Filmed at the Mosfilm Studios, The Irony of Fate doubles as a screwball comedy and a love story tinged with sadness. It was one of the most successful Soviet television productions and remains a highly popular New Year's Eve classic in Russia and the post-Soviet states, with millions tuning in to rewatch it every New Year's Eve.
Plot
The key subplot is the drab uniformity of Brezhnev-era public architecture. This setting is explained in a humorous animated prologue (directed and animated by cartoonist Vitaly Peskov) in which architects are overruled by politicians and red tape. As a result, the identical, functional but unimaginative multistory apartment buildings found their way into every city, town, and suburb across the Soviet Union.[1]
Following their annual tradition, a group of friends meet at a banya (a traditional public "sauna" bathhouse) in Moscow to celebrate New Year's Eve. The friends all get very drunk toasting the upcoming marriage of the central male character, Zhenya Lukashin (Andrey Myagkov) to Galya (Olga Naumenko). After the bath, one of the friends, Pavlik (Aleksandr Shirvindt), has to catch a flight to Leningrad and the entire group is going to take him to the airport. By the time the group makes it to the airport, Zhenya and Pavlik are passed out. The remaining friends cannot remember which person from their group is supposed to travel. They mistakenly get Zhenya onto the plane instead of Pavlik.
Zhenya spends the entire flight sleeping on the shoulder of his annoyed seatmate (Eldar Ryazanov in a brief comedic cameo appearance). The seatmate helps Zhenya get off the plane in Leningrad. Zhenya wakes up in the Leningrad airport, believing he is still in Moscow. He stumbles into a taxi and, still quite drunk, gives the driver his address. It turns out that in Leningrad there is an identical address that belongs to an apartment buildings of a design identical to Zhenya's building in Moscow. He takes the elevator to "his" apartment and, surprisingly, the key fits in the door (as alluded to in the introductory narration, "...building standard apartments with standard locks"). Inside, even the furniture is nearly identical to that of Zhenya's apartment, but Zhenya is too drunk to notice any minor differences.
Meanwhile, the apartment's resident, Nadya Shevelyova (Barbara Brylska), comes home and finds Zhenya asleep on her bed. To make matters worse, Nadya's fiancé, Ippolit (Yuri Yakovlev), shows up without an advance notice. Ippolit becomes furious, refuses to believe Zhenya and Nadya's explanations, and storms out. Zhenya is about to leave to get back to Moscow but circumstances make him return repeatedly. Nadya wants to get rid of Zhenya as soon as possible, but there are no flights to Moscow until the next morning. Additionally, Zhenya tries repeatedly to call Moscow and explain to Galya what has happened. Eventually, he does contact Galya, but she is furious and hangs up on his call. Ippolit also calls Nadya's apartment and hears Zhenya answer. Although Zhenya is trying to be available to receive potential calls from Galya, Ippolit also refuses to accept the truth of the situation. Nadya goes to the railway station and buys a train ticket to Moscow for Zhenya, but he abruptly rips it up and refuses to leave. It seems more and more clear that Zhenya and Nadya are the only two people who understand the night's circumstances.
Thus, Zhenya and Nadya are compelled to spend New Year's Eve together. At first, they continue to treat each other with animosity, but gradually their behavior softens, and the two fall in love. In the morning, a drunken Ippolit barges into the apartment and amazes Zhenya and Nadia with his erratic behavior (he takes a shower right in his winter coat and hat) and at the same time logical and close to the truth arguments about what happened on this New Year's Eve. Ippolit, wet "with tears", leaves Nadia for good. The duo feel that everything that has happened to them was a delusion, and they make the difficult decision to part. With a heavy heart, Zhenya returns to Moscow. Meanwhile, Nadya reconsiders everything and, deciding that she might have let her chance at happiness slip away, takes a plane to Moscow to find Zhenya. She has no difficulty finding him as their addresses are the same, and her key matches his lock.
