The Legend of the Clown (1980)

Armenian village at the beginning of the 20th century. Local policeman suspects clown and ropewalker Simon in aiding Bolshevik revolutionaries. Annoyed by constant surveillance of the police, cheery Simon leaves the village for Yerevan. There he's taken to prison by accident, where he still entertains and become friends with many people some Bolsheviks among of them.