Leonid Gaidai & Slapstick Comedy in the USSR
Slapstick comedies emerged with new depth from the Mosfilms studio, as a result of the Russian New Wave of the 60’s experimentation with themes and cinematic technique. These comedies were innovative, although they relied on very popular subjects in the western world. Unlike films in the USSR, slapstick comedy in America tended to be politically incorrect on both international and domestic policy if not slightly subversive, thus relying on them on role models would have been unthinkable in the Stalinist era. With Kruschev installed in office, political reforms were introduced across all industries including education, and this seeped into creative industries. The founder of Russian Slapstick, Leonid Gaidai, was able to bring together two unlikely companions: he crafted and established what it meant to be funny and socialist state approved. His works became blockbusters, appealing to the masses. Gaidai managed to create socially incorrect messages that were humorous at a time of more cinematic political restraint in the Soviet Period post de-Stalinization. He was able to remaining within politically acceptable ideology – by curtailing any commentary or hint of discussion of the government and its domestic policies. Here, he deviated from his western counterparts. Instead, through laughter, messages espousing a continuation of an ideal or fanciful socialist lifestyle in a era of immense economic and foreign political expansion, retention and instability. These films play as the antithesis of new wave’s distinct socialist realism aspects by immersing the viewer in pure silliness and joy.
The Diamond Arm
The Diamond Arm is a movie about a common working-class Russian going on a vacation to Istanbul and who gets himself in the middle of a jewel smuggling case. The movie is based on a real life Swiss Jewel theft case in which the smugglers were transporting jewels in a arm cast. The movie is just silly – showcasing the most ridiculous of moments and a constant battle between the protagonist’s soon-developed Government approved militia (trying to find the thief) and the thief’s. At the conclusion, the Workingman wins whilst the villains fly away. This falls within the classic Aristotelian structure and a comic structure, triangulating between the reactions of the villains, the good guy and the audience. The role of gender is completely different from the previous films we have watched and takes more of a sexist role similar to American comedies at that age. In one scene the villains use a sexy women they found in a fashion show and as bait for the married protagonist. This creates social complications as the stability of his home is questioned, as he has to keep secret of the case, and yet he remains loyal – thus showing the workingman as moral and noble. These types of motives were part of the Russian ideal, someone who is both naive and innocent, morally above reproof – an attitude that film commissions would approve.
Operation Y and
Shurik's Other Adventures
The three-part epic Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures, also directed by Gaidai, uses the chase as the basic plot device. The story contains three different plots all connected by the character of Shurik. These motifs between the good vs. bad are exemplified here. Shurik was sentenced to a fifteen-day community service project because he wanted to help a pregnant lady to get priority seating, whilst a man, Fedya, was seated. Both men, after fighting, are sentenced to the same center. This is their final fight, and pits idealism (and moral virtue) versus the wasteful government center. Normally, re-education centers had harsh conditions and in this film there is a sense of accompanying foolishness, from the waste of gas to the labor the men could have been part of. This would have been, in the Stalinist era, quite subversive no matter the underlying picture of virtue. In the end, Shurik has to re-educate his bully. The movie also questions quietly the economic crisis in its other parts of the film from looking at universities (and him cheating on an exam while falling in love) to the warehouse.
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The Diamond Arm and Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures can both be viewed on Mosfilm's YouTube account.
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