Kidnapping, Caucasian Style

Kidnapping, Caucasian Style
Film poster
Directed by	Leonid Gaidai
Produced by	Mosfilm
Written by	Yakov Kostyukovsky Moris Slobodskoy Leonid Gaidai
Starring	Aleksandr Demyanenko Natalya Varley Yuri Nikulin Yevgeny Morgunov Georgy Vitsin Vladimir Etush Frunzik Mkrtchyan
Music by	Aleksandr Zatsepin
Cinematography	Konstantin Brovin
Distributed by	Mosfilm
Release date(s)	April 1, 1967 (1967-04-01)
Running time	77 min.
Country	‹See Tfd› Soviet Union
Language	Russian

A she-prisoner of the Caucasus, or Shurik's New Adventures (Russian: Кавказская пленница, или Новые приключения Шурика) (translit. Kavkazskaya plennitsa, ili Novie priklucheniya Shurika), also known as Kidnapping, Caucasian Style, is a Soviet comedy film dealing with the theme of bride kidnapping.

The title is a humorous interpretation of the Alexander Pushkin poem, "The Prisoner of the Caucasus", and Leo Tolstoy's adaptation of the poem to a short story. The film was directed by Leonid Gaidai. It is the last film featuring the trio "Coward" (Georgy Vitsin), "Fool" (Yuri Nikulin) and "Experienced" (Yevgeny Morgunov), an act similar to the Three Stooges. The premiere of the film took place in Moscow on April 1, 1967.

Synopsis

A kind, yet naïve, anthropology student named Shurik (Demyanenko) goes to the Caucasus to learn the ancient customs of the locals. While there, he falls in love with Nina (Natalya Varley). However, Nina's uncle (Frunzik Mkrtchyan) sells his niece without her knowledge, and arranges to have Nina kidnapped by the eccentric trio: Coward, Fool and Experienced. After a failed attempt, the uncle decides to trick Shurik into helping with the kidnapping, telling him that it is a traditional custom, and that it was Nina's own wish. Shurik goes through with the kidnapping but, after working through his initial confusion, enlists the help of a friend to eventually rescue Nina from her captors.

Cast

• Aleksandr Demyanenko as Shurik
• Natalya Varley as Nina (voice of Nadezhda Rumiantseva)
• Vladimir Etush as comrade Saakhov
• Frunzik Mkrtchyan as Nina's uncle
• Ruslan Akhmetov as Edik
• Yuri Nikulin as Fool
• Georgi Vitsin as Coward
• Yevgeni Morgunov as Experienced

Production

Kidnapping, Caucasian Style followed the success of Gaidai's previous film, Operation Y and Other Shurik's Adventures, which featured some of the same characters (Shurik, and Fool, Coward and Experienced). According to one of the writers, Yakov Kostyukovsky, Gaidai had decided that the trio had reached the height of their popularity and did not want to feature them again. Kostyukovsky and co-writer Slobodskoy convinced Gaidai to film Kidnapping, Caucasian Style.

Censorship

The censors of Goskino had decided to prevent the film's release but Leonid Brezhnev, who was sworn in as the Soviet president less than a year before, saw the film and expressed his fondness for Gaidai's work. Due to Brezhnev's appreciation, the censors reconsidered their initial decision and the movie was officially released.

Reception

The film topped the Soviet box office in 1967 with 76.54 million viewers.

Soundtracks

"Pesenka pro medvedey" ("A little song about bears")

The song was recorded by Aida Vedishcheva (Vais), with Varley lip-synching during the performance of the song in the film. Varley accompanies her performance with a brief display of the "twist", conveying—in concert with the light, fast-paced melody—the silly and optimistic theme of the composition.

"Yeslib' ya byl sultan" ("If I were a sultan")

The song was performed by Nikulin, with Vitsyn and Morgunov featured in the chorus. It is a comical song about Islamic culture from a Russian perspective, with Varley dancing in a style partly reminiscent of the Old Tbilisi dance theme during its performance.

External links

• Kidnapping, Caucasian Style at AllRovi
• Kidnapping, Caucasian Style at the Internet Movie Database
• World art page (Russian language review)