15 Soviet comedies still relevant today

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The era of cooperatives and scarcity has passed, but your favorite films have not gotten worse.

Nowadays, few people believe that a woman, in addition to professional duties, is obliged to own a gait "from the hip", and indeed a lot has changed. However, hardly anyone can argue with the fact that valuable lessons can be learned from old films today.

1. Striped flight

• USSR, 1961.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 83 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 5.

Chef Shuleikin so wanted to get out of the distant seaport that the hero pretended to be a trainer, just to get on a dry cargo ship carrying animals to the Odessa Zoo. But the monkey on board, inopportunely, opened the cages with predators.

The crew hoped to the last that the "trainer" would put things in order on board, but in the end, salvation came from where they were not expecting. The situation was saved by the pretty barmaid Marianne. This proves once again: even a seemingly weak person can do a lot. Indeed, of all the seasoned sailors on the ship, only one fragile girl did not fail in front of the tigers.

2. Welcome, or No unauthorized entry

• USSR, 1964.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 74 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 2.

Kostya Inochkin fined, barely crossing the threshold of the pioneer camp, swam across the river without permission. Manager Dynin - a boring cracker, careerist and formalist - immediately excludes Kostya so that other children, following the boy's example, do not become the same violators.

Not wanting to upset his beloved grandmother, Kostya secretly returns to the camp. Friends help the hapless exile hide from Dynin and feed him food from the dining room. Suddenly, the children learn about the upcoming parental day: if Kostya's grandmother comes there, the deception can be revealed. So the heroes are trying with all their might to disrupt the approach of the event.

Elem Klimov's debut film was conceived as a subtle satire on the Soviet system. And although a lot has changed since then, friendship and mutual assistance still help in difficult circumstances.

3. Operation "Y" and other adventures of Shurik

• USSR, 1965.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 90 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 6.

Colically funny comedy by Leonid Gaidai consists of three short stories, united by one hero - resourceful student Shurik. In the first story "Partner" the hero fights with the overage bully Fedya, but in the end he wins and conducts "explanatory work" with the brawler.

In the second short story "Obsession" Shurik was preparing for the exam so enthusiastically that he stopped noticing what was happening around him. So he ended up at the house of an unfamiliar student.

In the final story "Operation Y", a trinity of crooks are going to stage a burglary in order to save the dishonest manager of the trading base from audit. But on their way, of course, there is an omnipresent hero.

Each of these short sketches has a lot to learn for the attentive viewer. The leitmotif of "Partner" is never too late to improve, it is only important to want. The storyline of the student Oak from "Obsession" hints: it's pointless to cheat, because everything secret becomes clear. And do not underestimate those around you: it is likely that they see right through you ("The professor, of course, is a mug, but the equipment is with him, with him …").

And the short story with the participation of Coward, Goonies and Experienced is a clear demonstration that even the most thorough preparation does not guarantee success. After all, your entire ideally organized plan can be destroyed by pure chance.

4. Prisoner of the Caucasus, or Shurik's New Adventures

• USSR, 1967.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 82 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 4.

Shurik goes to the Caucasus to study local folklore and falls in love with Nina, a student of the Pedagogical Institute, who has arrived for the holidays. But he is not the only one who is fascinated by the “Komsomol member, sportswoman and just a beauty”: the nomenklatura worker comrade Saakhov actually buys Nina from her uncle Dzhabrail for 20 rams and a Finnish refrigerator. Of course, without the knowledge of the "bride".

Deceived by the cunning Dzhabrail, Shurik involuntarily becomes an accomplice in the kidnapping of the girl. Now the hero needs to fix everything, but Coward, Goonies and Experienced are in the way. The moral of Gaidaev's comedy is still relevant today: you cannot be forcibly sweet. Even if you are the head of the district committee.

5. Diamond hand

• USSR, 1968.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 94 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 5.

