Autumn Marathon (1979)

I enjoyed watching the film. I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The film seemed to lack any action when I first watched it.Initially, my thoughts were he was just a man trying to have it all. He was always willing to help people and wanted the most out of life. There seemed to be a lot going on in his life.After discussing it with a few others, I realized how little he was in control of happenings.Overall, It was a good film that held my interest throughout. There was a good amount of humor that I extracted from the film. I just wish there was a little more action. I was waiting for an interesting twist to come into light, but it just seemed like a normal guy doing somewhat unscrupulous things.I would recommend this film if you want to kill time. It was pretty funny and semi engaging. It didn't have anything that was outstanding about it though.

Autumn Marathon is a comedy that depicts the life of Andrey Buzykin, who belongs to the Soviet intelligentsia. He works as an instructor at the university and a translator; he also lives in a nice apartment. Moreover, Andrey has a wife, a daughter, a mistress, and friends. His life seems perfect; however, he does not enjoy it. He tries to please everyone by devoting his time to them and by agreeing to satisfy their requests. People, realizing that he is a conformist, manipulate him to achieve their goals. Buzykin, in his attempt to keep up with everything, does not have time to stop and think about his desires, nor can he figure out whether his wife or mistress is more important for him. It is humorous to watch how he is in a hurry and constantly lying, which makes his relationship with surrounding people more tangled; moreover, he is not able to resolve the situation. Despite the fact that is it a comedy, this movie brings up vital issues about values in an individual's life. It makes one stop and think about the things that are significant for him/her. What is more, Autumn Marathon, through its satirical presentation, critiques conformity, for it makes life more complicated.In addition, this film is interesting from a historical point of view as it represents life in USSR. It shows single-family and communal apartments, the metro, and the streets of Leningrad. It also depicts popular activities in the Soviet county: the culture of drinking vodka and mushroom picking.

Niffiwan from Toronto is not right (Interesting to note is that the director was female). The director is male and strong Caucasian macho with mustaches, born in Georgia. By the way Georgi is the name, like George. There is a rumor that heroes of his movies have latency homosexual complex but it is just a joke. But who knows? The film is pure genius. This is the story about soviet intellectual (not an average soviet man from Brezhnev's era), English to Russian interpreter, who read some lectures in some university. He live in a big apartment with many rooms - it is very unusual situation in Soviet Union for family with one child (the hero have one daughter). This is the symbol of privileged position for brain workers in Sovet Union society. But his work is silly and insignificant. He is in trouble with his slinky mistress (genius actress Marina Neelova), smart and understanding wife (also genius Natalya Gundareva, RIP), colleagues and so on. The problems are snowball running and his life is start to decline. This is not a comedy - this is a sad story that may be associated with brothers' Cohen movie "Fargo" or something like that. The quality of actors play is brilliant and absolutely realistic. I strongly recommended another Danelia astonishing film called "Kin-Dza-Dza" (strange adventures of mid-aged soviet foreman and his accidental fellow young Moscow student on another planet, kinda postapocaliptic totalitaristic Mad Max style world - the strong satire on all human civilization)

As a student of Russian language and culture, one of my biggest pet peeves is the way people who lived during the Cold War talk about the Russian people and about Russian society. Most people have terrible misconceptions about Russian Society. One of the most interesting epochs of Soviet History is the Brezhnev Era. Some of Russia's most celebrated dramedies such as Rjazanov's "The Irony of Fate" were coming out at this time. If you want to get a small taste of what Russian Society was like (although it is impossible to fully understand what you don't live through), this is one of the best films you can find. In addition, it's quite witty and even belly laugh funny at times Andrei's neighbor and the Danish professor go mushroom picking. If you enjoy films, which perhaps don't focus on plot, but rather conduct deep character analyzes by portraying a series of events and their effect on the characters, then this is the film for you. It is actually slightly reminiscent of American comedies by Wes Anderson and Alexander Payne. ABSOL'JUTNO STOIT VAM SMOTRET' I KAK MOZHNO BYSTREE!!! NU CHTO ZH SIDITE-TO.. BEGOM!