Moscow on the Hudson (1984)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Paul Mazursky

Writers:

Paul Mazursky (writer) &
Leon Capetanos (writer)

Release Date:

6 April 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Vladimir Ivanoff walks into a department store to buy blue jeans, walks out with a girl friend, an immigration lawyer and a buddy. His life and theirs will never be the same again.

Plot:

When a Russian musician defects in Bloomingdale's department store in New York, he finds adjusting to American life more difficult than he imagined.

Plot Keywords:

Bloomingdales | Musician | Italian Immigrant | Saxophone | New York

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe.

Cast

Robin Williams	...	Vladimir Ivanoff
Maria Conchita Alonso	...	Lucia Lombardo
Cleavant Derricks	...	Lionel Witherspoon, Bloomingdales Security Officer
Alejandro Rey	...	Orlando Ramirez, Vladimir's Cuban Lawyer
Saveli Kramarov	...	Boris, KGB man (as Savely Kramarov)
Elya Baskin	...	Anatoly Cherkasov
Oleg Rudnik	...	Yuri
Aleksandr Benyaminov	...	Vladimir's Grandfather
Lyudmila Kramarevskaya	...	Vladimir's Mother (as Ludmila Kramarevsky)
Ivo Vrzal-Wiegand	...	Vladimir's Father (as Ivo Vrzal)
Natalya Ivanova	...	Sasha (as Natalie Iwanow)
Tiger Haynes	...	Lionel's Grandfather
Eyde Byrde	...	Lionel's Mother (as Edye Byrde)
Robert MacBeth	...	Lionel's Stepfather
Donna Ingram-Young	...	Leanne Witherspoon

Runtime:

115 min | West Germany:117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Netherlands:AL | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Bartlett Place, Gerritsen Beach, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

In one scene, a cinema is showing An Unmarried Woman, directed by Paul Mazursky, the director of Moscow on the Hudson.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: All license plates on Moscow cars are obviously fakes, especially the ones on the KGB's Volga.

Quotes:

french man on bus: [first lines]
french man on bus: Excuse me, sir. Does this bus go to the Lincoln Center?

Movie Connections:

Features Q*bert (1983/I) (VG)

Soundtrack:

LONG DAY

A wonderful movie

I cannot understand why this movie has received such a low rating of 6.2. I love Robin Williams when he is funny and also when he is serious. He is the best of actors and his performance in Moscow on the Hudson, as a Russian musician, is awesome. Cuban-born Maria Conchita Alonso also gives an excellent performance as the Italian young lady who falls in love with Williams. My recommendation: don't wait any longer, rent Moscow on the Hudson. You'll cry, you'll laugh, and you'll appreciate freedom. No matter how risky freedom could be, it's the only opportunity to be yourself.