Local Georgian pilot Mimino dreams of flying airplanes for major international airlines. To realize his aspirations, he goes to Moscow where he encounters a fellow comrade from the Caucasus, the Armenian Rubik. Many misadventures ensue.
Acting
Kikabidze and Mkrtchyan's chemistry is pure magic.
Direction
Daneliya balances slapstick with genuine melancholy.
Writing
Dialogue that captures Soviet multiculturalism with zero heavy-handedness.
Director
Georgiy Daneliya
Vakhtang Kikabidze
Valentin Mizandari "Valiko Mimino"
Mher Mkrtchyan
Ruben Khachikyan "Rubik-djan"
Evgeni Leonov
Ivan Volokhov
Elena Proklova
Larisa Ivanovna Komarova - stewardess
Marina Dyuzheva
Svetlana Georgievna - Mimino's lawyer
Archil Gomiashvili
Nugzar Papishvili - the father of Varlaam
Leonid Kuravlyov
Professor Khachikyan
Savely Kramarov
сriminal уxiting the Court House
Vladimir Basov
Rodion Vasilievich Sinitsin - the opera singer
Boryslav Brondukov
Mimino's helicopter passenger
Larisa Barabanova
the barmaid at the airport
Ruslan Mikaberidze
Mimino's boss
Valentina Titova
Rodion's wife
Zeinab Botsvadze
Ekaterina Mizandari
Vasili Chkhaidze
Aristophanes
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film became a massive hit across the USSR, with audiences quoting Mimino's Georgian-Russian malapropisms for decades. It's essentially Soviet cinema's love letter to its own diversity.
Vakhtang Kikabidze was actually a famous singer; Daneliya cast him after seeing him perform. That helicopter sequence? Real pilot, zero stunt doubles.
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