My God, Ilya! () is a 1972 Soviet slapstick romantic comedy film. The plot focuses on the comical mishaps of Ilya, a student at a university in Moscow, as he tried to impress the charming and beautiful Katya.
Due to its similarity to the Shurik films in production and content, as well as the titular character being played by the same actor, many have wrongly assumed this film to be part of the Shurik series. The film premiered on 23 July 1972 in Moscow.
Plot.
The movie begins on a crisp autumn day in Moscow, as students return to Moscow University. Ilya Ivanov (Aleksandr Demyanenko), with his tousled hair and perpetually confused expression, arrives carrying an overstuffed suitcase, which spills open, scattering his belongings across the courtyard, including an absurdly large sandwich, which a passing dog snatches, running off with Ilya in pursuit.
Ilya's first day is marked by his attempt to impress Katya (Natalya Varley), a fellow literature student known for her grace and intelligence. To catch her attention, Ilya decides to climb the university's historical clock tower to announce the new academic year with flair. However, he gets his scarf caught in the mechanism, leading to the clock chiming erratically. The university's watchmaker (Georgy Vitsin), who is responsible for maintaining the clock tower, rushes to Ilya's aid. As Ilya accidentally breaks pieces of the tower and throws gears out of joint, the watchmaker frantically attempts to repair the damage. The chaos peaks during a solemn opening ceremony where the clock strikes every minute, causing professors to duck in alarm, students to laugh, and Katya to look up in confusion and slight amusement.
The following day, Ilya overhears Katya and her friends talking in the hallway. The girls discuss how much they admire the members of the drama club. Katya remarks that she plans to join. Later in the day, outside, Ilya mistakes a meeting of a young communist group for the drama club and signs up, thinking he'll be acting in a play. Dmitri (Yuri Nikulin), the stern leader of the young communists, remembers Ilya from the clock tower incident and decides that including him in a rally might bring out more students. Ilya's first "performance" is at a rally where he's supposed to give a speech about the rights of students and workers. Instead, Ilya, with no clue about the actual topic, delivers a passionate monologue about the importance of laughter and comedy in life, quoting from Gogol and Chekhov out of context. His speech, while off-topic, is so earnest and humorous that it becomes a campus legend, earning him both admirers and critics. Katya sees most of the speech and is seen smiling at its end. Dmitri does not laugh at first but eventually softens and is the last one laughing when everyone else has stopped.
Later that day, Dmitri defends Ilya to the dean (Radner Muratov), arguing that comedy is the right of every Soviet. The dean eventually agrees, but not without first declaring Ilya's punishment for the events of the previous few days. Due to his belief in discipline through responsibility, the dean assigns Ilya to be in charge of coordinating the parade. Ilya shakes the dean's hand a little too vigorously, causing pain in his arm.
Ilya, desperate to impress Katya, enlists the help of Dmitri and the watchmaker. The watchmaker builds a parade float in a comically swift fashion as Ilya and Dmitri discuss their plans for the parade route in the foreground. Ilya tells Dmitri that he wants to impress Katya, and Dmitri says it will be easy. Girls, he claims, just need some flowers and attention. Due to this, they decide the parade will move through the university's botanical gardens. When the float is finished, both students are astonished.
The parade initially goes well. The float and a band are followed by Ilya, waving to the large crowd of students standing in the botanical garden. Ilya grins and waves to Katya, and she smiles and waves back. A moment later, the parade float malfunctions and begins to roll over flower beds and into mud. The band scatters as Ilya desperately chases the float in circles past bewildered professors and the dean, who yells loudly to get the parade under control. He is eventually drowned out by screams and laughter. Ilya grabs the back of the float and is dragged with it into a pond. He staggers around for a moment before suddenly sitting down.
Later, Katya and Ilya are walking together in the hallways. Katya invites Ilya to the drama club telling him he is one of the funniest people she knows. Ilya nervously stutters over his words, causing him to accidentally insult her. She leaves, upset, and Ilya groans in despair.
At Dmitri's suggestion, Ilya does join the drama club. Through luck of the draw, he and Katya are selected to plan a skit together, to be performed the following week at the university. Katya is apprehensive and serious at first, but Ilya's clumsy charm quickly makes her laugh. In no time, Ilya once again enlists the help of the watchmaker to create a samovar for the skit.
During the performance in front of hundreds of students, the samovar, meant to produce steam for dramatic effect, explodes, covering them both in flour. Instead of being discouraged, they turn it into an impromptu performance of "A Marriage Proposal" by Chekhov, with Ilya's character proposing in a cloud of flour, leading to laughter and applause.
The film wraps up with Ilya and Katya sharing a quiet moment, reflecting on the day's madness. Katya admits she's never laughed so much and sees the beauty in Ilya's chaotic charm. The pair finally share a kiss, which is interrupted by Dmitri, who points out the dean approaching. The dean, while initially furious, can't help but break out into laughter, acknowledging the spirit Ilya brought to the university.
Reception.
The film was a moderate success in the Soviet Union in 1972, having 28.4 million viewers, significantly fewer than other, similar films by Leonid Gadai such as The Diamond Arm and Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures. Critical reception was mixed, with many decrying the surprisingly low-budget set design, subpar filming, and long sequences that seemed "irrelevant to the plot". The writing and comedic timing of the jokes was praised, as well as the delivery and overall acting of the actors.
References.
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