Svadba

Pavel Lungin's "Svadba" ("The Wedding" in English) is mainly about a wedding, but also shows a contrast between the different kinds of worlds in Russia. Tanya, having worked as a model in Moscow, returns to her economically depressed hometown and decides to marry a friend from school. However, a series of issues arise as they get ready for the wedding.

Although we see the wedding and all its Russian traditions, the movie also looks at issues of corruption and the general hopelessness in this mining town. The opening scene (where the glamorous Tanya is on a bus with a bunch of gruff people) makes the contrast very clear. And then there's a bunch of stuff that we learn about the characters over the course of the movie.

I recommend it.

I am grateful to the commentators who suggested comparisons to Robert Altman's "Wedding" and the Indian "Monsoon Wedding"-- the comparison that came to mind for me was "Sweet Home Alabama." But I definitely find it the greatest depiction of contemporary Russian culture, especially as it shows provincial, rather than big-city life. I titled my comments "Laughter through Tears," as that is a phrase associated with one of Russia's greatest writers, Nikolai Gogol, who inaugurated the absurd and grotesque in Russian literature. I know Pavel Lunguin as the director of "Taxi Blues," and find his development as a filmmaker in the 10 years between the two films very compelling. Longuin, to my mind, is one of the few filmmakers who has found his own authentic Russian voice in contemporary cinema.

I never heard of that russian movie until I saw it in T.V. The Director matches it perfectly to connect a typical wedding comedy with critics on the (many) social problems in Russia. You have it all: The rich mafiosis, the corrupt policists, the poverty of the workers, the alcoholism, the decline of social institutions. But despite all, it is very positive movie - because of the hero Mischa, the husband, who gives never up, but also tries to stay brave and not to become a gangster. The movie is in its original russian way a bit similar to the blockbuster "monsoon wedding" from India. But I think "Russian Wedding" is the better movie, more funny, more cynical, more realistic.

E.G.: the bride maria mironova looks like an angel.

First of all, through the entire movie I felt like I have already seen this movie in some sense. After I have finished watching it, I realized it - Lars Von Trier, Celebration. And it was not the script, it was that "documentary" style that made me watch the movie without uttering a single word. "Marriage" puts you in the middle, not only you watch it but you live it with the characters.

I have lived in the largest coal-mining region in Ukraine for a long time. 95% of the situation in the movie is true.

I think that the casting was excellent, militia major is more than believable, Marat Basharov is very sincere, Andrei Panin is a natural "russian soul".

I totally recommend this movie to everybody !

In Lipski, a small town 200 km far from Moscow, in a post-socialism Russia, the top-model Tanya (Mariya Mironova) returns home after five years in Moscow. She meets the shy miner Mishka (Marat Basharov), for whom she had a crush when she was a teenager, and proposes him, after gambling heads or tails. Mishka accepts to marry her, but he does not have any money for the feast or for a gift. His honored father makes the arrangements for the simple party. His drunken friend Garkusha (Andrei Panin) decides to help him to get money for a wedding gift, but indeed he gets Mishka into trouble with the nasty local chief of police Borzov (as Aleksandr Semchev), a limited man who aims to be transferred to Moscow. Meanwhile, the wealthy former lover of Tanya, Borodin (Vladimir Simonov), comes to Lispki, trying to recover Tanya. Further, after the ceremony, Tanya discloses surprising revelations to Mishka. 'The Wedding' is a totally unpredictable funny movie, showing samples of the post-socialism Russia, with the happy, beautiful and broken people, the powerful and corrupt capitalist (Borodin), traces of the former authoritarian regime (Borzov) and lots of vodka. The happiness and the beauty of the people without money recalled me in many situations the joyful Brazilian people. The gorgeous Mariya Mironova resembles the American actress Cameron Diaz. 'The Wedding' is a different and interesting movie for viewers who appreciate different cultures. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): 'As Bodas' ('The Wedding Feast')