Braço de Diamante

a comedy with many virtues - the director, the script, the performance of Yuri Nikulin, the dialog and the wise manner to critic the Soviet regime. part from a long and precious Russian comedies, it seduce first for Gayday courage. because the fake crime story is a precise fresco of society. and the dialogs reflects in great measure that "sin". than, it is a deep human comedy, the small incorrect details , the use of innocence and, maybe, the end, does it a form of parable , more than satire. a film for each age, beautiful and fresh, full of emotion and laughter. an old fashion Russian film. who can reminds, in a crazy period, the importance of small real important ingredients of life.

A regular guy goes on a cruise abroad, gets mistaken for a mafia courier and receives a load of diamonds in the bandage on his broken arm. Mafia tries to return the goods, KGB tries to catch mafia, and our hero struggles in between. Tons of great humor. Many jokes from this absolutely hilarious comedy have made it into everyday language. I would like to invite visitors to see pictures from the movie and watch a detailed trailer at RussArt.com. Those who read Russian can find more materials useful: reviews, actor biographies, articles, etc.

Pictures: http://russart.com/?moviepictures&mid=10

Trailer: http://russart.com/?movietrailer&mid=10

This movie was never intended for foreign audiences. It is simply way too Russian (or too Soviet, actually) to be funny for anyone not familiar with the realities of local life. Most of the real comedy comes from Mironov and Papanov, who play hilarious villains on the track to recover stolen jewels, mistakenly put into Nikulin's arm cast. Russian-speaking audiences will enjoy Papanov's one-of-a-kind "Ukrainian" accent, but the jokes are too ethnic for anyone else to understand. Nikulin (a circus clown turned great comic actor) isn't particularly believable in an unfamiliar role of a good guy (his characters usually also were drunken and hilarious crooks), but turns in an adequate performance. Mironov is at his usual fast-talking, silly self, and Papanov is a riot. Mordyukova steals several scenes in a small role of a house superintendant, a towering woman with a thunderous voice. Overall, a terrific Soviet comedy, the kind they simply don't make anymore.

It's simply the best comedy ever made by anyone. Even the best Russian - or as some say - Soviet comedies don't stand even close to it. Well, maybe 12 Stools or The Golden Calf... There are dozens of catch phrases and extremely hilarious moments - you can talk to a any friend who saw it all night and laugh about it all anew. You can watch this comedy on and on and on. Every time it gets even more funny! ... " - Hey, stupid, what for did you shave the mustaches? - Off whom?" ... " - There, in London, the dog is the man's best friend... - Well, maybe a dog is a man's best friend over there, but here the Upravdom [a Soviet one certain household's members union] is a man's best friend." And so on... Brilliant!

I watched this movie as a small boy. I liked it. Then I watched it again, as a bigger boy. I liked it again :) Then I found it nowadays on video... was tempted to watch it again... and liked it again :-)

This is classics! It's good! It's... yes, it's way too Russian......but because I know Russian language, and Russian culture a bit, too, I could understand almost all of the movie's plot, and jokes, and sometimes (too Russian?;) humour.

The movie is real good. It has good plot, good acting, it's directed good, it has good music... I've given it 9/10 stars. It's worth watching! But... beware - maybe you wouldn't understand it. Because it's way too Russian? Maybe. Well, you can try, at least...

I really enjoyed it:)

One word-summary: recommend! ...for whoever want to try it:)