February 26, 2021

Get Your Cold War On


Get Your Cold War On
The fictional New York Global blares the headline: "Kennedy demands immediate withdrawal of Soviet missiles from Cuba." Valery Todorovsky Production Company

Russians obsessed with Cold War-era spy thrillers had a great week in mid-February when "The Optimists: Season 2 (Caribbean Season)" aired for two hours every night. The first season of the miniseries aired back in April 2017 on channel Rossiya-1.

The central plot is (warning: spoilers ahead!) a 1960s love story between a man who works in the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Dmitry Nesterov played by Sergey Bezrukov) and an American photographer (Alex Bradley played by Elizaveta Boyarskaya). The star-crossed lovers give up their relationship to save the world: Alex has to leave the Soviet Union forever to inform JFK that Khrushchev is not trying to start World War III during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Who, then, are the titular "optimists?" It is not entirely clear, but it is presumably the foreign affairs staff, who believe they are building a better future for their country and world. Or perhaps it is the ill-fated lovers, who have become personae non grata in each other's countries but have a scrap of hope when Nesterov is posted to Vietnam in the closing scene.

In an interview, Boyarskaya stated that her inspiration for the role was Jacqueline Kennedy.

Scene from "The Optimists"
This is the face of every American who finds herself in Russia: Elizaveta Boyarskaya as Alex Bradley. | Valery Todorovsky Production Company

Minnesotan-Michigander Odin Biron plays Bradley's husband; his natural American accent can be heard under the Russian dubbing, but he trained as an actor at the Moscow Art Theatre.

Oh, and Che Guevara is there too, played by Spanish actor Andreas Muñoz. Check out a clip of Che Guevara: The Musical! ("Cuba is a dream!"), the show within the show, here.

One Russian site claims that "The Optimists" feels more American than Russian. It has a definite "The Americans" vibe – but with the action taking place across the pond and the cutaway shots going in the opposite direction. Maybe it feels American because the Soviet diplomats constantly drink alcohol, smoke foreign cigarettes, and sleep with everyone but their spouses. In a word, they are immoral.

The show is full of double agents and people you didn't know were agents, making for exciting, if not entirely original, Cold War nostalgia television.

Intro to "The Optimists"
Playing with submarines and sugar cubes to make Cuban rum in the opening credits. | Valery Todorovsky Production Company

 

You Might Also Like

A Double Life
  • January 01, 2021

A Double Life

On the life and mysteries of one of history's most famous sleeper spies, Konon Molody.
The Hunt for Movie Russian
  • September 14, 2020

The Hunt for Movie Russian

"Kakov nipudt pakaru!" The classic 1990 movie Hunt for Red October had a $30 million budget. Apparently none of that went towards Russian language coaches.
The Actor-Agents of the KGB
  • February 01, 2020

The Actor-Agents of the KGB

A former KGB agent recently claimed that many Soviet celebrities, including multiple famous actors, were agents of the “special services."
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

At the Circus
January 01, 2013

At the Circus

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka
November 01, 2012

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.

Bears in the Caviar
May 01, 2015

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955