Svadba

As a North American who spent three months in Russia in 1995, all I can say is that this movie is a true reflection of what I experienced while I was there. The atmosphere of the film is true to life. If ones wants to get the feeling of a Russian party, this is it. Even though people don't have much to live on, they are ready to chip in and to share everything they have. This is not a comedy, this is a social study on life in Russia in 2000, but it is enjoyable.

This amazing comedy mocks all film rules, giving you hardly any opportunity to predict what comes next. This wedding is a wodka-loaden, Russian, chaotic party with a bride worth alone to watch the film for, amazing scenes (like in the orphanage), with extreme characters who never become unreal. It's very warm, very funny, sometimes even scary although nothing really extreme happens. Weird things happen, though. The movie starts with Tanya, a supermodel, returning to her home village from Moscow, looking for a shy mineworker she was in love with when she was 14, and making him a proposal: flip a coin, heads is marrying, tails is not marrying. Later on, you'll understand why. You'll love this film if you can enjoy movies that are not by-the-book.

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')

This is truly an extraordinary film. Not at all what I expected and better than any representation that Hollywood has ground out - "Father of the Bride" through to Robert Altman's cynical view in "A Wedding".

I found the whole film mesmerising. The heroine is incredibly beautiful and one can believe that she is a top model. Her hero is wonderfully ordinary, as are all the various characters in this story. The plot unfolds in a way that reminds me of "The Fireman's Ball" (Milos Forman). Maybe it is the way it is in Eastern Europe? Whatever, the viewer feels that they are there, part of the wedding party. I once saw a play called "The Tinker's Wedding", which attempted to capture the atmosphere of a gypsy party, and failed (my view). Watching this production, I am more than ever convinced that it failed. I am prepared to go out on a limb & say that this is one of the most memorable films I have ever seen. It deserves an Oscar. I have been trying to get a DVD and have been offered a copy, in Russian only, from a distributor in Helsinki. If any IMDb reader knows where to locate a copy (with English subtitles). please let me know.

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.