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Gaidai started off his career with this film alongside fellow director Valentin Nevzorov (who would only direct one other film) and this the basic plot is a young woman enters a cabin where her long lost lover recounts how they got seperated and it's a radically different film to what Gaidai would make later on. First things first, the cinematography is very well done and cinematographer Sergei Poluyanov (who would later work with Gaidai on his 70s and 80s films) delivers striking images of the snowy landscapes along with surprisingly strong uses of color in the interior shots with bright reds and blues. But as is, this is a slightly above average little melodrama with all the predictable plotlines that come with it and while the acting is strong (special mention to Kyunna Ignatova who appeared in Lyana which Gaidai stars and acts as assistant director). It's again just fine although part of that is the fact I had to watch it with subs translated from YouTube's auto generated Russian subs. There's a couple jokes in here I like and remind that this indeed a Gaidai film but it has the same vibe as watching a random Russian soap opera at 1 AM when there's nothing better on, only something for Gaidai completionists or a fan of Vladimir Korolenko's source material.

The second film from Gaidai is a drastically different work and an immense step up from his first film even if it's not as gorgeous to look at. This one following a bureaucrat who, in a Sullivan's Travels style bit, has his papers discovered on a dead man with the same hat and has to prove that he's alive. Arguably this is to Gaidai what The Lodger was to Hitchcock, a setup of everything that makes Gaidai good from the surreal moments of Georgiy Vitsin (who shall return) talking to the narrator to the musical number just popping up. But this is also a much more openly anti-bureaucratic film than most of Gaidai's work and indeed was what lead to the film's original vision being cut (including scenes with soon to be Gaidai regulars Sergei Filippov and Yevgeny Morgunov) alongside Gaidai nearly being blacklisted from the Soviet film industry. The film is filled with papers and documents to the point where the world in it is almost flooded with certificate after certificate and ultimately serves as the film's made critique of a society where the upper class has made it so that a person can't even be considered alive until he's proven that he is. So once our character has to prove he's alive it serves as karma where he's made to live at the bottom, an outcome manifested by people like him, digging and digging into trouble which ultimately makes the solution so much so hilarious as (without spoilers) it tears away any idea that this system is necessary. Not even mentioning how utterly atypical it was to have a main character like this on screen, one who is pathetic and a character more deserving of pity than honor or empathy. Definitely worth a watch.

After the disaster around the scandalous Groom for which Gaidai would possibly develop an ulcer, possibly due to stress, Gaidai decided to better his reputation with the censors with a more patriotic film. Thrice Resurrected is charming enough, filled with a number of gags and childlike innocence in it's storytelling you could argue that it might as well be a kids' movie but despite and the obvious propaganda throughout I still enjoyed it enough as a fun little chapter of Gaidai's career. It's also of note in certain areas too, not only because of it's astounding cinematography which is constantly striking but also from the real heartaches of the memories of the museum on the boat especially in those with feelings of lost connected to it and I get it's propaganda but dammit it's good propaganda due in part to the writing of Aleksandr Galich (most known of his work on the 1968 Russian Little Mermaid). Constantly fun and surprisingly mature, this is a good enough watch for your kids or something.

More so than Groom from the Other World, Dog Barbos feels like the first genuine Gaidai film in terms of how he would later structure his comedy setpieces, specifically surreal gags tied around a chase of some sort which Dog Barbos thrives on which is crazy considering this was just work for an anthology film titled Absolutely Seriously (though that could be because this was Gaidai's first genuine screenplay work). Playing like a live action Looney Tunes cartoon, Gaidai packs in so many visual jokes in this from the MGM style logo to the utterly insane ending with such a rhyme and kinetic energy you'd think a madman directed this which would make sense considering Gaidai stepped on a landmine and ended up in a military hospital for 9 months which doesn't create the most mentally sound. But to simply mention the gags is not doing enough to the wonderful acting chops of Georgiy Vitsin, Yevgeni Morgunov, and Yuri Nikulin (my personal favorite of the three) as easily Gaidai's most popular characters of the Pro, the Coward, and the Fool who pack their characters with such charm and small little personal details that even at their worst they're still lovable little rogues. If there's anything you'd want as an introduction to Gaidai, make it this especially since it's only 10 minutes.

