7 most toxic characters from famous Soviet films

Soviet cinema gave the audience a lot of bright and varied images. Even very controversial ones. At one time, they looked quite normal or even pleasant, especially since the characters were played by talented and charming actors. However, over the years the perception has changed a lot. Now, some of our favorite characters are literally exemplifying toxic behavior.

1. Margarita Pavlovna, Pokrovsky Gates

• USSR, 1982.
• Drama, melodrama, comedy.
• Duration: 140 minutes.
• "Kinopoisk": 8.2.

Director Mikhail Kazakov recalls Moscow in the 1950s and life in communal apartments. In the center of the plot is graduate student Kostik Romin (Oleg Menshikov), who lives with his aunt, flirts with almost all the girls he meets, and at the same time watches his neighbors.

In this picture you can see, perhaps, the most toxic heroine of Soviet cinema - Margarita Pavlovna, performed by the amazing Inna Ulyanova. She divorced her first husband, the intellectual Khobotov (Anatoly Ravikovich), and now lives with Savva Ignatievich (Viktor Bortsov), an engraver and a very simple person. However, at the same time, Margarita Pavlovna does not let her ex-husband go. Under the guise of caring, she completely controls Hobotov's life and destroys all his attempts to start a new relationship.

Obviously, Margarita Pavlovna believes that her ex-husband still completely belongs to her, and sincerely believes that it will be better for him this way. The feelings and desires of Khobotov himself are not taken into account at all.

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2. Ippolit and others, "The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!"

• USSR, 1975.
• Melodrama, comedy.
• Duration: 184 minutes.
• "Kinopoisk": 8.2.

Everyone knows the story of Zhenya Lukashin (Andrey Myagkov) from Moscow, who went to the bathhouse with his friends on New Year's Eve, and was sent drunk to Leningrad. There he ended up in an apartment indistinguishable from his own, where the teacher Nadia (Barbara Brylska) lived.

A joke has been circulating on the Web for a long time: “You have matured if you understand that only Ippolit is adequate in The Irony of Fate.” In fact, Nadia's fiancé (Yuri Yakovlev) is a model of toxic behavior. Suffice it to recall his attitude towards his bride.

He does not believe the words of Nadia and immediately attacks her with accusations. But even this could be attributed to a hot temper and shock. However, further Hippolyte continues to insult the woman at every opportunity, calling her "disorderly" and arguing that she herself is to blame for what happened. Moreover, when the situation gets out of control, this hero does the most ridiculous thing: he just runs away and gets drunk.

It is worth adding that many other characters in the "Irony of Fate" behave no better. From some point Lukashin is also rude to Nadia and demands help, although he himself is to blame for what happened. Zhenya's mother decides for her son how to live. The bride Galya almost forces her to confess her love, to which Lukashin replies with a sigh: "You can't run away from you." And there’s no need to talk about the hero’s friends: knowing that he shouldn’t drink, they still add alcohol to their comrade.

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3. Shura and others, Office Romance

• USSR, 1977.
• Melodrama, comedy.
• Duration: 159 minutes.
• Kinopoisk: 8.3.

famous movie Eldara Ryazanova about love unfolding against the backdrop of the everyday life of a certain “statistical institution”, is literally filled with toxic characters. In this story, a single father of two, Novoseltsev (Andrey Myagkov), begins to flirt with his boss, Lyudmila Prokofievna Kalugina (Alisa Freindlikh). First - hoping to get a promotion, and then out of sincere feelings.

But among all the characters, only the heroine Freindlich does not seem toxic. This is just a closed person who does not know how to resist meanness. Novoseltsev himself behaves extremely unpleasantly towards her. It seems funny: the character allegedly does not know how to flirt and generally communicate with women. But in fact, he just insults and deceives Kalugina for no reason over and over again. Even in such trifles as flowers: Novoseltsev first brings them to the boss's office, and then rudely replies that he did not do this.

Samokhvalov (Oleg Basilashvili) looks even worse. He comes to the office and immediately begins to put things in order, trying to give a position to an old friend. Parallel flirting with Ryzhova (Svetlana Nemolyaeva), who has long been in love with him, despite the fact that he is married. She, in turn, seeks the location of Samokhvalov, scolding his wife. And as a result, he exposes their novel to the general court.

But the accounting worker Shura looks the most toxic of all. It seems that she does not fulfill her main duties at all, being engaged in trade union affairs, which most only annoy. As the hero of Myagkov says: “Once she was nominated for public works and since then they have not been able to push back.” In the unpleasant task of raising money for birthdays and funerals, she can be more sympathized with. But to announce that an employee died without really checking the facts is already beyond the bounds of decency.

And most importantly, it is through Shura that everyone learns about the romance between Samokhvalov and Ryzhova. When someone else's personal letters come to her, she considers it her duty to tell others about their content.

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4. Vasily Kuzyakin, Love and Doves

• USSR, 1984.
• Melodrama, comedy.
• Duration: 107 minutes.
• Kinopoisk: 8.3.

It seems that the work of Vladimir Menshov is the most good movie in the collection. This is the story of a rural family, in particular, a timber industry worker Vasily (Alexander Mikhailov), who, after an injury, receives a ticket to a sanatorium. There he starts an affair with Raisa Zakharovna (Lyudmila Gurchenko) and goes to her.

