Courier (1986)

The story of a teenager boy in times of the comunism fall in the Soviet Union.

Director:

Karen Shakhnazarov

Writers:

Aleksandr Borodyanskiy (screenplay), Karen Shakhnazarov (novel) (as K. Shakhnazarov)

Stars:

Fyodor Dunayevsky, Anastasiya Nemolyaeva, Oleg Basilashvili

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Fyodor Dunayevsky	...	Ivan Miroshnikov
Anastasiya Nemolyaeva	...	Katya Kuznetsova
Oleg Basilashvili	...	Semyon Petrovich Kuznetsov
Inna Churikova	...	Lidiya Alekseyevna Miroshnikova
Svetlana Kryuchkova	...	Zinaida Pavlovna
Aleksandr Pankratov-Chyornyy	...	Stepan Afanasyevich Makarov
Vladimir Menshov	...	Oleg Nikolaevich
Aleftina Evdokimova	...	Mariya Viktorovna Kuznetsova (as Alevtina Yevdokimova)
Yevdokiya Urusova	...	Agnessa Ivanovna
Vladimir Smirnov	...	Kolya Bazin
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sergey Chonishvili	...	Ilya (as S. Chonishvili)
Z. Dianova
Olimpiada Kalmykova	...	Gost na dne rozhdeniya (as O. Kalmykova)
Nikolai Karnaukhov	...	Sotrudnik otdela kadrov (as N. Kornaukhov)
Larisa Kurdyumova	...	Gost na dne rozhdeniya (as L. Kurdyumova)

Storyline

Ivan Mirosnikov, a cheeky young man in the Gorbachev era, is trying to figure out what to do with his life (he's not in college, and the 2-year mandatory military service is looming large ahead of him). Meanwhile, he lives with his divorced mother, and works as a courier at a Russian newspaper. Through his job, he meets patronizing Professor Kuznetzov and his rebellious daughter Katya. To annoy the professor, Ivan claims to have an affair with Katya. To his surprise, Katya backs his story up.

---

Plot Keywords:

breakdance | teen movie | teenager | based on novel | 

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

---

Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

The winner of the yearly popularity contest organized by the magazine Soviet Screen.

---

Connections

Referenced in Evening Urgant: Kseniya Alfyorova/Egor Beroev/Dzhigan (2018)

User Reviews

The Messenger Boy Brings the End of Communism

The Messenger Boy brought the "gritty reality" of the time approaching the end of the Soviet Union to the screen in a much more enjoyable way than other Chernukhas like Little Vera. Although the main character Ivan represents the rebellion and insolence that was associated with the young generation of the time without any restraint, there was an underlying positive quality, almost a purity, in him that singled him out as an authentic, "good" person of the time.

A great way to describe this masked purity would be to compare Ivan with Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. Both characters share a certain "unlikeability" among their elders and the older generation of the society of which they are part, but their frankness is seen as a positive directional icon to their own generation. Each dropped out of school and flops around society with either a poor job or none at all, but is nevertheless seen as a lost child in a dirty world, and hence pitied for their genuineness. Katia enjoyed Ivan's tactless mannerisms much like Holden's friends (however few) enjoyed his general apathy--they felt a bond with each representation of the "lost generation."

The movie truly made one feel for Ivan's plight--it's not that he did not care, it is simply that the society of which he was part was falling apart, so their expectations on his behavior did not do much. It is precisely this truth, this authenticity, that made Ivan, and the entire movie, so enjoyable to watch. Finally, props to Oleg Basilashvili, the actor who played Katia's father, to be able to switch roles so effectively from The Autumn Marathon as Bouzikin to The Messenger Boy-- it almost seemed like nothing had changed, it is just that time has passed between the two, which further adds to the truth value of this particular film.

Details

Official Sites:

Mosfilm [rus]

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

29 December 1986 (Soviet Union)

Also Known As:

The Messenger

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$20,192

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mosfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1