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A Masterpiece!

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Daneliya is my favourite movie director, mostly because of his cult classic Kin-Dza-Dza. I finally got to Afonya and declare it a masterpiece. Daneliya has this unique talent for a full-on sarcasm towards his characters combined with incredible love and compassion for them. This combo reminds me a bit of older episodes of the Simpsons, only there is MORE sarcasm and MORE love. Afonya used to be one of my favourite guy types, the class clown, dealing pot on the side, always getting into trouble and trying to joke their way out of it. I dated a couple of them over the years and got to know that their joking is a cover up for the emptiness they would feel once they stop talking. They often don't realize it themselves, but I am glad that Afonya did. I saw some comments in Russian reviews not understanding why his girl saviour - being so much younger that he is and a pretty girl - keeps following him around. I think it's quite straightforward, she mentions that her brother was on Afonya's youth days volleyball team, and she probably had a huge crush on him then. It's still a crush and not love, but hey, it all worked out at the end :)

This is the second film I've seen of Daneliya; I sought it out after I saw Kin-Dza-Dza. This film is fantastic too, in very very different ways, but it seems to have a similar sentiment of humorous cynicism covering a serious hope at a center for human kindness. This makes for a tone that's both tragic and comic, and a film that's sincere but not doe-eyed. As a the one-name title might suggest, this is not a plot-heavy film but a character piece about Afonya, a hero who seems to be making himself into a nobody. He gives the impression of a man doing everything wrong in his life -- demanding apprentices at work only to dismiss them immediately, insulting his boss, leaving a house to flood because he doesn't want to do overtime, causing his girlfriend to leave him by bringing home drunk strangers only to chase women who are uninterested in him and ignore the one who is. And as he gets everything wrong for himself, he does it in a very funny way. And destructive as his actions may be, they are shown us in a tone perfect to make him seem likable and a bit pitiable rather than despicable. And slowly, with an imperceptible transition, we realize that he's not just getting everything wrong in his life, but that he;s just extremely depressed and indifferent. Things get as sad as they can for our hero -- as he comes home to the aunt who raised him to find that he she is dead and realizes his own callousness at never writing him -- before they end with one bright glint of home. Very fine and sensitive writing, acting, and directing to achieve the counterpoint of tone here -- the film is both very funny and very sad, the hero is both terrible and very likable. Very simple in its way but no small achievement.

Love this film.May Contain Spoiler further Down.Filmed in Yaroslavl, where my OH is from, even 35 years on from filming, I can recognise places. Almost a piece of social history.I don't speak Russia, but I didn't really need to to understand and 'get' it. It has some funny moments during the first half, which either due to the actors, or the direction, or possibly both, you can tell what is happening without understanding the dialogue.I have found this with a lot of soviet era films; the acting, scene set up and direction is almost like they are making a silent movie. Not visual, in say an action blockbuster or a cartoon, but you seem to be drawn into the characters and their actions/mannerisms as much as the dialogue, none more so than Afonya.My one slight criticism would be that the actress who plays love interest, Katya, seems rather to young for Afonya. But the way she plays the cute, adoring, almost puppy like wannabe girlfriend is so enchanting I can forgive that.The two main characters, Afonya and Katya are wonderful and you want to care about them from the start. With great comedic supporting characters as Afonyas mates.Possible spoiler. The film hits a rather sad point towards the final act, but the ending will leave the viewer very satisfied.

One of the best movies made by great Russian-Soviet-Georgian director Georgy Danelia. Of all his brilliant works "Aphonya" probably is the most loved by Soviet people, and most cited too. This film is a tragicomic journey into the world of a middle-aged plumber Afanasiy Borshchov (Afonya), starting exactly when the next black stripe in his life begins - he's left by his woman, there are trouble with work, and, yes, there's some alcohol dependence. On the first look, Borschov is an exceedingly jovial man, sometimes rather cynical and sarcastic though. But as the movie proceeds and we get deeper into the inner world of the hero, Danelia and Kuravlyov (the actor) reveal unexpected dramatical depth of the character, turning out to be portraying the entire social phenomena of the village people moving to the big city and getting oppressed by the urban way of life. The first half of the film is quite entertaining, most of the gags and comic situations are concentrated here. Then the melodramatic and rather sad second part comes, showing relations between Borshchov and the young nurse Katya, and how are these relations growing from the light flirting in the disco into the deep and desperate love (brilliant acting by Evgenia Simonova). The general idea of the film as I see it is hero's return to the roots, into the village, which blows away Afonya's emotional numbness and fake joviality, unfolding the beautiful and loving soul, truly Russian in its frankness and kindness. Amazing works by wonderful actors E.Leonov and B.Brondukov starring as Afonya's boon-companions, and a lot of other great actor works like Vladimir Basov (Dni Turbinyh), Nikolay Grinko (Stalker, Solaris), Savely Kramarov (Gentlmeny Udachi) and so on. There's no visual refinement of Danelia's later works (especially his stunning surrealistic sci-fi "Kin-Dza-Dza") in this film, and the camera work is quite traditional. But the editing is very expressive and sometimes drastically changes the mood of the film. Also it is necessary to add that this movie is one of the best portrayals of Soviet urban life of 70's, so it possesses definite historical value. I would give this film 8 out of 10, and among Danelia's works I would placed it on the second if not on the first place. Should this film be adequately translated, the Western viewers could also enjoy it very much.