Moscow doesn't believe the tears
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Moscow doesn't believe the tears |
| Original title | Москва слезам не верит |
| Country of production | Soviet Union |
| original language | Russian |
| Publishing year | 1980 |
| length | 140 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Vladimir Menshov |
| script | Valentin Chernych |
| music | Sergei Nikitin |
| camera | Igor Slabnevich |
| occupation | |
| |
Moscow does not believe the tears (Russian: Москва слезам не верит / Moskwa slesam ne werit ) is a Soviet fictional film by the director Vladimir Walentinowitsch Menschow from 1980. It received the 1981 Oscar for best foreign film.
action
Moscow will not believe the tears in two parts describes the life stories of three women in Moscow in 1958 and 1978. The three provincial friends Katja, Lyudmila and Antonina - all in their early 20s - share a room in a workers' hostel in Moscow in 1958 . Lyudmila tries to convince the other two to find a rich, respected, in short: important man in the capital.
Katja works in a machine factory and tries to study for the entrance exams in the evenings.
Antonina goes her own way. She got to know Nikolai, a simple construction worker whom Ljudmila thought she could have had in the provinces. Your life now seems to be going the usual way.
Katja is supposed to take care of the apartment of an uncle, a respected professor, for the holiday season. He lives in one of the so-called Stalin skyscrapers in Moscow, and the apartment is accordingly representative. Lyudmila moves in without further ado and immediately throws a party where she invites all of her high-ranking Moscow acquaintances. She pretends to be the professor's daughter, Katja as her younger sister. And her plan seems to be working, she meets the successful ice hockey player Gurin. Katja also meets a man at the party: Ratschkow, who works for television. Katja is fascinated, especially since Ratschkow, who is actually just a cameraman, takes her to a television recording. But she doesn't like the lie with her fake origin, she only postpones her confession because of Lyudmila. But by chance, Ratschkow learns the true story beforehand, which he immediately takes advantage of when Katja confesses that she is expecting a child from him.
Antonina marries her Nikolai, Lyudmila confesses the lie to Gurin, which only makes Gurin easier because he thought that a professor would not allow him to marry his daughter. They marry too.
Only Katja is alone and is expecting a child. It is too late for an abortion, after all she gives birth to her daughter Alexandra. As a single mother, she is now trying to prepare for university.
About twenty years later, the second part of the film begins. Katja has made a career; she is the director of a factory with 3,000 employees and is also a member of the Moscow City Soviet. She lives with her daughter Alexandra, who is now studying, in a new apartment and also has an unsatisfactory relationship with a married man, Volodja.
It was very different for Lyudmila, she is divorced. Her ex-husband, the athlete Gurin, who never had a drink in the past, has become an alcoholic and keeps begging Lyudmila for money. She works in a dry cleaner and is still hoping for the man of her dreams.
Only with Antonina everything went as planned by Lyudmila, she is still happily married, has three children, spends the weekends at the dacha, where the other two women also come from time to time.
During a train journey, Katja meets the locksmith Goscha, who engages her in a conversation and finally brings her home. Goscha is a very self-confident, charismatic man who, however, represents some principles about the professional position of men and women that Katja prefers to conceal the fact that she is the director. The two fall in love, and Katja believes that she has found her happiness after all, but the hiding of her true identity has already brought her bad luck. Right now, after twenty years, she meets her former lover Ratschkow again, who demands to be able to see his unknown daughter. When he suddenly appears in the apartment, Goscha learns from him Katja's true professional position. Gosha leaves the apartment disappointed and angry and Katja thinks he will never come back.
After a desperate week, friends Lyudmila, Antonina and Nikolai come to help crying Katja: Moscow doesn't believe tears, something has to be done. Nikolai goes on a search for the missing Goscha and can finally convince him to return to Katja.
Remarks
The film captivates with its personal plot, which is far removed from socialist propaganda. Menschow has succeeded in showing a contemporary image of completely normal life stories in real socialist Moscow of the 1950s and 1970s.
The main actress Vera Alentova (Katja) is the director's wife.
criticism
Lexicon of international film : "Formally without ambitions, the film captivates with its cheerfulness and the amiable drawing of the characters."
Awards
The film was nominated for the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in 1980 and received the Oscar for best foreign film in 1981 .
Trivia
The title of the film comes from a Russian proverb, which means that Moscow is a "tough" city, where complaining is useless and action is required. Also Ilya Ehrenburg quoted the saying for the title of his novel Moscow does not believe in tears ( Москва слезам не верит , 1932), which, however, takes place in Paris and has nothing to do with the issue here film.
There are some cameos by well-known Soviet actors arriving at the film festival, while Lyudmila and Katya are among the audience. Film director Vladimir Menshov also has a brief cameo.
Web links
- Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Moviemaster
Individual evidence
- ↑ Moscow does not believe the tears. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .