This gem is one of the few Russian comedies that has legs. It is indeed funny and the story is universal.Everyone seems to be having fun and it is easy to tell why. It is a pity that it seldom, if ever, can be found screening in the West The story is simple: Three petty crooks are mistaken for three famous Shakespearean actors and, when they are taken to a small town, must put on a production of Othello. Of course, no one knows a line of the play. The play is presented in front of a distinguished audience which includes the three real actors, the police and the women who the three crooks robbed. The production is hilarious. Check it out.
Reviews
7 Reviews
The Very Same Munchhausen
(1980 TV Movie)
What can i say? The greatest Russian film of all time.
7 May 2014
This is the greatest Russian film of all time and the late, great Oleg Yankovsky gives a performance for the ages. Yankovsky is given probably the hardest task an actor has ever been given, to make the Baron a believable human and a man who always tells the truth. If you don't believe him the film fails miserably. As he says, "Baron Munchausen is famous not for flying to the moon but for never telling a lie." And you do believe him and root for him to overcome all obstacles and settle down with his beloved Marta. The ending is one of the greatest in all Russian film as the Baron goes on to immortality.
Photography is spectacular as are the sets and this film is the only one that has a song sung by a 15 1/2' woman! And the Baron's theme is unforgettable.
If you only see one Russian film, see this or An Ordinary Miracle, both with Yankovsky and both directed by Mark Zakharov.
Photography is spectacular as are the sets and this film is the only one that has a song sung by a 15 1/2' woman! And the Baron's theme is unforgettable.
If you only see one Russian film, see this or An Ordinary Miracle, both with Yankovsky and both directed by Mark Zakharov.
An Ordinary Miracle
(1979 TV Movie)
2nd greatest Russian film
7 May 2014
Everything is right in this classic film. The music is gorgeous, the acting superb and the color photography entrancing. Add to this the direction of the great Mark Zakharov and you can't miss. A magician (Yankovsky) changes a bear into a handsome youth (Abdulov). This spell will be broken ONLY if the young man meets, falls in love with and is kissed by a princess. If that does happen the man will revert back to being a bear FOREVER!!!!! And at the 25 minute mark of a film over two hours long the princess meets the youth.
To me this is the second greatest Russian film and can be viewed again and again. You will love it!
To me this is the second greatest Russian film and can be viewed again and again. You will love it!
Karnaval
(1982)
warm and wonderful with a universal theme
26 September 2013
What a wonderful find!
The story of this very Russian film is universal and easily could have been made with Judy Garland in the lead. A young Russian girl is in love with show business and wants to leave her small town for Moscow and make it big in the big city. She encounters her long missing, remarried with child, father and gets a boy friend (Alexander Abdulov) who uses her and them leaves her.
After bouncing about Moscow trying many different jobs - some in show business - she gets her big break when a roller skating bear gets diarrhea (!!!!!) and takes it's place.
The film is fuzzy, warm and wonderful with great dancing, a glorious musical score and an uplifting theme for the female lead. And the lead is outstanding! A great film to try if you want to see a charming Russian film about Russian people and Russian life. And little, if any, propaganda.
The story of this very Russian film is universal and easily could have been made with Judy Garland in the lead. A young Russian girl is in love with show business and wants to leave her small town for Moscow and make it big in the big city. She encounters her long missing, remarried with child, father and gets a boy friend (Alexander Abdulov) who uses her and them leaves her.
After bouncing about Moscow trying many different jobs - some in show business - she gets her big break when a roller skating bear gets diarrhea (!!!!!) and takes it's place.
The film is fuzzy, warm and wonderful with great dancing, a glorious musical score and an uplifting theme for the female lead. And the lead is outstanding! A great film to try if you want to see a charming Russian film about Russian people and Russian life. And little, if any, propaganda.
