I haven't seen Kira Muratova's movies for a while, but I can say after watching "Nastroyshchik": she is the most controversial director ever... For benefit of others: Kira Muratova is a famous Soviet/Russian film director, her movies were not allowed for public view a long time until Gorbachev/"Perestroyka" took over the Soviet Union. Most of her movies (maybe all of them?)were shot in Ukraine (Odessa).You may feel like you are watching the documentary. This movie is done with true Muratova's style, much different than common film directing. I think Muratova has a lot in common with Woody Allen I'm recommending the people who are Woody Allen fans or simply like non- Hollywood movies to watch this piece. (Sorry for English, it is not my prime language)
9 Reviews
Muratova always surprises me
shusei6 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
One,who has never seen films of Kira Muratova before may not imagine a film like this made in former Soviet Union. A film with a sense of humor,delicate composition of every scene, admirable direction of acting, intelligent dialogs combined with funny repetitions of same words(as if they functions as musical refrain). Shot in black and white, as her previous film "Chekhovian motives", "Nastroyshcik" deals with far more modern,complicated and interesting story.
There are also many interesting things outside the story itself,if you know something about Russian mentality,history and literature. The old lady Anna Sergeevna, for example, has the same name from the short story of Chekhov "A lady with a little dog", and she really has a little dog. But she is not at all a heroine of a love story, as with Chekhov,but a victim of young cheats.
Probably Muratova is one of those rare directors, who can make such a comedy,which is funny and gracious at the same time.
There are also many interesting things outside the story itself,if you know something about Russian mentality,history and literature. The old lady Anna Sergeevna, for example, has the same name from the short story of Chekhov "A lady with a little dog", and she really has a little dog. But she is not at all a heroine of a love story, as with Chekhov,but a victim of young cheats.
Probably Muratova is one of those rare directors, who can make such a comedy,which is funny and gracious at the same time.
Muratova as a tuner of our souls
Zhorzhik-Morzhik8 March 2020
"The Tuner" is a comedy drama by cult director Kira Muratova. An easy and kind story about the love of a piano tuner for a beautiful and spoiled girl, for whom the main character decides to commit a crime. A magnificent acting ensemble led by Alla Demidova and Renata Litvinova.
it is surely worth to have
maetherea3 December 2005
my expectations usually end with the disenchantment. but not that time. it is obligatory to watch if you have chosen another dimension of films and of living itself. brilliant and lively heart-rending, IMHO is one of the most excellent muratova's works. renata litvinova as usually - how to say it and not to repeat oneself, she acts herself with all of her soul - beautiful and originally glamorous. georgy deliev is to be one of the most fascinating thieves. they both make together the definition of love out of conventions. nina ruslanova and alla demidova are the second pair in this game. they are one of the most famous actresses in the USSR, former and rip, here playing two typically untypical soviet elderly women,dreaming to be loved and so defenseless in their lonely conditions. this is a drama, detective story without police, romance, comedy and some piano,as a lemon jelly for enjoying!
One of the all time favorite movies of mine
andrew_st21 December 2010
Kira Muratova is known for the dark side in her movies which makes watching and analyzing her movies often a challenging job for those who are ready for such mental and emotional work. But this fantastic movie combines elegant screenplay, amazing operator job, charming melodies by Valentin Silvestrov, one of the best group of actors ever in Russian (or should I say Ukrainian as it was produced in Odessa, Ukraine) cinema - both "great four" (Demidova, Ruslanova, Deliev, Ruslanova) and actors in supporting roles WITH a moral concept which gets exposed only by the very end of the movie conveyed to us through the speech of absolutely fabulous actress, Alla Demidova. It feels like the actors "enjoy the feast" as well - their performance is light, charming and perfectly convincing. This movie is nothing it can be compared with, and will give a true pleasure to all lovers of the great Russian cinema. I would dare to call it a comedy with some serious moral issues discussed - a rare combination, isn't it?
