8 best Soviet vacation comedies worth revisiting this summer

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Summer is an opportunity to enjoy the hot sun and gentle sea, it is a trip to the mountains and sitting with a guitar around the fire, a passionate holiday romance and a bright adventure. Summer is a small life, and everyone has their own life. Perhaps this is why filmmakers around the world make so many films about vacations and summer vacations. We propose to recall and revise the best Soviet comedies, which are able to spice up the already passing summer with light notes of nostalgia and bring smiles on their faces.

"True Friends", 1954, director Mikhail Kalatozov

This film can rightfully be called not only an ageless classic, but also a truly funny comedy. Even the presence of an ideological component does not spoil it, and the adventures of three friends who set off on a sail down the river on a wooden raft will make the audience smile more than once. And incomparable pleasure will be given by the amazing acting performance of Vasily Merkuryev, Boris Chirkov and Alexander Borisov.

"You and I met somewhere", 1954, directors Nikolai Dostal, Andrey Tutyshkin

This comedy is worth watching, if only for the sake of seeing the consummate comedian with sad eyes on the screen. The hero of Arkady Raikin goes to the Crimea, but on the way his wife, played by Lyudmila Tselikovskaya, is removed from the train, and he is forced to independently travel to the place of rest. In addition to Arkady Raikin and Lyudmila Tselikovskaya, Vasily Merkuriev, Maria Vladimirovna Mironova, Mikhail Yanshin, Olga Aroseva and many other wonderful Soviet actors starred in the film.

"Three plus two", 1963, directed by Henrikh Hovhannisyan

Comedy without exaggeration can be called a real masterpiece. Stunning actors, a non-trivial plot, many catch phrases and an incredible atmosphere of summer and romance with a slight touch of naivety. Despite the fact that many viewers know the film almost by heart, it seems never boring to watch it. And the outbreak of a quiet war between three friends who came to rest, and two girls who suddenly appeared, suddenly leads to the formation of two couples. Andrei Mironov, Natalya Kustinskaya, Evgeny Zharikov, Natalya Fateeva and Gennady Nilov made the film truly ageless.

"Welcome, or No Unauthorized Entry", 1964, directed by Elem Klimov

It seems that in Soviet times there was no one who would have missed this film. In his thesis, Elem Klimov surprisingly combined subtle irony and psychologism with an atmosphere of incredible cloudless joy. The comedy about rest in a pioneer camp is replete with jokes, catchphrases and vivid characters.

"Prisoner of the Caucasus, or Shurik's New Adventures", 1967, director Leonid Gaidai

The comedies of Leonid Gaidai occupy a very special place in the history of Soviet cinema, but "Prisoner of the Caucasus" is one of the best creations of the genius. You can endlessly enumerate the advantages of the film, how you can revise this masterpiece over and over again, invariably laughing at the familiar jokes and amazing play of real masters: Yuri Nikulin, Alexander Demyanenko, Vladimir Etush, Georgy Vitsin, Natalia Varley, Yevgeny Morgunov.

"Stoves-benches", 1972, director Vasily Shukshin

The comedy about the first ever journey of a married couple from an Altai village to the sea is full of charm and subtle humor. The focus of the director and scriptwriter is on a simple person, kind, naive, mistaken and extremely gullible. The film makes the viewer not only laugh, but also think, which is why critic Rostislav Yurenev called the film "a serious comedy." The acting of the actors is so natural that it does not leave a single chance for distrust and does not give an opportunity to tear yourself away from the screen even for a moment.

"Be My Husband", 1981, director Alla Surikova

It is not for nothing that viewers call this lyrical comedy one of the best in the work of Alla Surikova. An interesting script, a special vision of the director, amazing acting and subtle humor came together in it. Thirty years have passed since the release of the film, and today it remains relevant and hopeful.

"Sportloto-82", 1982, directed by Leonid Gaidai

A very bright and funny comedy, the hero of which has lost a winning lottery ticket, and his search turns into a real adventure. Surprisingly, all heroes, even negative ones, make the viewer smile and make them empathize with the difficulties of their being. "Sportloto-82" is able to cheer you up and immerse you in the atmosphere of carefree rest at any moment. The life of the times of the USSR is so vividly represented here that you involuntarily plunge into the atmosphere of the past.

Soviet cinema was distinguished by some kind of special warmth and emotionality. Stunningly talented actors and outstanding directors created a real movie. Stories about exploits and historical tapes, emotional family films and parables, science fiction, adventures, detective stories - more than one generation grew up and was brought up in these films.