Alye parusa
(1961)
the most romantic
26 July 2012
This is simply the most beautiful and romantic film ever made. Even stranger, it was directed by Alexnadr Ptushko, known for his fantasy films and spacial effects. I guess he wanted a change of pace from his overblown spectacles. He succeeds beautifully.
This early 20th century novella is a classic in Russia yet, like The Wizard of Oz, the film is far better than the book. The two leads are outstanding and the girl who plays Assol is stunning! The musical score should be recorded. What a pity this is not known in the West.
If you like The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Random Harvest, The Bishop's Wife, One Way Passage and Somewhere in Time - and believe in miracles - this is the crown jewel.
This early 20th century novella is a classic in Russia yet, like The Wizard of Oz, the film is far better than the book. The two leads are outstanding and the girl who plays Assol is stunning! The musical score should be recorded. What a pity this is not known in the West.
If you like The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Random Harvest, The Bishop's Wife, One Way Passage and Somewhere in Time - and believe in miracles - this is the crown jewel.
Two Comrades Served
(1968)
An unknown classic!
8 July 2012
Warning: Spoilers
One of the great anti-war films ever made, hardly known in the West. Hard to follow if you know nothing about the Russian Civil War but this does not detract in the least. A fascinating film, beautifully acted, and with some fantastic war scenes. And the late, great Oleg Yankovsky, Russia's greatest actor and one of the five greatest of all time, is brilliant in one of his first big roles. Should be studied in all classes of Russian history. As powerful a film as Paths of Glory, All Quiet on the Western Front and The Human Condition.
SPOILERS!!! The last three scenes, excluding a brief coda, are very upsetting! A White soldier, having one shot left in his rifle before leaving the conflict, randomly shots and kills a Russian soldier (Yankovsky) who is a man of peace. A group of White Russans, surrounded and backed into the sea, refuse to surrender and march into the surf and die. Most do this at first and, finally, they all do. I think this is based on a true incident. Lastly is one of the most heartbreaking scenes ever filmed. A soldier, getting on a passenger ship to escape the war, cannot take his horse on the evacuation ship, though he tries. The horse, frightened, now runs back and forth on the pier, not knowing what to do. Finally he jumps into the sea and tries to follow the departing ship and drowns. The scene is almost unwatchable.
You can do much worse than try this Yankovsky film.
SPOILERS!!! The last three scenes, excluding a brief coda, are very upsetting! A White soldier, having one shot left in his rifle before leaving the conflict, randomly shots and kills a Russian soldier (Yankovsky) who is a man of peace. A group of White Russans, surrounded and backed into the sea, refuse to surrender and march into the surf and die. Most do this at first and, finally, they all do. I think this is based on a true incident. Lastly is one of the most heartbreaking scenes ever filmed. A soldier, getting on a passenger ship to escape the war, cannot take his horse on the evacuation ship, though he tries. The horse, frightened, now runs back and forth on the pier, not knowing what to do. Finally he jumps into the sea and tries to follow the departing ship and drowns. The scene is almost unwatchable.
You can do much worse than try this Yankovsky film.
bad propaganda and a bad film
4 March 2012
A gorgeous print of this film is now available. Too bad as it is a terrible film. It is almost impossible to follow and in most action scenes it is hard to tell who is who. There are thousands of extras and battles of all types here but for no good reason. Stalin, Molotov, Hitler, Roosevelt, Churchill and other World War 2 personalities occasionally show up but, overall, Stalin steals everything.
The Fall of Berlin is now also available and though a bad film it is fascinating and I love it. Skip this mess and see the latter. You'll see Stalin and Hitler as you've never seen them before in the greatest propaganda film of all time. It is everything The Battle of Stalingrad is not and it has the glorious music of Shostakovich.
The Fall of Berlin is now also available and though a bad film it is fascinating and I love it. Skip this mess and see the latter. You'll see Stalin and Hitler as you've never seen them before in the greatest propaganda film of all time. It is everything The Battle of Stalingrad is not and it has the glorious music of Shostakovich.
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