Tunes More than Pianos
joemargolies5 May 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Kira Muratova's The Tuner is a darkly humorous account of the trust developed and deceit experienced by several eccentric characters during a brief vignette of their daily lives. Filmed in crisp black and white in settings that place the action anywhere within the past forty years, the film seems older than it is, and only the infrequent use of cellular phones and a fleeting moment of computer wizardry remind the viewer that he is watching a contemporary film. The monochrome is not without reason, however. The theme of duplicity for personal gain is timeless, and any era could reasonably play host to the film's plot.
Every character in The Tuner is a bit of an oddball, and each has an exceptional element of depth, even those who appear only briefly. The talented but scheming central character Andrei is content to enjoy himself while his complicated plan develops and unfolds. His position as a piano tuner is primarily a guise, but he nonetheless plays and tunes with professional ability. His lover is also wily and manipulative, and has a very evident but seemingly irrelevant preoccupation with abortion. Lyuba is serially taken for a fool, as her desperation for companionship leads her to be overly trusting. Anna Sergeevna applies her motherly affections to her dog Mikka and to Andrei, whom she refuses to blame even after he takes her for her savings. Even minor characters like the restroom attendant with a vibrant personality are developed much in the brief time they are on screen.
The most interesting minor characters are found in the Central bank in the film's penultimate scene, characters whose role is more to characterize the film than to be characterized by it. As she goes to collect her "winnings" from a lottery drawing that had been fabricated by Andrei, Anna Sergeevna is informed by an indifferent young teller that she is mistaken, and receives the harsh news that she has been deceived from a manager with an even harsher voice. As she leaves the bank, she encounters identical twins with identical mannerisms, and is unsettled by their doubleness, just as she is by Andrei's duplicity.
Perhaps one of the greatest elements of the film is that, as in real life, it seems to take place within the context of events irrelevant to the plot itself. When Andrei goes to collect Anna Sergeevna's cups, he is mistaken for two individuals with whom the proprietor clearly has illicit business. Representing this aspect of the film, characters often move through small spaces, such as that which separates the two floors of Anna Sergeevna's house and the entrance to Andrei's loft, demonstrating the larger world around the action that the audience never sees. Perhaps this is the significance of the "tuner." A tuner adjusts instruments to focus on a note. In this film, Andrei adjusts Anna's reality and expectations, and focuses the audience on this strange snapshot of life in the greater context of the surrounding world, which is never shown but about which the viewer is constantly reminded.
Every character in The Tuner is a bit of an oddball, and each has an exceptional element of depth, even those who appear only briefly. The talented but scheming central character Andrei is content to enjoy himself while his complicated plan develops and unfolds. His position as a piano tuner is primarily a guise, but he nonetheless plays and tunes with professional ability. His lover is also wily and manipulative, and has a very evident but seemingly irrelevant preoccupation with abortion. Lyuba is serially taken for a fool, as her desperation for companionship leads her to be overly trusting. Anna Sergeevna applies her motherly affections to her dog Mikka and to Andrei, whom she refuses to blame even after he takes her for her savings. Even minor characters like the restroom attendant with a vibrant personality are developed much in the brief time they are on screen.
The most interesting minor characters are found in the Central bank in the film's penultimate scene, characters whose role is more to characterize the film than to be characterized by it. As she goes to collect her "winnings" from a lottery drawing that had been fabricated by Andrei, Anna Sergeevna is informed by an indifferent young teller that she is mistaken, and receives the harsh news that she has been deceived from a manager with an even harsher voice. As she leaves the bank, she encounters identical twins with identical mannerisms, and is unsettled by their doubleness, just as she is by Andrei's duplicity.