Watching this after Dog Barbos really highlights the similarities between both works and while it contains my 2 favorite Gaidai jokes (it's the one with involving falling through a trapdoor and one with a tree, you'll know it when you see them), there's not much to add, which is not to say it's bad because I definitely prefer it to Dog Barbos and definitely has enough laughs to what can only be described as a Russian equivalent of a prime The Three Stooges short plus a nice little song. But I guess I might as well choose this review to highlight why these characters are so culturally beloved which is because in an era of Soviet cinema, you were generally given saints or patriots, men who would die for their cause which is why when our main trio here came onto the scene it was revolutionary because you're dealing with such uncaring criminals at the helm who while they get caught, are nonetheless having fun in their little schemes. This argument is also helped by the fact that a film also focusing on criminals and their lives, Gentlemen of Fortune, turned out to become a USSR comedy classic possibly because it could deal with some of the faults of the Soviet system without fear of being censored since it dealt specifically with supposed rule-breaking citizens.

This is the first what is soon to be several anthologies so I'll split each into it's own little section.
The Roads We Take: Gaidai's beginning is a surprisingly downbeat short centering around a businessman without empathy and of being a ruthless cowboy in the old west and though I won't spoil the twist, this is just a ruthless little short beginning with a train robbery and ending with suicide wrapping itself in the vaguest hints of dark comedy and a disdain for those in the upper class, this is the shortest of the segments so there isn't much else to add except that it provides a good contrast to Story 2.
Makes the Whole World Kin: The second story definitely provides a bit more of a heartwarming and empathetic story through the tale of a thief and his would be victim who bond over their shared rheumatism and ultimately this short is more optimistic and gag filled than the prior story. First thing I do want to mention is Gaidai's use of sound, where each sound in the lead up to the discovery of the old man heightens the comedy and suspense of the robbery as Yuri Nikulin bumbles around like a clown as soon as he steps in. And secondly, the film's cinematography here is outstanding, not just here (though it has really interesting looking moments) but in all of the shorts thanks to Konstantin Brovin who creates an almost dreamlike world ripped from the imaginations of the reader. Also of note is that it almost subverts the expectations of typical storytelling, such as with Chekhov's gun, you keep expecting some sort of twist but in reality, there is no big twist or sudden moment of violence and eventually the short just eases you in with it's carefree nature.
The Ransom of Red Chief: Which ultimately makes this so much funnier, this one is more of an acquired taste but I loved it. Basically it centers around men who want to kidnap the child of a respected citizen in order to get $2000 but ultimately he proves harder to handle than anticipated. Again sound plays a vital role in the comedy from the metal ringing whenever Bill's chest is hit to the echoing yells of the child himself, it creates a surrealist soundstage even if nothing necessarily surreal is really happening. And ultimately it helps in creating a nearly hellish descent into madness like Bill here experiences which speaking of which, this is ultimately a slapstick film at heart, beginning with a simple premise until things keep escalating up and up as one character keeps getting his ego knocked down (Gaidai used this trope a lot and we will find this again) while the other stands obvious, it helps that it packs in a lot of good humor too in the increasingly more absurd and sadistic games Bill has to play with the child paired with Georgiy Vitsin's nonchalant attitude towards everything going on.
Anyways Strictly Business is definitely the best of Gaidai so far with plentiful tonal shifts, each strung perfectly together, and never really dulling itself down, always ending at the right moment and setting itself up for the next short story.

