Movie

Messenger Boy

1986 · 88 min

A playful, introspective Soviet-era slice of life that balances wry humor with youthful melancholy and social observation.

Directed by: Karen Shakhnazarov
Genres: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Starring: Fyodor Dunayevsky, Anastasiya Nemolyaeva, Oleg Basilashvili

Overview: Ivan Miroshnikov, a cheeky young man in the Gorbachev era, is trying to figure out what to do with his life (he's not in college, and the 2-year mandatory military service is looming large ahead of him). Meanwhile, he lives with his divorced mother, and works as a courier at a Russian newspaper. Through his job, he meets patronizing Professor Kuznetzov and his rebellious daughter Katya. To annoy the professor, Ivan claims to have an affair with Katya. To his surprise, Katya backs his story up.

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In the UKNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.

Directed by: Karen Shakhnazarov
Genres: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Starring: Fyodor Dunayevsky, Anastasiya Nemolyaeva, Oleg Basilashvili

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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone: whimsicalstrength 2 of 3
melancholicstrength 2 of 3
satiricalstrength 2 of 3
earneststrength 2 of 3
Pacing: measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: coming-of-age
class
identity
family
love
Places: big city
home
Era: period
Audience: teen
Form: nonlinear
Content intensity: Gore none
Language mild
Violence none
Sex mild

All scales, 0 to 10

Scales, 0 to 10
Scale	Value	0 to 10
Action	2
Horror	0
Humour	6
Realism	8
Romance	5
Tension	3
Darkness	3
Complexity	6
Emotional weight	5

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Where to watch in the UK

No UK streaming, rental or purchase options are known.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres: drama, romance, comedy
Directed by: Karen Shakhnazarov
Written by: Aleksandr Borodyanskiy
Starring: Fyodor Dunayevsky, Anastasiya Nemolyaeva, Oleg Basilashvili, Inna Churikova, Aleksandr Pankratov-Chyornyy, Vladimir Menshov, Svetlana Kryuchkova, Alika Smekhova
Music: Eduard Artemyev
Cinematography: Nikolay Nemolyaev
Runtime: 88 min
Country: Soviet Union
Languages: Russian

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Messenger Boy

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