The Funniest Soviet Comedies


   

The laughDB database is dedicated to the funniest comedy movies, stand-up comedy and TV series.

This section is for comedies from the Soviet Union. By default they are presented starting with the ones ranking highest on the laugh-o-meter, but you can also sort them by year, title or IMDB rating.


Funniest Soviet Comedies sorted by Laugh-o-meter (descending)


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Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures posterOperation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures (Операция Ы и другие приключения Шурика)
      1965 | Soviet Union | Laughs: 6.0 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 8.6
      wikipedia | who was involved?

This film is made of three shorts featuring a geeky but honorable student, Shurik, later to appear in the same director's Kidnapping, Caucasian Style. In the first, Shurik works on a construction site with a scoundrel. In the second, he studies for exams with a young lady who becomes a romantic interest. In the third, he foils a burglary attempt. I liked the first two the best. Although I didn't laugh out loud, these segments probably contained the funniest comedy I've seen so far in a film out of the USSR. (Last viewed: August 2015)

More About Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures:
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      laughDB's full page for Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures


Thirty Three posterThirty Three (Tridtsat tri (Тридцать три))
      1965 | Soviet Union | Laughs: 5.8 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 7.1
      wikipedia | who was involved?

After his dentist discovers that he has one more tooth than everyone else, a man is paraded to Moscow where he becomes a celebrity on a level comparable to Beatle-mania on the other side of Europe. The last third of this short movie was a bit long, but overall it was delightful, with a full load of irony and lots of chuckles. (Last viewed: August 2015)

More About Thirty Three:
=> Read what people say on Amazon
=> Add your own Review or Comments on
      laughDB's full page for Thirty Three


Love and Doves posterLove and Doves (a.k.a Love and Pigeons) (Любовь и голуби)
      1985 | Soviet Union | Laughs: 4.5 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 8.1
      wikipedia | who was involved?

This movie gives us a taste of life in a hamlet far from Moscow where women work hard to foil disasters caused by their men who drink, spend too much and sometimes cheat. I laughed a few times and much enjoyed the cast and texture. The second half was a bit long, but it's still well worth a watch. (Last viewed: August 2015)

More About Love and Doves:
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=> Add your own Review or Comments on
      laughDB's full page for Love and Doves


Mimino posterMimino (Мимино)
      1977 | Soviet Union | Laughs: 2.2 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 8.2
      wikipedia | who was involved?

After briefly meeting an alluring stewardess, a helicopter pilot from a rural area decides to become an airline pilot and travels to Moscow to apply for a job. The dialog might be hilarious, but with my twenty words of Russian I missed all that and only smiled where a native might have laughed. Nevertheless, this film is worth watching for its other merits besides comedy. It is cute, it has beautiful cinematography, and it extols the virtues of comradeship—and everyone loves a comrade, no matter on which side of the iron curtain you were born. (Last viewed: August 2015)

More About Mimino:
=> Read what people say on Amazon
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      laughDB's full page for Mimino


Ivan Vasilevich Menyaet Professiyu DVDIvan Vasilievich: Back to the Future (Иван Васильевич меняет профессию / Ivan Vasilevich Menyaet Professiyu)
      1973 | Soviet Union | Laughs: 2.0 (Broken Comedies) | imdb: 8.4
      wikipedia | who was involved?

The top-rated Russian comedy on IMDB at the time of viewing. Cute, but didn't make me laugh—in hindsight, I wouldn't watch it. Through a time machine he's built in his apartment, an engineer sends the building's superintendent to the time of the Tsars, while Ivan the Terrible is brought into the present. (Last viewed: July 2010)

More About Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future:
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      laughDB's full page for Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future


The Diamond Arm DVDThe Diamond Arm (Бриллиантовая рука / Brilliantovaya Ruka)
      1969 | Soviet Union | Laughs: 1.5 (Broken Comedies) | imdb: 8.5
      wikipedia | who was involved?

I was ready to laugh at this Russian comedy. Instead, I found it absolutely boring, if cute. (Last viewed: May 2011)

More About The Diamond Arm:
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      laughDB's full page for The Diamond Arm


Kidnapping, Caucasian Style posterKidnapping, Caucasian Style (Кавказская пленница)
      1967 | Soviet Union | Laughs: 1.0 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 8.4
      wikipedia | who was involved?

A young researcher collecting tales in the Caucasus falls in love with a local maiden then unwittingly becomes involved in her kidnapping on behalf of an unwanted suitor. The movie is sweet, but the comedy hasn't aged very well and the overall effect is a little boring. For a funnier movie with the same central character (the shy but pure-hearted student Shurik), see Operation Y. (Last viewed: August 2015)

More About Kidnapping, Caucasian Style:
=> Read what people say on Amazon
=> Add your own Review or Comments on
      laughDB's full page for Kidnapping, Caucasian Style


Polosatyy Reys posterPolosatyy Reys (Полосатый рейс)
      1961 | Soviet Union | Laughs: 1.0 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 7.4
      who was involved?

Hired to accompany a shipment of tigers, a butcher must pretend he is a tamer of wild beasts. A monkey adds to the confusion on board the ship.

While this was the most impressive display of tigers on film I've ever seen, the movie didn't make me laugh. It is cute, but what we find funny today is just not the same as what people found funny in the Soviet Union in 1961. The world is more complex, and we expect more of the characters in movies.

On the other hand, an elderly friend who watched with me found the film hilarious, so if you still laugh at old films, this might be for you. (Last viewed: September 2016)

More About Polosatyy Reys:
=> Read what people say on Amazon
=> Add your own Review or Comments on
      laughDB's full page for Polosatyy Reys


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