"Shirley-Myrli" is one of the iconic paintings of the mid-nineties. A completely wild farce, a movie that touches on a lot of interesting topics, and also tries to test various assumptions in cinema in order to understand how new, now Russian society is ready for the proposed level of humor. And despite the rather frank jokes and excessive provocative humor, the picture showed itself perfectly, becoming over the past decades literally a classic of the 1990s, a time of change and a new life on the fragments of the missing system.
Vladimir Menshov acted as the director of this picture, already being a successful and even Oscar-winning creator, giving the world such works as "Moscow does not believe in tears", "The Draw" and of course "Love and Doves". His "Shirley-Myrli" opens up a lot of actors from completely new sides. What are several characters worth at once, which are embodied on the screen by Valery Garkalin and the inimitable Oleg Tabakov. The latter was literally delighted to play such an atypical character for his career, giving the audience a memorable hero.
The plot revolves around a wildly expensive diamond found in Yakutia, which is capable of providing a comfortable life for the whole country if it is sold. However, during transportation with a valuable artifact, theft happens. From here, the amazing adventures of the heroes on the screen begin. The diamond is essentially a McGuffin in the picture. This is an item that is cherished, which certain persons want to get, but it takes a back seat to the plot. The first one is occupied by amazing stories, sometimes wildly comical and necessarily extraordinary, and, most importantly, which could hardly have been shown as shown in the picture before.
The above-mentioned Valery Garkalin, Oleg Tabakov, as well as Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, Inna Churikova, Igor Ugolnikov, Vera Alentova and many others smartly presented their characters. Such work of the whole team, together with an excellent production and a very interesting scenario, looks fresh and even unexpected in a young Russian society that still reticently perceives the novelty of such an approach. However, the work done by the creators of the project turned the tape into a cult one, literally crumbling into quotes, which even today are no-no, and slip among fans of this picture.
Cinema is a kind of satire on our society, has political and social overtones, which attentive viewers will definitely note for themselves. "Shirley-Myr'ly" is still remembered today with a smile and the film that I want to review somehow. An interesting story, a farewell to the Soviet past, a greeting to a new country, but all this happens with a kind of love of the creators. The film is good precisely because it has little connection with reality, but it necessarily relies on it. This approach was the very outlet for the difficult years of the last decade of the 20th century in Russia, becoming a generator of good mood, which is still remembered.
9 out of 10.
