The Diamond Arm (1998)

Wonderful character development!

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Better Late Then Never

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Whether you consider "Brilliantovaya ruka" a Soviet version of "Get Smart" or something else, it's still a hilarious movie. Portraying a man on vacation in Istanbul getting confused for a spy, they pull just about every gag imaginable. The line "Our people don't ride in taxis" implies that only people in western countries do that (it was also a reference to the people employed as secret police in the Soviet Union). Probably the best scene is when the guy sings "A nam vsyo ravno", which in Russian means "Everything is equal to us"; that scene is comparable to the toga party in "Animal House".Anyway, a really funny movie. They must have had fun filming it. The Jesus scene would no doubt incur the wrath of the Russian Orthodox Church nowadays.

This is a comedy that stood the test of time. I've recently bought the newly released DVD of this movie and it's worth every penny. Of course I've seen this comedy a million times on TV and video, but the DVD makes this funny in a whole new way. I believe that even english speaking audiences will love this flick if they get the DVD. The translation into English is superb. Speaking Russian myself , it's actually very funny to hear this Soviet cinema classic translated into English , having seen it only in Russian before. Now , I believe that even our friends in Turku, Finland would find this film funny. Mironov , Nikulin and Papanov give superb comical performances by any standards. And the actors who's voices are used to dub this film into english are an excellent match. What can I tell you, go to your nearest Russian video store and get this DVD, you'll love it.

This movie was never intended for foreign audiences. It is simply way too Russian (or too Soviet, actually) to be funny for anyone not familiar with the realities of local life. Most of the real comedy comes from Mironov and Papanov, who play hilarious villains on the track to recover stolen jewels, mistakenly put into Nikulin's arm cast. Russian-speaking audiences will enjoy Papanov's one-of-a-kind "Ukrainian" accent, but the jokes are too ethnic for anyone else to understand. Nikulin (a circus clown turned great comic actor) isn't particularly believable in an unfamiliar role of a good guy (his characters usually also were drunken and hilarious crooks), but turns in an adequate performance. Mironov is at his usual fast-talking, silly self, and Papanov is a riot. Mordyukova steals several scenes in a small role of a house superintendant, a towering woman with a thunderous voice. Overall, a terrific Soviet comedy, the kind they simply don't make anymore.

Do people really laugh at custard pie scenes and "comedians" slipping on banana peels in the 90's? I certainly didn't. Try telling us some jokes, Vanya... Or was this just too Russian for me?