Despite the low reviews by some here, I think anyone will find much to enjoy in this film. It shows how any totalitarian state is at bottom ridiculous.
Most may not realize that it is also a parody of an old Soviet TV series: "Seventeen Moments of Spring." That the latter was what convinced Putin to join the KGB is more than a little amusing.
That said, it turns all the cliches of the TV series inside out. Our hero begins by accidentally showing a German guard his Party Card--which he then has to cover up with a discreet $100 US bill in his German ID. It's a great comment on contemporary Russian corruption--and the incessant bungling of the much-decayed Russian FSB.
I actually found nothing offensive to the Russian soldiers and civilians of 1941-45. The Nazis are quite properly portrayed as evildoers and madmen. The parody is rather directed at Russian movies ABOUT WW2, that often ARE rather risible. For example, the deadpan offscreen narrator for the hero exactly matches that of Von Stirlitz in "17 Moments," and highlights one of the more annoying elements of the earlier TV series.
With great comic acting and some very witty observations about the shortcomings of (an undoubtedly great) Soviet film industry, this is a worthy successor to such films as "ivan Vasilievich changes his profession" and "Fountain."
Most may not realize that it is also a parody of an old Soviet TV series: "Seventeen Moments of Spring." That the latter was what convinced Putin to join the KGB is more than a little amusing.
That said, it turns all the cliches of the TV series inside out. Our hero begins by accidentally showing a German guard his Party Card--which he then has to cover up with a discreet $100 US bill in his German ID. It's a great comment on contemporary Russian corruption--and the incessant bungling of the much-decayed Russian FSB.
I actually found nothing offensive to the Russian soldiers and civilians of 1941-45. The Nazis are quite properly portrayed as evildoers and madmen. The parody is rather directed at Russian movies ABOUT WW2, that often ARE rather risible. For example, the deadpan offscreen narrator for the hero exactly matches that of Von Stirlitz in "17 Moments," and highlights one of the more annoying elements of the earlier TV series.
With great comic acting and some very witty observations about the shortcomings of (an undoubtedly great) Soviet film industry, this is a worthy successor to such films as "ivan Vasilievich changes his profession" and "Fountain."