Ya lyublyu tebya (2004)

Directors:

Olga Stolpovskaja
Dmitry Troitsky

Writers:

Olga Stolpovskaja (writer)
Alisa Tanskaya (writer)

Release Date:

23 February 2005 (France)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

On their first anniversary, Vera comes home to discover her boyfriend Tim in bed with another man.

Plot Keywords:

Gay Bar | Kidnapping | Love Triangle | Faked Death | Gay Soldier

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Damir Badmaev	...	Uloomji
Lyubov Tolkalina	...	Vera Kirillova
Evgeny Koryakovsky	...	Timofei Pechorin
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nina Agapova	...	Elderly Neighbor
Irina Grineva	...	Make-Up Girl
Anatoly Mankhadykov	...	Uloomji's Father
Valentina Mankhadykova	...	Uloomji's Mother
Yuri Sherstnyov	...	Watchman at the Zoo
Victor Shevidov	...	Uncle Vanya
Alisa Tanskaya	...	Woman, discussing Vera
Mikhail Tarabukin	...	Lyolik
Emanuel Michael Vaganda	...	John
Alexander Vartanov	...	Voice of a radio DJ

Also Known As:

You, I Love (USA) (literal English title)

Runtime:

Russia:86 min | USA:83 min

Country:

Russia

Language:

English | Russian | Kalmyk-Oirat

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:15 | Singapore:R21 | Hong Kong:IIB

Filming Locations:

Moscow Zoo, Moscow, Russia

A Refreshing Peek Inside Post-Perestroika Moscow Social Life

YA LYUBLU TEBYA (You I Love) is a fast paced bonbon of a movie from Russia being hailed in some circles as the 'hottest gay film of the year'. Hot it is not: fun it is. The message from director/writers Olga Stolpovskaja and Dmitry Troitsky seems more a PR statement about how Westernized and modern in social behavior Russia has become since Perestroika than creating a significant gay film. Yet somehow the result is a rapid sequence entertainment that should appeal to a very wide audience.

Timofei (Evgeny Koryakovsky) is a young, successful ad executive in Moscow, able to afford all of the luxuries of his Western counterparts. He is in a relationship with Vera (Lyubov Tolkalina) who is a popular TV personality. They have a fresh and vital lifestyle, emphasizing the manifestations of capitalism. Simultaneously we meet Uloomji (Damir Badmaev) who comes from the poorer provinces, the son of a strict and struggling worker family. Uloomji strikes out for Moscow to find a job and a life. He 'accidentally' encounters Timofei who feels sorry for the homeless youth and takes him to his apartment for care...and cavorting! The socially naive Uloomji and the sexually naive Timofei collide (the metaphor is readily apparent) and are discovered in embrace when Vera returns home. The remainder of the story is how the two men and one woman grow into a ménage a trois of sorts and how the friends and families of the three respond.

While the story is really one of bisexuality it is played as a drawing room comedy (? TV sitcom Moscow style?) and while the film takes a lot of visual and technical chances - some of which work well, others spoil - the final result is a light entertainment that doesn't really push the edge purported by the trailers and the PR media glut. The three main actors are excellent and show promise of becoming stars in their own right. This is a fun film that asks the audience to just step on for the ride for an inside look at the now-open Moscow life! Grady Harp