Russian Movies

Here is one of our first Russian movies (about 4 megabytes, QuickTime required):

Description:

Lenin's body lies in a mausoleum on Red Square in Moscow. His corpse has been so well preserved that a rumor has been circulating that the government has a contest every five or ten years to decide on a replacement for the old revolutionary. Our movie is a dramatized version of that myth.

Our first "contestant," though a native Russian, is unprepared for the questions he is asked. He says that Lenin was born in 1901, which would make him 16 at the time of the revolution. He is quickly thrown out.

The second has a horrendous American accent. When asked to sing the communist anthem the "International," he shows that he does not know the song and so he improvises with disastrous results. As he is shown out, he shouts, "I am an American!"

The third contestant shows himself to be the smitten image of Lenin, right down to the moustache, beard, and his particular mannerisms. When asked to sing he jumps up on the table in a great fervor, giving the two officials a good opportunity to knock him out and prepare him to replace Lenin.

The two rejected contestants reappear at the mausoleum to see the winner. The American looks at the body and mutters "red," confusing it with the similar Russian word for "beautiful."

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