What makes it different from others?

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Blistering performances.

i think that this movie is all about humanity and deep friendship - even the in harsh reality of former soviet union.and let me finish this comment by telling all of U: "Love is only what you need" I just have been notified that there no enough lines in my comments - so it goes like this:this film is among the very best that ever left soviet movie forge. and the movie director is no slouch.and the fact that i am a Georgian national like he is adds to my pride of being the Georgian.and i love u all

Helicopter pilot from Georgia (the one in the former Soviet Union) goes to Moscow hoping to become an international pilot. There he befriends a guy from Armenia (near Georgia, but not the same!), runs out of money, finds himself in jail, etc. The movie plays out lots of funny differences between Russian (read - European) and Georgian (more Eastern) cultures, provincial vs. big city, and others. And as a golden thread throughout the whole movie - kindness, decency and warm hearts of the heroes. This play on cultural differences evoke "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", which was made thirty years after "Mimino"...I am not sure if this movie has ever been subtitled in English, but I am sure it would be a delight to American viewers.

This is one of the BEST and MOST POPULAR Soviet Comedies ever! In all former Soviet states this film is still loved and admired, so It's pity that non-Russian speaking audience will never get even 10% of its jokes and humor. There are several reasons for this: 1) To understand this (and actually all soviet film) one must not just know the Russian language - one must know the Soviet system, soviet culture, lifestyle. 2) Those who think that Soviet UNION=Russia are very wrong, and here the fact that USSR consisted of 15 different states (and hundreds of nations actually) has a great importance - as the story concerns the "adventures" of two southerners (a Georgian and an Armenian) in Moscow (that was both capital of Russia and USSR)-great deal of humor comes from their accents, as well as cultural differences. The director himself is Georgian who mostly lives in Russia and most of his films concern Russia (almost all of them are very popular in Russia) Only in one film (Ne Goryui!- that is equally as good as this one though very different) the action takes place in Georgia. (other much recommended films are Kin-Dza-Dza and Autumn Marathon..) 3) It is very important to know certain cultural confrontation that existed in USSR and still exists in Russia - Caucasians (Russia is the only v\country where this term means "black, dark person" - i.e. Georgians, Armenians, Azeri, and others) are rather unpopular in Russia (Russian nationalists consider them second main enemy after Jews, now due to Chechnya war Caucasian people became the most unpopular in Russia ); Characters of Georgian And Armenian visually fit the most standard stereotypes that exist in Russia (- big flat hat, moustaches, etc.) Armenians and Georgians for thousands of years had rivalry and competition, each trying to prove that it is older, better, and more cultural than the other;AND DESPUITE ALL THIESE Danelia MADE a film where there is no national problem - there are good people and not so good people, friendship and understanding between all these nations win - and therefore the film has a great political-subtexts - though it is delivered so lightly and tenderly that nobody thinks to call it propaganda or political film- its just a CLASSIC SOVIET COMEDY, delicious and funny, not that slapstick-cake-into-face staff, but film about real people, real feelings and real values.

"Mimino" is one of the best and most popular Russian-speaking comedies ever made, it's a classic and is still often shown on TV. There certainly is a reason - despite a simple plot it's not primitive at all and is still funny even after the twentieth watching. The only big problem with it is that people who don't speak Russian well probably won't understand the humor, as most of it based on the characters grammar mistakes and accents (Georgian and Armenian).In several small roles famous Russian actors are cast, notably Vladimir Basov as the opera singer and Savelij Kramarov as the convicted criminal.A memorable quote: "Listen, I'll tell you one clever thing, just don't get hurt: I must drive to the airport first, because in the airport there's one Georgian, my familiar friend; I'll come to him and tell him - 'Hello, Valiko-chan', and he'll say - 'Wah!'; so it will be pleasant to him and when it will be pleasant to my friend, it will be pleasant to me and when it will be pleasant to me I'll drive in such a way that it will be pleasant to you too!" (as you see, it's quite hard to translate the style - the original is a lot better).