# Shirli-myrli

Shirli-myrli (Russian: Ширли-мырли, also released as What a Mess!) is a 1995 farce comedy film of the early post-soviet era directed by Vladimir Menshov. Centered around a pursued con man, who stole a huge diamond, the movie, among other things, satirizes chauvinism, antisemitism and other ethnic tensions in the 1990s Russia. Valery Garkalin plays multiple roles as identical twins who were raised believing they belong to different cultures and races and used to look down on each other's.

## Plot summary

While digging in the diamond mine "Unpromising" in Yakutia an enormous diamond was found. It is called The Savior of Russia: officials declare that the sale of the diamond could pay off the national debt and pay for every Russian citizen to take a three-year-long vacation at the Canary Islands.
While the diamond is being transported to Moscow (by Antonov An-124 Ruslan) it is stolen by the crime boss Kozulskiy (Armen Dzhigarkhanyan), who is then robbed by professional thief Vasiliy Krolikov (Valery Garkalin).
For the remainder of the film, the plot revolves around Krolikov, a con man raised as a Russian and his two other identical multiple birth brothers, one was raised as a Jew to become a world famous musician, another as a Russian Roma to become a Romani tabor [ru] chief and a member of the parliament. Krolikov is pursued by Kozulskiy's mafia and two militsiya officers - Captain Jean-Paul Piskunov (Igor Ugolnikov) and an unnamed lieutenant (Sergey Batalov). At the end of the film it turns out that there is a fourth brother, raised as an African American, making all characters played by Garkalin at least quadruplets.

## Cast

* Valery Garkalin as Vasily Krolikov / Innokentiy Shniperson / Roman Almazov / Patrick Crolikow
* Vera Alentova as Carol Abzats / Zemfira Almazova / Lusiena Krolikova / Whitney Crolikow
* Inna Churikova as Praskoviya Krolikova, Krolikov's supposed mother and the quadruplets's aunt
* Armen Dzhigarkhanyan as Kozyulski, the crime boss ("Godfather")
* Igor Ugolnikov as Captain Jean-Paul Piskunov, militsiya special investigator
* Sergey Batalov as the militsiya lieutenant and Piskunov's assistant
* Leonid Kuravlyov as the US Ambassador to Russia
* Lyubov Polishchuk as Jennifer, US Ambassador's wife and collector of Russian folklore
* Oleg Tabakov as Sukhodrishchev, a rowdy drunkard
* Aleksandr Voroshilo as Kozma, Shniperson's admirer
* Nonna Mordyukova as the Female Registry Office Worker
* Sergei Artsibashev as the Male Registry Office Worker
* Arkadi Koval as the TV Announcer
* Yevgeni Aleksandrov as the TV journalist (voiced by Sergey Bezrukov)
* Lev Borisov as Alexey Feofilaktovich, a mafioso
* Yuri Chernov as Alexey, the suitcase carrier
* Oleg Yefremov as Nikolay Grigoryevich, the Krolikovs' alcoholic neighbor
* Yevgeni Vesnik as the doctor
* Rolan Bykov as the diamond buyer
* Valeri Nikolayev as the male step dancer
* Irina Apeksimova as the female step dancer
* Viktor Gaynov as Quasimodo, a mafioso
* Aleksandr Pankratov-Chyorny as US Ambassador's bodyguard
* Mikhail Kokshenov as US Ambassador's bodyguard
* Tatyana Kravchenko as Bronislava Rosembaum, the geologist
* Sergei Gabrielyan as Ravil Beliletdinov, the geologist
* Valeri Afanasyev as Anatoly Ivanov, the geologist
* Vladimir Menshov as the President of Russia
* Vsevolod Sanayev as the male music lover
* Nina Alisova as the female music lover
* Vladimir Gusev as the General
* Boris Smorchkov as the General
* Gennadi Matveyev as the General
* Pyotr Merkuryev as the guest at the wedding
* Aleksei Buldakov as the An-124 crew commander
* Yevgeni Gerchakov as the Symphony Orchestra Conductor
* Yuriy Kuzmenkov as the man with a goat
* Marina Golub as the manager of the philharmonic hall
* Klavdia Kozlyonkova as passenger at the plane (uncredited)