Yady, ili vsemirnaya istoriya otravleniy

I saw this movie on the Russian Film Week which is fortunately becoming a regular yearly event. Otherwise we do not have too many chances to see Russian movies in Hungary. Although most of my countrymen do not really mind this ("we had enough Soviet movies earlier" they claim) but I do, because the few Russian movies I have seen since the changes have all been excellent and so is this movie.

The starting scene was fantastic and it raised my expectations to a level that the rest of the movie was not able to reach. Still, in overall this is a very imaginative movie with a lot of extremely funny gags. Its humour is typically sarcastic and its surrealism is rather imaginative. (Russians - their literature and their films - have always been strong in these...) If you can tolerate slow-paced movies then you will enjoy this one, assuming that you have a chance to see it in your local cinema.

Russian director Karen Shaknazarov likes to shock his audiences.He does this by transforming zany tales into absurd films about obscure topics which are not very much understood by his admirers.In one of his previous films named "Zero City",we see a post Perestroika type absurd story which defies all kinds of classification.His film "Poisons or the World History of Poisoning" is one of the most absurd Russian films which shows that ancient history can be useful if it is employed in a nice manner.It is the story of an actor named Oleg whose wife has been seduced by his neighbor.As he is thoroughly convinced of her infidelity,he would like to poison her.A pensioner named Prokhorov helps him to get rid of his wife by lecturing about famous deaths caused by poisoning.It is from Prokhorov we learn that many famous and not so famous like Cesare Borgia and Caligula were killed as they were poisoned.This is a film which has elements from drama as well as comedy films.One of the strange things about this film is that there are hardly any scenes of senseless violence in it.

Another well-recognized work of the chief director in Mosfilm Karen Shahnazarov. As usual Karen gives very absurd and bright story-line that shows ordinary problems in a very special ironic way. This is not a horror film it looks more like comedy, but it touches upon horrific ideas that come to mind in state of jealousy. The main character is a young actor, whose fat wife a music teacher betrays him with a neighbour who works at meat-plant. The main character is very shy and noble person he acts really awesome. While his wife pushes him away he goes to a club and meets a stranger-pensioner who turns out to be caring a lot of poison with him all the time. He reads main character's mind immediately and tells him how he poisoned his wife-betrayer in the past. The pensioner persuades his new young friend to revenge by means of poisons and the actor agrees. The film gives brief description of poisoning in the history of human race. The youngman becomes a member of poison-club, where people from the past, who poisoned somebody gather together to have a big poison party. While the young actor plans his revenge his wife and her lover also make a plan to poison him and his new love . This becomes big absurd after all. This unusual and rather expensive film includes a lot of costumes and great dialogues. The film even has some gore. While the director describes some historical moments of Italian Cesare he shows how great emperor cured himself after being poisoned. A huge bull without entrails serve Cesare as a blood bath.

Nice little movie about poisons and famous people being poisoned in the history of the world. It is quite funny at times and entertaining. It mixes our present time and the unfortunate relationship of one couple with historical flashbacks to the famous people poisoned by their siblings and rivals. I would recommend it to people who are looking for something a bit different from their cinema experience.

This film can be disappointing for those who like dynamic comedies. You'll not get to know anything new about the problems of todays' world. BUT this is the film about people's hidden desires. Just imagine that a new neighbour knocks on your door to establish contacts. In some time you feel like poisoning him, your adulterous wife, and your mother-in-law. When you make heart to go on with the scheme, you get invited to the poisoners' ball, where you meet Leo VI Borgia, his son Cesare, Caligula, Nero, Catherine Medici, Khan Mengli-Girey and many others. You'll hear their stories straight from the horse's mouth. The times have changed, it's much more difficult to make your hidden desires come true now, but the hidden desires and shameful secrets are the same, or aren't they?