The opening credits are a surreal background with music playing that barely sounds like something you would hear over a credit's screen for a horror movie and now as drift in, the film will consume you into it's groundly surrealist world. Operation Y uses this world to create a vision of mockery and satire without drifting into patronizing, in fact it's easy to think that it's a film that truly respects it's motherland through a representation of the heroism of a man who honors the standard Soviet values in Shurik who thwarts the villainous men in the film. That's not the case, Gaidai certainly respects the kind people in the system as people with their own faults and with potential inside themselves (Shurik himself is a lower class student and certainly not the best who ultimately does win in the end) but he holds a disrespect for authority in the way Jacques Tati satirizes technology and consumerism in PlayTime and to understand that an analysis of each segment is in order.
Partner: The first segment of Operation Y is the most obviously satirical through it's mockery of the higher forms of Soviet authority. Obviously there's a lot of satire in how punishments given out are more rewarding than an honest day's work and how the best way of dealing with hooligans is to toughen them up and make sure they won't go back to their ways (hence I assume the reasoning for the horrid use of blackface in the film as the only possible explanation) but there's also a lot of jabs at Soviet nationalism. Think moments like the head of the project making ridiculous and almost nonsensical comparisons to illustrate how well the modern USSR is or the ending delivering a foolishly exaggerated representation of how people should present themselves in a governmental scenario. But despite all that, Gaidai still crafts a light and enjoyable romp, minus the blackface.
Deja Vu: This is generally everyone's favorite segment of those who've seen this and I won't lie it's mine too, it just oozes with so much charm and creates a world of chaos drifting held together with compassion and warmth that you could argue it's Gaidai's greatest ode to his idol Charlie Chaplin. This segment is also the most vibrant in the film for instance there's a scene where one of the students are trying to get the answers and the interior of the other caller oozes with bright greens, blues, and reds. Oh and that reminds me, this thing is packed with gags in the first half, each coming from every which way, gag after gag. And then once Shurik sees the girl he hasn't realized he's been following to get studying notes from, the film turns into a segment for the ages, a warmly delicate buildup (with some clever musical cues to tie everything in) culminating in a tender kiss and the most romantic discussion ever to revolve around scheduling around a test. My heart aches for young love like this. No wonder this is the most popular of the segments and god I'm tearing up again.
Operation Y: This is the titular segment and you could make a case this anticipates the final film featuring our "Russian Stooges" which we'll get to but as is, this is a wonderfully hilarious little short that it brings to it a shocking satirical overlay of planning a robbery to cover up a business owner's corruption, all the more interesting considering it's allegedly based on a true story. And with that, Operation Y (the Y isn't really a Y but more a Russian letter used after letters to emphasize) enters into the life of these conmen before stating that no matter how foolproof a corrupt Operation seems, it will be stopped which in the context of Gaidai's previous work seems almost intended at the state of the USSR at that time. But it's important to note that Gaidai is not cynical at heart, the segment itself gives a considerable amount of time to our trio behind the Operation reminding us that in the end, these corrupt men are still men so when that wine bottle joke in Shurik and the Fool's fight hits, it almost provides a relief that the Fool hasn't died despite knowing he is a criminal and ultimately that's why Gaidai is so beloved, because he offers humanity to his villains, even a shot at redemption and if all else fails, good shall triumph which was especially needed in an era where I imagine most people didn't live the most comforting lives in the USSR.
But anyways this is a genuine gem and I won't praise this as an underrated film because frankly it's not, probably not even in America, however if haven't seen it, please just do so.

Gaidai's masterpiece, plain and simple. Is it as good as Operation Y? Well it depends on who you asked but I always find it a nearly perfect delivered film with so much care and craft put into it that it shall stay with me until my final days. This is a film where words aren't necessary to explain why this is such a perfect film but if I can I'll say this. Kidnapping, Caucasian Style is basically a slapstick takedown of justifying cruel acts under the guises of tradition filled with fast paced action, delightfully surrealist touches, and beautiful landscape photography all of which ultimately culminating in Gaidai's greatest sequence, a darkly comic (verging on thriller territory) home invasion struck with impeccable cinematography and genuine tension (Gaidai's drama films probably were coming back with a vengeance here). And Gaidai moves seamlessly through each set piece and plotpoint while hitting every gag that could be conceivable with the precision of Chaplin in his prime, always entertaining and sharp witted. I remember a quote I read that said it's the funniest film you'll ever see about bride kidnapping and that's really only something a once in a lifetime filmmaker like Leonid Gaidai could do.

The buzzkill film of the Russian film industry, an empty and swallow void of a film. Honestly though, this could have been a good film, it was never made. And to discuss this let's just go over the first scene in both respective films. The opening of the 67 film excluding the credits begins with Shurik riding his donkey down the road until his donkey stops in the middle of the road, a bit of narration is given about why Shurik's on the donkey and that's it. It's simple and concise however the 2014 film begins with some narration from Shurik who is for some reason is acting like he's a vlogger as he gives some narration & he lands on the airplane. And then after that you'd think Shurik would take the donkey and we'd be fine but instead we're treated to some additional "hilarious" bits that make as much of an impact as a feather. But obviously you know it's just some new stuff they're adding, nothing wrong with that but then we're treated to the scene where Shurik's donkey and Edik's car stop and while the remake is slightly longer, it feels like it goes on for an eternity, there's no comic timing and feels like the comedy equivalent of a high-end chef quitting mid-shift and making the dishwasher take over, it's annoying and it's the kind of thing you'd only excuse it was made by some child fan of the original. Not to mention it takes out what is ostensibly the best part of the original scene is taken out where Edik tries to furiously close the car door. I'd go on rant but there's a really good takedown of this movie by the Russian YouTube BadComedian that goes down why this is such an abhorrent piece of shit especially in comparison to the original but really all you need to know is that, as a diehard fan of the original, knowing this doesn't even the common sense to properly use the best jokes from the original and instead either watering them down or not even including them strikes me as a decision so moronic I wonder why they even bothered to release this, in fact just gave up on it and believe me I tried to give it a chance. Gaidai's film is an once in a generation film, something that could have only been done once but this wouldn't be surprising to see in a rundown hair salon who lost access to their cable programming and is forced to put on the public access channel. The pop songs and obnoxious shoehorning of modern technology/their sponsors (who by the way dropped out during filming) don't help either.

