15 great films by Eldar Ryazanov that everyone should see

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

From early comedies to dark drama.

1. Carnival night

• USSR, 1956.
• Musical, melodrama, comedy.
• Duration: 78 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 9.

Young workers of the House of Culture are preparing to celebrate the New Year. A cheerful and modern concert program has already been prepared. But everything can be spoiled by the acting director Ogurtsov, who wants to turn the holiday into a kind of meeting with lecturers. The energetic Lenochka and the humble electrician Grisha have to outwit their boss and help everyone to celebrate the New Year merrily.

The first feature film by Eldar Ryazanov made the director famous. "Carnival Night" was watched by about 50 million viewers. The most successful scenes were dismantled for quotes, and beginners Yuri Belov and Lyudmila Gurchenko, who played the main roles, immediately became stars.

Although during production Ryazanov had many difficulties. At first, Lyudmila Kasyanova was approved for the role of Lenochka, but she could not cope and after three days of filming left the project. Then, when the director had already shot half of the picture, there was a problem with cost overruns. The commission looked at the finished material, and the majority decided that "Carnival Night" was doomed to failure. The situation was saved only by the great director Mikhail Romm, who said that the audience would love this film. Fortunately, he was right.

2. A girl with no address

• USSR, 1958.
• Melodrama, comedy.
• Duration: 90 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 9.

The builder Pasha Gusarov meets the wayward Katya Ivanova on the train. The heroes instantly fall in love, but, leaving the carriage, they lose each other. Pasha only knows that the girl's address begins with "Nikolo …". While the hero is looking for his beloved, she manages to try many professions in search of her place in the big city.

After the success of Carnival Night, Ryazanov wanted to take the lead roles in the new film by the same team led by Lyudmila Gurchenko. But the artistic council did not want to release a clone of the director's previous work. At the same time, screenwriter Leonid Lench met an aspiring actress Svetlana Karpinskaya on the subway, ideally suited to the image he described. It was immediately approved.

The audience fell in love with the simple romantic story. But Eldar Ryazanov himself was cool about "The Girl Without an Address", believing that the picture could have turned out brighter and more interesting.

3. Hussar ballad

• USSR, 1962.
• Musical, comedy.
• Duration: 96 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 9.

In 1812 the hussar lieutenant Rzhevsky comes to the house of his bride Alexandra, whom he has never seen. The brave military man represents the girl as a typical cutesy young lady. In fact, she perfectly fences and holds in the saddle. At first, Shura is just playing Rzhevsky by dressing up in a male cornet costume. But when the news of the war with the French arrives, she sets out with the hussars to meet the enemy.

The film is based on the play by Alexander Gladkov "A long time ago", which the director personally reworked, removing some scenes and adding some verses. The debutante, Larisa Golubkina, was again invited to the main role. Although initially Ryazanov looked closely at both Alice Freindlich and his favorite Lyudmila Gurchenko. But they all looked too feminine, even in men's clothing.

Igor Ilyinsky in the image of Kutuzov caused a lot of controversy. The leadership believed that the comedian would compromise the great commander. Ryazanov tried to cheat and removed Ilyinsky in the spring, when the snow began to melt, so that it was no longer possible to remake the scene with other artists.

However, the Ministry of Culture still insisted on replacing it, because of which the plan to release the "Hussar Ballad" for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino could be thwarted. Everything was decided by a laudatory article in the Izvestia newspaper, where the image of Kutuzov was separately noted.

4. Watch out for the car

• USSR, 1966.
• Drama, comedy, crime.
• Duration: 94 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 8, 1.

At first glance, Yuri Detochkin seems to be a modest and calm person: he works as an insurance agent and spends his leisure time in an amateur theater. In fact, the hero steals the cars of bribe-takers and thieves, sells them, and transfers all the money to orphanages. But from the point of view of the law, Detochkin is a criminal. Therefore, investigator Podberezovikov, who plays with the hijacker in the theater, is trying to figure it out.

This picture was the first joint work of Eldar Ryazanov and screenwriter Emil Braginsky - later they will create a dozen famous films. The authors took as a basis the legend of the noble hijacker, which walked through many cities. Moreover, one of the versions was told to the director by his friend, the famous Yuri Nikulin. But the law enforcement officials said that all this is just fiction. Therefore, Ryazanov and Braginsky took the classic images of strange heroes, such as Prince Myshkin or Don Quixote, as the basis for the character.

