Forgotten Melody for a Flute

This Russian romantic comedy drama with satirical overtones serves as an ideal vehicle for the effervescent talents of Tatiana Dogileva. She portrays a nurse with whom bureaucrat Leonid Filatov falls in love after having a heart problem. Director Eldar Ryazanov doesn't seem to know when best to end a scene, thus inflating a charming comic idea well past its worth at times. Fortunately, the focus throughout is on Ms. Dogileva, who can make even the dullest scene come vibrantly to life. A Forgotten Tune for the Flute was one of the earliest movie arrivals in the US after the fall of Communism; more of the same, please!