The main character looks like a completely harmless person. However, in terms of family relations, it is difficult to find a more unpleasant character. The Kuzyakins have three children, but Vasily himself behaves like a teenager: he prefers to secretly spend his free time with pigeons from his wife or just drink beer with Uncle Mitya.

In personal relationships, he is completely infantile and does not seem to understand that he is hurting those around him. And this applies to both the family and Raisa Zakharovna. First, Vasily, without explaining anything, leaves his family, which causes his wife to become depressed. And then he changes his mind and goes back.

At the same time, his new mistress is presented as a villain, although the main fault lies with the man, who did not realize what he had done.

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5. Gosh, "Moscow does not believe in tears"

• USSR, 1979.
• Drama, melodrama, comedy.
• Duration: 150 minutes.
• Kinopoisk: 8.4.

The picture is dedicated to Katerina (Vera Alentova) and other girls from the provinces who came to conquer Moscow. At the same time, the action begins in the 1950s, and then jumps forward 20 years, showing the already mature years of the heroines.

It is in the second series that Katerina meets a new boyfriend - plumber Gosha, played by Alexei Batalov. Thanks to the talent of the actor, this character in the 1980s became almost the standard real man: an educated intellectual, ready to solve all issues on his own, and even working with his hands.

But if you look from a modern point of view, Gosha behaves towards Katerina in the most toxic way. Already at the first meeting in the train, he himself decides for the woman how she should treat him. Then, without asking, he gets into the life of her daughter. And to Katerina’s indignation, she threatens that she will simply leave, and adds: “But at the same time, remember that I will always decide everything myself. On the simple grounds that I am a man."

But worst of all, because of his complexes and blackmail, Katerina has to hide her achievements. Arriving from the provinces, she, on her own and with her mind, grew from the position of a locksmith to the director of a chemical plant. But Gosha claims that a woman should not earn more than a man. Having learned about the real successes of his beloved, the hero could try to raise his status. However, he simply ran away and went on a drinking binge until he was found and brought back. As a result, he did not even apologize for his behavior.

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6. Varvara Sergeevna Plyushch, "Diamond Arm"

• USSR, 1968.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 94 minutes.
• Kinopoisk: 8.5.

satirical comedy Leonid Gaidai tells about a simple Soviet citizen Semyon Semyonovich Gorbunkov (Yuri Nikulin), who is drawn into a conspiracy of smugglers. After a fall on the streets of Istanbul, jewelry is sewn into his plaster, and now the police are using Gorbunkov as bait to figure out the criminals.

It is not worth discussing stupid smugglers or even depraved Anna Sergeevna here - they are all villains with exaggerated negative traits. But there is another unpleasant character in the film - the manager of the house, played by Nonna Mordyukova.

Gaidai showed this heroine as a typical Soviet activist with "watchman syndrome». For example, she uses her position to distribute DOSAAF (Voluntary Society for Assistance to the Army, Air Force and Navy) lottery tickets by threatening to turn off the gas. Or he demands that Gorbunkov give a lecture about visiting other countries without asking his consent. Moreover, he hangs up a poster with an error: supposedly the lecturer will talk about New York.

But worst of all, Ivy allows himself to get into the personal lives of others. She accuses Gorbunkov of drunkenness, without even listening to his wife, and then tracks down the man during a visit to Anna Sergeevna. As a result, in addition to the stressful situation with the smugglers, the hero's personal life almost collapses.

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7. Ivan Bunsha, "Ivan Vasilyevich is changing his profession"

• USSR, 1973.
• Comedy, fantasy.
• Duration: 88 minutes.
• "Kinopoisk": 8.8.

And one more satire from Leonid Gaidai. The film is based on Mikhail Bulgakov's fantastic story "Ivan Vasilyevich". The main character, engineer Alexander Timofeev (Alexander Demyanenko), invents time Machine. As a result of several coincidences, Ivan the Terrible (Yuri Yakovlev) moves to Moscow in the 1970s, and house manager Ivan Vasilyevich Bunsha (also Yuri Yakovlev) and thief Georges Miloslavsky (Leonid Kuravlev) fall into XVI century.

Most impressive in the film is the acting talent of Yuri Yakovlev, who played two completely different roles. But if it is pointless to evaluate the caricature king from the point of view of modern morality, then Bunsha looks like a completely plausible and very unpleasant character. For starters, this hero has exactly the same features as Varvara Sergeevna Plyushch in The Diamond Hand: he gets into the lives of the residents and even threatens Timofeev that he will “announce” his invention somewhere.

But the worst traits of character appear later. It seems that, having fallen into the past, he only follows the decrees of the cunning Miloslavsky. But then Bunsha gets used to the role of the king and begins to create something that surprises even recidivist thief. For example, he distributes state lands. And when the feast begins, the house manager sticks to the queen and lies, explaining how hard it is for him to live.

It is also worth noting that the wife of engineer Zina in this film is also far from being a role model. The fact that she wants to leave her husband for director Yakin does not mean anything in itself. But then he changes her to another actress, and Zina immediately returns to Timofeev. And later he runs away with Yakin again, forgetting about his spouse.

Zina is justified only by the fact that in the finale everything that happens turns out to be a dream. Although, judging by the latest frames, Bunsha in life is the same as Timofeev's fantasies

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Are there famous characters that you also consider toxic? Or maybe you want to protect someone on our list? Write your opinions in the comments!