A Russian saxophonist visiting New York City with a USSR circus troupe suddenly decides to defect in Bloomingdale's.A Russian saxophonist visiting New York City with a USSR circus troupe suddenly decides to defect in Bloomingdale's.A Russian saxophonist visiting New York City with a USSR circus troupe suddenly decides to defect in Bloomingdale's.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Awards
- 2 nominations total
Saveliy Kramarov
- Boris
- (as Savely Kramarov)
Aleksandr Benyaminov
- Vladimir's Grandfather
- (as Alexander Beniaminov)
Lyudmila Kramarevskaya
- Vladimir's Mother
- (as Ludmila Kramarevsky)
Ivo Vrzal-Wiegand
- Vladimir's Father
- (as Ivo Vrzal)
Natalya Ivanova
- Sasha
- (as Natalie Iwanow)
Eyde Byrde
- Lionel's Mother
- (as Edye Byrde)
Aleksandr Narodetsky
- Leonid
- (as Alexander Narodetzky)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
This movie is the story of a Russian immigrant to America. We can all relate to it in that we all have had dreams and then lived them only to discover that our dream may not have been all it was cracked up to be. The movie is all Robin Williams, it is an excellent showplace for his many talents. He is very much like Charlie Chaplin and Red Skelton in that they can be very funny and also very sad, often at the same time. The movie is set in New York City, but everyone is from somewhere else in the world, all trying to make a new life there. Williams' character is very multi-level and rich. He is not merely a clown, you really do get under his skin and understand his motives. The movie can strike some as sad in that Robin's character has a deep sense of melancholy about him, from his days as an unhappy Russian musician to his days as a "free" american. We sense his deep sadness behind the laughs. Recommended if you are a fan of Robin Williams or just need a pickup. This would make a good Fourth Of July tradition movie to watch.
I first saw this film when the Iron Curtain was still firmly in place and of course it was intriguing and funny. Seeing it again, I found it quite prescient if less intriguing and funny. Robin Williams plays a Muscovite who visits the Big Apple as part of a cultural troupe. On a visit to Bloomingdales, he suddenly decides to defect (a very spin is made on this term!). The rest of the film deals with his attempts to settle in the US.
Obviously given the great political changes in the USSR and Eastern Europe since the film was released, it has aged noticeably. However, it is not entirely without merit. The big plus is obviously Robin Williams. He was and is a great actor and seems to have put in great effort on his Russian and spoken English accents. Notice the way he says "Mister". The hot, hot, hot Maria Conchita Gonzalez (Miss Venezuela 1971) plays an Italian immigrant and the love interest. The overall bent of the film is liberal - African-American families are especially realistically and positively portrayed. The central lesson of the film is that the transition from a Communist to a Capitalist mentality is not easy and the adjustment can bring great joy and sorrow. That is a very valid lesson in the largest context of the later collapse of the USSR and the painful transition ex-Soviet states are still going through.
Obviously given the great political changes in the USSR and Eastern Europe since the film was released, it has aged noticeably. However, it is not entirely without merit. The big plus is obviously Robin Williams. He was and is a great actor and seems to have put in great effort on his Russian and spoken English accents. Notice the way he says "Mister". The hot, hot, hot Maria Conchita Gonzalez (Miss Venezuela 1971) plays an Italian immigrant and the love interest. The overall bent of the film is liberal - African-American families are especially realistically and positively portrayed. The central lesson of the film is that the transition from a Communist to a Capitalist mentality is not easy and the adjustment can bring great joy and sorrow. That is a very valid lesson in the largest context of the later collapse of the USSR and the painful transition ex-Soviet states are still going through.
Manhattan looks so much more varied and gritty and real and less mall-ified than it does today in this, Paul Mazursky's 1984 love letter to the American way, and one of the last unambiguously patriotic mainstream American movies. (It's very much a product of its Reagan time, right down to the casual homophobia.) Robin Williams, for once not twinkling too hard or overworking his virtuosity or adorableness, is an Everyman Russian who unexpectedly defects in Bloomingdale's and goes on to live the immigrant experience, suffering urban indignities and romantic angst along the way. His worklife is a little easier, his economic situation a little less treacherous, and the people he meets a little nicer than they would be in real life. For all that, in its celebration of the melting pot and its warm embrace of the American urban landscape, the movie moved me to tears.
Robin Williams is excellent as a Russian circus performer in New York City with his troupe for the first time, deciding to defect and become a U.S. citizen. After an appropriately dark, though somewhat heavy-handed opening, this comedy-drama from director Paul Mazursky suddenly finds its niche and seldom wavers. It may appear from the early parts of the picture that Williams is giving yet another of his overly-colorful, cartoonish performances, but he too gets into the groove of this project and fleshes out this charming, confounding, complicated man. Maria Conchita Alonso is wonderful as the working girl who falls for Williams (they have terrific chemistry, and Alonso has never been better). A fuzzy, friendly, thoughtful film, a bit too long but occasionally sublime. *** from ****
As a Russian immigrant myself, I related the story to myself and liked the movie a lot. For those who never had such an experience, you may start to understand how hard it is to adapt to a new culture and why do people want to migrate in the first place. Also, for those who don't get the Russian culture, this might be kind of an introduction to it. Robin Williams is great as always, and I like especially his comedic style in a semitragic movie, which makes it so much easier to watch. If you have something against new immigrants to America and don't get why they come here at all, watch this movie and you'll understand why.
Did you know
- TriviaIn preparation for his role, for about a year, lead actor Robin Williams studied Soviet customs and learned the Russian language. Reportedly, Williams spent five hours a day learning Russian and had learned to speak it well within a month. By the time of principal photography, Williams was at a proficiency level where he could carry out a conversation. Williams's teacher was a Russian actor called David.
- GoofsIn the USSR of the 1980s even teenagers weren't acquainted with middle finger gesture, let alone an 80-year-old man doing it towards KGB officers.
- Quotes
Vladimir Ivanoff: Yesterday I bought my first pair of American shoes. They were made in Italy.
- Alternate versionsCBS edited 19 minutes from this film for its 1986 network television premiere.
- SoundtracksFreedom
Written by David McHugh
Produced by Chaka Khan and David McHugh
Performed by Chaka Khan
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Moskau in New York
- Filming locations
- Munich, Bavaria, Germany(city: Moscow)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $13,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $25,068,724
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $3,536,687
- Apr 8, 1984
- Gross worldwide
- $25,068,724
- Runtime1 hour 55 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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