Perhaps one of the greatest elements of the film is that, as in real life, it seems to take place within the context of events irrelevant to the plot itself. When Andrei goes to collect Anna Sergeevna's cups, he is mistaken for two individuals with whom the proprietor clearly has illicit business. Representing this aspect of the film, characters often move through small spaces, such as that which separates the two floors of Anna Sergeevna's house and the entrance to Andrei's loft, demonstrating the larger world around the action that the audience never sees. Perhaps this is the significance of the "tuner." A tuner adjusts instruments to focus on a note. In this film, Andrei adjusts Anna's reality and expectations, and focuses the audience on this strange snapshot of life in the greater context of the surrounding world, which is never shown but about which the viewer is constantly reminded.
Long, but worth the time
teo-g-georgiev5 May 2013
Warning: Spoilers
The first thing we notice about The Tuner is that it is in black and white, similar to The Ascent. But unlike Shepitko's film, Tuner takes place in a modern age. At any rate, we see cash registers and can ballpark the film around the 1980's. This seems to be hidden from the viewer intentionally, to make the film "timeless". The attempt is not without success, and I admire director Muratova's ambition in creating a "timeless", film set in the present. Still, I can't help but think the real reason may have been due to a low budget.
Somehow the plot of the film never grabbed me. There wasn't a moment at which I felt the story had started. This may be intentional, to present a story that is not plot-driven, but there was no event that I would say characterized the movie. At the same time, I would not say that the film was slow. While 151 minutes might be a bit more than needed, there wasn't a single moment when I felt bored.
I would like to think that this was due to the characters. None of them felt quite right, which fits in perfectly given how they proceed to trick each other. An adult woman, Liuba, is played by someone who pretends to be her date - admittedly his behavior should have given him away. Her friend, Anna, is similarly swindled by a piano tuner, Andrei, and so the plot continues until Andrei and his girlfriend Lina scam both women. In the minor characters, we see two twins with the strangest manners, mirroring the main characters, and women who timidly approach others like mice. I found myself constantly wondering what they would do next. I chuckled at the scene where Andrei flawlessly plays the piano while clearly just looking at his partner's breasts. As despicable as he is, he had his cartoonish charm. Lina's obsession with abortions I fount considerably less charming, but perhaps that was just me.
Again, while there was no single moment in the film, I would say its message on the duplicity of human nature stayed with me. I was not sure what stories and introductions were true, and which weren't. It was a fun, and humorously dark, fairy tale. I would not recommend it for those who love adventure and action in a film, but it was a good break from my usual staple.
Somehow the plot of the film never grabbed me. There wasn't a moment at which I felt the story had started. This may be intentional, to present a story that is not plot-driven, but there was no event that I would say characterized the movie. At the same time, I would not say that the film was slow. While 151 minutes might be a bit more than needed, there wasn't a single moment when I felt bored.
I would like to think that this was due to the characters. None of them felt quite right, which fits in perfectly given how they proceed to trick each other. An adult woman, Liuba, is played by someone who pretends to be her date - admittedly his behavior should have given him away. Her friend, Anna, is similarly swindled by a piano tuner, Andrei, and so the plot continues until Andrei and his girlfriend Lina scam both women. In the minor characters, we see two twins with the strangest manners, mirroring the main characters, and women who timidly approach others like mice. I found myself constantly wondering what they would do next. I chuckled at the scene where Andrei flawlessly plays the piano while clearly just looking at his partner's breasts. As despicable as he is, he had his cartoonish charm. Lina's obsession with abortions I fount considerably less charming, but perhaps that was just me.
Again, while there was no single moment in the film, I would say its message on the duplicity of human nature stayed with me. I was not sure what stories and introductions were true, and which weren't. It was a fun, and humorously dark, fairy tale. I would not recommend it for those who love adventure and action in a film, but it was a good break from my usual staple.
I feel like I wasted my time
inmidair15 October 2007
I'm glad I'm not the only one who was turned off by the acting/directing style. I'm a native Russian speaker from Moscow, and I've seen enough Soviet/Russian movies to expect them to stray from Hollywood conventions. But whereas many Russian films push the envelope in artistry and expression, this one just sucked.
