19 November 2025
by Galina Filchenko
Source: Facebook
A nation of obnoxious people.
Yesterday, film director Eldar Ryazanov would have turned 98.
His films have become an integral part of Soviet and Russian culture, a whole generation of film lovers grew up on them. His most famous films include Beware of the Car [Берегись автомобиля] (1966), Irony of Fate [Ирония судьбы] (1975), Office Romance [Служебный роман] (1977), Garage [Гараж] (1979), Station for Two [Вокзал для двоих] (1982), and others.
In the 1990s, Ryazanov spoke out against the communists, supported Boris Yeltsin, and later criticised him for transferring power to Putin.
Ryazanov condemned the war in Chechnya, opposed the annexation of Crimea, and criticised restrictions on freedom of speech.
In March 2014, together with his wife, he signed an open letter published by KinoSoyuz condemning ‘Russian military intervention in Ukraine’ and ‘the unprecedented anti-Ukrainian campaign launched by Russia’s state TV channels.’ He supported the holding of a congress of the intelligentsia in Moscow ‘Against war, against Russia’s self-isolation, against the restoration of totalitarianism’ and signed the congress’s appeal condemning the annexation of Crimea. He also signed an appeal by Russian cultural figures against the policy of the Russian President Vladimir Putin towards Ukraine.
‘I hate this system, you understand? A system based on prohibitions. We should live in a free country. What kind of country do we live in? Is Soviet power dead? No, it’s not dead at all. It is thriving, led by this government, etc.
Now we are in some kind of new, terrible cycle of hostility from the government towards its own people. In my view, a government’s attitude towards its own people is a litmus test. But I don’t know any country that would fight its own people, except for the Soviet Union, and now we, as Russia, have taken up this wonderful baton.’
Fond memories of a wonderful person!
Translated by Rights in Russia
