Practical Joke

Practical Joke (Russian: Poзыгрыш) is a 1977 romantic drama directed Vladimir Menshov. The film was his feature directorial debut.

Plot
The action takes place in an ordinary Soviet school.

Life poses upperclassmen first adult issues. Bidding farewell to childhood, they begin a new attitude to friendship and love, talent and rivalry. They must decide themselves which way to go for their dreams.

The action takes place in an ordinary Soviet school. There is a fight between two high school students in a school locker room. During the trial, one of them, the head of the school ensemble Igor Grushko, said that this was not a fight, but retaliation.

As it turned out, it all started with the joke of class leader Oleg Komarovsky - he persuaded classmates to postpone the test, and to do this, try to deceive the teacher of mathematics, Maria Vasilyevna Devyatova, that she allegedly did not warn about the control. Everything revealed by chance. The teacher, who had already managed to apologize to the ninth-graders, began to explain a new topic and suddenly asked the modest and shy Taya Petrova, who in the class called “holy fool” because of her soreness, if she warned about the control. Taya could not lie and burst into tears. Maria Vasilievna realized that she had been deceived. Outraged by the cruelty of the students, Maria Vasilievna set everyone to whom she asked about the control, including Komarovsky, one at a time.

At the same time, a new student, Igor Grushko, appears in the classroom. He has problems with his family, and he lives with his aunt. But he has talent - he plays the guitar, writes songs and dreams of recruiting a group of musicians. Which he does, despite the obstacles. Komarovsky understands that his leadership positions were damaged, and is trying to straighten out the situation. But the whole conflict of the film is based on the difference in life values. For Igor, this is truth, honesty, the opportunity to be creative, to bring happiness to this world. He, of course, did not formulate it this way, but he did just that. One has only to listen to his song “Butterflies”. For Oleg, the main thing is to achieve the goal. By any means. It is not in vain that his father tells him: “You are going to your goal - you are throwing bridges across the swamp. Well, you will reach your goal before everyone else, so what? If you turn back one day, what will you see? Treadmill?” The film ends with the celebration of the 55th anniversary of Maria Vasilievna, during which Komarovsky, unsuccessfully trying to persuade her to remove the unit, insults the teacher and Taya Petrova and jumps out of the classroom. During the performance of the final song “When We Leave from the Schoolyard”, Grushko runs out for Komarovsky. He finds Komarovsky in the locker room, their views meet, the ensuing fight remains behind the scenes.

Cast

 * Dmitry Kharatyan as Igor Grushko, a pupil of 9th class
 * Yevgeniya Khanayeva as Maria Vasilievna Devyatova, the class teacher and a teacher of mathematics
 * Natalya Vavilova as Taya Petrova, a student
 * Andrey Gusev as Oleg Komarovsky, a student
 * Zinovy Gerdt as Karl Sigismundovich Yolikov, Chemistry teacher
 * Oleg Tabakov as father Komarovsky
 * Evdokiya Germanova as Dasha
 * Natalya Fateyeva as head teacher
 * Garri Bardin as French teacher
 * Irina Murzaeva as neighbor Fira Solomonovna
 * Vladimir Menshov as physical education teacher Vladimir Valentinovich