Reflection of city in the window of a car . Beautiful but unknown woman steps out of the car . has some quick back and forth with a man in the car (who we don't see) . woman starts walking . young man comes up to her and asks if he can introduce himself . they start walking together . Olya (Irina Pegova) is young women's name, Alyosha (Pavel Barshak) the young man . they start getting to know each other better . Alyosha has a good friend Petya (Yevgeni Tsyganov) who he calls to come join the two on a walk . all three young kids run around town and doing the things young people do . In the most recent film of Russian director Alexei Uchitel, Russia has never looked better. All three young kids are oozing life and energy and youthful romanticism, and seem to have forgotten Russia's recent struggle with poverty.
Playing in the style of Richard Linklater's 'Slacker' or perhaps a little tiny bit like last year's 'Russian Ark', it takes place mostly in real time, and follows these three youthful spirits around the streets of an unnamed Russian city, doing something I don't remember ever seeing Russian kids doing, just being kids. They're love-struck, carefree, financially secure , and the world is their own. Being a sheltered American growing up, all I heard about was the evil Russian empire (being in the cold war) and for those who remember that silliness it is very refreshing to see Russians portrayed as people, not as little red communists. As a viewer, you must throw away all stereotypes before going into this movie as Uchitel wonderfully captures the universal spirit of youthfulness that transcends country lines and nationality. I can't say too much about the plot because it's all surprising and leads to a fun little twist at the end. Definitely go see this if you have a chance, or if it doesn't play near you search for it when it comes to DVD. Rating: 30/40
