Autumn Marathon (1979)
Andrey Pavlovich Buzykin, who makes a living by teaching at an institute and translating English literature, is cheating on his wife. Buzykin's main problem is that he's a kind man with a weak character. The lies he is telling his wife all the time are inconvincing, but he never has the courage to tell her the truth. His lover, Alla, is aware of his family life, but gets offended when, for example, he cannot meet her so that he doesn't come home late, or when he doesn't want to go home in a new jacket she gives him to avoid having to explain to his wife. Alla and Nina, Andrei's wife, both leave him, forgive him, and return to him at the same time, and Andrei continues with this kind of life, full of suffering and deceit. Finally, both women are so fed up with his lies that they don't believe him even when he is telling the truth...
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It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
In "Autumn Marathon" aka Osenniy Marafon, a romantic Russian comedy about a man who struggles with trying to make his wife, his mistress, his friends, and himself happy. Oleg Basilashvili aka. Andrey Pavlovich Buzykin is a literary translator who is cursed by irresolution and decency. Andrey has an affair which eventually leads both his mistress and his wife to leave him because they are tired of being unhappy. Although this movie was a little to long in telling this romantic comedy, the plot of the story is describe in great depth. The reader is able to follow along with the time line and follow what is happening between a man and these two women throughout the entire plot. Lastly, this comedy brings up vital issues about an individuals choices and the value of an individuals life. Life is very precious but at any moment, one can have everything and at another it can disappear with in a matter of minutes.
In this film, the main character, Andrey Buzykin (played by Oleg Basilashvili), finds himself struggling to manage his hectic work life and spending time with his wife, Nina (played by Natalya Gundareva), and mistress, Alla (played by Marina Neyolova). As an English to Russian translator, Andrey is not responsible for the creative material. He merely translates what others have already written. This, along with his inability to say "no" to his boss' requests, portrays him as a weak man, incapable of managing his own life. Additionally, Andrey is an educated man living in a rather large apartment for the times, yet his life appears to be going nowhere. This only further solidifies idea of him being an inferior man. Similar to his job, his wife hardly notices him. Because of this, Andrey has found a mistress. With all of these people in his life, the main character struggles to please everybody. This film, classified as a drama-comedy, is great, as it shows life in Leningrad during the Soviet Era. The man is a part of the intelligentsia, the educated middle class. Additionally, cultural references are present throughout the film and includes such items as mushroom picking and communal living.
After "Osenniy marafon" (called "Autumn Marathon" in English) came out, director Georgi Daneliya couldn't get any work for about two years; the movie didn't conform to socialist realism in quite the way that the authorities wanted. It portrays Leningrad teacher Andrei Buzykin (Oleg Basilashvili), whose life seems to be going nowhere. His wife barely notices him, and the only thing really resembling joy is when his Danish friend asks him to go jogging every day. But things may be about to change.The title may refer not only to the jogs with his friend, but the possibility that Oleg's life may be about to completely change (and how he may have to overcome certain obstacles). Maybe. And his friend sure had wild hair for a Danish person - I thought that Scandinavian people usually have very straight hair.Now for a little joke. There ought to be a movie called "Autumn Marathon Man", in which a burnt out Russian teacher gets some unnecessary dental work.
This is a great comedy about what it means to have a weak character.Outstanding is the performance of Yevgenij Leonov. Everybody should watch this film because there is a great lesson to learn about life.