Cast:
Yuri Nikulin (Semyon Semyonovich Gorbunkov), Nina Grebeshkova (Nadia), Andrei Mironov (Gennadiy Kozodoyev), Anatoli Papanov (Lyolik), Nonna Mordyukova (Varvara Pliushch), Svetlana Svetlichnaya (Anna Sergeyevna), Stanislav Chekan (Mikhail Ivanovich, Captain), and Vladimir Gulyaev (Volodya) Directed by Leonid Gaidai.
Review:
Sure, it may seem a bit odd to pick another notable film from a country in terms of audience appeal, but, well, there hasn't been a single Soviet film covered here that was a comedy, so I figured now is a good time to start. The director of this film in Leonid Gaidai was once called the "King of Soviet comedy", which came after numerous successes in a lengthy career. Gaidai was born in Svobodny in the Soviet Union, for whom he served in the Red Army when war broke out among the Eastern Front. He studied and acted in the theater before studying at the Moscow Institute of Cinematography. He worked on a couple of films as an assistant before co-directing his first feature with A Weary Road (1956), which was the first of only two dramas he did. A number of years passed (which included a drastically cut second film in A Groom from the Other World in 1958) before he drew praise with his short films such as Dog Barbos and Unusual Cross (1961), which featured Georgy Vitsin, Yuri Nikulin, and Yevgeny Morgunov as a comedy trio. They would be featured together in features such as Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures (1965) and Kidnapping, Caucasian Style (1967). He would direct films besides having said trio with features such as The Twelve Chairs (1971) and It Can't Be! (1975), both serving as literary adaptations. While he would keep busy in filmmaking until his death in 1993 at the age of 70, it is perhaps The Diamond Arm that represents him at his peak. With nearly 80 million tickets sold in its time, it was the most-attended comedy in Soviet Union history. There are three writers credited here with Leonid Gaidai, Yakov Kostyukovsky, and Moris Slobodskoy.
I'm sure you are familiar with the comedy structure that comes with being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The title is quite literal here, as it involves a man trapped with having a bunch of diamonds in a cast on his arm that will either serve as a trap for tricking criminals or be re-acquired by the bumblers who failed to account for the wrong man hitting the signal to smuggle. The 100-minute runtime does prove fruitful for a bounty of jokes, which come together particularly well after a gradual progression for its initial setup involving Turkey. Nikulin actually was an accomplished clown to go along with being an actor in comedies (with a few exceptions), which seems quite apparent with him fully in control of the film in boundless timing. He plays the hapless man in the middle to a level that goes along with such silly circumstances and dialogue. The odd circumstances that arise from his predicament invite such amusing moments for him to play with such dutiful interest. There are a handful of moments that could be noted when it comes to failed attempts to fray him, but the most interesting might be him stumbling onto a stage to sing while a would-be conspirator (played by Mironov to useful effect) is just around the same level of drunkenness trying to cajole him away. The other members of the cast serve their duty pretty well in circumstantial amusement, whether that involves femme fatales such as Svetlichnaya or useful authority in Chekan. There are also a handful of songs present within the humor, which are aptly titled "The Island of Bad Luck", "The Song About Hares", and "Help Me" (the middle one is used for the aforementioned drunk scene). The best gag might be the one right near the end, one that involves building up the most possible tension to diffuse for one quality moment of distraction. In general, it takes a bit of time to get going, but when it does start its roll as a comedy of circumstances, it does prove quite entertaining, one that shows the virtue of good timing and actors of any place that makes for an easy recommendation.
Overall, I gave it 8 out of 10 stars.
Next up: Finland, you are next.
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