Zhenitba Balzaminova (1964) User Reviews

The fulfilled dream of one director

[sunlion · 9/10 · 23 March 2005]

The movie is an adaptation of a very old Russian satirical novel. To adapt the novel for the screen and make a movie was a long-time dream of the director of this movie. During the most stringent Soviet rule he couldn't make it, the censorship didn't allow it for some reasons (that could be sometimes truly bizarre and incomprehensible). Finally he succeeded and the movie was made.

The main character - young clerk who was supposed to be 17 years old, was played by brilliant Georgy Vitsin, who at the time of filming was over 50 !

The film is very light and playful, but never dumb, no unnecessary banana-peel jokes. It is a real "cure against the stress" and also another example of how a funny movie can also be a work of art.

Comedy about XIX century Russia

[nl-7 · 19 August 2003]

Poor clerk in XIX Century Russia is looking for a rich bride. The problem is that rich brides are looking for a rich husbands. Good performance by Vitsin and the entire cast. One of the best movies made about about Russian life of the period. Note: some jokes are typical Russian, so outsider might find them rather strange.

Dickens brought to the Russian soil

[Smillas_sister · 10/10 · 21 September 2023]

A truly Dickensian satirical comedy featuring vignettes from the mid-19th century life in the Russian Empire.

Misha Balzaminov is a hapless, poorly paid young clerk who spends all his spare time daydreaming about finding himself a rich bride. Assisted in this task by his simple-minded mother and her friend the matchmaker, he embarks on his search which puts him in a number of side-splittingly embarrassing situations. The young man's greedy and selfish character is tempered by his naivete and by the natural charm of the leading actor (Georgy Vitsin).

The film is based on the theater play trilogy by the leading 19th-century Russian playwright Alexander N. Ostrovsky, much loved for his hilarious and tragic depictions of Russia's emerging middle class. The filmmakers expertly blend all three stories of Balzaminov's clumsy courtships together, embellishing them with star performances from some of Russia's finest actors. This, together with the film's kind and humorous atmosphere, has made it an everlasting classic with the Russian audience.