I approached a 2hrs 30mins Soviet comedy with a bit of trepidation, particularly as Mel Brooks (who I'm not seemingly a fan of) had used the same Soviet source material in his film a year earlier. But this was really diverting and an example of humour done well.

• no jokes overplayed or overstayed their welcome
• no repeated yelling as 'comedy'
• just enough hamming it up, but not too much
• some amusing social commentary on life in a bureaucratic dictatorship and on materialism

May be best watched in the two parts. Like many old Soviet films it can be found with subtitles on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/P8t2dbJ7YXY

7/10