Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears
Directed by Alexsey Menshev
Written by Valentin Chernyk and Vladimir Menshev
1980/USSR
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/YouTube
Georgiy ‘Gosha’: How come you never did get married?
Katerina ‘Katya’ Tikhomirova: I was waiting for you.
This sweet coming-of-age romance movie won the Academy Award for Best Picture in a Foreign Language.
The story follows the lives of three female high-school graduates from graduation day until they turn 40. All three get factory jobs immediately thereafter.
Ludmilla (Irina Muravyova) is flamboyant and well-dressed. She has her eyes set on a rich or at least distinguished husband. She gets her opportunity when her friend Katya (Vera Alentova) gets the call to pet sit at the apartment for her well-off uncle. Ludmilla tags along and is soon inviting a bunch of eligible men for a dinner party with the two of them. Both begin relationships with men at the party. These are disappointing to say the least. Will they find happiness in the end? With Aleksey Batalov (The Cranes are Flying).
This is a very enjoyable look at the image the USSR wanted to project in 1980. The story is sweet and satisfying. Oscar material? I don’t think so.
