My holiday might be a day away depending on things, but in my head I'm already there, and there is no better holiday film for me than the Soviet "Three Plus Two" (1963), another desert (tropical more like) island favourite that has pushed me through countless holiday-less evenings and finally to here. The film brings you 3 boys (Mironov, Zharikov, and Nilov), young holidaymakers (dikarya, or 'savages,' as they were sometimes described), living it up in a lazy hidden paradise on the beautiful Black Sea coast and vowing to live as bearded hermits without tobacco, alcohol, or women. 2 girls (Fateeva and Kustinskaya, a darling favourite of mine) stumble on and interrupt this idyllic scene, claiming that this camping spot is theirs, much to the boys' annoyance. A strange little romantic comedy then ensues as lion-tamer Zoya and actress Natasha try to win the boys' affections (so that somehow they can evict them?), as they're all stubbornly keen to enjoy their vacation.
Even for a Thaw film, this is an unusually youthful, completely leisurely adventure, as we are treated to deliciously long shots of the golden beach, the turquoise sea, the verdant hills, the landscape at dawn and dusk and starry night, and a pleasant scene in town as boyish vet Roma and charming diplomat Vadim seek the girls' attention while grumpy physicist and divorcé Stepan fends it off and keeps himself busy pottering about and reading a detective novel (illustrated by rainy shots of Basil Rathbone from "Frankenstein"). The boys fall under the worrying impression that the girls are policewomen, and it takes quite a while for things to clear up. It's also a beautifully humorous film, with lots of nice back-and-forth between each set of friends - and from the nature of the takes, there's a lovely candid freshness to the actors' performance that feels almost real over the script. I've also discovered a second version of the film, just slightly different throughout, but with a special highlight and treat to me, beautifully captured, lovingly and humorously documented moments of families on their seaside holidays. Whichever you choose, this film is such an easygoing, luxuriously warm delight Xo
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