Za dvoma zaytsiamy

Only the absurd monoculturalism of IMDb prevents there being many more reviews of this film, a cult comedy classic from the period of the Krushchev thaw. It is light, frothy stuff, as the playboy barber, Oleg, attempts to juggle two love affairs - one with Pronya, the spoilt and pretentious child of nouveaux riches shopkeepers, whose money he needs to pay his debts and the other her poor but beautifully and honest Gaiya, daughter of a market-trader, with whom he has fallen in love. It is a reminder for those not aware of it of the richness and variety of Soviet film. Nonna Koperzhinskaya is perticularly splendid as Galia' fearsome mother and Pronya's fearsome aunt.

It is a hugely loved film in Russia and he Ukraine (it is set in Ukraine, based on a Ukrainian play and originally made in both languages) and one hope it will not become a political football (the Ukrainian soundtrack was recently rediscovered) between two peoples who have so much in common and every reason to remain friends and allies. Russian film without the Ukraine would be like a man with one leg and so equally would Ukrainian film be divorced from its Russian context. And, as a scene in this film reminds us, both would be incomplete without the input of the Ashkenazim.