For one, the overacting was painful to watch. Not only do no Russians act that way, I don't think that any humans act that way. It actually made me think that what I was seeing on the DVD was the unedited raw reel. People would repeat their lines over and over for no apparent reason, as if doing multiple takes - except that we get to see all of it. Some of the actors themselves are old pros, and so I figured that this was done intentionally, for the effect so to speak. The lines were delivered in most unnatural tones, as if they were reading them for the first time, and didn't know where to put the accents and pauses in a sentence. But what effect this could possibly be producing, other than making me want to turn the movie off several times is not clear. And speaking of the lines, they often sound clumsy, like a direct translation to Russian from another language, or like somebody trying to make up how people would talk without ever observing them.
Also, I found the sound to be very strange. It seemed like every piece of speech was dubbed - recorded separately from the video footage and then mixed together. The voices didn't move with the actors, and their facial expressions didn't always seem to match the volume or expression of the text. It basically sounded like listening to a radio broadcast - everybody sitting nice and close to the microphone, but no dynamics or liveliness to the speech. Again, this had to have been done intentionally, but I can only fathom for what purpose.
With this in mind, my favorite scene was the silent stretch of Andrei fetching water for the bath. It was the most serene, least annoying part of the movie.
The actual plot of the script is interesting, and is really the only thing that kept me from turning this off. The script presents opportunities one after another, and the movie fails to make anything of them time and again. Despite the initially intriguing plot, I'd still say this is not worth watching.
For one, the overacting was painful to watch. Not only do no Russians act that way, I don't think that any humans act that way. It actually made me think that what I was seeing on the DVD was the unedited raw reel. People would repeat their lines over and over for no apparent reason, as if doing multiple takes - except that we get to see all of it. Some of the actors themselves are old pros, and so I figured that this was done intentionally, for the effect so to speak. The lines were delivered in most unnatural tones, as if they were reading them for the first time, and didn't know where to put the accents and pauses in a sentence. But what effect this could possibly be producing, other than making me want to turn the movie off several times is not clear. And speaking of the lines, they often sound clumsy, like a direct translation to Russian from another language, or like somebody trying to make up how people would talk without ever observing them.
Also, I found the sound to be very strange. It seemed like every piece of speech was dubbed - recorded separately from the video footage and then mixed together. The voices didn't move with the actors, and their facial expressions didn't always seem to match the volume or expression of the text. It basically sounded like listening to a radio broadcast - everybody sitting nice and close to the microphone, but no dynamics or liveliness to the speech. Again, this had to have been done intentionally, but I can only fathom for what purpose.
With this in mind, my favorite scene was the silent stretch of Andrei fetching water for the bath. It was the most serene, least annoying part of the movie.
The actual plot of the script is interesting, and is really the only thing that kept me from turning this off. The script presents opportunities one after another, and the movie fails to make anything of them time and again. Despite the initially intriguing plot, I'd still say this is not worth watching.
This movie needed some fine tuning itself
Horst_In_Translation20 May 2023
Warning: Spoilers
"Nastroyshchik" or "The Tuner" is a co-production between Russia and Ukraine from 2004, so this film will have its 20th anniversary soon, next year in fact and how awesome would it be if we'd have peace by the between these two countries, even if things are not looking too good right now. But let's not get into politics here too much and instead focus on this film that is of course in the Russian language. It is an extremely long film at over 2.5 hours and the director is Kira Muratova, who is now no longer alive and this was one of her later career efforts, even if not close to her final career efforts. For most of her works, she also came up with the screenplay, so nobody can be surprised that this is the case here too. There are three other writers credited and one of them (Koshko) is the one who was in charge of the base material that inspired the production of this film, and the two others Chetvertkov and Golubenko are still alive now as they were much younger than Muratova back then, even if not super young either, but both have worked with Muratova on other occasions. This is no huge surprised because this film here became fairly famous and popular in the years after its shooting. Just look at the really big amount of awards attention it scored. I mean almost all of it happened in Russia if I am not mistaken, but at least on one occasion even my country Germany showed that it was fond of this film and it wasn't even an awards body situated in the area that is now considered former GDR territory. I personally felt the film looked much older than it actually was. Had somebody told me that this got made in the late 1980s, I would have believed them, maybe I would have believed earlier dates even, but the truth is that this film is from the new millennium. The lack of color truly has an impact here, even if of course you are correct when saying that back in the 1980s color would also have been a stylistic choice already, even in countries like Russia and Ukraine.
