We Are from Jazz

89 minutesCountrySoviet UnionLanguageRussian

We Are from Jazz (Russian: Мы из джаза, romanized: My iz dzhaza) is a 1983 Soviet comedy musical film by Karen Shahnazarov.

Plot

A student is expelled from music school because he loves jazz, and jazz at that time (the film depicts the 1920s) is the kind of music that represents American capitalism. He hires two street musicians to form a band, and goes from one city to another trying to gain fame.

Cast

• Igor Sklyar as Konstantin Ivanov
• Aleksandr Pankratov-Chyorny as Stepan Arkadyevich Grushko
• Nikolai Averyushkin as Georgy (Jora) Ryabov
• Pyotr Shcherbakov as Ivan Ivanovich Bavurin
• Yelena Tsyplakova as Katya Bobrova (aka Isabella Fox)
• Yevgeniy Yevstigneyev as Papa, pickpocket and jazz lover
• Leonid Kuravlyov as Samsonov, head of the Association of proletarian musicians
• Borislav Brondukov as fake of Captain Kolbasyev
• Larisa Dolina as Clementine Fernandez, Cuban singer
• Yuri Vasilyev as Orlov, jazz band leader
• Alexander Pyatkov as Yaryshkin, waiter

Interesting facts

• The film was distribution leader in the USSR in 1983 with 17.1 million viewers.
• The historical records of music of the 1920s were used in the filming.
• The role of Kostya Ivanov was originally intended for Dmitry Kharatyan. Yevgeny Dvorzhetsky and Mikhail Shirvindt were also auditioned for the role.
• Lyubov Polishchuk was auditioned for the role of Clementine.
• Nikolai Yeremenko Jr. and Leonid Yarmolnik were auditioned for the role of Stepan.
• The operator Vladimir Shevtsik sings for the role of Alexander Pankratov-Cherny in the film.
• Larisa Dolina was in the fifth month of pregnancy during the filming.^[1][2]

References

External links

• We Are from Jazz at IMDb
• We Are from Jazz at AllMovie
• We Are From Jazz online at official Mosfilm site (with English subtitles)