For what it's worth, I teach a course on Russian culture, and I end the semester by showing this short, suggesting that it is a ten-minute distillation of the essence of Russian culture in general.

I was being driven home once when I observed a hedgehog gearing up to cross the road. It was dark and there was rush hour traffic. I jumped out of the passenger seat and ran back to retrieve the little guy but he was nowhere to be found. I searched everywhere for him.

He may well have died that night - or ended up lost in the fog - but I like to imagine he's out there somewhere, in the forest, eating raspberry jam with his good friend Bear Cub.

Magical, and I feel sorry for whoever doesn't get the appeal.