| Shirli-myrli | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Vladimir Menshov |
| Written by | Vladimir Menshov Vitaliy Moskalenko Andrei Samsonov |
| Produced by | Vladimir Dostal Alexander Litvinov |
| Starring | Valery Garkalin Vera Alentova Inna Churikova Igor Ugolnikov |
| Cinematography | Vadim Alisov |
| Music by | Timur Kogan |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 136 minutes |
| Country | Russia |
| Language | Russian |
Shirli-myrli (Russian:Ширли-мырли, also released asWhat a Mess!) is a1995farcecomedy film of the early post-soviet era directed byVladimir Menshov.[1] Centered around a pursued con man, who steal a huge diamond. The movie, among other things, satirizeschauvinism,antisemitism and other ethnic tensions in 1990s Russia.Valery Garkalin plays multiple roles as identical twins who were raised believing they belonged to different cultures and races, looking down at one another's.
While Russian miners are digging in thediamond mine,Unpromising, inYakutia, an enormous diamond is found. It is calledThe Savior of Russia, and officials declare that the sale of the diamond could pay off the national debt, as well as pay for a three-year-long vacation in theCanary Islands for every citizen of theRussian Federation.
While the diamond is being transported to Moscow (byAntonov An-124Ruslan)[1] it is stolen bycrime boss Kozulskiy (Armen Dzhigarkhanyan), who is then robbed by professional thief Vasiliy Krolikov (Valery Garkalin).
For the remainder of the film, the plot revolves around Krolikov, a con man raised as a Russian, and his two other identicalmultiple birth brothers; one was raised as aJew to become a world-famous musician, another as aRussian Roma to become aRomani tabor [ru] chief and a member of Russian parliament. Krolikov is pursued by Kozulskiy's mafia and twomilitsiya officers - Captain Jean-Paul Piskunov (Igor Ugolnikov), and an unnamed lieutenant (Sergey Batalov). At the end of the film, it is revealed that there is a fourth brother, raised as anAfrican American (also played by Garkalin), meaning that the brood is actuallyquadruplets.
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