Kidnapping, Caucasian Style (1967)

KIDNAPPING, CAUCASIAN STYLE is another film featuring Aleksandr Demyanenko's geeky lead character Shurik. The whole plot of this one sees Shurik chasing the girl of his dreams, only to find out that she's involved with some local gangsters, so various comedy scenes ensue. You know the type of humour you'll see here: mistaken identities, slapstick, random interludes with donkeys, athletics, and the like. The acting is exaggerated and the actors mug through a lot of their scenes, but the direction is energetic and the soundtrack a good one that fits the action well. The comedy is quite silly but it did get me laughing a few times. It's perhaps not the funniest Russian comedy I've watched, but it provides an hour and a half of undemanding fun regardless.

We think of Soviet cinema as very serious, but it turns out that there were in fact comedies in there. A hilarious example is Leonid Gayday's "Kavkazskaya plennitsa, ili Novye priklyuchenia Shurika" ("Kidnapping, Caucasian Style" in English). I interpreted it as a look at the challenges of trying to install the Soviet Union's centralized economy when there were these different cultures throughout the USSR, but it's the kind of zany slapstick that you'd think came from Hollywood (think "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"). It appears that both the Eastern and Western Blocs had a penchant for over-the-top wackiness in the '60s.I understand that this movie is a sequel to an earlier Gayday movie featuring Aleksandr Demyanenko as Shurik. If this one is any indication, then the original must be a laugh riot. You gotta love the antics of the Coward, Fool and Pro, and Nina is a real hottie. This must have been one fun movie to make, and I'm sure that you'll love it.

Ten without any doubts. An excellent example of Russian humour, the movie for all ages! I watched it many times (10 or so), but it never became boring for myself. Natalya Varley (Nina) is excellent in this film. Every film becomes funny if it is starring "the three": Nikulin Vitsin, Morgunov. But even considering this, "Kavkazskaya Plennitsa" is a piece of great play by them. I also like this film for the song: "A Song About Bears". You know, that the unofficial symbol of Russian people is the bear. Hear this song attentively. I think, that it is about Russian people. The best decision for those, who don't speak Russian, is the movie in Russian with subtitles in your native language. But...Try to turn off the sound, I bet, that you shall easily understand the film even without it!

Probably the best Soviet comedy, loved by all Russians, be they now capitalists, communists, nationalists or whatever. Star actors of our cinema. Many lines have become sayings in Russian. The Caucasus of the Soviet times, gone forever... 10/10.