Humor: Russian Zany vs. Russian Subtle

I am baffled by the popularity of zany comedies among Russian folk. I don’t mean Russian low-brows or immature folk, I mean all of them. The most intelligent and sophisticated Russian expatriates of my acquaintance are also fans of zany Russian comedies. The closest American equivalent of this type of humor would be something along the lines of “Gilligan’s Island” but with an infusion of singing and dancing along with a great deal of electronic music. All of the Russian instructors I’ve studied with have at some point presented me with one of these films as an example of Russian humor.

“Gentlemen of Fortune” is a wacky romp featuring a kindergarten teacher who is sent by the police to infiltrate a criminal gang due to the fact that the teacher looks exactly like the jailed gang leader.

“Ivan Vasiliech Changes Professions” (a.k.a. “Ivan Vasiliech: Back to the Future”) is a madcap fiasco concerning a time machine that accidentally brings Ivan the Terrible to modern Moscow and sends a modern Russian guy back in time to take Ivan’s place as the Tsar.

“Kidnapping Caucasian Style” is a crazy misadventure that takes place amongst the simple folk of the Caucasus Mountains. A family sells their visiting niece as a bride to a local big shot and a traveling anthropology geek who was tricked into helping with the kidnapping must try to rescue her.

Ridiculous. At the same time, this culture that produced Dostoyevsky, Erte and Tchaikovsky is also responsible for some of my favorite movies. When I mention these movies to my Russian instructors they always express enthusiasm for them. Yet somehow my instructors tend to push the zany comedies.

One of my favorite Russian comedies of the subtle humor variety is “Autumn Marathon”. It’s about a middle-aged St. Petersburg professor and his dilemma of constantly trying to meet the emotional needs of both his wife and his mistress while maintaining an exhausting work schedule.

“Irony of Fate” holds the same place in Russian culture that “It’s A Wonderful Life” holds in American culture (apparently Russian television shows it every year on New Year’s Eve). It’s a comedy about a guy who accidentally takes a trip to St. Petersburg and is taken by a taxi to his same address in Moscow where his apartment key fits the lock all due to the lack of variation in Soviet society. He and the woman who lives there fall in love during the course of New Years Eve. Yes, the characters sing and play the guitar for each other several times, and there is a touch of zaniness, but overall the humor is clever and not heavy-handed.

“Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears” is pretty well-known since it won the Oscar for best foreign film. It’s about a woman who gets pregnant, becomes a single parent, succeeds in industry, and finally meets a decent guy who will stick around. It doesn’t sound like a comedy, but it falls under the aegis of subtle humor.

Finally, last night in my Russian conversation class, I was introduced to a movie called “Most Charming and Attractive”. It stars one of the supporting actresses from “Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears” and even though we only watched about fifteen minutes of the movie, I was very surprised to see her as a completely different persona. The plot according to imdb.com:

“Nadya Klyueva is a single woman. Persuaded by her friend, she decides to charm her co-worker whom she doesn't really love, but who is the most popular man around.”

The friend who tries to persuade Nadya Klyueva was brilliant – very stiff but convinced of the soundness of her romantic advice. It’s impossible to accurately translate the humor and appeal of this type of Russian character. Unfortunately, “Most Charming and Attractive” isn’t available with English subtitles yet, at least I haven’t been able to track down a copy today. But life would be boring without Holy Grails to run after.