La prisonnière du Caucase

He only appeared in a few films, but the idea seems to have been to make the "Shurik" character played by Aleksandr Demyanenko into a sort of Soviet version of classic recurring slapstick characters of the type of, most famously, Chaplin's "Little Tram" -- he shows up somewhere and the character remains the same but is placed in a new comedic story-line.

It works well, and this comedy benefits from being much more unifying than the previous Shurik film, "Operatsiya Y." He shows up and we're told that Shurik has arrived in the Caucasus in order to study folklore. We don't need to know anything more, but it does lead to a funny running gag, where everyone he meets forces on him way more alcohol than he can handle because he said he would be studying traditional toasts.

This movie is very funny, seeming to find just the right combination of classic old-fashioned slapstick, outright goofiness, and a good farcical plot. The story, which is based around a traditional Caucasion bride- kidnapping turning into a real kidnapping, is just enough to keep funny misunderstandings going, but not get in the way of good gags pr set pieces. There's also a lot of Central Asian local-color to be seen -- as part of the concept is taking the retiring city-boy Shurik and putting him in an interesting location -- and that's just interesting from any perspective.

Though Shurik is nominally the protagonist, a lot of the comedy show is stolen by the band of three villains (including one who has the only postwar Hitler moustache I've seen on anyone but Michael Jordan or Robert Mugabe) who channel the Three Stoges in their slapstick attempts to get things done.

Natalya Varley is a lot of fun to watch as she apparently invests her role with a superhuman amount of verve, and the two songs are both highly catchy. So on the whole this one's a winner, and just plain funny throughout.

Ten without any doubts. An excellent example of Russian humour, the movie for all ages! I watched it many times (10 or so), but it never became boring for myself. Natalya Varley (Nina) is excellent in this film. Every film becomes funny if it is starring "the three": Nikulin Vitsin, Morgunov. But even considering this, "Kavkazskaya Plennitsa" is a piece of great play by them. I also like this film for the song: "A Song About Bears". You know, that the unofficial symbol of Russian people is the bear. Hear this song attentively. I think, that it is about Russian people.

The best decision for those, who don't speak Russian, is the movie in Russian with subtitles in your native language. But...Try to turn off the sound, I bet, that you shall easily understand the film even without it!

This is a comedy that will keep a smile on your lips throughout. The actors do as fine a job as any slapstick comedians I have seen and the humor translates across generations. This is a film that is many things in one: a family film (nothing offensive here), a piece of historical culture (especially with its snide jokes about lazy, corrupt bureaucrats, which surely skated close to the censors in the old USSR -- but just as certainly resonated with the viewing public then and now), and a delightfully dated comedy complete with mid-60s music and hair.

I recommend viewing the DVD in the original Russian language, using subtitles if you do not understand Russian. The subtitles are not obtrusive, and to employ dubbing is to lose the wonderful vocal intonations and characterizations of the original actors.

This is a very good film, at least an 8 out of 10. Get a copy of the DVD and enjoy!

Perhaps you have seen "Divorce Italian Style", a classic example of delightful farce. With this Ruski gem, the laughs come even faster. It is set in the Caucasian mountains, and the spectacular scenery is a bonus. A trio of buffoons who often appeared together star in this film along with the "hero". A very beautiful young woman figures into the silly plot, and she becomes the kidnap victim. Complete nonsense ensues, and it is priceless. At times it looks like potential source material for Benny Hill. One of the buffoons stars as the "hero" in other excellent comedies and was a gifted circus clown (I forget his name, drat!). In this film the non-stop antics and gags, although clearly done on a very low budget, nonetheless work very well with a cast that is obviously having a jolly good time. Available with subtitles.

This film is another example of great Soviet comedies. The plot, although it is a comedy, but at the same time it has an adventure part, which concerns the rescue of a girl from captivity. The humor is absolutely not vulgar and is suitable for all ages. Acting is better than all praise.