Konstantin VOYNOV
Константин ВОИНОВ
Konstantin VOINOV
USSR, 1964, 90mn 
Colour, fiction
The Marriage of Balzaminov
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Женитьба Бальзаминова

 

 Le Mariage de Balzaminov

 Zhenitba Balzaminova

 
Directed by : Konstantin VOYNOV (Константин ВОИНОВ)
Writing credits : Konstantin VOYNOV (Константин ВОИНОВ)
 
Cast
Rolan BYKOV (Ролан БЫКОВ) ...Tchebakov
Lyudmila GURCHENKO (Людмила ГУРЧЕНКО) ...Oustinka
Tatyana KONIUKHOVA (Татьяна КОНЮХОВА) ...Khimka
Nikolay KRIUCHKOV (Николай КРЮЧКОВ) ...Neouedenov
Inna MAKAROVA (Инна МАКАРОВА) ...Anfissa
Nonna MORDYUKOVA (Нонна МОРДЮКОВА) ...Belotelova
Tamara NOSOVA (Тамара НОСОВА) ...Nitchkina
Zhana PROKHORENKO (Жана ПРОХОРЕНКО) ...Kapotchka
Nadezhda RUMIANTSEVA (Надежда РУМЯНЦЕВА) ...Raïssa
Yekaterina SAVINOVA (Екатерина САВИНОВА) ...Matriona
Lyudmila SHAGALOVA (Людмила ШАГАЛОВА) ...La mère de Balzaminov
Grigori SHPIGEL (Григорий ШПИГЕЛЬ)
Lidia SMIRNOVA (Лидия СМИРНОВА) ...Marieuse
Georgi VITSIN (Георгий ВИЦИН) ...Balzaminov
 
Cinematography : Georgi KUPRIANOV (Георгий КУПРИЯНОВ)
Production design : Felix YASYUKEVICH (Феликс ЯСЮКЕВИЧ)
Music : Boris CHAIKOVSKY (Борис ЧАЙКОВСКИЙ)
Sound : Vladimir KRACHKOVSKY (Владимир КРАЧКОВСКИЙ)
Production : Mosfilm
Spectators : 19,4 millions of spectators
Release date in Russia : 25/03/1965
 
Sites : IMDb, Kinopoisk

Plot synopsis
Micha Balzaminov is a small official of Tsarist Russia, poor and a little simple, “idiot” say the neighbors. As he does not know how to court women or earn a lot of money, he dreams of waking up one day as the husband of a rich woman. It doesn't matter what her looks are because all rich women are beautiful. His mother, with whom he lives alone, decides to take matters into her own hands, that is to say, more precisely, to entrust her son's future to a matchmaker. The latter visibly reigns over the entire neighborhood and is not at pains to offer women waiting for the man of their life or the one who will put an end to their loneliness.
For our hero, closely watched by his mother and the matchmaker, the adventures begin, sometimes transforming into difficult misadventures: he must not only conquer a woman but also convince his family who are not necessarily enthusiastic about the idea of seeing a " idiot” without wealth. It is so difficult that Balzanov goes so far as to dream of being tsar to decree that henceforth the rich must marry the poor and the poor marry the rich…
Among the matchmaker's proposals, a rich widow who is so bored that she wants to try, for lack of other ideas, to break this boredom through marriage. She is neither young nor beautiful but who cares! The marriage is decided. Balzanov is so happy that he leaves the procession to express his joy by dancing alone in the crowd of passers-by. Fortunately the rich widow's men take him back to his future wife...

Reviews from Russian spectators

Reviews from Russian viewers
 

Commentaries and bibliography
Dix films soviétiques sous-estimés à regarder en ligne gratuitement, Alexandra GOUZEVA, RUSSIA BEYOND, 2024
Армен Медведев : "вся история нашего кино c 1960-х годов — это моя история" [Interview de Armen Medvedev (1938-2022), historien du cinéma], Armen MEDVEDEV, Наталья РЯБЧИКОВА, Андрей АПОСТОЛОВ, Interview, kinoart.ru, 2022
 

Selected in the following festivals or events :
- Soviet comedies, kinoglaz.fr (France), 2024
- Festival "Vivat Kino Rossii", St Petersburg (Russia), 2009
- Open Russian Film Festival Kinotavr, Sochi (Russia), 2009

Photos and videos