Cinema
The Golden Calf
Золотой телёнок
Mikhail Schweitzer · 1968
Synopsis
In the Soviet Union of the 1920s, the swindler Ostap Bender dreams of gathering five hundred thousand roubles to leave for Rio de Janeiro. Penniless in a small town, he passes himself off as the son of a hero of the revolution and extracts fifty roubles from a local official. He soon learns of the existence of Koreiko, a secret millionaire who hides his fortune behind the appearance of a modest clerk, and sets off on his trail with a small band of companions.
Context
The director wrote and directed this Mosfilm film, based on the novel by Ilf and Petrov. Sergei Yursky plays Ostap Bender, with Leonid Kuravlyov as Balaganov, Zinovy Gerdt as Panikovsky and Yevgeny Yevstigneyev as Koreiko. According to the Krugosvet encyclopaedia, the characters were conceived after the illustrations of Vladimir Lebedev and Nikolai Tyrsa. The film was released in December 1968.
Who it is for
A satirical comedy of over two and a half hours, for those who like swindlers and the satire of Soviet life.
Prizes and reception
The title of the film, like that of the book, refers to the golden calf of the Bible.
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