Customer Reviews

Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This tender, and by turns funny and sad film never fails to make me laugh and cry. The 1981 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film, it follows the life of three women, starting from 1958 in their youth, where they share a room in a worker's dormitory, then skipping 20 years, to how they've dealt with their lot in life, and what has become of their dreams.

The acting is fabulous, and Vera Alentova as Katerina is magnificent. One can feel her exhaustion, her heartbreak, and her incredible inner strength.
Perhaps this could be labeled a "woman's movie", because I think there are scenes that many women will relate to, and think, "I've been there". It's a story that could take place anywhere in the world, but the Russian settings, and the music (I adore the picnic scene !) are wonderful.

There is one huge flaw: The white subtitles sometimes fade into the picture and become unreadable, but I'm not deducting any stars, because the acting is so brilliant, that you won't have to understand Russian to know what is being said.
Some might find the final scenes unrealistic and far-fetched, but I would disagree. Life is full of bizarre coincidences and fated events...I find this film strikes a chord of truth, as well as being quite magical.

I have watched this movie 20 times since it came out in 1980. This version is so good because the producers corrected the errors in the original subtitles. They were white letters on white tableclothes and white benches. It made it very difficut to read especially during some very critical scenes. That has been corrected in this DVD version. I highly recommend the subtitled version of this film over the English dubbed. The acting is so well done that the voice intonations are critical to the quality of the film. The dub-overs do not have those intonations that are so unique.

This is the tale of three Russian women who are very close friends and the paths they took in life. It spans over 20 years. The story could happen in almost any large city in the world, but it is an added touch that it takes place in Moscow during the Communist rule. One gets an interesting insight into life there at that time.

When I think about what it means to be Russian (and I am not Russian), I think of two movies. One is "Wartime Romance" and the other is "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears." There are quite a number of such moments in both films, but in "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears," my favorite moment is when a Russian man finds out that his girlfriend makes more money than he does. He goes on a vodka binge and nobody knows where he is. A friend of the girlfriend goes out to find the man, but has never met him. He finally finds the man's apartment and enters the room, where "Gogi" is still drinking. There is a moment of hostility, since Gogi does not know this man, but Gogi suddenly shrugs his shoulders and offers the stranger a drink. This ability to relate even to strangers is a wonderful part of what it means to be Russian.

"Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears" is an upbeat movie, and in this way is not typical of Russian movies in general. It was made with an international audience in mind. Consequently, it is a great film for American audiences, but not depressing enough for a Russian domestic film.

"I am so sad to be happy, and so happy to be sad" goes an old song about Russians. But "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears" is a wonderful and happy film, where true love overcomes all problems. I recommend it highly.

This is a touching, funny film that has been cast perfectly. The three main female players are wonderful in their execution, and Alexei Batalov (The Cranes are Flying) develops into the the film's hero in fine style. There may be some predictability here and there, but that also fits into this story of a woman who was used by a [man], became pregnant, had a daughter, became successful at work, and STILL found the love of her life in the end (see, some of us men are worth more than a casual glance). This is a fun movie based on a real life situation. I think it was handled well, and I hope you get to see it.

The film requires no introduction, however, the KINO "regular" edition (the special edition is out of print) is a bitter disappointment, moreso for the price it goes by. The subtitles are not optional (hardcoded into the mpeg) - so VERY poor DVD authoring workmanship there! Try to get the SE if possible (supposedly with extra features, and optional, multi-language subtitles.)

I miss those times. I really do. This film was a huge hit in USSR when it came out in 1979. I went to the movie theater with my parents to se it. Loved it then, still love it now. Did you know that this film was first experimental movie made in USSR with long run and big budget? "Air Crue" went out right after it, trying to catch up. But it was not as successfull as " Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears".
We didn't care much then about politics, we cared about each other. And the way how we was living and surviving was very simple - we was helping each other. And this is what this film shows at it best - real life, real friends, real meaning of life in our hearts. And this is what I miss so much from that time of my life. And this is what I was trying to find here without much success. Just how Vladimir Visotskiy said: This is very hard to find a black cat in the dark room ... especially if cat is not there ...
This is a subtitled version of the film.
Reviewed by "www.russianwriter.net"

A rather long but worthwhile Russian production about several women who come to Moscow to become successful, maybe marry well (who knows?) and have lives. Their young lives are fun and entertaining, although one of them becomes pregnant, and the father is a playboy who will not acknowledge his paternity. Time passes, and the women come together again. Their lives have changed so much from when they were young, and things that seemed so promising when they were young suddenly seem tragic while things that were not at all fortuitous (like the woman having a baby on her own) turned out to be blessings. It has been a few years since I saw this film, so I don't remember a lot of the details, but I do know that this was a deftly crafted film with a very keen eye for the human experience and human frailty and the human capacity to overcome adversity and thrive. The story is moving, and if you can find this film, it is quite worthwhile to watch.

This is one of the most captivating love stories I've ever seen on film. It starts with a young woman (Katya, played by Vera Alentova) reporting to her Worker's Dormitory friends that she has flunked by two points the exam to get into university. It ends with the most incredible sweetness of life.

It is like a French film done by a Russian company (which is what it is). The Moscow we see that does not believe in tears does believe in love, and it is not a Moscow of politics, although some people do call one another "comrade." This is a woman's point of view film (a "chick flick") that transcends any genre cage. It begins slowly, almost painfully dull in a way that will remind the viewer of all the cliches about Russia, the unstylish dress, the worker's paradise that isn't, the sharp contrast between Moscow and the peasants who live outside the city. Katya works in a factory. She works at a drill press. She is obviously underemployed. Lyudmila (Irina Muravyova) works in a bakery. She is probably gainfully employed for the time and place. They are friends, twentysomethings who are on the make for a man, but not a man from the sticks. They pretend to be university post docs or something close to that and they impress some people as they house-sit a beautiful Moscow apartment.

This is how their adult life begins in a sense. Lyudmila falls in love with an athlete; Katya becomes infatuated with a television cameraman. One thing leads to another and before we know it they are forty. Neither relationship worked out. The athlete becomes an alcoholic, the cameraman, in the sway of his mother, believes that Katya is beneath him (once he finds out that she works in a factory). How wrong he is, of course.

But no more of the plot. I won't spoil it. The plot is important. The characterizations are important. The story is like a Russian novel in that it spans lots of time, but once you are engaged you will find that the two and a half hours fly by and you will, perhaps like me, say at the end "What a great movie!"

My hat is off to director Vladimir Menshov and to Valentin Chernykh who wrote the script and to the cast. I've mentioned Vera Alentova and Irina Muravyova, but Aleksey Batlov who played Gosha was also excellent. I don't want to say anymore. Just watch the film. It is one of the best I've ever seen.

A trully remarcable film, no matter what your age is or where you are living this movie will make you remember your life, and idetify wiht the characters some how. i would recomend this movie to anyone, it is a greatest film about human nature ever made

I don't agree with other reviews. Most of them say that it is not realistic. All Russian people LOVE this movie just because it is very realistic. It portrays the real life on the former Soviet Union. Don't think that everything was only all around politics at that time. There was romanticism and people did have fun when they weren't thinking about politics. So, don't say that it wasn't realistic because the main point of this movie was to show that people at that time COULD achieve what they wanted if they would've just spitted on all that chaos that was going on and concentrate on their goals. The creators of this movie weren't concentrating on showing the hard times because during that time not all people had hard times. The creators just wanted to show a particular person's nature (in this case Caterina's nature). If you would point out some of the unrealistic moments, then I would just shut up. But just to make it clear, the movie was realistic and is very fun to watch. I would recommend it to the lovers of international cinema.