The Sad Face of Comedy, or Finally the Results Are Summed Up

Eldar Ryazanov 1927–2015 — People's Artist of the USSR, film director, screenwriter, actor, poet, and playwright. The films he made became successful and beloved by viewers one after another: Carnival Night, Beware of Automobile, Zigzag of Fortune, The Elderly Robbers, The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!, Office Romance, Garage, A Train Station for Two… In this book, Eldar Alexandrovich sincerely and at the same time with a touch of irony and humor talks about how his life turned out, why a boy who dreamed of becoming a writer and a sailor, knowing nothing about the profession of a director, suddenly entered VGIK, what helped him later guess what kind of films needed to be made to be loved by audiences, why famous actors — S. Nemolyaev, V. Gaft, L. Akhedzhakova, A. Frenklikh, A. Myagkov, and many others — gladly acted in his films and befriended him, and how he eventually became a writer. The book The Sad Face of Comedy, or Finally the Results Are Summed Up will reveal to you the secrets of the soul and creativity of a great master.