The Garage (1980 film)

The Garage (Russian: Гараж) is a Soviet 1980 comedy-drama film directed by Eldar Ryazanov, based on a screenplay by Emil Braginsky.

In the 1970s Soviet Union, a group of garage cooperative members confront corruption, favoritism, and moral dilemmas in a tense, locked-room meeting that spirals into an unexpected battle of ethics and power.

Plot summary

Set in the Soviet Union in the late 1970s, the story unfolds in the fictional "Research Institute for the Protection of Animals from the Environment," specifically within a zoological museum, where members of the garage construction cooperative "Fauna," founded by the institute's employees, are gathered. The cooperative’s leadership, including chairperson Valentin Sidorin, vice director Lydia Anikeeva, and accountant Alla Petrovna, announces that part of their planned garage area will be affected by a new highway, meaning they need to reduce the number of available garages. They present a pre-approved list of four people who are to be cut, but several members, especially those most vulnerable, protest the decision and demand a fairer selection process.

As tensions rise, junior researcher Elena Malaeva, sympathizing with the excluded members, locks the doors, forcing the cooperative to continue the meeting and hear her out. She reveals inconsistencies in the selection process, highlighting favoritism and corruption, as some slots had secretly gone to influential figures such as a market director and the son of a high-ranking official. This exposes a deeper struggle within the cooperative, leading to arguments, accusations, and near violence. Finally, after several failed attempts to reach a resolution, including a suggestion to draw lots, the assembly is interrupted by Anikeeva's husband, who announces their car has been stolen, disqualifying her from membership. This turn allows the cooperative to reallocate her garage spot and leads to the exclusion of the corrupt members, though not without further contention.