A simple Soviet citizen and an exemplary family man Semyon Semyonovich Gorbunkov goes on a foreign cruise. His neighbor in the cabin turns out to be the charming Gesha Kozodoev, who is a member of a gang of smugglers. He goes on a mission: he must get rare jewelry and transport them in plaster. However, a fatal misunderstanding spoils all the intruders' plans: the plaster is applied not to Kozodoev, but to Gorbunkov. The criminals are desperately trying to return their prey, not suspecting that Semyon Semyonovich has long reported what is happening to the police.

It is hardly worth mentioning that the comedy has become popular among the people, and many phrases from the film are winged. And behind the jokes and witticisms, as always with Gaidai, the meaning was hidden: under certain circumstances, anyone can become a hero.

6. Gentlemen of Fortune

• USSR, 1971.
• Comedy, detective.
• Duration: 84 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 5.

The good-natured head of the kindergarten, Yevgeny Ivanovich Troshkin, agrees to help the police on a very dangerous mission. The fact is that Evgeny Ivanovich is like two drops of water similar to a recidivist named Associate Professor, who stole a priceless cultural relic - the helmet of Alexander the Great. Disguised as Associate Professor Troshkin, having learned prison jargon, he goes to a colony in Central Asia to find out from the bandit's accomplices where the museum value has disappeared.

In the film directed by Alexander Seryi, co-authored with the famous Georgy Danelia, there is something to laugh at and be sad about. And also "Gentlemen of Fortune" teach the viewer that there are no hopeless people. The main thing is to find someone who will believe in you.

7. Old robbers

• USSR, 1971.
• Tragicomedy.
• Duration: 86 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 5.

Elderly investigator Nikolai Sergeevich Myachikov is forced to leave his favorite job, because “fresh blood” was sent to replace him (but in fact, just a candidate imposed from above). Nikolai Sergeevich's best friend - also five minutes later, pensioner Valentin Petrovich Vorobyov - suggests organizing and immediately effectively solving the "crime of the century."

First, the old men steal a picture of Rembrandt from the museum, but no one notices the loss of the priceless masterpiece. Then the friends develop a plan to rob the acquaintance of Myachikov, but a real thief takes the money bag from the heroes.

People have always been scared to retire. In this respect, nothing has changed. It is not surprising that for the hero of the film, retirement becomes a real tragedy, because work was the work of his life.

8. Ivan Vasilievich changes his profession

• USSR, 1973.
• Comedy, musical, fantasy, adventure.
• Duration: 88 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 4.

A talented engineer Timofeev (or just Shurik) creates a time machine in an ordinary city apartment. As a result of a series of misunderstandings, the quarrelsome manager of the house Ivan Vasilyevich Bunsha and the charming thief Georges Miloslavsky end up in the chambers of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, and the sovereign himself - in the 20th century.

Let us recall Gaidaev's "Operation Y" - there Coward, Dunce and Experienced all night preparing to stage a theft, but still suffered a fiasco. But Miloslavsky and Bunsha succeeded in deceiving the royal retinue, although their plan was, to put it mildly, ill-considered and spontaneous. Takeaway: Sometimes the best idea is crazy.

And the film subtly hints to the audience that tyrants are tyrants at all times. Be it a harmful manager (“The king knows what he is doing! The state will not become impoverished. Take it! ") Or the odious tsar (" I put him on a barrel of gunpowder - let him fly! ").

9. Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath

• USSR, 1975.
• Lyric comedy, melodrama.
• Duration: 184 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 3.

A convinced bachelor Zhenya Lukashin is going to propose to his beloved Gala right on New Year's Eve (though not without pressure from the future bride). But fate decreed otherwise: a few hours before the chiming clock, a dead drunk Zhenya finds himself in Leningrad, where a typical house is located at the same address. He looks like the one in which the hero lives in Moscow.

There he is discovered by the owner of a Leningrad apartment - a pretty teacher of Russian language and literature Nadya Sheveleva. She is preparing to celebrate the New Year with her fiancé Hippolyte, and a stranger sound asleep on her bed can ruin everything.

Now it is already impossible to imagine the main holiday without the music of Mikael Tariverdiev and the beloved heroes of Barbara Brylskaya and Andrei Myagkov. But Ryazanov's film is still not so much about a New Year's miracle, which can wait anywhere - even on the threshold of a typical apartment, as about loneliness. An important lesson should be learned from The Irony of Fate: relations with those who understand you are always better than those built on the principle of “it should be done”.

