Carnival Night 2, or 50 Years Later

Carnival Night 2, or 50 Years Later (2007) is Eldar Ryazanov's self-made sequel to his own 1956 classic — watch it online on iFILM. Back in 1956, Ryazanov's Carnival Night became a defining Soviet New Year comedy. Half a century later, he walked back into the same House of Culture and made a follow-up on his own terms.

The building is now named after its old bureaucrat Ogurtsov and run by a new one, Kabachkov. Against that backdrop, two young employees try to throw an actual holiday worth attending. The cast is a roll call of Russian cinema: Sergei Bezrukov, Lyudmila Gurchenko — who starred in the 1956 original as a young woman — Sergei Makovetsky, Maria Aronova, Valentin Gaft, Inna Churikova, and Aleksei Batalov.

The film doesn't try to improve on its predecessor. It talks back to it — warmly, a little wistfully. If you grew up with the Soviet original, this one lands differently. Stream Carnival Night 2 online on iFILM.