The Role of Song in Leonid Gaidai’s Films

Abstract

The article is devoted to Leonid Gaidai’s work with soundtrack. The emphasis is made on the analysis of both original and borrowed songs in the entire filmography of the director. In the first part of the article, the author analyses the principles of Gaidai’s work with various musical genres and outlines the range of musical genres and styles used by the director. The article investigates how their meaning (reputation) changes, refracted through the prism of the comedy genre, and discusses various ways in which the director interprets the genres of an old-time sentimental gypsy romance, folk and criminal underworld songs. The second part of the article reveals the role of songs in the dramaturgy of Gaidai’s comedies. The author demonstrates that with the help of songs, Gaidai creates an interconnected musical universe both within one film and between films. The study presents the analysis of the contrast between the visual-narrative side of an episode and its soundtrack and provides a detailed examination of how Gaidai challenged stereotypes as to what characters can perform what genre songs in a comedy film.

Keywords

• soviet comedy
• film music
• songs in films
• leonid gaidai
• “bourgeois” music
• “we’ve met again”
• “the reed was rustling”
• “a mighty sultan’s song”
• “the polar bear song”