I must say that I am not familiar with the names of the cast members here as I am certainly not an expert in terms of films coming from that particular area during this particular time, but I think the actors were all alright. I struggled more with the script, so I would say it is indeed a case of too many cooks spoiling the brother here, even if I of course cannot say if I feel the same about other Muratova films, simply because I have not seen them. This being a contender for her most famous work is not exactly helping things either. I definitely think this could have been fit into 100 minutes, maybe even less story-wise. It did drag quite a bit here and there. Yes, we do have moments that are an exception and make up for it and are solidly interesting to watch, even if I would not say that those had me on the edge of my seat either. Lead actor Georgiy Deliev always elevated the material somehow and good news is that he was in almost all scenes. He already did so when he helps a woman with some work struggles in his very first scene and I would say that it is justified and rightful that he got first credit as he also plays the title character here: the tuner. This proximity of the film to pianos also resulted in a few decent music moments. But those were also neither frequent nor great enough for me to say that this film reached a level where I would consider a positive recommendation. It actually felt a bit strange when we had this young dark-haired woman here play the guitar and sing at the same time. Did not fit too well. The piano music inclusions were better. But it is not a musical of course, also not a music film. I was also never really sure if what I watched here was a comedy or dramatic movie. I mean you can take the entire scam idea as dramatic at its core and also the way how one character is treated by mean here is rather sad than funny, but the comedy element was still maybe more dominant. The female in the row ahead of me laughed a lot here though, especially in the film's first half/hour. I did not laugh too much, but I would also not say the film was a disaster. Definitely room for improvement too.
I also had a bit of an issue to understand the ending then. So this gang of criminals (I guess you could call them that) succeeded with their plan in stealing a great amount of money from the two elderly ladies here? That did surprise me. We also only see the ladies then at the end and not the other folks. Including the man I just mentioned, Deliev, that I liked the actor and his charisma. I was never really sure what he was up to. I felt like he had taken a liking to the older women and maybe did not want to go through with their crime completely. At least, he definitely did not want to kill them. I guess that this is maybe already a happy ending component then that this did not happen. His girlfriend would not have minded at all apparently with what we find out about her. She definitely has an urge to kill somebody. I mean look at her when she holds that gun in one scene and orders everybody to lay down, including her boyfriend. She is totally crazy. I mean he played one of the key characters in here, the blonde woman, but I am still very surprised that she is the only person depicted on the poster of the film on imdb. That crucial her role is not and the fil would have somehow also worked without her character, but yeah it added a certain kind of danger to it all I assume. I mean even when the elderly women are scammed in the end, what they have to say is still somewhat comedy there without a doubt or also how they get to the bank and understood that everything is different than what they though it would be, not just the fact when the bank was open/closed. But the entire lottery number component was so absurd that you could almost say they deserved it, no matter how nice they were
Anyway, I was actually talking about the man, really the only key male character in here, everybody else from this gender was interchangeable really. One scene when I was not sure if he sided more perhaps with the elderly women than with his girlfriend and the crime, but maybe it was all part of this to make sure they would trust him more as he helped them find out who is the one in charge of this previous crime. I don't know. Probably would have to rewatch to be entirely sure, but I don't want to. Not gonna happen anytime soon, maybe never even. It was a film that never really won me over and some sequences I also fund a bit strange, like when the couple was talking about the act of potentially killing a woman and there was this beverage or wine seller right next to them and I was wondering why they (or rather the woman) would make these statements if there were witnesses nearby. Oh and there was another scene when we see one of the elderly ladies not move as if she had a sling around her neck or whatever that was and the two criminals sat next to her and were talking about their deed(s). So yeah, this was just so strange all along, especially as said woman returned fully alive a little later again. She is by the way also the one who had this unusual rendezvous meeting at the very start that was still among the more memorable inclusions from the film. She ended up playing second fiddle then next to the other (richer) elderly lady, but was still in it until the end. Sadly, the actress (Ruslanova) is no longer alive, but most others from the cast are. Nice to see. As for Ruslanova's character, I did feel a bit sorry for her when another story with a guy is not working out. So when she makes this comment about how she would love to have a family or romantic relationship at least, it felt a bit heartbreaking to watch. At least there, the film succeeded a bit from the emotional perspective if it didn't on too many other occasions.
