L'homme de boulevard des Capucines

That's a beautiful comedy with a number of Russian film stars. The plot is rather unusual for a comedy western. One of the first cinematographers(his name is Mr.First performed by Andrey Mironov) arrives in a sleepy Wild West town and brings a primitive film projector with a number of bobbins of first Chaplin-like films. Every night he shows films in the local saloon and his arrival has a dramatical effect on the local cowboys(probably "cowboys" will seem rather strange for real Americans, but don't forget the film is made in Russia and they also have some stereotypes about the Wild West). After his arrival they stop fighting with each other,stop speaking bad words, start behaving very politely("like real gentlemen"), and in the evenings come to the saloon to have a drink of ... milk, instead of whiskey!!! After solving many problems and passing through a wall of misunderstanding Mr.First makes a lot of friends and eventually the local beauty Diana falls in love with him. The film has a lot of funny episodes and twists e.g. the local Comanches start the war with the cowboys only to have a possibility to go to the movie saloon as well.It's really worth watching the film wherever you live.

A great and funny Soviet musical parody of Hollywood Westerns and also a tribute to the history of cinema. By portraying in an amusing way most of the genre clichés (saloon brawl, whisky, piano playing, can can dance, a stagecoach robbery, an eyepatch, shot men dropping from above...). That typical Old West caothic town is changed when a foreign man screens movies (indeed famous real and historic early films from XIX century). Besides being a cute homage to the seventh art, there is also implicitly a mockery on the United States values and on what was being produced in Hollywood on the 80's. It is probably among the 10 best movies made in Soviet Union. Alla Surikova, a woman inside the almost purely male universe of top Mosfilm directors, has a great work here, as there are many difficult action scenes wonderfully made.

Despite the film criticism, the idolatry of violent westerns, bloodthirsty, decimating Indians, misogynists, pigs and disgusting, produced by a woman in the Soviet cinema, the film is not very captivating, well produced, great social context, but it lacked something that I could cling, feel empathy, and the protagonist didn't contribute either... Prestigious and Regular...

Really funny, sweet, and moving take on the American western done by a soviet female director. Mr. First comes to a small town in the wild west to introduce the population to the art of cinematography. He brings a projector and an array of silent movies, including romance and comedy. Rowdy cowboys discover a different way of life and try to improve their own existence. Amazing cast, Tabakov is especially endearing as a saloon owner torn between greed and love for the movies. Surprisingly effective fight scenes could probably challenge those of the American counterparts. Karachentsov gives it his best with some of the best fight moves I've seen. Mironov is great, as usual, as an idealist out to change the world and bring enlightenment to the wild wild west. Highly recommended as a comedy, romance, western, and a meditation on the role of art and mass entertainment in our society.

This is one of those good old soviet comedies. The humor in these films is pretty innocent but still very funny. This film contains many Russian stars of that time. The plot is quite original. It's about a town in Wild West who's people are only drinking and fighting every single day and about an intelligent man who arrive to the town to introduce towns people with Cinematography. Soon people of town get fascinated by cinema, they stop drinking and fighting and become more polite to each other. The movie is really funny and interesting. Though this is not a action film, i've noticed some well choreographed fighting scenes. This film is really worth your time.