Mimino

Mimino can be said to be the single best Kino to come out of Georgia. A light hearted romp about one man's heart and the charming Muscovite smile that takes him on his journey.

I don't want to give too much away, but let me say you do not know comedy until you have seen a cow being transported by a helicopter. Mimino also learns the Armenians are actually decent folk, which is nice to know.

IMDb score 10/10, I would give it 12 but I can't. Top score for being a Soviet comedy that is actually funny, and bonus ducks for creating awareness of the Nation of Georgia.

To enjoy you must not only know Russian well, but the reality of the USSR in late 70s. The plot is driven by highly unlikely events. However, the two principal characters are believable and recognizable, their irrational actions motivated, the dialog and expressions are trend setting, the actors at their best.

for Vakhtang Kikabidze performance, one of Soviet cinema legends . for the music. and for the game with national identity details. nostalgic, fresh, warm, it is testimony of a time and proof of a kind of freedom. show of small things, picture of cultural misunderstandings, story of honest man in big city, it is not exactly a comedy but bitter reflection to sense of desire. moral lesson, like many other films of period, it is, today, nostalgic view of self - definition. beautiful images of Georgia, streets of Moscow, silhouette of churches, meetings and troubles, the secondary characters of village, the people of city, the cow in air and the adorable Hachikian in Frunzik Mkrchyan are parts of touching entertainment. In this conditions, Mimino remains a bright face of a period , poetic, childish and really precious.

This is one of the BEST and MOST POPULAR Soviet Comedies ever!

In all former Soviet states this film is still loved and admired, so It's pity that non-Russian speaking audience will never get even 10% of its jokes and humor. There are several reasons for this:

1) To understand this (and actually all soviet film) one must not just know the Russian language - one must know the Soviet system, soviet culture, lifestyle.

2) Those who think that Soviet UNION=Russia are very wrong, and here the fact that USSR consisted of 15 different states (and hundreds of nations actually) has a great importance - as the story concerns the "adventures" of two southerners (a Georgian and an Armenian) in Moscow (that was both capital of Russia and USSR)-great deal of humor comes from their accents, as well as cultural differences. The director himself is Georgian who mostly lives in Russia and most of his films concern Russia (almost all of them are very popular in Russia) Only in one film (Ne Goryui!- that is equally as good as this one though very different) the action takes place in Georgia. (other much recommended films are Kin-Dza-Dza and Autumn Marathon..)

3) It is very important to know certain cultural confrontation that existed in USSR and still exists in Russia - Caucasians (Russia is the only v\country where this term means "black, dark person" - i.e. Georgians, Armenians, Azeri, and others) are rather unpopular in Russia (Russian nationalists consider them second main enemy after Jews, now due to Chechnya war Caucasian people became the most unpopular in Russia ); Characters of Georgian And Armenian visually fit the most standard stereotypes that exist in Russia (- big flat hat, moustaches, etc.) Armenians and Georgians for thousands of years had rivalry and competition, each trying to prove that it is older, better, and more cultural than the other;

• AND DESPUITE ALL THIESE Danelia MADE a film where there is no national problem - there are good people and not so good people, friendship and understanding between all these nations win - and therefore the film has a great political-subtexts - though it is delivered so lightly and tenderly that nobody thinks to call it propaganda or political film- its just a CLASSIC SOVIET COMEDY, delicious and funny, not that slapstick-cake-into-face staff, but film about real people, real feelings and real values.

Never boring, obscene, or stupid, but definitely absolutely charming and legendary. Together with "Kin-Dza-Dza" it achieves the highest heights of cinematography. Both these outstanding masterpieces belong to one and the same director. These two friendly movies are something very special and if you soak up their atmosphere you will definitely see their high class. Our modern cinema can hardly rival their greatness. Under the influence of such rare but perfect movies people would have become more attentive to each other and would have had more common sense. Cinematography would have been a healer and a good reliable teacher then.

The main character is the Man. Probably he is a good-for-nothing brawler, a bad poet, and a poor conversationalist. And he surely does not have lots of dough. And no lethal weapons under his jacket. But he has a heart and behaves in every single situation like a hero. The woman who rejects and mocks him will understand her mistake sooner or later… Why are we writing and reading reviews on IMDb? Even an answer to this question can be found in "Mimino". Remember that scene when he makes a phone call and gets to Israel instead of his village? What a common man of today would do in exactly the same situation? And what the Man would do? Watch it to see. An eternal cinema classic.

Give it a 10, "Zdachi ne nado!" Thanks for attention.