One moment of this film that stood out to me was the moment when all of the Russian characters, save for Nikolai, are stealing Parisian motorcycles and moving them through the window into their St. Petersburg apartment. Nikolai asks them why there are stealing, and says that it is wrong. One of his housemates, I do not remember who, retorts, “They got fat at our expense…Who protected them from the Tatar-Mongols?”. Nikolai asks in clarification that they are just taking what rightfully belongs to them, and the others nod in confirmation.
I thought that this exchange was a good one to bring up in my final blog post of the semester because it touches on a few themes that we have discussed throughout this course. The first is that the Russian people acted as a buffer between the West and the East, and did not get anything for their efforts. The second, and more significant in the context of a modern film, is that history is always relevant and always front of mind for Russian people. Even though this film is comedic, it is very telling that this excuse is the one they used for their pilferage of French goods. This moment is one of many in the film where the Russian characters play into timeless Russian stereotypes, and that is in large part why it is so funny.
That’s an astute observation — there are some nice callbacks to themes we have explored. Another theme I noticed was the connection to the history and myth St. Petersburg. The titular window to Paris alludes to the designation of St. Petersburg as Russia’s window to the West. Likewise, the Russian children seeking to defect to France reminds me of Peter the Great and his aristocratic contemporaries culturally defecting to Western Europe, going as far as to render French the language of the nobility. Even the whole premise of inexplicable supernatural events occurring in St. Petersburg recalls Gogol’s “The Nose.” As your post highlights, Mamin did not merely incorporate these points as easter eggs. However, while the Russian characters offer history as a post hoc (and thus insincere) justification for their theft, the fantastical and absurd elements of the plot genuinely draw from historical themes. The resulting dramatic irony further elevates the comedy.
Nice final post. I would agree that is bit of the film which you point out is a perfect example the complicated feelings for the West which Russian culture encompasses. There certainly is this idea that “Russia will save the world,” or, at the very least, the west. The lines you point to in the film seem to be an manifestation of a bitter side of this lofty ideal. Perhaps, seeing the goods which were denied them is what soured the Russian character’s view of the west. After all, the negativity doesn’t seem to be present at first when the Russians stumble drunkenly into Paris. Perhaps the encounter with the trashed motorcycles is what shatters the fantasy.
Great post and comments! To add to what Zach wrote about the fantastical nature of St. Petersburg, there is also a strong allusion in the film to Pushkin’s short story “The Queen of Spades,” in which an old countess knows a secret card combination that can guarantee a win at faro (a card game of chance that was popular in the 19th century), and the main character becomes obsessed with the secret, threatening her with a gun and causing her to die of shock… She then returns to him (flashing by through a closed window) as a ghost from the “other side,” and he eventually goes crazy. You can see the parallels to the old woman coming back from from Paris in the middle of the night in the film… “The Queen of Spades” is the story that Nikolai is reading aloud to his students by candlelight in the film, just before the computers are delivered!