With that minirant out of the way let me express my love for Gaidai's most popular work. The Diamond Arm came out in a era of ultra stylized spy films and books, with tons of spy gadgetry, cheesy one-liners, and glamourous excess galore but what makes The Diamond Arm special is the fact that it feels more noir than a general spy film mainly in how grounded most of it is, treating each character as an 3-Dimensional human being, especially our main character's wife (played by Gaidai's actual wife), each with genuine motivation and emotion as the chase for the jewels leads further and further to potential tragedy, even for a comedy. The first act of the film especially gives off a vibe of a travel film, devoid of Gaidai's eccentricities instead replaced with shots that could have been in an Istanbul newsreel from that time and it's during these moments that Gaidai chooses to establish a connection with our lead character where we're made to understand this is really just an ordinary man who's about to be thrust into something he has no understanding of. But the main point of interest is how the actual spies in this movie are downright inept especially in Andrei Mironov's character, who represents (at first) the typical stereotypes of the Bondian spy (or even in the parodies of them) in how suave, elegant, and cunning he appears at first only to be taken down peg by peg as ultimately a babbling and clumsy fool who is basically at bottom of the spy chain. And you could view this as a destruction of aristocratic archetypes through the stripping away of the character traits commonly associated with supposed world class professionals & their portrayals in media and instead choosing to focus on a working class man who becomes the true hero of the story (a case could indeed be made this is the Gaidai film that seems to be the most patriotic for his country). But of course none of it is out of spite, Gaidai's film is still a warm triumph bursting with energy and empathy for it's characters no matter how absurd the plot gets. Not even mentioning how intricately everything ties in together into the grandest of finales, tying up each and every setup/plotline together in a gag filled finale that is most definitely worth your time. Anyways to wrap things up in a rather unpretentious manner, The Diamond Arm is bandaged in fun setpieces and a shockingly dramatic story for those simply expecting a standard spy comedy, easy comparisons to forum favorite The Unknown Man of Shandigor can also be made to this film too if that interests anyone reading.

This was the only film from Gaidai's golden age I had not previously seen and my god what a masterpiece in the truest sense. 12 Chairs is a psychotic gem of a film and while I think the final film we'll cover in this part is a grand conclusion to Gaidai's golden age, I find this to be his magnum opus. A cynically charged slapstick satire of the corruptive influence of greed with so much insane stuff happening all at once I dare not spoil anything in order to allow people the chance to have the pleasure of going into it blind. The film's world encapsulating the joys of life with a sense of emptiness with decaying walls and empty rooms and as the film keeps going it excludes this creeping sense of doom for our characters, everything slowly falling apart until that last utterly pessimistic reveal. Sure the film does actually end on a relatively lighter note but this is far from the happy ending of The Diamond Arm. But yet at it's core is a genuinely empathetic story, one that respects the conmen at the heart of the picture even if it certainly doesn't condone it, at some points I myself wondered if, despite them being blatant con artists, our main duo should just find the money or at least only Comrade Bender (all my homies hate Pussy Vorobyaninov). Not to mention the varied cast of characters this does have, each with their own quirks and traits from the Carekeeper Yuri Nikulin to the yearning widow played by Natalya Krachkovskaya, each side character feels alive and real regardless of how long they're even in the film. Probably stands as my favorite discovery of this marathon and has certainly become a new favorite.

