Alexandra Yakovleva Movies

A small town is turned upside down when Mr. Fest (Andrei Mironov) arrives with a movie projector in this hilarious Georgian comedy western. In an homage to silent-era slapstick comedy, hard-drinking cowboys give up booze for milk when the saloon loses patrons to the picture show. The town bully joins the church choir along with a slew of sultry saloon sirens when they are drawn away from the evils of alcohol and moral depravity. Barroom brawls, Indian attacks, sight gags, and an all-star cast made this the second most popular Soviet film of 1988. Over 40 million people in the USSR paid to see the feature, the last for the popular Andei Mironov. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

In this melodrama, Masha (Natalia Anreischenko) is a research lab worker who throws her husband out of the house when she discovers he has a mistress. Her friends encourage her to attend parties in order to be sociable and to perhaps meet a new man. She goes home with a taxi driver, but she leaves suddenly when his wife returns unexpectedly. There are comic touches to this feature, but viewers should be warned of a brutal gang-rape scene. After her adventures, Masha considers reconciling with her wayward husband when he vows to give up his mistress. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

This semi-realistic comedy-fantasy by director and co-writer Georgi Danelia features a lower-level bureaucrat who snaps on the way home from work after a particularly stressful day at the office -- and begins to let loose what he really thinks, no matter the consequences. As his wife is talking on the phone, he grabs the receiver and hangs it up -- she is addicted to talking on the phone and this has always bothered him. His son-in-law and daughter use the television set as a babysitter for the man's granddaughter, and so he blows off steam at them too, demanding his son-in-law go out and find a job. Then he leaves and, after some minor adventures, heads to the office the following morning where he tells everyone else off -- all the petty crooks who take or give small bribes for favors. Although in the end he cannot stand life at all and tries several versions of suicide, he fails miserably each time and finally talks to his granddaughter on the phone who seems to have a remedy for him. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi