Comedy film legend Georgiy Danelia had his latest offering screened at Dom Kino last week, propelling him back into the movie-making limelight.
Danelia's newest film, "Orel ili Reshka" [To Toss the Coin], is a love story with a comic twist. Kirill Pirogov and Polina Kutepova from Moscow's Fomenko Theater star.
The title comes from the name of a game similar to "heads or tails." A coin is dropped on a table. One gambler calls "eagle," the other "reshka," those being the names of the two sides of a coin. Whoever's side comes up wins the stake.
The hero of the movie is a young failure who has lost almost all -- not in gambling, but in his life.
His losses are typical: he, young and poor, fell in love with a beautiful young woman. In order to make some money so he could marry her, he signs up to work at an oil plant in Siberia. But after a year, he receives a message saying his beloved has married someone else.
His boss laughs at him and refuses to let him go back to Moscow and rewin her heart. The hero curses his boss, takes money from the town safe and hops a train to Moscow.
He does a lot of tricks to force her to forget her young husband but it's too late. Unfortunately, she gets into an accident and is seriously injured. Her only chance is immediate and very expensive surgical treatment.
The hero promises to cover the expenses, only to find that the money he got in Siberia had been stolen. Of course, the movie has a happy surprise ending.
The plot might be considered naive, but the actors are so convincing and the comedy so well-timed that it's not hard to believe.
The film itself is attractive -- all scenes are carefully crafted, set against the backgrounds of the luxury nouveaux riches' apartments, the poorest slums in Moscow, the paradise of Sochi and the oil-giving desert.
State Duma Deputy Stanislav Govorukhin makes an appearance as a "New Russian" boss.
Critics will probably attack "Eagle and Reshka" because most Russian film makers are now trying too hard to imitate Western cinema. But Danelia's film is a classic love story in the true Russian tradition, and is sure to become a hit.