым счастьем! (Russia)
Ирония судьбы-2 (Russia)
Ирония судьбы. Продолжение (Russia)
Ironiya sudby-2 (Russia) (alternative transliteration)
The Irony of Fate 2 (International: English title)
The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your New Happiness! (International: English title) (working title)
The Irony of Fate. The Sequel (International: English title) (informal title)

Runtime:

Russia:115 min

Country:

Russia

Language:

Russian

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Moscow, Russia

Company:

Bazelevs Production

Trivia:

The role of Nadyusha was offered to Milla Jovovich, but she declined after reading the script.

Movie Connections:

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

Another sad product of post-Soviet cinema...

If there is one lesson that could be drawn from this movie, it is this: do not touch old Soviet classics! Does anyone really think it is possible to produce a sequel to a movie thirty years after it came out on the screens? Since the old "Irony of Fate" was made, it has become one of the most venerated Soviet cultural icons. And icons are better be left alone. I'm not sure if any director would be able to make a successful "Irony of Fate-2", but what we are offered by Bekmambetov is at best a third-rate production. Bekmambetov may be a decent thriller-movie director (see his Daywatch and Nightwatch) but he is extremely weak as a maker of romantic comedies, which is what "Irony-2" was purported to be. The plot details are not developed at all (thus, we do not learn anything about Kostya's or Nadya's occupations or previous lives); the advertising of Toyota Camry is too obvious not to be noticed; and the acting, with the possible exception of Bezrukov (Irakliy) is one-dimensional and unconvincing. The old actors (Myagkov, Brylska) look tired, lost and emotionless, as if trying to understand what it is really they are doing in this movie. Special effects (such as the one with the Aurora) may be fitting in a fantasy thriller but they look out of place in a romantic comedy. In short, this is another proof that there is little worth seeing in post-Soviet cinema.