In recent years I have come to anxiously look forward to any piece of Russian cinema that I am able to see. It rarely disappoints, and is almost universally at a deeper emotional level than what is produced in the U.S. Poor Pavel epitomizes the difference. While being at times very funny, it is also profoundly sad ...but not in the sappy, clumsy, staged sort of way that so many U.S. films cannot rise above. Maybe it's the Russian spirit, laughing hard and crying hard at the same time. The actor portraying Pavel, Victor Sukhorukov, gives off a unique, uneasy and disturbing feeling that works so well for Pavel, and I can't praise the other actors highly enough either. Between them and the direction of the film, there is real cinematic magic at work. The viewer is transported to the late 18th century Russia for an exciting walk with a mad king, and no reminders that it is only a film, such as formulas or cheap dialog, show up to disturb what is an all around great picture.