DMSpencer
Lifetime Total
1+
IMDb Member
18 years
Reviews
Thieves (1977)
It Doesn't Quite Capture the Charm of the Play ... However ...
I'm encouraged and happy to see such enthusiastic reviews of this film, and from people who (apparently) never saw the play upon which it is based. Because that means that, for some, what the play had translates to the screen.
For me ... I saw THIEVES on Broadway. It had a stellar supporting cast and two of the same leads as the film: Marlo Thomas and, as her father, Irwin Corey. Marlo's husband was played by the late, great Richard Mulligan. At the time, Charles Grodin was director (having taken over out of town, when a bewildered Michael Bennett decided it was unfixable). In the film, Grodin has assumed the role of the husband and he's fine (he has a subtle touch which is a nice enough trade off for Mulligan's manic intensity). And what one can be grateful for is that the play has been preserved in this manner at all. It's a respectable document of a too-long-neglected work by one of America's best dramatists (Herb Gardner wrote the screenplay too, which despite a few frustrating cutting room edits, sticks close to the outline of the play).
The flip side is that the film doesn't lift the material. As filmmaking it's kind of flat and often seems like nothing more than the play being filmed on location, almost documentary style. It is, however, better than nothing.
As others have noted, THIEVES is indeed unavailable as a commercial release (unless you find the rare UK videotape in PAL format). And it should have at least that much life. But it hasn't completely vanished: that selfsame British videotape has been digitized for home-brewed DVDs and can be found on renegade disks sold on certain internet sites by certain internet vendors. IMDb rules say I cannot specify where, but creative web-browsing should eventually lead you to a relatively inexpensive copy. And indeed, that's how I located mine. *I OFFER* you that advice for free.
For me ... I saw THIEVES on Broadway. It had a stellar supporting cast and two of the same leads as the film: Marlo Thomas and, as her father, Irwin Corey. Marlo's husband was played by the late, great Richard Mulligan. At the time, Charles Grodin was director (having taken over out of town, when a bewildered Michael Bennett decided it was unfixable). In the film, Grodin has assumed the role of the husband and he's fine (he has a subtle touch which is a nice enough trade off for Mulligan's manic intensity). And what one can be grateful for is that the play has been preserved in this manner at all. It's a respectable document of a too-long-neglected work by one of America's best dramatists (Herb Gardner wrote the screenplay too, which despite a few frustrating cutting room edits, sticks close to the outline of the play).
The flip side is that the film doesn't lift the material. As filmmaking it's kind of flat and often seems like nothing more than the play being filmed on location, almost documentary style. It is, however, better than nothing.
As others have noted, THIEVES is indeed unavailable as a commercial release (unless you find the rare UK videotape in PAL format). And it should have at least that much life. But it hasn't completely vanished: that selfsame British videotape has been digitized for home-brewed DVDs and can be found on renegade disks sold on certain internet sites by certain internet vendors. IMDb rules say I cannot specify where, but creative web-browsing should eventually lead you to a relatively inexpensive copy. And indeed, that's how I located mine. *I OFFER* you that advice for free.
12 stulev (1977)
Bender/Valentino
I don't speak Russian (though Russia accounts for 100% of my ancestry) but I've had occasion to get familiar with those works of Ilf & Petrov that have been translated into English. I've read and own every translation and while I was at it, decided to acquire as many of the cinematic adaptations as I could, which wound up being most of them, through various online sources.
12 CHAIRS has given rise to 15 available video versions (some for TV, one the recording of a stage musical) with one from India yet to follow. Some just use the basic plot as a springboard, eight are relatively faithful to the novel and differ primarily in tone and approach. If you know the novel well, they're easy to follow, even without Russian fluency. This miniseries being among them.
While I agree with the posters who believe the 1971 Gaidi feature film is superior -- it may be the iconic adaptation of the story, plus it's simply brilliant filmmaking -- this 1977 miniseries has its advantages and charms. It seems clear that director Mark Zakharov was very interested in channeling the spirit of the 20s in which it is set, and in doing so by emulating styles of performance, comedy, music and cinema of the period. He doesn't emulate them so much as put them through a filter to form a coherent contemporary film with an old school sensibility. The controversy (in these IMDb reviews) about Andrey Miranov's interpretation of Ostap Bender stems from (what seems to me) the fact that he's fulfilling Zakharov's 1920-esque vision. The look and the style are very consciously reminiscent of high-style, yet somewhat cool, romantic leading men like Valentino (in fact I'm willing to bet that Valentino was a conscious model). And I think whether or not you dig the miniseries will depend on whether or not you sign on for the particular ride the director wants to take you on. I was happy to go along.
My caveat is that despite the brilliance of individual sections, over the long haul the pacing seems slow-ish. (The '71 Gaidi film is perfectly paced, by contrast.) But it's still a fascinating miniseries, for its cultural perspective alone.
Also highly recommended for followers of Ostap are the two Russian adaptations of his second adventure, THE (LITTLE) GOLDEN CALF. Check out the stunningly brilliant 1968 film starring Sergei Yursky, and the periodically brilliant but always very good (and wonderfully cast) 2005 miniseries starring my favorite Ostap of all, Oleg Menshikov.
12 CHAIRS has given rise to 15 available video versions (some for TV, one the recording of a stage musical) with one from India yet to follow. Some just use the basic plot as a springboard, eight are relatively faithful to the novel and differ primarily in tone and approach. If you know the novel well, they're easy to follow, even without Russian fluency. This miniseries being among them.