Of course, the Ministry of Culture at first did not give permission to shoot such a controversial film: in the picture, the main positive character was a thief who commits lynching. "Beware of the car" was postponed, Ryazanov undertook to shoot "Give a complaint book."

But the director and screenwriter did not abandon the original idea. The script was converted into a story and published in the magazine "Young Guard". Positive reviews and praise from readers immediately poured in. Then the leadership softened, and the picture was still removed.

5. Old robbers

• USSR, 1971.
• Drama, comedy.
• Duration: 92 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 8.

Elderly investigator Nikolai Sergeevich Myachikov is forced to resign, since a new candidate for his position has been sent from above. But the best friend Valentin Petrovich Vorobyov offers the hero an adventure. He will commit the "crime of the century", and Myachikov will reveal him and show his superiors that he is indispensable in his work. But things are not going according to plan.

The idea for the film came from Eldar Ryazanov after he met a pensioner in the hospital, who was almost forced to leave the prosecutor's office. The impressed director retold the story to Braginsky, and together they came up with a tragicomic script.

In the image of Myachikov, Ryazanov saw exactly Yuri Nikulin. They have been friends since the early 1960s, and the director has repeatedly invited the famous actor to his pictures. Nikulin could play the main role in "Man from Nowhere", but only flickered in the image of a policeman, then his name was in "Beware of the car". And even in Give a Book of Complaints, he only appeared for a couple of minutes. "Old robbers" became the only full-fledged joint work of the two legends.

6. Incredible adventures of Italians in Russia

• USSR, Italy, 1973.
• Adventure, comedy.
• Duration: 104 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 8, 0.

An elderly Russian emigrant dies in Rome, but finally she manages to inform her granddaughter Olga that her fortune is hidden in Leningrad "under the lion." The heiress wants to find the treasure, but local orderlies, one of the hospital's patients, a doctor and mafiosi, who overheard the conversation, are sent after her. The company arrives in Leningrad, where they are met by a certain Andrei, who introduces himself as a guide.

Ryazanov and Braginsky came up with this scenario back in 1970. At the same time, Mosfilm, together with Dino De Laurentiis's company, released Sergei Bondarchuk's Waterloo. After the realization of the historical picture, the Italians ran into debt to the Soviet studio and therefore made a proposal to shoot another joint project. So "The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia" was launched into production. Only De Laurentiis asked to add more dynamics and adventure to the picture. He especially liked the scene with a living lion chasing heroes.

The work on the adventure comedy was connected with a series of trials. The scene with the landing of the plane was filmed at the airfield, but still the pilots sitting in the cars on the fake highway were in great danger. The actors performed many of the tricks themselves: Andrei Mironov personally hung on the raised bridge and himself descended on the carpet from the height of the sixth floor. Although difficult chases were staged with professional stuntmen. Alas, it was not without a tragedy. Lev King, who participated in the filming, attacked passers-by and was shot by a policeman.

7. Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath

• USSR, 1975.
• Melodrama, comedy.
• Duration: 184 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 8, 1.

Muscovite Zhenya traditionally gathers with his friends in the bathhouse on New Year's Eve. He drinks too much and, due to the mistake of his comrades, flies to Leningrad, where he comes to his address in a very similar apartment. But soon the hostess Nadya appears there, who is not at all happy with the uninvited guest. After all, her fiancé should come soon.

The play “Enjoy Your Bath! or Once on New Year's Eve … Ryazanov and Braginsky wrote in 1969, after which it was repeatedly staged in the theater. That is why the film can be considered almost intimate: most of the action takes place in identical rooms.

The authors put a lot of social satire into the plot, hinting at the monotonous life of Soviet people. Thus, apartments in different cities and the furnishings in them are indistinguishable. However, over time, viewers began to perceive "Irony of Fate" exclusively as a simple New Year's comedy.

8. Office romance

• USSR, 1977.
• Drama, melodrama, comedy.
• Duration: 159 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 8, 2.

A shy employee of the statistics department, Anatoly Efremovich Novoseltsev, wants to get a promotion, but does not know how to approach the strict director Kalugina. An old friend Yuri Samokhvalov advises him to hit his boss. But Novoseltsev does not know how to flirt with women at all.

