Eine fröhliche Fuhre

A farcical comedy with a few very good actors which is supposed to be funny; the only thing, it is not. Made in Russia in 1980, it was announced as a Russian-Finnish co-production, although all the leads and supporting actors are Russian. Is it authentic? I visited both countries, and my opinion is, the Russian actors in this film don't look like Finns and don't behave like them. Such Russian stars as Leonov, Nevinnyy and Vitsin are wasted, and silliness creeps in from the very start and then builds up and clogs up everything. The director, Gayday, made quite a number of really witty situation comedies. Unfortunately, this is not one of them. Try 'Twelve Chairs' or 'Kidnapping, Caucasian Style', instead.

Set in nineteenth-century Finland, this is situational comedy at its absolute best. A grumpy village wife sends her husband to borrow some matches from their next-lake neighbor. On his way, the poor fellow meets an old drinking buddy and gets completely sidetracked, forgetting all about the task at hand in order to help his friend marry the girl of his dreams (which he ultimately does in the end - never mind it's a totally different girl). A bitter-sweet confusion follows, resulting in a drunken brawl, a prison sentence, a ship sinking on its way to America, several weddings being arranged then called off, finally culminating in the hero's own "funeral". Side-splitting but done with great taste and style.

The film - and the novel of the same name it's based on - offer a rare sympathetic glimpse into the life of rural 19th-century Finland. The movie succeeds in conveying the novel's biggest strength: its characters, uneducated but amazing men and women whose simple hearts are bursting with love and hope. A rare gem worthy of being on the "Best ever" list.