screenplay by Lazar Lagin and Gennady Shpalikov
based on a short story by Lazar Lagin
music by German Lukyanov
It’s a (not so) little miracle that this surrealist 1966 animation was released at all, the Thaw notwithstanding. Not only that: Khrzhanovsky’s debut film was his only work to be released without any amendments or alterations (mutilations). Written by Lazar Lagin (the author of The Old Genie Hottabych) and Gennady Shpalikov (Walking the Streets of Moscow) and featuring “noise music” jazz by German Lukyanov, a Pythonesque story and aesthetics predating Monty Python itself — an absolute classic that aged surprisingly well.