Like The Irony of Fate, the new film was born out of a play by Ryazanov and Braginsky called Co-workers. It was staged in theaters, and in 1973 was transferred to screens in the form of a television show. Dissatisfied with the result, the authors decided to remove their version and called it "Office Romance".

Some of the actors came from auditions for their previous work. Svetlana Nemolyaeva previously auditioned for the role of Nadia in The Irony of Fate, and Oleg Basilashvili was supposed to play Ippolit, but refused for personal reasons. Liya Akhedzhakova appeared in both films.

But the most difficult thing was to change the image of Andrei Myagkov. In The Irony of Fate, he was portrayed as a romantic hero. In "Office Romance", the actor had to grow a mustache and put on the most awkward glasses in order to look like a nondescript employee.

9. Garage

• USSR, 1979.
• Drama, comedy.
• Duration: 96 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 8, 0.

The board of the garage cooperative arranges a general meeting and announces unpleasant news: due to the construction of the highway, several people will have to be excluded from the lists. It turns out that those who will not receive a garage have already been selected in advance. But suddenly the participants decide to challenge this decision.

Eldar Ryazanov himself once attended a meeting of the Mosfilm State Sports Complex, where a very similar issue was resolved. The director was surprised to see familiar people from the most unpleasant side, and decided to turn the tragic story into a film. Moreover, Ryazanov himself is present in the plot in two images. Allegorically, he reflected himself in Professor Smirnovsky, who follows the lead of the general opinion. And in the finale, the director personally played a small, but very important role.

Ryazanov gathered in the film many popular actors who were released from theaters for only a month. Therefore, it took only 24 days to shoot Garage. The work was facilitated by the fact that almost all the action of the film takes place in one room. And initially the veterinarian Sidorin was supposed to be played by Alexander Shirvindt. But he was late for the rehearsal, and on the advice of Leah Akhedzhakova, the director invited Valentin Gaft, who was filming in the next pavilion.

Initially, everyone feared that such a harsh satire would not be allowed into the theaters at all. But during the next plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Secretary General Leonid Brezhnev called for revealing the shortcomings of society. And in this regard, Garage turned out to be very relevant.

10. Say a word about the poor hussar

• USSR, 1980.
• Musical, drama, comedy.
• Duration: 167 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 8, 0.

20 years after the war of 1812, a hussar regiment arrives in a small town. And right there, Count Merzlyaev arrives from St. Petersburg, who must check the military for reliability. Meanwhile, the cornet Pletnev falls in love with a local girl Nastya, but because of his antics, the heroine's father goes to prison. All the lines gradually converge into a funny story with a sad ending.

Oddly enough, the historical tragicomedy was almost banned for reasons of censorship. The thing is that just in 1979, when Ryazanov was shooting a picture, Soviet troops entered Afghanistan. And according to the director's idea, the negative character Merzlyaev, played by Oleg Basilashvili, was a gendarme official - that is, a representative of a law enforcement agency.

The authors were forced to rewrite the script, at the same time removing the mention of the hussars visiting the brothel. They also demanded to make the ending more positive. But Ryazanov insisted on the death of one of the characters, because without a tragic denouement, the whole idea was lost. As a result, the director considered "On the Poor Hussar" one of his most difficult works.

11. Station for two

• USSR, 1982.
• Melodrama, drama.
• Duration: 141 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 9.

Prisoner Platon Ryabinin, who is serving time in a penal colony in Siberia, recalls an unusual moment from his past. Once a new acquaintance accidentally took away his passport, and he was stuck at the station for several days. There Ryabinin met the barmaid Vera, and at first their communication did not work out: new acquaintances had a fight. But then the aggression turned into falling in love.

There is still debate about where Ryazanov took the basis of the film's plot. There is a legend that supposedly the composer Mikael Tariverdiev, like the hero of "Station for Two", took the blame for the fatal accident. Although in fact, his beloved, actress Lyudmila Maksakova, was driving. And the scene in which Ryabinin was almost late from his dismissal was copied from the poet Yaroslav Smelyakov, who was exiled to Siberia on a denunciation.

