You I Love (2004)

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

Directors:

Olga Stolpovskaja, Dmitriy Troitskiy

Writers:

Olga Stolpovskaja, Alisa Tanskaya

Stars:

Damir Badmaev, Lyubov Tolkalina, Evgeniy Koryakovskiy

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

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

Storyline

Vera and Tim are successful young professionals living fast-paced lives in ultra-modern Moscow. Their lives crackle with the capitalist energy of excess, anxiety, consumption, and stress- and they are in love. Everything changes one night when Tim accidentally drives his car into Uloomji, a young Kalmyk day worker. (The Kalmyks are a semi-nomadic people of Mongolian decent.) The two men begin a torrid affair that involves howling and knocking over a lot of furniture. Tim is attracted to Uloomji's exotic demeanor and liberated by his impulsiveness and lack of inhibition. To Uloomji, Tim embodies a kind of class and refinement he sees only in magazines. Vera struggles to comprehend their bond and her boyfriend's erratic behavior. She is dragged reluctantly into a bizarre love triangle. Before long, all three lives unravel, exemplified by a visit to a Buddhist healer, a three-way in the bathroom of a gay bar, a faked death and a kidnapping.

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Plot Keywords:

claim in title | electroshock torture | roughhousing | buddhist | car | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Picture This! Entertainment [United States]

Country:

Russia

Language:

Russian English Kalmyk-Oirat

Release Date:

23 February 2005 (France)

Also Known As:

You I Love

Filming Locations:

Moscow Zoo, Moscow, Russia

Box Office

Gross USA:

$60,815, 29 July 2005

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Charismatic Leads, Contemporary, Thoroughly Enjoyable

I really liked this little Russian movie . . . It's about a love triangle: ad exec, anchorwoman, zoo keeper. We get to see an upscale Moscow couple at work and play, and that in itself is interesting, particularly when an attractive and unsophisticated rural guy is thrown into the mix.

I particularly liked watching the triangle develop. The simple honesty of the young zoo keeper--an Asian-Russian--as he confronts the big city and the object of his desire, is unlike anything I can recall seeing anywhere else. The schism between urban and rural Russia is apparent when the zoo keeper attempts to grasp the concept of an ATM, and when he is enchanted by the ease of turning an electric lamp on and off. While the gay relationship is not shown in an explicit way, the playfully obtuse suggestions of it are fully erotic and believable. The anchorwoman's struggle to keep her man to herself is clever, and again, believable.

There's some melodrama toward the end that is the weakest aspect of the movie. As a plot device, it could have been replaced with something a little more in keeping with the basic concept of the main characters' relationship. Still, it's a plausible story line, and isn't really the main thrust of the movie.

This movie put me in mind of Threesome, a seriously neglected American movie that covers similar ground in a similarly honest and refreshing way. They share an authentic depiction of contemporary love with humor and pathos as equal partners.

This movie deserves a wider audience, and not just a gay audience.