Synopsis
Unbelievable Adventures of Italians in Russia (1974) is a Soviet-Italian slapstick comedy you can watch online on iFILM. In a Rome hospital a dying Russian émigré gasps out one last secret to her granddaughter: her fortune is buried in Leningrad, "under the lion."
Half the ward overhears it. Within hours a mismatched pack of Italians is on a plane to the USSR — a dignified doctor, an actual mafioso, two ambulance men and the granddaughter Olga. The catch is that Leningrad has hundreds of lions, none of the hunters trust each other, and the guide assigned to mind them runs a scheme of his own. Andrei Mironov leads a cast that includes Yevgeny Yevstigneyev, Olga Aroseva and Italian stars Ninetto Davoli and Antonia Santilli.
Directed by Eldar Ryazanov, this co-production swaps clever dialogue for sheer physical mayhem: a car sinking into the Neva, a lion padding loose through the city, and chase stunts Mironov frequently performed himself. The comedy rides on speed and escalating absurdity rather than punchlines — a rarity for the era's Soviet cinema. A breezy choice for an undemanding family night. Stream Unbelievable Adventures of Italians in Russia (1974) online on iFILM.
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