After reading the script, composer Mikael Tariverdiev was puzzled by its genre diversity. As a result, he defined it for himself as a Christmas fairy tale, and for musical accompaniment he chose eight romances – "about love, about happiness, about jealousy, about kindness, about the desire to be understood" – which at first sound like a sharp counterpoint to what is happening on the screen, but then "scissors between the sound and the picture converged".[2]
The soundtrack for The Irony of Fate was partly released on Mikael Tariverdiev's LP in 1976 by Melodiya.[3] A full soundtrack was released in 2009 by Bomba Music (Russia)[4] and in 2016 by Earth (UK).[5]
Male vocals are mostly performed by Sergey Nikitin, female vocals – by Alla Pugacheva. Initially, Anna German was preparing to perform songs for the film, but the recording did not take place – the funds for the invitation of a foreign singer were not included in the estimate.[6]
All music is composed by Mikael Tariverdiev
No.
Title
Lyrics
Length
1.
"Overture (Uvertura)" (instrumental)
2:43
2.
"What Is Happening to Me? (So Mnoyu Vot Chto Proishodit)"
The two consecutive episodes of The Irony of Fate were originally broadcast by the Soviet central television channel, Programme One,[7] on 1 January 1976, at 18:00.[8] The film was a resounding success with audiences: author Fedor Razzakov recalled that "virtually the entire country watched the show";[9] the number of viewers was estimated to have been about 100 million.[10] In response to popular demand, the feature had a first re-run on 7 February. By 1978, after several further broadcasts of the picture, the accumulated number of viewers for all of the showings including the first was estimated at 250 million.[9] A shortened 155 minute version was released to cinemas on 16 August 1976;[11] which sold 7 million tickets.[12] The readers of Sovetskii Ekran, the official publication of the State Committee for Cinematography, voted The Irony of Fate as the best film of 1976, and chose Andrey Myagkov as the best actor of the year.[13] In 1977, Ryazanov, Braginsky, cinematographer Vladimir Nakhabtsev, composer Mikael Tariverdiev and actors Barbara Brylska and Myagkov were all awarded the USSR State Prize in recognition of their participation in making the film.[11]
George Faraday commented that while it was basically a happy ending romantic comedy, The Irony of Fate had a "socially critical undertone." It could be interpreted as an "explicit commentary... On the soulless uniformity of the Soviet urban landscape".[14] Simultaneously, however, critics accused the director of creating an escapist film which allowed the Soviet audience to turn away from the "unattractive features" of their country's reality. In a 1977 issue of Sovetskii Ekran, Ryazanov responded that "to reassure, to encourage the viewer – it is not such a sin." He rejected the claims his pictures were meant to please state authorities, stating their optimistic nature was "spontaneous" rather than "forced".[15]
In his book Problems in the Russian House,[b]Sergey Kara-Murza posted a critical article in which he reproached Ryazanov for the "anti-Sovietism" nature of his heroes, as well as for the formation and cultivation of images of "internal emigrants" by him. In his opinion, the heroes of the film are "typical intelligents of those years with social traits close to this circle," who, however, are well over thirty but they do not have a family and children, while having energetic mothers [almost implausible for a post-war generation] who care about their comfort and material well-being. The subtle signs of the "far-fetched elitism, aristocracy" of the film's characters were picked up and assimilated by a very significant part of the intelligentsia, who eventually "enthusiastically accepted Perestroika and applauded Sakharov".[16]
In 2019, archdeacon Vladimir Vasilik analyzed several themes of the film – orphanhood and fatherlessness of the Soviet intelligentsia of the Khrushchev-Brezhnev era, love and betrayal, drunkenness, blizzard as an image of Fate and a metaphor of infernal fun for the New Year, – and described the film as "a monument to the era of late socialism with all its greatness and tragedy," which at the same time "carries the reflection of the love fading on earth from people who have experienced God-abandonment." Longing for God is transmitted primarily "in songs and poems that serve as a chorus in ancient tragedy."[17]
