Mimino (1977)
Georgian bush pilot Valentin (Valiko) Mizandari a.k.a. Mimino works at small local airlines, flying helicopters between small villages. But he dreams of piloting large international airlines aircrafts, so he goes to Moscow for refresher courses. There in a hotel he meets truck driver Robik who is given a place in that hotel by mistake, and they have a lot of adventures in Moscow. Always amicable and open to people, Mimino does not feel at home in the big city. Nevertheless, he becomes a pilot of a supersonic jet liner, the Tupolev Tu-144, flying all over the world. But feeling homesick, he finally comes back to his native town of Telavi in Georgia, to his family and friends.
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the leading man is my tpye
everything you have heard about this movie is true.
The movie really just wants to entertain people.
Blistering performances.
The following may be a spoiler.The plot is very standard, in a way - Valiko, nicknamed Mimino (georgian for "Falcon") is a Georgian helicopter pilot, hauling sometimes very odd goods and people between remote mountain villages. One day he meets a friend from a flying school - now, a pilot of a transcontinental airliner. The friend is accompanied by a beautiful stewardess that Mimino falls for. He decides to change his life, start doing bigger and better things. After much trouble and misfortune, his dream becomes true - only he soon realizes, that his heart really belongs there, in the misty mountains of Georgia.This film would've become just one of hundreds of similar feel-good movies, that are forgotten soon after release. However, it was filmed by a great Danelia, and so the plot became secondary, and the characters, their interactions, their feelings and personal and cultural differences became the main driving force. The film cleverly exploits (to the extend allowed by the Soviet censorship at the time) the often unflattering stereotypes that Caucasian people had in Russia, the cultural clashes between different characters (the guy that Mimino befriends in Moscow is an Armenian, a neighboring nation that had sort of a cultural rivalry with Georgians; he also comes from a different social background). It also has some thinly veiled criticism of Brezhnev-era corruption. Some of the characters are not as well developed as the main two, but movie is still very good. Unfortunately, a lot of plot's cleverness will be lost on someone unfamiliar with Soviet society in that time period.Still a very good movie to watch !
What can I say about this film? I'm a fan of Russian and old USSR cinema, speak Russian, and have traveled in Russia and central Asia - so I am fairly well versed in the Slavophile mythology of the Russian soul. This is a film that sort of plays to that, and I am sure by writing a critical review of this movie, I will be accused of not understanding. This film attempts to tell a story about Mimino, a Georgian pilot who travels to the big city with dreams of being an international pilot, only to learn that there is "no place like home". Quaint? Yes. Interesting? Not really.There are of course many stereotypes in this film as well. Frunzik Mkrtchyan as Rubik Khachikyan is quite funny, but I doubt this character would endear himself to many Armenians.The Georgian landscapes are attractive and interesting, there is lots of gentle humor in the movie ... but overall this is a film only worth watching if you have an interest in Russian films.
Helicopter pilot from Georgia (the one in the former Soviet Union) goes to Moscow hoping to become an international pilot. There he befriends a guy from Armenia (near Georgia, but not the same!), runs out of money, finds himself in jail, etc. The movie plays out lots of funny differences between Russian (read - European) and Georgian (more Eastern) cultures, provincial vs. big city, and others. And as a golden thread throughout the whole movie - kindness, decency and warm hearts of the heroes. This play on cultural differences evoke "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", which was made thirty years after "Mimino"...I am not sure if this movie has ever been subtitled in English, but I am sure it would be a delight to American viewers.
"Mimino" is one of those films everyone in the Old Soviet Union has seen at least a dozen times. The phrases, ideomatic expressions, and wonderful accents have become a stable of Russian humor. A simple story of a country bumpkin aspiring great hights is symbolic and metaphorical of Russians (by that I mean anyone in the CIS) in general, be they from Georgia or Turkmenistan And how can one not hum one of the catchiest tunes of the Soviet Era films. Chita Drita Chita Margolito.....DA