The Diamond Arm

After watching "Brilliantovaya ruka" I can well believe that it's with very good reason that it has such a beloved reputation among Russian language comedies. The vibe it generates it of an extremely high level of breezy fun, and it sustains that with supernatural consistency all the way through.

Combine that with an abundance of simply good jokes drawing from farce, slapstick, and everything in between. The performances are just the right level of broad to pull the maximum number of laughs. The almost constant underscoring perfectly compliments the fact that the pacing is masterfully timed and the fact that all the location filming simply looks fantastic to make this one of the most all-around fun viewing experiences you could imagine.

Moments such as the walking-on-water, the set-up seduction, and the division of the "two parts" are among hilarious moments that also draw in character for their humor and even border somewhat on what might be called "Pythonesque" in style. At the same time, roots in the best of silent comedy, farce, and adventure film are happily evident.

I can easily image how this comedy would reward reviewing, which it evidently for many other commentators here.

a comedy with many virtues - the director, the script, the performance of Yuri Nikulin, the dialog and the wise manner to critic the Soviet regime. part from a long and precious Russian comedies, it seduce first for Gayday courage. because the fake crime story is a precise fresco of society. and the dialogs reflects in great measure that "sin". than, it is a deep human comedy, the small incorrect details , the use of innocence and, maybe, the end, does it a form of parable , more than satire. a film for each age, beautiful and fresh, full of emotion and laughter. an old fashion Russian film. who can reminds, in a crazy period, the importance of small real important ingredients of life.

Perfect from the first till the last minute. Not a single word in this movie said in vain - this is absolute masterpiece of comedy. But I do not believe that it is possible to translate it properly into English - so, you have to know Russian language (and you've got to have a good idea of Russian realities of 70th) to be able to fully enjoy it. This movie was, I believe, the first soviet comedy which contained a short "sexual" scene (topless actress shot from behind). Many lines from this film are now living their own lives - you can hear quotations on TV, in people talks, in other movies - while some of those who uses it do not remember the words origin. Must have, must see - anyway!

I like this movie. Like all other Gaidai's films I saw, its very dense in humor, without empty gaps. For a non Soviet, it can give some insight to this country. Well, it helps if you have some background knowledge, like I have. the film is surely as critical as was possible, but the main thing is that it gives you a good feeling, laugh helps to forget bad things. My favorite is the scene in the restaurant, it shows the joy of drinking in a good company, I think Russian people really can create a good party. The music is also nice, Andrei Mironov is superb on the ship with his song about island of unlucky people in ocean. He also commented afterward his role i such a film: it is good to have one diamond arm, two is too much, tree is a catastrophe.

It is a crime film with no cruelty, that presents a bright and very honest snapshot of the everyday life of an average soviet citizen and of his morale. The invasion of the capitalist valuables into the socialist society produces very funny situation. The film is not ideologically inclined: You feel sympathy towards both victims, criminals and police. You laugh both at human greediness, vices of the bureaucracy and the naivety of average Russians of that time. The film itself has influated the Russian language. Many of witty phrases from this film have already become proverbs.