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» » Chelovek s bulvara Kaputsinov (1987)

Short summary

Mr Jonny First arrives to the Wild West to present the art of the Cinematograph.

User reviews


  • comment
    • Author: Yanthyr
    Really funny, sweet, and moving take on the American western done by a soviet female director. Mr. First comes to a small town in the wild west to introduce the population to the art of cinematography. He brings a projector and an array of silent movies, including romance and comedy. Rowdy cowboys discover a different way of life and try to improve their own existence. Amazing cast, Tabakov is especially endearing as a saloon owner torn between greed and love for the movies. Surprisingly effective fight scenes could probably challenge those of the American counterparts. Karachentsov gives it his best with some of the best fight moves I've seen. Mironov is great, as usual, as an idealist out to change the world and bring enlightenment to the wild wild west. Highly recommended as a comedy, romance, western, and a meditation on the role of art and mass entertainment in our society.
  • comment
    • Author: Frdi
    That's a beautiful comedy with a number of Russian film stars. The plot is rather unusual for a comedy western. One of the first cinematographers(his name is Mr.First performed by Andrey Mironov) arrives in a sleepy Wild West town and brings a primitive film projector with a number of bobbins of first Chaplin-like films. Every night he shows films in the local saloon and his arrival has a dramatical effect on the local cowboys(probably "cowboys" will seem rather strange for real Americans, but don't forget the film is made in Russia and they also have some stereotypes about the Wild West). After his arrival they stop fighting with each other,stop speaking bad words, start behaving very politely("like real gentlemen"), and in the evenings come to the saloon to have a drink of ... milk, instead of whiskey!!! After solving many problems and passing through a wall of misunderstanding Mr.First makes a lot of friends and eventually the local beauty Diana falls in love with him. The film has a lot of funny episodes and twists e.g. the local Comanches start the war with the cowboys only to have a possibility to go to the movie saloon as well.It's really worth watching the film wherever you live.
  • comment
    • Author: Wel
    This is one of those good old soviet comedies. The humor in these films is pretty innocent but still very funny. This film contains many Russian stars of that time. The plot is quite original. It's about a town in Wild West who's people are only drinking and fighting every single day and about an intelligent man who arrive to the town to introduce towns people with Cinematography. Soon people of town get fascinated by cinema, they stop drinking and fighting and become more polite to each other. The movie is really funny and interesting. Though this is not a action film, i've noticed some well choreographed fighting scenes. This film is really worth your time.
  • comment
    • Author: Styphe
    I saw this movie when I was in Russia. I must admit it is a low budget movie, but it has an excellent acting. It is very good comedy. I don't really know if its available in US, but if you have a chance I would recommend it!
  • comment
    • Author: Aver
    This was both a surrealist old-west comedy, and at the same time a crookedly-philosophical postmodern commentary on the power of art -- and it's a huge success as both. As a basis for the comedy, there is a plentiful supply of plain good gags, from the cowboys dutifully repairing the saloon after they have destroyed it in a bar fight, to the "That was my steak!" running gag, to the perfectly stereotypical Indian Chief soberly declaring that the cowboys must never have heard of Charles Darwin.

    The cowboys are, of course, perfectly self-conscious movieland cowboys - - hard-drinking and hard-fighting reductio ad absurdum. And they're utterly unfamiliar with the concept of art. So when Mr First arrives with the Absurdist premise and delivers cinema, it's films themselves that transform the cowboys from their unabashedly film-sourced stereotypical personalities. Is it a change for the better? Like all changes that art brings, that's open to interpretation. But it leads to the sight of an evil pastor declaring movies "the opium of the people."

    And, of course, in an artless world where art is introduced, it has a literal, magical effect. The undertaker is out work because people don't want to die any more (he's a former philosopher, but that skill wasn't so much needed on the frontier), and our heroine wants a baby immediately after kissing -- because that's how it is in the movie. And, of course -- in a wonderful moment that perhaps encapsulates how this film makes memorable philosophical points almost casually while it jokes -- when the building is burnt down the movies and apparatus are undamaged because (in a possible nod to Bulgakov), quite literally "art does not burn" ("iskusstvo ne gorit")!

    And while Mr First's influence may have been purifying, we see that Mr Second arrives at the end to put the money into film (where we know it remains), returning our cowboy heroes to their debouched ways. So art is powerful, but perhaps equivocal in it's power. And it ends with that cynical note, and a cheerful song (the music, by the way, its all extremely catchy).

