The Big Exchange

The Big Exchange (Russian: Менялы) is a 1992 Russian-American comedy film directed by Georgiy Shengeliya.^[1][2][3]

Plot[]

The plot centers on the 1961 monetary reform in the Soviet Union, which involved denomination of all currency 10:1; conspicuously, the copper kopecks (1/100th of a ruble) were excluded from the exchange due to expense of re-minting them, effectively becoming 10 times as valuable. The protagonists of the movie are tasked by a Soviet government functionary (who is also a secret millionaire) to enact a get-rich scheme which involves them touring the country and exchanging the old paper banknotes, soon to be on their way out, for small copper coins. The film then deals with their misadventures on the road.^[4]

Cast[]

• Vladimir Ilyin as Babaskin
• as Dzhora Grakin
• Vadim Zakharchenko as Ignatyevich
• Valentina Telichkina as Zoya Aleksandrovna
• Oksana Mysina as Lenochka Grakina
• Renat Davletyarov as First persecutor
• as Second persecutor
• as Third persecutor
• as Serafima Maksimovna^[5]

References[]

External links[]

• The Big Exchange at IMDb