This film reminds us of "Sex and the City", but with the city being Russia's capital.
Showing us a very stylized Moscow (as "SEX" does with New York), the movie spotlights the private lives of 3 main characters in a modern take of now "liberal" Russia. Two of them have glamorous lives and careers, affording us viewers locations (luxury apartments, offices, bars, and so on) to match; a global, thoroughly Westernized side of Moscow we rarely see on film.
The third character is from the Asian part of Russia, throwing in some gritty reminders about how others, especially racial minorities, live in Russia. This character's family, predictably, is more conservative and closed minded than the other more "European" characters. This character and his family also remind the audience of Russia's multi cultural nature.
Minor characters inter related to the main three complete the mosaic of modern day Moscow the film paints. Each is a composite of stereotypes -a foreign multi national executive, two senators (the three living similar hedonistic lifestyles), young people with aspiring consumer driven dreams; all but the "Asian Russians" quite capitalistic.
While not revealing any particularly novelty, the film is interesting to Westerners as a glossy display of Moscow life, with the stereotypes we read about in the press, and hear about in World News, brought to life on screen.
The basic plot however confirms (at least to me) that Moscow is not yet that up to date and permissive. The main relationship formed is a compromise with the conservative reality of Russian morals, and I think not very realistic in any society.
One may infer from this film that progressive trendy Muscovites can accept bisexuality, but not real homosexuality. This film makes it clear that it's OK to be gay if you're really bisexual. At least, that's a start for this conservative society. But it is not what (I believe) most of the film's target audiences are expecting to see. In the end, the message the film sends is a cop out.
Showing us a very stylized Moscow (as "SEX" does with New York), the movie spotlights the private lives of 3 main characters in a modern take of now "liberal" Russia. Two of them have glamorous lives and careers, affording us viewers locations (luxury apartments, offices, bars, and so on) to match; a global, thoroughly Westernized side of Moscow we rarely see on film.
The third character is from the Asian part of Russia, throwing in some gritty reminders about how others, especially racial minorities, live in Russia. This character's family, predictably, is more conservative and closed minded than the other more "European" characters. This character and his family also remind the audience of Russia's multi cultural nature.
Minor characters inter related to the main three complete the mosaic of modern day Moscow the film paints. Each is a composite of stereotypes -a foreign multi national executive, two senators (the three living similar hedonistic lifestyles), young people with aspiring consumer driven dreams; all but the "Asian Russians" quite capitalistic.
While not revealing any particularly novelty, the film is interesting to Westerners as a glossy display of Moscow life, with the stereotypes we read about in the press, and hear about in World News, brought to life on screen.
The basic plot however confirms (at least to me) that Moscow is not yet that up to date and permissive. The main relationship formed is a compromise with the conservative reality of Russian morals, and I think not very realistic in any society.
One may infer from this film that progressive trendy Muscovites can accept bisexuality, but not real homosexuality. This film makes it clear that it's OK to be gay if you're really bisexual. At least, that's a start for this conservative society. But it is not what (I believe) most of the film's target audiences are expecting to see. In the end, the message the film sends is a cop out.