Afonya

Afonya (1975) is a beloved Soviet tragicomedy you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Georgiy Daneliya. Leonid Kuravlyov stars as Afanasy Borshchev — "Afonya" to the tenants he fixes pipes for — a plumber with a warm heart, clever hands and a life quietly coming apart at the seams.

He cuts corners, drinks with his buddy Fedul down at the beer hall, pockets a few easy rubles and spends them just as fast. His wife has walked out, his boss has him on probation, and Afonya barely notices the wreckage. At a dance, a gentle nurse named Katya (Evgenia Simonova) falls for him, but his head is turned by an unreachable beauty from apartment 58. When she turns out to be married, he suddenly finds himself alone and bolts to his aunt's village.

The supporting bench is the cream of the era — Evgeniy Leonov, Saveliy Kramarov, Borislav Brondukov, Nina Ruslanova. Daneliya didn't make a lecture about a drunk; he made a sad, funny portrait of a man running from himself until a shot at a real life finally catches up with him. One of the most-watched Soviet films of its year, with an ending people still argue over. Stream Afonya (1975) online on iFILM.