Au diable Staline, vive les mariés!

A small town. A happy young couple about to be wed. A tight community ready to celebrate this happy event. All is well. Until a number of militant communists enter the town to declare a period of national mourning after the death of the party leader. After that the wedding party is forbidden and the community searches for a way to have it go on anyway. The solution is as dared as inventive as fun: the feast will go on but everything, including the music, will be in mime.

And so starts one of the funniest films I've seen in a long time - the lives of the people, the loving community and the vividly happy pair are all somewhat pressured by the need to be silent, but are all still there oh so very clearly. As events roll on it is clear that the fun will not last forever, but it is as good as it can be while it is there.

And there it is: a tragicomedy about the right event, at the wrong time, all wrapped in a long back flash which in my eyes is only added to the film to lengthen it a bit. It could have been somewhat better if that part had not been there and the actual wedding party had been done longer. But it's still a great film and it adds a good warmth to the heart.

9 out of 10 silenced laughters