I will just go on with some brainstorming now until the end of my review: The scene I mentioned with the couple being at the ladies' home was also among the better scenes for sure. When the two women do not know they are together, but this moment of romantic tension there between the guy and girl was also a bit off. What was not really off was the four-legged friend in this film. I am of course talking about the dog. It did not really add anything at all story-wise, but it was still fun to watch and a welcome inclusion from my perspective. The dog noises included by the sound editors were also fun here and not too different than what you usually see in American films from this perspective. On a completely different note, what happened to the guy that Luba was actually out to meet at the beginning of the film. Was he included at some point? I don't think so. It is a film though that in general does not depict men in a nice enough fashion. Just look at what the guy wants at the very start or also what the male protagonist in this film really is. I mean girls can be evil too and his girl certainly is, but at least there are likable women in here too. This probably also does not apply to Natalya Buzko's Tanya who is brought in here as a friend of the main antagonist(e), but with the exception of good looks, she adds literally nothing. I guess they needed just another person to pull through with their scheme here. We can call this filler material, but not remotely memorable sadly. Filler material is something that this very long film has a lot. That is all then. The overall movie is not a failure, but I give the outcome a thumbs-down here and suggest you skip the watch. Negative verdict overall.
I must say that I am not familiar with the names of the cast members here as I am certainly not an expert in terms of films coming from that particular area during this particular time, but I think the actors were all alright. I struggled more with the script, so I would say it is indeed a case of too many cooks spoiling the brother here, even if I of course cannot say if I feel the same about other Muratova films, simply because I have not seen them. This being a contender for her most famous work is not exactly helping things either. I definitely think this could have been fit into 100 minutes, maybe even less story-wise. It did drag quite a bit here and there. Yes, we do have moments that are an exception and make up for it and are solidly interesting to watch, even if I would not say that those had me on the edge of my seat either. Lead actor Georgiy Deliev always elevated the material somehow and good news is that he was in almost all scenes. He already did so when he helps a woman with some work struggles in his very first scene and I would say that it is justified and rightful that he got first credit as he also plays the title character here: the tuner. This proximity of the film to pianos also resulted in a few decent music moments. But those were also neither frequent nor great enough for me to say that this film reached a level where I would consider a positive recommendation. It actually felt a bit strange when we had this young dark-haired woman here play the guitar and sing at the same time. Did not fit too well. The piano music inclusions were better. But it is not a musical of course, also not a music film. I was also never really sure if what I watched here was a comedy or dramatic movie. I mean you can take the entire scam idea as dramatic at its core and also the way how one character is treated by mean here is rather sad than funny, but the comedy element was still maybe more dominant. The female in the row ahead of me laughed a lot here though, especially in the film's first half/hour. I did not laugh too much, but I would also not say the film was a disaster. Definitely room for improvement too.
