Soviet union

The Adventures of Elektronik is not your average children’s comedy

For people from the former Soviet Union, the holiday season brings with it two certainties: mayonnaise and movies. Mayonnaise, because no winter festivity is complete without the traditional mayo-infused salads with such evocative names as “herring under a fur coat” and “Olivier,” which are eaten for days straight. These calorific concoctions are best accompanied by a dozen or so cult films from around 1965 to 1985, which are ritually rewatched every year by Homo Sovieticus and his descendants. Of these classics, one of the most beloved is the musical The Adventures of Elektronik (1979). Adapted from the novels of the science-fiction writer Yevgeny Veltistov, the movie tells the story of