Pechki-lavochki / Happy Go Lucky

Vasili Shukshin: Печки-лавочки / Pechki-lavochki / Happy Go Lucky (SU 1972).Vasili Shukshin (Ivan Rastorguyev), Lidiya Fedoseyeva-Shukshina (Nyura Rastorgueva), Ivan Ryzhov (train steward). Photo: Dom Kino.

Печки-лавочки / Petshki-lavotshki / Reisebekanntschaften / Rejsekammerater / Terefere / Pogwarki.

    SU 1972. PC: Gorky Film Studios. D+SC: Vasili Shukshin. DP: Anatoli Sabolotski - b&w - Sovscope 2,35:1. AD: Pjotr Pashkevitsh. M: Pavel Tshekalov. ED: Natalya Loginova. CAST: 

    Vasili Shukshin (Ivan Rastorguyev), Lidiya Fedoseyeva-Shukshina (Nyura Rastorgueva), Georgi Burkov (Viktor, a thief posing as a railway engineer), Vsevolod Sanajev (Sergei Fjodorovitsh, professor of folklore), Stanislav Ljubshin (his son), Zinovi Gerot (the arrogant professor), Vadim Zahartshenko (the business traveller). 

    100 min

    Print: Gosfilmofond, e-subtitles in Finnish by Pentti Stranius operated by Tuulia Lehtonen.

    Viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki 23 Aug 2009.

A brilliant print. - Shukshin's quirky masterpiece revisited. - This is the strangest of his films, his most self-reflective, both revelling in the lore of the Altai Krai, and parodying it. - The camera style is quite different than in the first three films which were shot by Valeri Ginzburg in a sober, profound style. Now, it's more New Wave and cinéma-vérité (but not Kino Pravda!), hand-held camera for the first time in a Shukshin film, self-conscious 360 grade pans, the camera may waver at times. - The film is launched with familiar scenes of partying and singing in the Altai Krai. The best part of the film is the account of the trip by train to Moscow. There are three juicy episodes with travelling companions: an arrogant businessman, the sympathetic thief, and finally the professor of folklore. - Shukshin himself portrays the hillbilly from the countryside with a great sense of humour. He is an incorrigible storyteller, who is not above making a good story better with his imagination. - The people from the country for the first time in the city. "The rhythm is different here". - The final episode is in Odessa. Ivan has neglected to register his wife to the sanatorium. On the beach of Odessa Vanja and Anja are not in their element. - The final, half-parodistic, half-loving pans in the immense landscapes of the Altai. The final image is a self-reflective wink by Shukshin the actor-director directly to us. - There was applause at the end of the film (a rare phenomenon) in the packed cinema.

Strannye lyudi / Strange People

Strannye ljudi. Tri rasskaza / Странные люди / [Outoa väkeä] / [Udda folk]. SU 1969. PC: Gorky Studios. D+SC: Vasili Shukshin - based on his short stories "Bratka", "Rokovoi vystrel" / "Mille pardons, Madame!", and "Dumy". SC: Valeri Ginzburg - b&w - Sovscope. M: Karen Hatshaturjan with many folk songs. Special song: "Skazanie o dvenadtsati razboinikah" ["The Tale of the Twelve Robbers"] (comp. Nikolai Manykin-Nevstrujev, poem: Nikolai Nekrasov), perf. Fjodor Shaljapin (Chaliapin), rec. 1932. Loc: Vladimir (in the heart of Russia). Cast: BRATKA: Sergei Nikonenko (Vasili Knjazhev, Vashka), Jevgeni Jevstignejev (Vasili's brother), Lidia Fedosejeva (Lidia Nikolajevna), Galina Bulkina (Vashka's wife). ROKOVOI VYSTREL: Jevgeni Lebedev (Bronka Pupkov), Ljubov Sokolova (Bronka's wife). DUMY: Vsevolod Sanajev (Matvei Rjazantsev), Jelena Sanajeva (Lena), Juri Skop (the blacksmith Kolka), Pentelejmon Krymov (the old teacher). 99 min. Print: Gosfilmofond. E-subtitles by Pentti Stranius, operated by Tuulia Lehtonen. Viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 20 August 2009.

A print with a fine definition of light. - An episodic masterpiece revisited. The fullness of the feeling for life in the songs and the imagery. - BRATKA: the meeting of the brothers at Jalta, Chekhov's home-museum seen in one scene. The song started by Lidia. - THE FATAL SHOT: the hunter's guide's livslögn (life-lie) about the assassination of Hitler, Jevgeni Lebedev's great performance. - DUMY: one of the high points in Shukshin's oeuvre. The deep anxiety of Matvei, the chairman of the village. The bottomless sorrow of his daughter. The history of the Soviet Union. The new dance of the pop era. The electrifying wake-up sound of Shaljapin's song. The blacksmith throws his wood statue of Stenka Razin into the fire.

Nikolai Nekrasov's poem is from Komu na Rusi zhit horosho (Who Is Happy in Russia, 1876), from its chapter O dvuh velikih greshnikah.
http://az.lib.ru/n/nekrasow_n_a/text_0030.shtml
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zapX8PCln9o
http://www.karaoke.ru/catalog/song/4641 (the lyrics of Shaljapin's solo parts)
Thanks to Lauri Piispa for identifying the song and the poem and providing these links.

Nikolai Nekrasov's poem is beyond the jump break:

Vash syn i brat

Ваш сын и брат / [Poikanne ja veljenne] / [Er son och bror] / Your Son and Brother. SU 1965. PC: Gorky Studios. D+SC: Vasili Shukshin - based on his short stories "Stepan", "Snake Ointment", and "Ignat's Homecoming". DP: Valeri Ginzburg - b&w. M: Pavel Tshekalov, a lot of folk songs. LOC: Altai Krai. CAST: Vsevolod Sanajev (father Jermolai Vojevodin), Anastasija Filppova (mother), Aleksei Vanin (Ignat Vojevodin), Leonid Kuravljov (Stepan Vojevodin), Leonid Reutov (Maksim Vojevodin), Marta Grahova (Vera Vojevodina), Svetlana Zhgun (Njurka), Viktor Shahov (Vasili), Juri Sarantsev, Vadim Zahartshenko (врач). 91 min. Print: Gosfilmofond. E-subtitles in Finnish by Pentti Stranius, operated by Tuulia Lehtonen. Viewed at Cinema Orion, Helsinki, 18 Aug 2009. - Print has a beautiful definition of light. - Revisited Shukshin's masterpiece, his second feature film, full of life and profound feeling. - STEPAN. Tremendously affecting from the start. The ice drift of the magnificent Katun River in Altai Krai. The long wordless prologue, with a plain intensity of feeling. The homecoming of Stepan in a sequence to be compared with Griffith and Ford. The looks of the home folks. The looks of the women. - THE SNAKE OINTMENT. The hurly-burly of the city. "Excuse me, there isn't any". The art of queueing. The wrestler brother Ignat and his wife Njurka work in the circus. The wrestlers and the ballet dancers rehearsing in the same hall. - IGNAT'S HOMECOMING. The culture shock. The mother is bed-ridden since Stepan was taken back to prison. The father clearly doesn't care too much about Ignat and Njurka. The mute daughter's joy about the new dress. - VASJA. The fourth brother has stayed at home. Swimming in the powerful river. The estrangement of the generations. The poetry of the everyday. - I had tears in my eyes all through the picture.