There's a lot of discourse around Joker 2 and how drastic it is from the first film with plentiful comparisons to other FUs in cinema history & whether it's better or worse for choosing to deliberately alienate it's core demographic. Ivan Vasilievich in a way is sort of like Joker 2 mainly because of how dramatically different it feels from Operation Y and as the final film in the Shurik trilogy (though it still became a mega box office hit with 60 million tickets sold in the USSR) especially in tone. The first film is a warm and heroic, almost slice of life slapstick all based in reality and while the second film diverts from that it still has that warm fun vibe to it even if it delves into a tad bit more absurd elements. But by contrary Ivan Vasilievich is a more openly sardonic dissection of not only the Shurik films but of Gaidai's career as a whole. Firstly, the film relegates Shurik himself as a side character in his final film and no longer a heroic everyman, Shurik in this is consistently an apathetic failure in his scientific pursuits that is one minor mistake from losing it, perhaps an expression of an aging Gaidai. And speaking of that, this is a film bubbling with anxieties, whether around marital crisis, bureaucracy, or the maintaining of logic in a world that has none and no better is that clear in the dual performances of Yuriy Yakelov (who is a comedic force in this) as the landlord and of Ivan the Terrible, both pushed into worlds they can't possibly comprehend and where their status becomes an utter joke. Lastly, in the context of Gaidai's career, Ivan Vasilievich becomes an almost assault of the constraints he's had to deal with for most of his career by churning out a film that not only subverts the expectations you would get from a Shurik film but also then going completely off the rails as though this final catharsis for Gaidai where he can use every trick in the book while also also finally being able to provide a more open critique of the Soviet system and it's higher ups especially after his early troubles with making satirical works which I find beautiful. But anyways ignoring all of that, Ivan Vasilievich is plentiful fun, earnestly charming, and endlessly humorous from it's otherworldly gags to it's deadpan delivery to it's impeccably catchy tunes, it's a nonstop blast.

Gaidai's final film of his so called Golden Age is the final capstone to his legacy despite being far from his last film. Bringing together nearly every actor that's helped him along the way (with some new stars too) and returning to the anthology format that helped him get big after 11 years with a new sadistic glee to it that Gaidai had been building towards his entire career. Again let's go over this segment by segment.
Crime and Punishment: No not that one, this is more about the consequences of thief than anything and I had a blast with this segment as it intensifies more and more into this area of manipulation after a woman and her conniving brother trying to sell off the woman's stolen possessions after they believe her husband is being sent to jail. Certainly not his funniest work but it still exudes a controlled mania to it that keeps things energetically paced and charming enough to at least elicit a few genuinely good laughs with that underlying playful cynicism in Gaidai's more recent entries beginning to burst. And don't get me started on the powerhouse performance of Nina Grebeshkova who is utterly wonderful in here, especially considering she's performing alongside bigger talents and yet standing out in every shot she's in, a shame that she never became a leading lady during her career.
Fun Adventure: A disorientating satire on adultery again it holds a controlled chaos, building up as it goes along until that unhinged final couple of minutes. The first half holding a good number of humorous little interruptions to a love affair as it slowly sets up the absolute gut buster of a second half with a malevolent take on the stress an affair can lead to for everyone involved with no possible solution in at least the near future. Certainly Gaidai's least empathetic film so far where not one of our central characters is purposefully likeable in any real sense, an ensemble short from hell basically.
Wedding Event: This is the highlight of the film, a staggering feat of comedy that serves both as a grand conclusion to the heyday of Gaidai and as a capsule to his comedic genius. Every gag perfectly placed upon one another, carefully paced with a kinetic energy of a race car, with a rising momentum to each set piece all anchored in by a genuinely sympathetic plot alongside stellar performances from everyone around. But at the same time it highlights the satire that's been prevalent in Gaidai's films of critiquing the Soviet society highlighted by Vitsin's role as the bride's father advocating for a more traditional marriage instead of the rushed, more "modern", marriage in the segment but also in the comparisons between Vitsin and Leonid Kuravlyov's characters in their interactions with the military guest, Vitsin serving as a more patriotic and respectable character to Kuravlyov basically kissing the military man's wife and repeatedly shoving him away to basically compare the older and younger generations. But yet Vitsin is not perfect, a man entangled in vodka till the point where he drinks till he's out cold, as though Gaidai is also stating that both traditional and modern aspects of Soviet society need to be improved upon, at least that's what I got. A genuine delight of delights and had Gaidai's career ended with that final shot, merging his themes of love and anarchy in a darkly humorous moment, his career would be as legendary as Lloyd's or Keaton's.
But anyways even if it wasn't, Impossible! is a perfect summary of the career of a giant of the Soviet cinema in his prime which while not as funny as his late 60s, early 70s work is still funnier than any mediocre comedian could churn out.

The works of Leonid Gaidai here are all delightfully satirical, fun, funny, anarchic and utterly unique. All 6 films here carrying a legacy that's lasted decades in the USSR and even a bit here in America. I love everything about all these films, perhaps I'm blinded by love but I wouldn't change a thing about any of these films. God bless Leonid Gaidai but his golden years have now reached their end here, let us delve into the twilight years.