Underplayed Gems

The Diamond Arm (1969)

The Diamond Arm poster
Original title
Бриллиантовая рука
Directed by
Leonid Gaidai
Genre
comedy film, screwball comedy film, adventure film, parody film, slapstick, musical film
Country
Soviet Union
Runtime
1h 34m
Rated
+13
Rating
7.8 of 10 from 335 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A ordinary Soviet man goes on a cruise and winds up with a cast on his arm that contains smuggled diamonds. He gets chased by bumbling criminals who want the jewels back.

funnywhimsicallightheartedfast-pacedslapstickplayfulabsurdsatirical

What happens

The Diamond Arm (Russian: Бриллиантовая рука Brilliantovaya ruka) is a Soviet crime comedy film made by Mosfilm and first released in 1969. The film was directed by Leonid Gaidai and starred several famous Soviet actors, including Yuri Nikulin, Andrei Mironov, Anatoli Papanov, Nonna Mordyukova and Svetlana Svetlichnaya. The Diamond Arm has become a Russian cult film and is considered by many Russian contemporaries to be one of the finest comedies of all time. It was also one of the all-time leaders at the Soviet box office with over 76,700,000 cinema admissions in the Soviet era. The plot of the film was based on a real-life news item about Swiss smugglers who tried to transport jewels in an orthopedic cast. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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