Four Russian women refuse to go quietly into obscurity—and it's gloriously messy.
Four old friends are experiencing various troubles adapting to the new times in modern Russia.
Acting
Four legendary Soviet actresses at peak chaotic brilliance.
Direction
Ryazanov's bittersweet humanism in his late-career mode.
Writing
Dialogue that balances Soviet nostalgia with capitalist absurdity.
Director
Eldar Ryazanov
Lyudmila Gurchenko
Liza
Liya Akhedzhakova
Lyubov
Svetlana Kryuchkova
Masha
Irina Kupchenko
Anya
Nikolay Fomenko
Businessman
Valentin Gaft
General
Roman Kartsev
Theater Administrator
Mikhail Evdokimov
Businessman from Astrakhan
Mikhail Derzhavin
City Party Committee Secretary
Mamuka Kikaleishvili
vegetable seller
Valentina Talyzina
Nina Ter-Osipyan
Lazovskiy's mother
Yevgeni Voskresensky
Igor Pismennyi
Aleksandr Pashutin
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released in Putin's first year, it captures the raw disorientation of Russia's 1990s 'wild capitalism'—Ryazanov himself called it his most pessimistic film.
The four leads were genuine Soviet screen legends who'd never all worked together; Gurchenko reportedly improvised her drunk singing scene in one take.
RU
