The Marriage of Balzaminov (1964)
Based on the trilogy of Aleksandr Ostrovsky. Moscow, XIX century. A small official Misha Balzaminov lives in a small house. He, like his mother, sees his happiness in marrying a rich bride. Misha images in dreams and fantasies that he is a general or even a king — rich and domineering. And in reality, poor Balzaminov is haunted by setbacks...
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It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.
Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.
Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.
The movie is an adaptation of a very old Russian satirical novel. To adapt the novel for the screen and make a movie was a long-time dream of the director of this movie. During the most stringent Soviet rule he couldn't make it, the censorship didn't allow it for some reasons (that could be sometimes truly bizarre and incomprehensible). Finally he succeeded and the movie was made. The main character - young clerk who was supposed to be 17 years old, was played by brilliant Georgy Vitsin, who at the time of filming was over 50 ! The film is very light and playful, but never dumb, no unnecessary banana-peel jokes. It is a real "cure against the stress" and also another example of how a funny movie can also be a work of art.
Poor clerk in XIX Century Russia is looking for a rich bride. The problem is that rich brides are looking for a rich husbands. Good performance by Vitsin and the entire cast. One of the best movies made about about Russian life of the period. Note: some jokes are typical Russian, so outsider might find them rather strange.