In a small Russian town, there is a Research Institute for magic. One of the witches, Alyona Sanina, is going to marry a guy named Ivan Puhov (not a magician). A jealous Apollon Sataneev tells her boss Kira Shemahandskaya that Sanina is going to marry not Ivan Puhov, but Ivan Kivrin, whom Shemahandskaya is going to marry herself. Enraged, Shemahandskaya, who is a powerful witch, orders Sanina to forget about her Ivan and marry Sataneev instead. And this will be final unless Alyona kisses Puhov before midnight on New Year. Alyona's friends call Puhov to the rescue.
Practical Effects
Ingenious low-budget Soviet magic effects that age charmingly.
Writing
Sharp satire of Soviet bureaucracy disguised as rom-com.
Acting
Abdulov's everyman charm anchors the fantastical premise.
Director
Konstantin Bromberg
Aleksandr Abdulov
Ivan Sergeevich Puhov
Aleksandra Yakovleva-Aasmyae
Alyona Igorevna Sanina
Valentin Gaft
Apollon Mitrofanovich Sataneev
Yekaterina Vasilyeva
Kira Anatolyevna Shemahanskaya
Valeriy Zolotukhin
Ivan Kivrin
Roman Filippov
Modest Kamneyedov
Emmanuil Vitorgan
Kovrov
Mikhail Svetin
Foma Ostapych Bryl
Semyon Farada
Guest from South
Irina Grishina
Irina Belger
Катенька
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Bromberg filmed this during the brief Soviet thaw when fantasy was permitted; it became a New Year's Eve tradition, airing annually like a communist 'It's a Wonderful Life.'
The magical research institute building was actually the Moscow House of Scientists, and Abdulov performed his own broomstick stunts despite zero flight training.
SU