By the way, Eldar Ryazanov also wrote poems for the title song of the film "Do not be afraid to change your life." But since the director was embarrassed to admit this to the composer of the painting, Andrei Petrov, he said that he had taken the work of the poet David Samoilov. And earlier Ryazanov issued the text of the song from "Office Romance" in the same way for the work of William Blake. So he tried to achieve an objective assessment by the composer of his poems.

12. Cruel romance

• USSR, 1984.
• Melodrama, drama.
• Duration: 137 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 8, 0.

The adaptation of the play by Alexander Ostrovsky "The Dowry" tells about the poor Larissa, for whom the time has come to marry. Since the mother cannot give the girl a dowry, she agrees to the proposal of the not most prominent gentleman Yuli Karandyshev. But right before the wedding, Larisa's former lover, the beautiful and rich Sergey Paratov, comes to the city.

With each new film in the work of Eldar Ryazanov, it became clearer and clearer that he was trying to get away from romantic comedies and create dramatic films. And in order to finally establish himself as a serious author, the director transferred a well-known classic work to the screen.

However, critics were negatively disposed: Ryazanov was accused of vulgarizing the classic plot. The beginner Larisa Guzeeva in the title role seemed to experts too unconvincing against the background of famous actors. And Paratov, played by Nikita Mikhalkov, did not look like a scoundrel, but simply too romantic a person.

However, the audience loved this picture. "Cruel Romance" was called the best film of the year, and the romances from the picture immediately went to the people. Including "Love is a magical land", the poems to which were again written by Ryazanov himself.

13. Forgotten melody for flute

• Drama, melodrama, comedy.
• USSR, 1987.
• Duration: 134 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 7.

Once Leonid Filimonov was a creative person. But then he married the daughter of an influential man and became a big boss who fights free-thinking with all his might. However, in secret, Filimonov imagines that one day he will stand up and tell people the whole truth. And now his heart grabs, he is rescued by a young nurse Lida. The heroes immediately begin a romance.

Ryazanov and Braginsky wrote the script for Forgotten Melody for Flute in 1976. But then, as expected, they were denied staging: the film talked about the shortcomings of officials, and even captured topics such as adultery and the problems of Soviet life. It was not until 10 years later that perestroika began in the USSR, and directors were allowed to show controversial topics on screens.

Unfortunately, on the set of this picture, Eldar Ryazanov had a microstroke. However, the director still finished the film, combining work with treatment.

14. Dear Elena Sergeevna

• USSR, 1988.
• Thriller, drama.
• Duration: 94 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 8.

Pupils of grade 10 "B" come home to their teacher Elena Sergeevna to wish her a happy birthday. But in reality, they have very different goals related to exam results. To convince the mentor to help them, young heroes are ready for the most cruel measures.

Eldar Ryazanov got acquainted with the play of the same name by Lyudmila Razumovskaya in the early 1980s. But at that time it was impossible to transfer such a harsh and even provocative work to the screen. During perestroika, the director returned to the memorable play. And this film once again reveals Ryazanov's critical attitude to the Soviet order, showing the difference between the slogans that Elena Sergeevna speaks and the behavior of real people.

This painting turned out to be less famous than other works of the author. But, perhaps, it is she who most vividly shows that Ryazanov can shoot not only comedies and dramas, but also very dark plots on the verge of a thriller.

15. Promised Heaven

• Drama, comedy.
• USSR, 1991.
• Duration: 125 minutes.
• "KinoPoisk": 7, 6.

A wide variety of beggars live in the city dump: from a former party worker nicknamed the President to a machinist who took a steam locomotive with him. Once a woman who has lost her memory is nailed to the homeless, whom they call Katya Ivanova. The heroes somehow survive in poverty, but local authorities plan to seize their landfill.

Ryazanov shot the picture in conditions very close to real ones. On the outskirts of the Kievskaya marshalling yard, not far from Mosfilm, a dump was built, where an old steam locomotive was driven under its own power and a huge amount of rubbish was brought. Most of the shooting took place in the evenings, while it was already a cold autumn and it was constantly raining. As a result, the actors really imbued with the feelings of their tired and tortured characters.

Most of the roles were played by famous artists who have already worked with the director. Moreover, for the role of President Ryazanov first invited Georgy Burkov, but he ended up in the hospital, he was replaced by Valentin Gaft. And Liya Akhedzhakova doubted for a long time whether she should play the artist Fima - the actress did not like the character. But then she was very pleased with the result.