Russian most popular New Year movie - The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!

The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath! DVD cover

The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath! (Russian: Ирония судьбы, или С лёгким паром!; Ironiya sudby, ili S lyogkim parom!) is a Soviet comedy-drama directed by Eldar Ryazanov as a made-for-TV movie.
Simultaneously a screwball comedy and a love story tinged with sadness, the film is traditionally broadcast in Russia and some other former Soviet republics and satellite states every New Year's Day. It is as fondly viewed every year as is the American films It’s a Wonderful Life and Home Alone during the Christmas holidays. Many memorable quotes from the film have become catch phrases in the Russian language.


Plot summary
A group of old friends have a tradition of going to a public bathing house on New Years eve. Occasionally too much vodka and beer makes two of them unconscious. The problem is that one of them (Sasha) has to go to Leningrad but another one (Zhenya) goes. Zhenya wakes up at Leningrad airport. Believing that he is still in Moscow he takes a taxi and goes home. The street name, building and even apartment number, the way an apartment complex looks the same and the key coincide completely - just typical Soviet-type 'economy' architecture. Imagine the surprise of Nadya when she enters her apartment and finds a man without trousers in her bed. What's more - Nadya's fiancé also finds him there.
The movie starts with an animated prologue. The rest of the film a live-action.


Watch full movie online with English subtitles


The Irony Of Fate (1976) pt. 1 karimberdi



The Irony Of Fate (1976) pt. 2 karimberdi


The Irony Of Fate (1976) pt. 3 karimberdi


The Irony Of Fate (1976) pt. 4 karimberdi

Icy Moscow (Part 2, 36 Photos)

The consequences of the freezing rain in Moscow

Icy Moscow (Part 1, 44 Photos)

The consequences of the freezing rain in Moscow

Ice Age in Moscow

Freezing rain causes problems in Moscow


Moscow streets turn into skating rink. Domodedovo, one of Moscow's main airports, has ground to a halt after iced-up electricity cables ruptured.



One of Moscow's two main airports, Domodedovo, has suspended all flights on Sunday after the electricity went off in the whole complex due to the icing-up of power cables. Roads and cars in the capital are covered with ice after rain that started on Saturday froze solid. At least five people have been injured by falling trees. Several districts in the Moscow region have also been left without power, with over 100,000 people affected. City authorities are urging people to stay at home.

Александр Малинин - Рождественская Русь

Lyrics / Текст песни
Александр Малинин - Рождественская Русь

То ли церкви белее, а то ли снега,
То добра ты бываешь ко мне, то строга.
Звезды падают с неба к подножью стогов,
На дворы, на дороги, на крыши домов.

Я неведомой силой прикован к тебе,
Как к единственно милой и славной судьбе
И мне кажется, глядя на эти места.
Я пойду завтра славить, как в детстве, Христа.

Рождественская Русь,
Твоих рябин коснусь, твоей воды напьюсь.
И в колокольный звон, как в светлый кинусь сон.
Рождественская Русь.
Я каюсь и молюсь, я плачу и смеюсь,
И знают лишь снега, как ты мне дорога,
Рождественская Русь.


Как тиха ты в эту ночь ты, и как хороша,
От восторга немеет шальная душа.
От того, что тебя невозможно объять
И уже никогда от себя не отнять.

Вышибает слезу твоих песен печаль
А сегодня ты вся, словно Богу свеча,
Как любовь, величава, как дети, чиста,
Что пойдут завтра славить по людям Христа.

3D art on Moscow streets

3D Street art in Moscow

St. Petersburg in miniature and Star Wars (video)

St. Petersburg Strikes Back: Yota advertisement using tilt-shift technology.