The mayor of a provincial town receives a letter informing him that an inspector is due in town, with secret orders. The panic among the officials is only heightened by the news that a mysterious young man has checked into one of the inns. The town council – founded on bribes, mutual favors, compromises, and embezzlements – is now in jeopardy.
Gogol innovated the genre with his masterful plot. In The Government Inspector, the introduction of the representative of “disorder” subverts the traditional methods of comedy. He created something truly timeless by holding up a distorted mirror not to the representative of “disorder” but to the representatives of “order” with the arrival of the stranger. As soon as the stranger enters the house, the facade of the residents fall away. The corruption-laden masks of the local dignitaries are revealed, turning the house of order and power into a house of fear. The mayor’s statement, “What are you laughing at? You’re laughing at yourselves,” becomes a symbol of this distorted image, representing the unchanging reflection of human selfishness and greed throughout the ages.
Director: Dániel D. Kovács
