Holy Moly!

Yevgeny Yevstigneyev, Georgy Burkov, Leonid Yarmolnik, Galina Polskikh in a sad comedy by Sergey Nikonenko based on Vasily Shukshin’s short stories “Touches on the Portrait”, “The Stubborn One”, “The Strong Go Further”. Nikolai Knyazev works in a TV repair shop. God has blessed him with golden hands and heart, yet the majority of his fellow-town folk think he’s a bit nutty. And for a good reason: he’s constructing a perpetual motion machine, for years has been writing a philosophical treatise, dreaming of world fame and looking down on the other inhabitants of this sinful earth. But no matter how hard he is looking, he can’t see where his happiness (that is, post-office employee Lyuba) lies…

Directed by Sergey Nikonenko, Holy Moly! leans on a strong ensemble — Sergey Nikonenko, Ekaterina Voronina, Galina Polskikh — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about comedy titles of 1988.