Soviet cinema's most chaotic rookie cop fumbles his way through corruption, crime, and terrible life choices.
A story about a rookie detective in the beginning of his investigative career.
Acting
Tashkov's physical comedy masks genuine tragic pathos.
Direction
Fokin balances slapstick with crushing systemic critique.
Writing
Dialogue that weaponizes dark humor against state machinery.
Director
Vladimir Fokin
Andrei Tashkov
Zhenya Kulik
Igor Kvasha
Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Klimov (polkovnik)
Boris Khimichev
Kolya Palyonyi (bandit)
Nikolai Skorobogatov
Arseny Petrovich Sorokin (nachalnik ROVD)
Larisa Luzhina
Taisya
Aleksandr Pashutin
Shpunko
Leonid Yarmolnik
Gnus
Vadim Zakharchenko
passagir "Zaporozhtsa"
Inga Budkevich
mama Niny
Zinaida Sorochinskaya
Marya Sergeevna
Anatoliy Bystrov
bandit
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released during Brezhnev's stagnation, the film's police corruption subtext was miraculously approved — audiences read it as broader systemic critique.
Tashkov based Kulik's physicality on watching actual rookie cops — the way he holds his gun wrong was intentional and reportedly angered real MVD advisors.
SU