Legacy
The film is widely regarded as a classic piece of Russian popular culture and is traditionally broadcast in Russia and almost all former Soviet republics every New Year's Eve (Andrew Horton and Michael Brashinsky likened its status to that held by Frank Capra's 1946 It's a Wonderful Life in the United States as a holiday staple).[18] The soundtrack of the film was also highly appreciated and places among the most famous and recognizable music of an era in post-Soviet countries.[19] This tradition was discontinued in Ukraine in 2015 when licence holder STB decided not to broadcast the movie after the actress Valentina Talyzina was banned from entering Ukraine for "statements contradicting the interests of our national security".[20][21]
In 2006, The New Year's Eve musical film "The First Fast", shown on Channel One, included a mini-sequel to "The Irony of Fate". Ippolit and Nadia meet after 30 years. During the heartful conversation, it turns out that Zhenya and Nadia broke up quite quickly and Ippolit is still not married. To Nadia's question, "Why?" he answers: "I've been waiting for you. And I keep waiting." Nadia doesn't know what to answer and whispers "Don't be sad". Ippolit remains alone. Gleb Kolondo (Vatnikstan) considered: "It seemed to be better than Bekmambetov's [film] two years later".[22]
Sequel
A sequel, The Irony of Fate 2, was released in December 2007, becoming a box office hit and grossing over $55 million to a production budget of $5 million.
The film starred Konstantin Khabensky and Elizaveta Boyarskaya as the grown-up children of Lukashin and Sheveleva who have managed to get into the same situation as their parents did.
Andrey Myagkov, although he took part in the filming, eventually expressed his regret and dissatisfaction with the final result.[23]
Eldar Aleksandrovich Ryazanov was a Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter, poet, actor and pedagogue whose popular comedies, satirizing the daily life of the Soviet Union and Russia, are celebrated throughout the former Soviet Union and former Warsaw Pact countries.
Yury Vasilyevich Yakovlev was a Soviet and Russian actor. He was awarded the honorary title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1976.
Office Romance is a 1977 Soviet comedy film directed by Eldar Ryazanov. The film's plot is based on the stageplay Co-workers (Сослуживцы) written by Ryazanov and Emil Braginsky, and tells the story of Ludmila Kalugina, head of a statistical bureau, and her subordinate, economist Anatoly Novoseltsev, who come from mutual aversion to love.
Carnival Night is a 1956 Soviet musical film. It is Eldar Ryazanov's first big-screen film, and Lyudmila Gurchenko's first role. It is also one of the most famous films starring popular comedian Igor Ilyinsky.
Barbara Brylska is a Polish actress who gained critical acclaim in the 1960s and was featured in numerous films throughout the countries of the Warsaw Pact including the Soviet Union. She is noted especially for her role as Nadya in the 1976 Soviet comedy film Irony of Fate.
The Dawns Here Are Quiet is a 1972 Soviet war drama directed by Stanislav Rostotsky based on Boris Vasilyev's novel of the same name. The film deals with antiwar themes and focuses on a garrison of Russian female soldiers in World War II. It was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category. The film is set in Karelia and was filmed near Ruskeala.
The Irony of Fate 2 or The Irony of Fate: Continuation is a 2007 Russian romantic comedy film directed by Timur Bekmambetov based on a screenplay by Aleksey Slapovsky produced by Channel One and released by Mosfilm. It is a direct sequel of the first The Irony of Fate.
Andrey Vasilyevich Myagkov was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor, theater director and writer. He is best known for his roles in famous films directed by Eldar Ryazanov, such as The Irony of Fate (1975), Office Romance (1977), The Garage (1979) and A Cruel Romance (1984).
Georgi Ivanovich Burkov was a Soviet and Russian film actor. He appeared in 70 films between 1967 and 1988. He died on 19 July 1990 at the age of 57 due to thrombosis.
Liya Medzhidovna Akhedzhakova is a Soviet and Russian film, stage and voice actress who received the title of People's Artist of Russia in 1994. She received two Nika Awards as the best supporting actress and the 2014 Nika Honorary Prize.
