What a Mess!
What a Mess! (Russian: Ширли-мырли, romanized: Shirli-Myrli) is a 1995 farce comedy film of late post-Perestroyka era directed by Vladimir Menshov.[1] The movie satirizes chauvinism, antisemitism and other ethnic tensions in the 1990s Russia. Valery Garkalin plays multiple roles as identical twins who were raised believing they belong to different cultures and races and used to look down on each other's.
| What a Mess! | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Vladimir Menshov |
| Produced by | Vladimir Dostal Alexander Litvinov |
| Written by | Vladimir Menshov Vitaliy Moskalenko Andrei Samsonov |
| Starring | Valery Garkalin Vera Alentova Inna Churikova Igor Ugolnikov |
| Music by | Timur Kogan |
| Cinematography | Vadim Alisov |
Production company | |
Release date |
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Running time | 136 minutes |
| Country | Russia |
| Language | Russian |
Plot summary
While digging in the mine Unpromising in Yakutia an unprecedentedly large diamond was found. It is christened as the Savior of Russia. Officials proclaim that the sale of the diamond could pay for every Russian citizen to take a three-year-long vacation at the Canary Islands.
When the diamond is being transported to Moscow (by Antonov An-124 Ruslan)[1] it is stolen by the crime boss Kozulskiy (Armen Dzhigarkhanyan), who is then robbed by professional thief Vasiliy Krolikov (Valeri Garkalin).
For the remainder of the film, the plot revolves around Krolikov and his two other identical Multiple birth brothers. Krolikov is pursued by Kozulskiy's mafia and two Militsiya officers - Jean-Paul Piskunov (Igor Ugolnikov) and an unnamed lieutenant (Sergey Batalov). At the end of the film Vasiliy discovers that there is a fourth brother, making all characters played by Garkalin at least quadruplets.
Cast
- Valery Garkalin as Vasily Krolikov, Innokentiy Shniperson, Roman Almazov and Patrick Crolikow
- Vera Alentova as Carol Abzats, Zemfira Almazova, Lusiena Krolikova and Whitney Crolikow[1]
- Inna Churikova as Praskoviya Alekseyevna Krolikova
- Igor Ugolnikov as Jean-Paul Nikolayevich Piskunov
- Leonid Kuravlyov as US Ambassador to Russia
- Lyubov Polishchuk as Jennifer, Ambassador's wife
- Aleksandr Pankratov-Chyorny as Ambassador's bodyguard
- Mikhail Kokshenov as Ambassador's bodyguard
- Valeri Afanasyev as Anatoly Ivanov[1]
- Yevgeni Aleksandrov as TV journalist
- Nina Alisova as music-lover
- Irina Apeksimova as Step performer and the Violinist from Conservatory
- Sergei Artsybashev as Registry Office Worker
- Sergei Batalov as Detective
- Lev Borisov as Mafioso
- Aleksei Buldakov[1] as commander of the An-124 crew
- Yelena Bushuyeva
- Rolan Bykov as Head of Mafia and the Brilliant's buyer
- Yuri Chernov as Suitcase carrier
- Armen Dzhigarkhanyan as Kozyulski
- Sergei Gabrielyan as Ravil Beliletdinov
- Yevgeni Gerchakov as Symphony Orchestra Conductor
- Maksim Glotov as Police Officer
- Marina Golub as Director of the Philharmonic
- Vladimir Gusev as General
- Arkadi Koval as TV Announcer
- Tatyana Kravchenko as Bronislava Rosembaum, geologist
- Yuriy Kuzmenkov as Man with a goat
- Anatoly Kuznetsov as Father[1]
- Vladimir Menshov as Russian President / Commentator on TV
- Pyotr Merkuryev as Meloman
- Nonna Mordyukova as Registry Office Worker
- Valeri Nikolayev as Step performer
- Vsevolod Sanayev
- Boris Smorchkov as General
- Oleg Tabakov as Sukhodrishchev
- Yevgeni Vesnik as Doctor
- Aleksandr Voroshilo as Spectator
- Oleg Yefremov as Neighbour
References
- ""Ширли-мырли"". Энциклопедия отечественного кино. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05.