While I agree with the posters who believe the 1971 Gaidi feature film is superior -- it may be the iconic adaptation of the story, plus it's simply brilliant filmmaking -- this 1977 miniseries has its advantages and charms. It seems clear that director Mark Zakharov was very interested in channeling the spirit of the 20s in which it is set, and in doing so by emulating styles of performance, comedy, music and cinema of the period. He doesn't emulate them so much as put them through a filter to form a coherent contemporary film with an old school sensibility. The controversy (in these IMDb reviews) about Andrey Miranov's interpretation of Ostap Bender stems from (what seems to me) the fact that he's fulfilling Zakharov's 1920-esque vision. The look and the style are very consciously reminiscent of high-style, yet somewhat cool, romantic leading men like Valentino (in fact I'm willing to bet that Valentino was a conscious model). And I think whether or not you dig the miniseries will depend on whether or not you sign on for the particular ride the director wants to take you on. I was happy to go along.
My caveat is that despite the brilliance of individual sections, over the long haul the pacing seems slow-ish. (The '71 Gaidi film is perfectly paced, by contrast.) But it's still a fascinating miniseries, for its cultural perspective alone.
Also highly recommended for followers of Ostap are the two Russian adaptations of his second adventure, THE (LITTLE) GOLDEN CALF. Check out the stunningly brilliant 1968 film starring Sergei Yursky, and the periodically brilliant but always very good (and wonderfully cast) 2005 miniseries starring my favorite Ostap of all, Oleg Menshikov.
Zolotoy telyonok (2006)
Delightful, Faithful and Recommended
With a Few Cautions
I'm not a Russian speaker, though I love the Ilf & Petrov novels (THE TWELVE CHAIRS and THE {LITTLE} GOLDEN CALF); and I'm a relative newcomer to seeing their works translated to film
though by now I've seen a good number, most not known in the West, thus very few with subtitles. And this miniseries is among those without.
I don't agree with the previous reviewers about the miniseries' quality -- I'm quite fond of it -- but this much is indeed true: It would be hard-to-impossible to know what's going on if you haven't read the book, while it's easy if you know it (easier still if it's fresh in your memory). And indeed, the 1968 black & white film version is a masterpiece (and one for which you can find an online version with excellent subtitles {primarily drawn from the 1932 Charles Malamuth translation}, which can be viewed online or grabbed off the net, subtitles and all, in two AVI files).
This miniseries may not quite be a masterpiece, but I'm loath to compare it to the '68 version in that context, because each was created for a different medium, venue and purpose. While the '68 version's mandate was to coherently compress the novel into a feature film (albeit a long one; split into two parts), the miniseries' mandate is clearly to dramatize the entire novel, in fine detail. It moves at the occasionally measured pace of an extended miniseries, which may be why other reviewers are failing to find it dynamic, but I'm about halfway through it and finding it terribly interesting and very satisfying. True, it doesn't quite have the hard, satirical edge of the Ilf/Petrov prose -- but then again, it can't, because sans actual narration, that conspiracy-with-the-reader/viewer tone won't sustain over a long haul without becoming exhausting and precious. So the creative team here are instead delivering an illusion of "faithful realism": a kitchen-sink approach, but one in which the characters are absolutely accurately drawn; it's handled with a light touch but comedy and drama maintain a balance throughout. (Though there *are* flashes of pointed satirical "commentary": occasional cameo animated sequences that assume some of the back-story and sidebar information. It's a wonderful concept, handled playfully.) As to the casting: I'm finding it to be excellent. There's not an actor or an interpretation that doesn't sit well with my impression of acceptable representation.
It bears to keep in mind that for Russians and those who speak the language fluidly, the novels of Ilf & Petrov are (deservingly) iconic and cherished; and that regard can engender, in some, a proprietary feeling about how the stories and characters are recreated/interpreted on film and on stage. But I think if you're open to a new millennium sensibility in the filmmaking and performance, you may find this CALF to be well golden
I don't agree with the previous reviewers about the miniseries' quality -- I'm quite fond of it -- but this much is indeed true: It would be hard-to-impossible to know what's going on if you haven't read the book, while it's easy if you know it (easier still if it's fresh in your memory). And indeed, the 1968 black & white film version is a masterpiece (and one for which you can find an online version with excellent subtitles {primarily drawn from the 1932 Charles Malamuth translation}, which can be viewed online or grabbed off the net, subtitles and all, in two AVI files).
This miniseries may not quite be a masterpiece, but I'm loath to compare it to the '68 version in that context, because each was created for a different medium, venue and purpose. While the '68 version's mandate was to coherently compress the novel into a feature film (albeit a long one; split into two parts), the miniseries' mandate is clearly to dramatize the entire novel, in fine detail. It moves at the occasionally measured pace of an extended miniseries, which may be why other reviewers are failing to find it dynamic, but I'm about halfway through it and finding it terribly interesting and very satisfying. True, it doesn't quite have the hard, satirical edge of the Ilf/Petrov prose -- but then again, it can't, because sans actual narration, that conspiracy-with-the-reader/viewer tone won't sustain over a long haul without becoming exhausting and precious. So the creative team here are instead delivering an illusion of "faithful realism": a kitchen-sink approach, but one in which the characters are absolutely accurately drawn; it's handled with a light touch but comedy and drama maintain a balance throughout. (Though there *are* flashes of pointed satirical "commentary": occasional cameo animated sequences that assume some of the back-story and sidebar information. It's a wonderful concept, handled playfully.) As to the casting: I'm finding it to be excellent. There's not an actor or an interpretation that doesn't sit well with my impression of acceptable representation.
It bears to keep in mind that for Russians and those who speak the language fluidly, the novels of Ilf & Petrov are (deservingly) iconic and cherished; and that regard can engender, in some, a proprietary feeling about how the stories and characters are recreated/interpreted on film and on stage. But I think if you're open to a new millennium sensibility in the filmmaking and performance, you may find this CALF to be well golden