четверг, июля 28, 2005

Russian Movies!

With all this talk of what I will miss when I leave for Russia, I wanted to show you guys one thing I will be looking forward too. Thanks to some very good Russian teachers I was introduced to some classic Russian movies.

These are my all time favorites. The main character in the top two DVD covers is a guy called Shurik. In real life this role was the only one this actor ever play but he was very good at it. Shurik is your basic good natured guy, but he's a little naive, and this trait gets him into some pretty funny situations. The three guys you see at the top of the "Operation 'Y'" DVD are the bad guys in the Shurik films, and of course they are quite inept (kinda like the 3 Stooges). "Operation 'Y'" is a bunch of very funny short films, while the kidnapping one is a full length movie. I won't go into a full summary of both these movies due to the length it would take, but the basic plot for 'Y' is just various adventures Shurik meets up with in his daily life. "Kidnapping" is about the 3 baddies, kidnapping the girl for a lecherous Party official who wants to marry her, and of course its Shurik to the rescue. There is actually a very funny scene in which Shurik (who can't hold his liquor) is forced to drink several rounds because people keep toasting various things. (People in the Caucas are known for long, passionate toasts)

These bottom two movies involve many of the same actors, but are not Shurik films. "The Diamond Arm" features a famous Russian movie character, Semon Semonovich, he is a klutz, so much so that a klutz in Russia could be referred to as a Semon Semonovich. He gets wrapped up in a diamond smuggling caper when the bad guys try to smuggle the diamonds in Semon's bandaged arm, hilarity follows. "Gentlemen of Fortune" involves a very nice school teacher hired by the police to infiltrate a gang who just stole a valuable ancient helmet. Why? cause the gang's leader as recently been imprisoned and the teacher just happens to look like him.

All of these movies are very funny, if you get a chance to rent, buy, or watch, take it!

2 комментария:

Julie D. комментирует...

I am gonna get my brother to look at these. He studied Russian and worked in military intelligence in the Army ... I bet he's come across a few of them before.

Sebastian комментирует...

I'd be interested to know if he has. From what my professor has told me, they are very popular. Since she lived in Russia most of her life I have no reason to disbelieve her, but has far as current Russian pop culture goes I guess I won't really know until I'm there myself.