The Sad Face of Comedy, or Finally Summing it Up

Eldar Ryazanov 1927–2015 — People's Artist of the USSR, film director, screenwriter, actor, poet, and playwright. The films he directed became successful and beloved by audiences one after another: Carnival Night, Beware of the Car, Zigzag of Fortune, Old Men-Robbers,... The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!, Office Romance, Garage, Station for Two… In this book, Eldar Alexandrovich very sincerely and at the same time with a touch of irony and humor tells how his life unfolded, 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 to guess what films should be made to be loved by viewers, why famous artists – S. Nemolyaeva, V. Gaft, L. Akhedjakova, A. Freindlich, A. Myagkov and many others – played in his films with great pleasure and befriended him, and how he ultimately became a writer. The book The Sad Face of Comedy, or Finally Summing it Up will reveal to you the secrets of the soul and creativity of a great master.