The Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies continued their summer film series last night with a screening of "Teddy Bear."
The film, titled "Mis" in Polish, represented the next installment of this year's comedy-themed series. Nick Gossett, a senior student associate for the center, said that the comedy theme was chosen to show the lighter side of Eastern European culture.
"People think Eastern European, and they think depressing movies where everyone dies at the end, but it's not all like that," he said. "These movies are really funny."
The summer series started June 6 and has been greeted with a warm reception, said Gossett.
"We've had about 20 to 30 people at each screening," he said. "That's pretty good, especially for the summer."
Zach Phillips, a Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies senior that attended last week's film, said that although they are comedic, the movies convey powerful messages about communism.
"These films are dealing with serious issues, but using comedy to present it," he said. "It's a good bridge for people to see if they want to get into the deeper stuff."
Last week's film, he said, was about a man in communist Hungary who, despite his best efforts, is constantly being promoted.
"He doesn't do his job, and he tells people that he doesn't do his job, but he keeps getting promoted," Phillips said. "It really did a good job of showing the negative idiosyncrasies of communism, and it was really funny."
Other films on the schedule the center's summer series include "The Vacationers," about a group of people that meet and cross paths at a resort hotel, and "Diamond Arm," a Russian classic about a man who gets inadvertently drawn into an international diamond smuggling ring when he breaks his arm on a cruise. Naturally, hilarity ensues. And since it was made in 1968, several quotes from the film have reached "Luke, I am your father" status, said Gossett.
"In Russia, it's one of those movies where if you quote it, everyone knows what you're talking about," said Gossett, who was responsible for choosing the films in last year's "Russian Blockbuster" series. "It's like here if you say 'Bond, James Bond,' everyone knows what you're talking about."
But there's no need to start "Russian" to the theater; you have some time if you want to "Czech" out the series. The films are shown every Wednesday until Aug. 15, when the program wraps up with "Pupendo," a movie about life in communist Prague.
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