{"id":3208,"date":"2012-07-02T08:02:09","date_gmt":"2012-07-02T08:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=3208"},"modified":"2014-07-17T18:29:55","modified_gmt":"2014-07-17T18:29:55","slug":"a-geek-his-wife-a-thief-and-a-super","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/a-geek-his-wife-a-thief-and-a-super\/","title":{"rendered":"A Geek, His Wife, A Thief, and a Super (or, my favorite Soviet film)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first full-length Soviet movie I watched in the original language was the 1973 comedy \u00ab\u0418\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u043d \u0412\u0430\u0441\u0438<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0435\u0432\u0438\u0447 \u043c\u0435\u043d\u044f<\/span>\u0435\u0442 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0444\u0435<\/span>\u0441\u0441\u0438\u044e\u00bb<\/b> — Ivan Vasilyevich Changes Careers<\/i> — which my 2nd-year college Russian instructor screened for the class on a grainy VHS tape with English subtitles. Later, it would be the first Russian-language movie I bought on DVD, and after all these years and countless viewings it still holds its charm.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u042d<\/span>\u0442\u043e\u0442 \u0444\u0438<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u043c \u043d\u0435 \u0432\u043e\u0437\u043c\u043e<\/span>\u0436\u043d\u043e \u043d\u0435 \u043b\u044e\u0431\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u044c<\/b> (“One can’t help adoring this movie”)!<\/p>\n

It’s by the legendary director Leonid Gaidai with a cast of equally legendary stars (several of whom were Gaidai regulars). The Brezhnev-era production is packed with satirical in-jokes about life in the USSR — and Russian \u043a\u0440\u044b\u043b\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044b\u0435 \u0432\u044b\u0440\u0430\u0436\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0438\u044f<\/b> (“catchphrases”) galore — yet much of the humor is universal. It added some enduring hits to the repertoire of Soviet pop-music<\/a>. And on top of all this, it boasts an impeccable literary pedigree, being an adaptation of a 1935 play by Mikhail Bulgakov of Master and Margarita<\/i> fame.<\/p>\n

Like I said, what’s not to love?<\/p>\n

Warning: The rest of this post is intended to help students who might want to watch the full movie on DVD or online — so there are tons of plot-spoilers!<\/p>\n

The movie opens with a brief black-and-white segment that introduces \u0428\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u0438\u043a<\/b>, a geeky \u0438\u0437\u043e\u0431\u0440\u0435\u0442\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c<\/b> (“inventor”) who’s working on a complicated machine in his living room (actor \u0410\u043b\u0435\u043a\u0441\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u0434\u0440 \u0414\u0435\u043c\u044c\u044f<\/span>\u043d\u0435\u043d\u043a\u043e<\/b> had played a similar-but-not-identical “Shurik” in two previous Gaidai films). The guy is a classic absent-minded professor whose attention is easily distracted by a mischievous black cat<\/span>. The machine overheats and \u043f\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0436\u0438\u0433\u0430<\/span>\u0435\u0442 \u0432\u0441\u0435<\/span> \u043f\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0431\u043a\u0438 \u0432 \u0434\u043e<\/span>\u043c\u0435<\/b> (“blows out all the building’s fuses”) — and not for the first time, either!<\/p>\n

As Shurik hurries downstairs to replace the fuses, he’s intercepted by \u0418\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u043d \u0412\u0430\u0441\u0438<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0435\u0432\u0438\u0447 \u0411\u0443<\/span>\u043d\u0448\u0430<\/b>, the \u0443\u043f\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0432\u0434\u043e\u043c<\/b> (“building manager”; “super”). The Bunsha character (one of two roles played by \u042e<\/span>\u0440\u0438\u0439 \u042f<\/span>\u043a\u043e\u0432\u043b\u0435\u0432<\/b>) is meant to satirize a “peculiarly Soviet” stereotype — the bureaucratic, conformist sort that Bulgakov always treated mercilessly. (Nowadays, though maybe not in the 1970s, the pejorative slang \u0441\u043e\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u043a<\/b> might be used for such a person.)<\/p>\n

However, English speakers will instantly recognize Bunsha as a kindred spirit of such characters as Basil Fawlty; and Maj. Frank Burns from M*A*S*H<\/i>; and every “Principal McDouchebag” in practically every high-school comedy ever made by Hollywood. Which is to say, Bunsha is a \u043f\u0435\u0434\u0430\u043d\u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0447\u043d\u044b\u0439<\/b> (“nit-picking”), \u043b\u0438\u0448\u0451\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u0447\u0443<\/span>\u0432\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0430 \u044e<\/span>\u043c\u043e\u0440\u0430<\/b> (“devoid of humor”), \u043e\u0433\u0440\u0430\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u0447\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0439<\/b> (“straitlaced”), and \u043d\u0430\u0434\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u044b\u0439<\/b><\/span> (“pompous”) \u0447\u0435\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u043a<\/b>. Above all else, he’s proudly incapable of doing the smallest thing \u00ab\u0431\u0435\u0437 \u0441\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u043a\u0446\u0438\u0438 \u0441\u043e\u043e\u0442\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0442\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0443\u0449\u0438\u0445 \u043e<\/span>\u0440\u0433\u0430\u043d\u043e\u0432\u00bb<\/b> (“without the sanction of the proper state agencies”).<\/p>\n

Of course, the inventor is undiscouraged by Bunsha’s scolding, and he hurries back to test the machine again. This time around, there’s a huge shower of sparks, \u0428\u0443<\/span>\u0440\u0438\u043a\u0430 \u0443\u0434\u0430\u0440\u044f<\/span>\u0435\u0442 \u0442\u043e<\/span>\u043a\u043e\u043c<\/span><\/b> (“Shurik gets an electric shock”), he falls unconscious to the floor…<\/p>\n

…and suddenly everything switches from B&W to “glorious Technicolor” as we go to an on-location \u043a\u0438\u043d\u043e\u0441\u044a\u0451\u043c\u043a\u0430 \u043d\u0430 \u043c\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u0435<\/b> (“movie-shoot by the seashore”). A beautiful redheaded actress \u044f<\/span>\u0432\u043d\u043e \u0444\u043b\u0438\u0440\u0442\u0443<\/span>\u0435\u0442 \u0441 \u0440\u0435\u0436\u0438\u0441\u0441\u0451\u0440\u043e\u043c<\/b> (“blatantly flirts with the director”) as she belts out the first of the film’s hit songs, \u00ab\u0417\u0432\u0435\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u0442<\/span> \u044f\u043d\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u0441\u043a\u0430\u044f \u0432\u044c\u044e<\/span>\u0433\u0430<\/span>\u00bb<\/b> (“Your ears ring from the January blizzard”). Or, rather, she (badly) lip-synchs it, because the vocals were actually recorded by pop-star Nina Brodskaya:<\/p>\n