    The performers are excellent too; this is the third film of Andrey Mironov's that I've seen, and he keeps impressing me as a comedy performer. I'd almost call this obligatory for those who (like me) have a taste for Absurdist comedy and reflexive postmodern wit. And for those who just looking fro something funny, my recommendation still stands.
  • comment
    • Author: Doomwarden
    This movie is hot. It seems to be the only real representative of a serious cowboy flick in Russian cinema. And this one makes us proud. It was directed by a woman! The plot goes here. The very beginning of the 20th century. Wild West. A cinema devotee - Mr First - comes to an American town where everybody drinks, fights, and swears. Mr First introduces the world of black-and-white cinema to the cowboys and the life changes. All the good movies he shows them have a direct effect on their living. The population of the town stops all the drinking, fighting, etc. The people start to respect each other and to behave in a good manner. Mr First leaves the town for some time. During his absence some freak comes to town - Mr Second - who is also a cinema devotee, but he is into some nasty types of movies. As a result of watching those "nasties" the people turn into violent morons again.

    It has got plenty of fist-fighting, swearing, numerous shootings, easy catchy songs, lots of nice women, tons of whiskey being consumed, hundreds of cigars being smoked over and over, macho-Indians and of course macho-cowboys. Those crazy fights and quarrels in the saloon alone deserve an Oscar. On top of it it has a clever story to deliver. All this makes the film one of the very best movies of our time.

    Please, throw away something from the IMDb top 250 and put this one onto the top list. That will be fair. Think it over: a girl directs a western, makes it in an insane manner with lots of fighting and shooting, and what is more, makes it thought-provoking. This deserves the ultimate worldwide recognition. No wonder we all went to cinema multiple times to watch it again and again. Even the tough American flicks of the 1980-s could not overwhelm our perception of this picture.

    A goof: in one scene the drunk one-eyed cowboy looses his band and becomes a normal goggler - that's ridiculous.

    10 out of 10, very enjoyable for all generations and all nationalities. Thanks for attention.
  • comment
    • Author: Brajind
    I like the super-task of the "Сinema man" (The man from Cappuchino boulevard), but I never can understand what made them in 1987 (Chrushev is dead) want to clash the cinema and the Church. This seems to make the movie very very lame. Just answer me, when you hit a God-forsaken American town, how often do you meet an evil, carnal Pastor ? Everyone, absolutely everyone in this town, including the bar owner, the Indian Chief, and the local hit-man Black Joe are good people, at least they have good soul strings. Only Church Pastor stands out as pitch black, as absolute evil. You know, I don't like such plain con gaming. Even the world of cinema men has good and bad representatives like Mr.First who features good manners, good and high feelings, gentleness, kindness, and everything good you know about the cinema, and Mr.Second who disseminates violence, low style, fights, perhaps toilet humor, horrors, nudity and sex, and everything bad you know about the cinema. But when it comes to Church you have only one pitch black Jewish evil carnal Pastor who's dream is to rape a lady singing in the bar. Well, even if you tell me that evil, carnal, raping Pastors are as frequent in the USA as Coca-Cola dispensers, this still can not be a reason to bang a traveling cinema man against the Church. Even local hit-man Black Joe turns better than Pastor. What is this ? What thoughts shall this provoke ? The only clue thrown in is Mr. First's song "without rage and mourning for the benefit of the planet Earth as we dreamed since long but still can not live up to our dream". Well, perhaps's that's it. A spoof of the American dream, a mock of the shining city on the hill ? And the evil lustful Pastor is an American Pastor namely and exclusively? Kh-m, you should have warned me, that this gonna be so, eh, particular. The movie was shot in 1987 when we in Russia were going full speed for universal human values, everything was going to be for us so universal, and an evil Pastor in the US could mean only an equally evil Priest on the other side of the pond. Well, were we really supposed to take seriously that cinema is going to save the world ? And all this garnished with carefully choreographed fist fights in the saloon, fighting Indians, and "Lemonade Joe" style story of how a rotten dangerous hole of American town turned into a descent place thanks to the traveling projector ? Strange movie though, with a message buried more deeper than the eventual plot, otherwise with no message at all. Well, as strange and mesmerizing as Irina Fateeva and Spartak Michulin as Indian Chief couple.
  • Cast overview, first billed only:
    Andrey Mironov Andrey Mironov - Johnny First
    Aleksandra Yakovleva-Aasmyae Aleksandra Yakovleva-Aasmyae - Ms. Diana Little (as Aleksandra Asmaye)
    Mikhail Boyarskiy Mikhail Boyarskiy - Cherny (Black) Jack
    Oleg Tabakov Oleg Tabakov - Harry
    Nikolay Karachentsov Nikolay Karachentsov - Billy King
    Igor Kvasha Igor Kvasha - Pastor
    Lev Durov Lev Durov - Coffin maker
    Galina Polskikh Galina Polskikh - Mrs. Thompson
    Natalya Krachkovskaya Natalya Krachkovskaya - Konchita
    Natalya Fateeva Natalya Fateeva - Chief's wife
    Spartak Mishulin Spartak Mishulin - Chief of comanches
    Albert Filozov Albert Filozov - Mr. Second
    Oleg Anofriev Oleg Anofriev - Pianist
    Mikhail Svetin Mikhail Svetin - Pharmacist
    Leonid Yarmolnik Leonid Yarmolnik - One-eyed-cowboy
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