Tridtsat tri

An illiterate factory worker from a small provincial town in Soviet Russia becomes an overnight celebrity because he is found to have 33 teeth. His fame grows and he is summoned to Moscow. The Soviet Capital and society of the 1960s is seen through the eyes of a shocked, bumbling provincial factory worker. He discovers much about the world and himself.

Very potent combination of grotesque comedy and profound human drama in a tradition of Chekov, Gogol and Zoshenko.

I've seen around 5 of Daneliya's films (I Step Through Moscow, Afonya , Autumn Marathon, Tears Were Falling, Kin-Dza-Dza), and I must say that this on and Kin-Dza-Dza make me laugh out-loud more than any of his other films, so far. I love this director for his range of films, some about sadness and some, like this with a lot of comedy. This film is absolute brilliant comedy. Incredibly written and shot, it reminds me of a French New-wave in some of its cinematography and sets. It's in B/W BTW, I know that's important to some people.

This film is about a man in a small town who works in a beverage making factory and he is the only one that can mix the drinks by taste, knowing the chemicals very well. He is kind and a little childish and has a wife and two sons. He has an insane tooth-ache and the doctor discovers that he has 33 teeth, a first in medical history. Hiss story spreads fast, and soon he is taken to Moscow to be on TV. He meets many new people because of his call to fame. The characters are hilarious, everyone, there are too many to list. This film will surely make you laugh, not a minute goes by without something very funny going on. The main music theme is a happy jazzy-yet-Russian tune which is a gem in itself. The whole film has a happy feeling to it and one can't walk away from it feeling bitter or angry.

This film is easy to watch, it's not boring. It could be shown on IFC and a lot of people would surely love it. It's very imaginative. Towards the end there is hilarious science-fiction elements introduced in a very funny way. Wow, this film is just simply funny is all I can say. All other Daneliya's films I've seen so far half been more serious and less straight-forward comedic, but this is a very, very funny film that is meant to be just that. And it has a wonderful script and story, full of unexpected turns. See it for its many great characters, beautiful cinematography, wonderful story, and the situations and jokes. 10/10, because it's simply flawless.

I have only watched Kin Dza Dza (by same director) so far and was very curious about the other movies of this director. I can say that this was another hilarious if not very different kind of movie. A typical Soviet worker has to go to dentist to get his tooth pulled and they find out that he has 33 teeth, where as humans normally have 32 (a fact I wasn't aware of until watching this movie).

From there the story slowly becomes more and more crazy, as the whole society starts to involve themselves with our mediocre protagonist. I'm sure there are quite some "insider" cultural jokes that I, as non-Russian, didn't understand, but that still left a lot of craziness to be enjoyed. Not in the least the amazing performance of Yevgeni Leonov, who is a sort of Russian Danny De Vito. His under- acting is hilarious and there is a lot of social parody about the communist system going on at the same time. Anyway, for anyone interested in Soviet black comedies this is a must!