Ironiya sudby, ili S legkim parom!

I've been told that this film is shown every New Year's Eve in Russia, and there is no doubt why. It is exquisitely romantic, appropriately funny and symbolizes the best of Russia. It's sentimentally touches a heart string in everyone and its seeming lack of reality only makes it more realistic. With a fantastic soundtrack and some beautiful poetry, you truly have not seen a good film until you have seen this. I could watch it again and again and.....

This movie is another great foreign film that would have escaped my attention except that a Russian friend had recommended it. It is a cult film in 1975 Soviet Russia centered around their big holiday, New Years Day. The acting is unusually good and the story plot is very believable. The movie is listed as a comedy and that gives away that the outcome is a happy one. How they get there is what makes this a great story. If you don't mind subtitles and listing to a foreign language this is a great movie. There is very limited violence which actually adds to the dilemma of the characters. There is no nudity or obscene language. I recommend this to anyone looking for a light comedy. Vincew9298@hotmail.com

...we rent "S legkim parom!" and watch it. The film is on the long side, but it's perfect for New Year's Eve. I personally think this is a classic of Russian comedies. Very funny, and at the same time somewhat sad as well. The film has become legendary in Russia, so it might be a little hard for foreigners to understand, much like it's hard for people outside the US to understand all those Christmas films. It's great, though--every time I watch it, it just makes me think of the holidays and feel happy inside.

Let me sort out what in this film is Soviet, what is Russian, and what is universal.

Soviet is the background, including the cartoon which precedes the appearance of humans: a man with a tube kills any architect originality, even so innocent as balconies. As a consequence, the same buildings are put up in Artica as well in a southern desert before surprised camels. The Soviet reality is the basis of the plot with identical buildings in different cities. Also the New Year tree rather that the Christmas tree is Soviet. However, as the story unfolds, the Soviet reality recedes into little visible background. An exception is a line in one of the songs: if you do not have a dog, your neighbor cannot poison your dog.

Russian are the beautiful poems which are made into songs. There are also some views of Leningrad, but actually only a few, with the St. Isaac Basilica shown several times from different sides.

The cast and the technical crew are largely Russian, but not only. Obviously Armenian, Georgian and Jewish names are listed. The actress playing Nadya has been imported from Central Europe; Barbara Brylska is a Polish actress, well known also from a number of other movies made in Poland as well as in other countries.

The appeal of the film is truly universal ! This is the reason why viewers from countries so disparate as Latvia, Ukraine and China like this film so much (not to mention Texans). The love-jealousy quadrangle, two mothers, friends of Zhenya and colleagues of Nadya could have lived in many countries around the world. Even the story of the same address could have happened for instance in Germany where practically every city and town has Bahnhofstrasse and Poststrasse.

Finally, the atmosphere of this film is unique - a word which very rarely can be used discussing films. We have seen other films directed by Eldar Ryazanov, all of them good, but none comparable to this one. All that takes place in the film is plausible, it could have happened in reality. At the same time, there is the feeling of poetic, unreal and sublime. These two basically opposed reactions to the film coexist somehow in the viewer; this simply does not happen in movies, films directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski excepted. Irony of the Fate is a truly wonderful film, alive 30 years after being created; it will enchant future generations as well.

This is a great movie. If you've ever spent any time in Russia, you know that the premise is not too far-fetched, considering the post-war Soviet cookie-cutter construction techniques. I wish I could watch it every New Year.

Can anyone tell me if an English version--preferably subtitled, but I'd settle for dubbed--is available?