Ryzanov is a master cardsharper. If you want to promote jazz to USSR, give this job to Ryazanov, and he will make it so in his movies, that the only alternative to glowing jazzy number is a "Life on Mars" lecture, the only alternative to gay clown number is pensioner's orchestra, and so on. For this habit of his "Karnavalnaya noch" leaves a bitter aftertaste, like you were double crossed but you can not understand where. For all this con gaming of Ryazanov a main character is made responsible - the new boss in the social culture club. Youths are preparing the cultural program for Happy New Year: songs, dances, numbers. And the new boss has set his task to poke his nose into every point of the program and mostly in the negative and prohibiting way. Finally he comes to conclusion that the program is mostly unacceptable and starts to prepare his own program by inviting quite inappropriate stuff: a scientific lecturer, a pensioner's orchestra, and the like. Youths see that he is going to ruin their Happy New Year and take measures which make the main сomedy of situations part of this movie: the absolutely serious and emotionally cold boss, somewhat nerdy and somewhat old fad, hectic, energetic, inevitable as any newly appointed boss, being tricked and played by youths in the atmosphere of Happpy New Year carnival. Well quite universal comedy situation, if not to pretend to be a social satire. The elements of social satire are thrown in just like you can not but have them, and have no good connection to the major comedy of the movie, quite according to the main hero's motto "And now we need something serious for our program". Bang, and there you are, a 40 minute lecture. Later they made a kind of sequel with the same boss appointed to run a tourist base, and some related characters like same scientific lecturer, the same secretary, same actors, and based it mainly on the social satire, and it was a complete flop that nobody hardly knows about the existence of the sequel. That is a good sigh that the "Karnavalnaya noch"'s message is not a simple sum of plot and action. Anyway an hour and a half of joyful watching and good laughs are guaranteed with "Karnavalnaya noch". The comedy was an instant success in the USSR and remains these days. Enjoy.
Review of Carnival Night
