Ryazanov's Best Movies
The Carnival Night — 1956
"The Carnival Night" is a Soviet musical film which was released in 1956. It was not only director Eldar Ryazanov's first big-screen film but also the first big-screen role of Soviet singer Lyudmila Gurchenko.
It's New Year's Eve. The employees of an Economics Institute are getting ready to celebrate New Year with their annual program full of dancing, singing and performing magic tricks. But the acting director Ogurtsov doesn't like the program and a few hours before the show he suddenly decides to change it to something more "serious." Obviously, no one agrees with him. And so the fun begins...
One of Russia's most famed and beloved film directors, Eldar Ryazanov, has died in a Moscow hospital from heart failure, the TASS news agency reported Monday. He was 88.
Ryazanov's subtly ironic comedies and piercing dramas marked an era in Soviet cinematography and achieved tremendous popularity with their lighthearted, yet cerebral, sense of humor, gripping reflection of human quirks, and exposure of the oddities of the Soviet regime. Here are his top seven movies, as chosen by The Moscow Times.
"The Carnival Night" is a Soviet musical film which was released in 1956. It was not only director Eldar Ryazanov's first big-screen film but also the first big-screen role of Soviet singer Lyudmila Gurchenko.
It's New Year's Eve. The employees of an Economics Institute are getting ready to celebrate New Year with their annual program full of dancing, singing and performing magic tricks. But the acting director Ogurtsov doesn't like the program and a few hours before the show he suddenly decides to change it to something more "serious." Obviously, no one agrees with him. And so the fun begins...
One of Russia's most famed and beloved film directors, Eldar Ryazanov, has died in a Moscow hospital from heart failure, the TASS news agency reported Monday. He was 88.
Ryazanov's subtly ironic comedies and piercing dramas marked an era in Soviet cinematography and achieved tremendous popularity with their lighthearted, yet cerebral, sense of humor, gripping reflection of human quirks, and exposure of the oddities of the Soviet regime. Here are his top seven movies, as chosen by The Moscow Times.
Watch Out for the Automobile — 1966
This is a fantastic story. A modest and shy insurance agent who owns an amateur theater, becomes a Soviet Robin Hood, fighting for justice. But all is not as it seems, as he is really a dangerous and elusive criminal.
This is a fantastic story. A modest and shy insurance agent who owns an amateur theater, becomes a Soviet Robin Hood, fighting for justice. But all is not as it seems, as he is really a dangerous and elusive criminal.
The Unbelievable Adventures of Italians in Russia — 1973
A Russian emigre dies in a hospital in Rome. Before her death, the old lady told her granddaughter Olga that her treasure box is hidden in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), "under a lion."
A doctor, an Italian mafioso, two medical orderlies, and granddaughter Olga arrive in the Soviet Union. In Moscow, a local guide joins them and that makes the whole madcap adventure even more complicated.
A Russian emigre dies in a hospital in Rome. Before her death, the old lady told her granddaughter Olga that her treasure box is hidden in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), "under a lion."
A doctor, an Italian mafioso, two medical orderlies, and granddaughter Olga arrive in the Soviet Union. In Moscow, a local guide joins them and that makes the whole madcap adventure even more complicated.
The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath! — 1975
Four friends are getting ready for the New Year and go to a Moscow banya to say goodbye to the outgoing year. A lot of alcohol is consumed and the group ends up sending the wrong friend off to St.Petersburg instead of the one who had planned to go.
Four friends are getting ready for the New Year and go to a Moscow banya to say goodbye to the outgoing year. A lot of alcohol is consumed and the group ends up sending the wrong friend off to St.Petersburg instead of the one who had planned to go.
The Office Romance — 1977
Timid and shy Anatoly Novoseltsev is an ordinary statistics office employee. He wants to get the vacant position of the head of the department, but he doesn't know how to do it.
Then his old buddy Samokhvalov advises him to have an affair with Ludmila Kalugina, the director of the institution.
Timid and shy Anatoly Novoseltsev is an ordinary statistics office employee. He wants to get the vacant position of the head of the department, but he doesn't know how to do it.
Then his old buddy Samokhvalov advises him to have an affair with Ludmila Kalugina, the director of the institution.
A Railway Station for Two — 1982
The town of Zastupinsk is somewhere between Moscow and Almaty, close to Voronezh. The station's barmaid Vera and Moscow pianist Platon Ryabinin meet, with very unpleasant consequences. Vera loses her fiance, but falls in love with Platon, who must leave the town soon and travel to a distant place to be punished for a crime he didn't commit.
The town of Zastupinsk is somewhere between Moscow and Almaty, close to Voronezh. The station's barmaid Vera and Moscow pianist Platon Ryabinin meet, with very unpleasant consequences. Vera loses her fiance, but falls in love with Platon, who must leave the town soon and travel to a distant place to be punished for a crime he didn't commit.
A Cruel Romance — 1984
A cinematic adaptation of the classical Russian play "Dowry-less" written by Alexander Ostrovsky shows the ruthless and cruel world in which money rules, where everything is bought and sold, including conscience, beauty, love.
A cinematic adaptation of the classical Russian play "Dowry-less" written by Alexander Ostrovsky shows the ruthless and cruel world in which money rules, where everything is bought and sold, including conscience, beauty, love.