For those who wait, something will come
1978, USSR, Colour, 94 minutes
Written and directed by Nikolai Petrov.
Starring Boris Bure, Antonina Tolstya, Tatiana Bakzynyza
A surreal Soviet film about a fictional European country that can only be traversed by joining the various queues snaking across the countryside. While a rather obvious metaphor for the endless queuing due to food shortages and all-encompassing bureaucracy, director Petrov had a good reputation in the West, and had secretly sold distribution rights before filming started. Sadly, news of the subversive film’s plot leaked out and half way through the cast is replaced by rather thuggish looking Bolsheviks who perform bad anti-American stand up comedy for the remainder of the running time. A pity.
Watch out for – The forced laughter of the inmates of a Siberian gulag during the 'how many bourgeoisie does it take to turn an boulder to gravel' comedy routine.
Quote – “I heard that if you take this queue far enough you’ll come to a line for blue jeans.”
Reviewed by R.P. Thunderdunk
