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50 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sweet, May 19, 2005
This review is from: You I Love (DVD)
The adjectives which come to mind -- sweet, luscious, charming -- describe "You I Love," a fable about an unusual love triangle in ultra-modern Moscow. Handsome Timofei and beautiful Vera are young lovers, both successful professionals. He designs TV commercials ("Lyubov' -- eto Kola!"); she is a popular newscaster. Enter Ulumzhi, a sensual yet appealingly innocent Kalmyk newcomer, who takes a day job as a zookeeper. When Timofei accidently bumps into Ulumzhi (literally, with his car), he takes the injured homeless youth into his apartment. Arriving unexpectedly, Vera is stunned to discover Timofei and Ulumzhi have begun a passionate romance. At first hurt and angry, Vera cannot help befriending the extremely likable Asian boy. In fact, she cannot help her own physical attraction to the agreeable young man. Her dilemma: dump her boyfriend or share him with Ulumzhi? When Ulumzhi's uncle drags him back to his village, hoping to make a "real man" out of his disappointing "goluboi" nephew, Vera thinks she at last has Timofei to herself. But they both miss Ulumzhi more than they can bear. This movie had me laughing out loud in the theater. Particularly funny are the two cabbies' sly references to "you know who," a certain someone high up in the government purported to be secretly gay (hint: think "Goluboe Salo")! I thoroughly enjoyed the great scenes of the newly vibrant Moscow, as well as the sensuous (yet refreshingly "chaste") scenes on the Persian rugs! All three actors are simply, exquisitely, gorgeous! The term "eye-candy" could have been coined for this trio! Overall, a delightful film, in Russian with English subtitles.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cellophane Loincloth, April 17, 2006
This review is from: You I Love (DVD)
First time directors Olga Stolpovskyaya and Dmitry Troitsky have come up with this fluffy bit of eye candy. Timofei played by Evgeny Koryakovsky in what appears to be his first role is an advertising professional with a stable job and nurses a bizarre relationship with Vera, a TV show host played by Lyubov Tolkalina. Their somewhat on again-off again relationship is punctuated with unusual foreplay such as Timofei dressing himself in a cellophane loincloth with vegetables strategically disguising his most private anatomy. Damir Badmaev plays the naive urchin Uloomji. Uloomji is of Kalmyk descent, the only Buddhist nation in Europe. He apparently has come to Moscow and looks with wonder at ATM machines while he sleeps at the zoo and helps tend the animals. He literally falls off a fence onto Timofei's car. Unable to get medical attention for the lad, Timofei takes Uloomji to his apartment. There Uloomji playfully seduces Timofei until Vera walks in. The film then progresses with mild shots of the guys shooting each other with water while clothed in the shower and suggestively sudsy foam splattering across their bare chests as they physically delight in each other. The film veers back and forth with the subplot of Uloomji's family coming to intervene and extract him from this decadent lifestyle. We flashback to Uloomji and see his development while fond shots of sheep are edited into the mix. The end suggests that three can live together if their love is not possessive and allows each to pursue that which is closest to their hearts. The Russian flavor makes the story seem fresh, at least worth one night's viewing. Enjoy!
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant Love Story, October 19, 2005
This review is from: You I Love (DVD)
I saw this film last summer when it was shown during the Philadelphia Gay & Lesbian Film Festival; and instantly fell in love with it.
I noticed in a review below, that the film is criticized for it's editing style as well as music...and yet...it was exactly those elements of modern Russian culture (as well as the cultural underground the movie features) as being very engaging and powerful. While my exposure to Russian film has been very limited, I enjoy many Russian and Ukranian trance and experimental musicians' work. This movie fit right in with the almost-psychedelic and always mind-enticing montages of both sight and sound that I've come to expect from leading-edge Russian artistic expressions.
The story itself was beautiful and definitely modern/relevant. I particularly loved the contrast between the two main relationships and how they all eventually fuse into one.
I cannot recommend this movie enough for anyone who enjoys thought-provoking love stories, modern film or gay cinema in general.
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