The Wild East
| Dikiy vostok | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Rashid Nugmanov |
| Produced by |
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| Written by | Rashid Nugmanov |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Aleksandr Aksyonov |
| Cinematography | Murat Nugmanov |
| Edited by | Khadisha Urmurzina |
Release dates |
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Running time | 98 min |
| Country | Kazakhstan |
| Language | Russian |
The Wild East (Russian: Дикий восток, Dikiy vostok, Dikij vostok) is a Russian-language film created in Kazakhstan shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union released in 1993. It was written and directed by Rashid Nugmanov and was inspired by The Magnificent Seven, an American remake of Akira Kurosawa's film Seven Samurai.
Plot
In this version of the famous plot a group of midget circus runaways decide to form their own community to flee the chaos out come under attack from motorcycling ruffians. In response, of course, midgets hire seven tough people to defend them. One of them is a woman driving a car, another a stunt man, another a Mongolian eagle hunter, and a beatnik. The bandits have an easy victory and allow the hired fighters to leave with their weapons. However, they come back, teach the midgets to fight and entrap the bandits. In a final fight, the chief of the fighters confronts the main bandit at their lair and wins. The bandits return the stolen car to the fighter. The midgets exchange the car for a tractor following the final wish of the driver.
The film was shown in many international film festivals as both a fun movie and an oddity. It was billed as "The Last Soviet Film."
Cast
- Aleksandr Aksyonov, Beatnik, a drunkard.
- Farkhad Amankulov, Mongol, a hunter.
- Konstantin Fyodorov, Strannik.
- Zhanna Isina, Marilyn, a car driver.
- Viacheslav Knizel, Skull, bandit chief.
- Konstantin Shamshurin, Godfather
- Gennadi Shatunov, Iona, a midget unhappy with his sort.
- Pavel Shpakovsky, Old Man, midget chief.
- Aleksandr Sporykhin, Ivan Taiga, a former soldier.
Quotes
A notable quote is when the midget patriarch says "remember there is no sex in our country." The phrase is a quotation of a famous episode from the perestroika-era TV show US-Soviet Space Bridge hosted by Vladimir Pozner when an American asked a question about TV advertisements exploiting sex in the Soviet Union, and a Soviet lady (Russian: Людмила Иванова, Liudmila Ivanova) proudly answered "There is no sex in the USSR!". In fact, she said "Well, sex... (laugh) we don't have it, and we are absolutely against it!", which was then corrected by another soviet lady present in the show: "We do have sex, but we do not have advertisements!".[1]
However, Luidmila Ivanova have told a different story to the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper:
Well, the TV show started, and one American lady have said: you must stop having sex with your men because of the Afgan War - then they won't go to the war. And kept pointing at me. Then I answered her: there is no sex in the USSR, but there is love. And you also didn't stop having sex with your men during the Vietnam War. But everyone remembered only the beginning of the phrase. Am I not right? We have always considered the word "sex" almost dirty. We were always making love, not sex. That is what I meant.
This created a still-popular catchphrase. In the Soviet mindset the word "sex" was considered dirty by many—nearly synonymous with pornography.
External links
- The Wild East at the Internet Movie Database
- The Wild East, on New York Times