Russia released, PAL/Region Free DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. SPOKEN LANGUAGE: RUSSIAN; SUBTITLES: ENGLISH; GERMAN and RUSSIAN; FULL SCREEN, SYNOPSIS:
This adaptation of Lev Slavin's play was notable for its humorous treatment of the Russian Civil War and foreign governments' involvement in it. The film was shot in 1968 but not completed until 1987 due to the intervention (no pun intended) of the authorities. It was intended to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the October revolution and at the same time be an entertaining film. One reviewer (for Variety) likens the resulting film to what might have happened had directors Jean-Luc Godard and Federico Fellini teamed up with the Red Army in 1968 to put on a cabaret show. Farce is liberally mixed with slapstick. This is far from the kind of stodgy film that was usually produced for official celebrations. After the government stopped the production, the cast sent a letter to Soviet Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin defending the film and its director, quoting from Lenin that "the Revolution is a jolly thing, and revolutionary art can't be routine, dull, cliched." The letter didn't help.