Aleksandr Anatolyevich Shirvindt was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor, screenwriter and voice actor, People's Artist of the RSFSR (1989). In 2000, he became a theatre director of Moscow Satire Theatre.
Alexander Borisovich Belyavsky was a Soviet/Russian actor who appeared in more than one hundred films. Belyavsky was also the first presenter of the popular TV Show The 13 Chairs Tavern. In 1988 he was designated a Meritorious Artist of Russia; in 2003, he was named a People's Artist of Russia.
Forgotten Melody for a Flute is a 1987 Soviet romantic comedy-drama film directed by Eldar Ryazanov. The film's plot is based on the stage play of the same name written by Ryazanov and Emil Braginsky.
Dear Yelena Sergeyevna is a 1988 Soviet crime thriller film directed by Eldar Ryazanov. The film is based on an eponymous play by Lyudmila Razumovskaya.
Valentina Illarionovna Talyzina is a Soviet and Russian film and stage actress, People's Artist of the RSFSR (1985). Awarded the Order of Honor (2005) and the Order of Friendship (2010). She was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1964.
Hello, Fools! is a 1996 Russian film directed by Eldar Ryazanov. The film is a fantastical melodrama and comedy.
Olga Nikolayevna Naumenko is a Soviet and Russian actress of theater and cinema, and a TV presenter, People's Artist of Russia (2005). Actress of Gogol Center.
Lyubov Ivanovna Dobrzhanskaya was a Soviet singer and actress of theater and cinema. She won the Stalin Prize II degree in 1951 and the People's Artist of the USSR Award in 1965. She is best known for her roles in films Beware of the Car and The Irony of Fate.
About Fate is a 2022 American romantic comedy film directed by Maryus Vaysberg from a screenplay by Tiffany Paulsen. It is a remake of the 1976 Soviet television film The Irony of Fate. The film stars Emma Roberts, Thomas Mann, Britt Robertson, Madelaine Petsch, Wendie Malick, Cheryl Hines, and Lewis Tan.
Hourglass is a 1984 Soviet melodrama film directed by Sergei Vronsky and starring Anatoly Kuznetsov, Nikolay Skorobogatov, Galina Polskikh.
References
↑ Frederick Edwin Ian Hamilton, Kaliopa Dimitrovska Andrews, Nataša Pichler-Milanović Transformation Of Cities In Central And Eastern Europe 2005 Page 159 "... industry started and by the early 1960s new housing districts built in five-storey blocks of modern industrialized panel construction had been established all around the socialist countries (e.g. in Moscow, popularly known as "Kruschevki")."
↑ Krigel, Mikhailo; Danilenko, Larissa (2012). почти рождественская История[Almost A Christmas Tale](PDF) (in Russian). Vidavichny Dim UMH. Archived from the original(PDF) on 25 March 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2012. p. 7.
↑ Alexeev, Alexey (14 January 2008). Судьба иронизирует дважды[A Double Irony of Fate] (in Russian). Kommersant. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
↑ Lawton, Anna (1992). Kinoglasnost: Soviet Cinema in Our Time. CUP. ISBN9780521388146. pp. 14–15.
↑ Кара-Мурза С. Г., Телегин С. А.Неполадки в русском домеArchived 2021-12-23 at the Wayback Machine . — М.: Алгоритм. — Серия «Горячая линия». — 443 с. — 3000 экз. — ISBN 5-699-09616-7. In Russian
↑ Horton, Andrew; Brashinsky, Michael (1992). The Zero Hour: Glasnost and Soviet Cinema in Transition. Princeton University Press. ISBN9780691019208. p. 171.
↑ Vaysberg, Marius (8 September 2022), About Fate (Comedy, Romance), Aldamisa Entertainment, American International Pictures (AIP), Contentious Media, archived from the original on 30 December 2022, retrieved 29 December 2022
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