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10. Office romance

• USSR, 1977.
• Lyrical comedy.
• Duration: 151 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 4.

The film is set in the Moscow statistical office. In the hope of getting promoted, the shy Anatoly Efremovich Novoseltsev is trying to "hit" the boss, the impenetrable Lyudmila Prokofievna Kalugina. Gradually, Anatoly Efremovich realizes that the headmistress is not at all as heartless and callous as she wants to seem.

Of course, some of the film's ideas are hopelessly outdated: these days, few people would think of demanding from a business woman "free plastic panther before the jump." But still, you should not treat Ryazanov's painting too strictly: it is full of relevant thoughts. For example, that a book is not judged by its cover. An inconspicuous employee with no visible career prospects is capable of highly spiritual actions. A faint-hearted bastard may well be hiding behind the mask of everyone's favorite. And "mymra", if you look closely, is actually a very pretty woman.

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11. Mimino

• USSR, 1977.
• Tragicomedy.
• Duration: 92 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 3.

The lyrical film by George Danelia tells about the simple-minded provincial pilot Valiko Mizandari, nicknamed Mimino. Having met the beautiful flight attendant Larisa, the hero realizes that he deserves more, and flies to Moscow in the hope of getting into the big aviation.

The easiest way to say is: follow the dream. But "Mimino" develops this idea further: after all, in the pursuit of what you want, it is important not to lose yourself.

12. Garage

• USSR, 1979.
• Tragicomedy, satire.
• Duration: 96 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 2.

The action takes place in the fictional Research Institute for the Protection of Animals from the Environment. At a meeting of the cooperative, an important question is being resolved: which of the employees should become extreme and lose the garage. In the process, intelligent scientists turn into cynical and selfish rivals before our very eyes, ready for anything for the sake of profit.

Despite the fact that the era of scientific research institutes has passed, and a personal car is no longer considered a luxury, the general message of Eldar Ryazanov's masterpiece tragicomedy is not at all outdated: you cannot go over your head in the struggle for a warm place. Rather, it is possible, but who is such behavior paints?

13. Love and doves

• USSR, 1984.
• Lyrical comedy.
• Duration: 107 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 1.

A simple village worker of the timber industry Vasily Kuzyakin, injured at work, goes to rest at the sea. There he meets the imposing city woman Raisa Zakharovna. For her sake, Vasily leaves his family, but eventually realizes that he cannot live without his wife and children.

The immortal tragicomedy of Vladimir Menshov, sold out in quotations, prompts modern viewers: one can and should work on relationships, even if it seems that everything is hopeless. But sometimes you have to be patient for this.

14. The most charming and attractive

• USSR, 1985.
• Lyrical comedy.
• Duration: 89 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 5.

Chronically lonely Nadya Klyueva accidentally meets her school friend Susanna, who works as a sociologist. Susanna, who imagines herself to be a connoisseur of relationships, undertakes to improve the girl's personal life. Only here in the design bureau, where Klyuev works, there is really no one to seduce - except perhaps the handsome, fashionable and "ladies' favorite" Volodya Smirnov.

Although the film was shot more than 30 years ago, its main idea remains the same: true love cannot be won with tricks, it is better to just be yourself. And even the scarce Cardin with Maestro pies will not help to please someone who does not show interest in you.

15. Kin-dza-dza

• USSR, 1986.
• Science fiction, dystopia, tragicomedy.
• Duration: 135 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 2.

The legendary comedic dystopia of Georgy Danelia tells about the unintentional journey of foreman Vladimir Nikolaevich Mashkov and student Gedevan to the planet Plyuk. Having been there for some time, the heroes understand that they are in a very strange world, where high technology is bizarrely combined with ignorance, devastation and a complete lack of moral principles.

"Kin-Dza-Dza!" is truly a distorting mirror of modern civilization. And it looks like this movie will pass any test of time. After all, technological progress does not at all prevent people from remaining ignorant and greedy.

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