This satirical feature takes a cue from Woody Allen's 1966 reworking of a notoriously bad Japanese film (What's Up Tiger Lily?) to create a unique variation on the techniques for mocking monstrously bad films. In this film, the basic movie which is being spindled, folded and mutilated is a sincere anti-Western drama from the height of the Cold War, The True Case of Sgt. Kotchekom, made in 1955 and originally directed by Alexander Razymnyi. That film concerns the disturbing discovery by a innocent-looking and very blond Russian soldier that his girlfriend and her family, who are equally innocent-looking and blonde, are spies for the West. Overblown and unintentionally humorous segments from that original film are interspersed with film clips from, among other things, the 1959 Moscow Film Festival, where a bevy of Western stars are being fêted, and the 1950s visit to the U.S. by Premier Nikita Khruchev. The juxtaposition of images highlights the irreverence of the whole proposition, making this out-of-the-mainstream feature into sly fun for history buffs.
by Clarke Fountain
synopsis