I also had a bit of an issue to understand the ending then. So this gang of criminals (I guess you could call them that) succeeded with their plan in stealing a great amount of money from the two elderly ladies here? That did surprise me. We also only see the ladies then at the end and not the other folks. Including the man I just mentioned, Deliev, that I liked the actor and his charisma. I was never really sure what he was up to. I felt like he had taken a liking to the older women and maybe did not want to go through with their crime completely. At least, he definitely did not want to kill them. I guess that this is maybe already a happy ending component then that this did not happen. His girlfriend would not have minded at all apparently with what we find out about her. She definitely has an urge to kill somebody. I mean look at her when she holds that gun in one scene and orders everybody to lay down, including her boyfriend. She is totally crazy. I mean he played one of the key characters in here, the blonde woman, but I am still very surprised that she is the only person depicted on the poster of the film on imdb. That crucial her role is not and the fil would have somehow also worked without her character, but yeah it added a certain kind of danger to it all I assume. I mean even when the elderly women are scammed in the end, what they have to say is still somewhat comedy there without a doubt or also how they get to the bank and understood that everything is different than what they though it would be, not just the fact when the bank was open/closed. But the entire lottery number component was so absurd that you could almost say they deserved it, no matter how nice they were
Anyway, I was actually talking about the man, really the only key male character in here, everybody else from this gender was interchangeable really. One scene when I was not sure if he sided more perhaps with the elderly women than with his girlfriend and the crime, but maybe it was all part of this to make sure they would trust him more as he helped them find out who is the one in charge of this previous crime. I don't know. Probably would have to rewatch to be entirely sure, but I don't want to. Not gonna happen anytime soon, maybe never even. It was a film that never really won me over and some sequences I also fund a bit strange, like when the couple was talking about the act of potentially killing a woman and there was this beverage or wine seller right next to them and I was wondering why they (or rather the woman) would make these statements if there were witnesses nearby. Oh and there was another scene when we see one of the elderly ladies not move as if she had a sling around her neck or whatever that was and the two criminals sat next to her and were talking about their deed(s). So yeah, this was just so strange all along, especially as said woman returned fully alive a little later again. She is by the way also the one who had this unusual rendezvous meeting at the very start that was still among the more memorable inclusions from the film. She ended up playing second fiddle then next to the other (richer) elderly lady, but was still in it until the end. Sadly, the actress (Ruslanova) is no longer alive, but most others from the cast are. Nice to see. As for Ruslanova's character, I did feel a bit sorry for her when another story with a guy is not working out. So when she makes this comment about how she would love to have a family or romantic relationship at least, it felt a bit heartbreaking to watch. At least there, the film succeeded a bit from the emotional perspective if it didn't on too many other occasions.
I will just go on with some brainstorming now until the end of my review: The scene I mentioned with the couple being at the ladies' home was also among the better scenes for sure. When the two women do not know they are together, but this moment of romantic tension there between the guy and girl was also a bit off. What was not really off was the four-legged friend in this film. I am of course talking about the dog. It did not really add anything at all story-wise, but it was still fun to watch and a welcome inclusion from my perspective. The dog noises included by the sound editors were also fun here and not too different than what you usually see in American films from this perspective. On a completely different note, what happened to the guy that Luba was actually out to meet at the beginning of the film. Was he included at some point? I don't think so. It is a film though that in general does not depict men in a nice enough fashion. Just look at what the guy wants at the very start or also what the male protagonist in this film really is. I mean girls can be evil too and his girl certainly is, but at least there are likable women in here too. This probably also does not apply to Natalya Buzko's Tanya who is brought in here as a friend of the main antagonist(e), but with the exception of good looks, she adds literally nothing. I guess they needed just another person to pull through with their scheme here. We can call this filler material, but not remotely memorable sadly. Filler material is something that this very long film has a lot. That is all then. The overall movie is not a failure, but I give the outcome a thumbs-down here and suggest you skip the watch. Negative verdict overall.
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