“Holidays” by Boris Dergachev as another application for folk comedy

The comedy “Holidays”, the feature-length directorial debut of actor Boris Dergachev, has been released. The film, both in form and content reminiscent of a passable television production, seemed Yulia Shagelman a retelling of a collection of bearded jokes about mothers-in-law, sons-in-law and jealous wives.

It’s not for nothing that the television rather than cinematic nature of “Holidays” catches the eye, because the film was shot at the Good Story Media studio, which has a hand in many popular TV series like “The Voronins” (2009–2019), “Real Boys” (running since 2010) , “Fizruka” (2014–2019), “Olga” (2016–2023) and so on, with the support of the TNT channel. And the film itself is a prequel to the already filmed 16-episode sitcom, which will be released on this channel. True, the prospect of continuing to get acquainted with its heroes – the Pyzhov family – after the first performance does not seem very inspiring. At least for those who are not enthusiastic about endless family feasts with homemade liqueur, shameless questions from relatives about the personal lives of the younger generation, stories heard a hundred times and showdowns over insignificant reasons.

According to the film, the main idea of ​​which is voiced in the soothing voiceover of Sergei Burunov, family, whatever it may be, is the most important thing in life. Therefore, the Pyzhov sisters regularly visit their parents’ dacha every weekend, although they know that the same reproaches will await them there. The younger Yulia (Yana Enzhaeva) is that she doesn’t work anywhere and changes men too often, and the older Lena (Anastasia Kalashnikova) is that she doesn’t have a man at all, which in the eyes of her mother Natalya Nikolaevna (Maria Aronova) is a much bigger flaw. After all, she, as befits an elderly woman of 49 years old in a Russian comedy, dreams exclusively of grandchildren. She already has everything else: a house – a full cup, a loving husband, Viktor Vasilyevich (Vitaly Khaev), who has not drunk for two years, and service at the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which has tempered her steely character.

But not everything is smooth between the Pyzhov spouses: Natalya accidentally sees a message sent to Victor by a certain Lyuba, reminiscent of their wonderful night in Anapa in 1999. Without even really listening to the explanation of her husband, with whom she lived for thirty happy years, Natalya grabs her service pistol and, having shot almost the entire clip, demands a divorce. At worst, the couple agrees only to meet their daughters’ suitors: Sergei (Vyacheslav Chepurchenko), with whom Lena has been living for a year, but until now no one believed in his existence, since he successfully avoided introducing himself to her family; and unrequitedly in love with Yulia Vova (Nikita Pavlenko), whom she asks to play the role of her boyfriend so that her parents will finally leave behind. The meeting of all six at the same dacha, naturally, entails one comic divertissement after another, and everything will end with a happy ending, which is obligatory according to the terms of the task.

To the credit of the filmmakers, it should be noted that violence in a couple, including psychological violence, here becomes a reason not only for jokes, but also for censure: the hypocritical Sergei, who constantly humiliates Lena, is unanimously exposed and expelled from the family. At the same time, Natalya’s screams and scandals and Victor’s everyday rudeness are presented as something completely normal, funny and even cute. There are gags that are completely on the verge of a foul, such as the rude search that the matriarch arranges for the “suitors”, suspecting them of stealing her ring (perhaps this is a hint at a sharp satire addressed to the employees of the “authorities”, who even at home do not abandon their usual methods , but I think it’s not worth digging so deep here).

Otherwise, all the types, situations, jokes and conclusions that follow from them in “Holidays” are completely familiar and traditional, not requiring either the characters or the audience to go beyond established stereotypes. The authors already admit that one must leave the abuser (although this very word amuses them endlessly), but they are not yet ready to allow the girl to live happily alone. So the next family gathering at the dacha is inevitable, like death, taxes or another red day on the calendar.