Under the ordinary “Soviet” name, which does not promise anything, hides an interestingly made film with a director’s look, radically different from the one used in the film adaptations of “Kortik” and “Bronze Bird” with the same characters. The characters look much more alive. Bright Eustignes, heavy acting artillery. Numerous very “atmospheric” fragments of the Moscow newsreel of the “Nepman” period were perfectly woven into the fabric of the film.
The whole film does not feel: there is a confrontation between the director, clearly passionate about conveying the spirit of the time, aesthetically really very interesting, with the script produced by an experienced (30 years older) venerable writer A. Rybakov. Towards the end of the film, severe seriousness takes over: the conclusion is reflected, albeit crumpled, with the filing of the charming Komsomol Misha Polyakov, on the sheer water of the “formers” lurking on the Soviet power, attracted by private ownership instincts, going for the sake of profiting from crimes. Or could, without killings in the plot, just a bright dynamic movie, a stylization of the Soviet 1920s with memorable sketches from that life, giving actors reasons to show their talents, which would stand on a par with the 12 chairs filmed at the same time? Zakharova and “Cannot Be” Gaidai.