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Crappy film

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

During the Cold War, not much, was known about life in the Soviet Union to western audiences. Even least was known about life for Soviet women. There were very few movies at the time, that capture how Russian women were treated. Most films from that era, were highly narrow formula propaganda stories of socialist realism. It wasn't until Brezhnev Era, that cinema got expand its boundaries, and begin work on a wider range of entertaining and artistic films. It was here, that filmmakers started to developed stories that intense focus on Soviet personal life. One of those films, was 1979's Moscow does not believe in tears. Director by Vladimir Menshov and written by Valentin Chernykh, the movie tells the 20 years story of three Russian women who come to Moscow from smaller towns: Katerina Tikhomirova (Vera Alentova), Lyudmila (Irina Muravyova), and Antonina (Raisa Ryazanova) in search for better life. Only to find that the search is more complex, than they thought. Without spoiling the movie too much, I have to say that the first half of the film, set in the 1959s, during Khrushchev Thaw, was really dull and boring. It's really a shame, because it would be, nice to see, more on these women's reaction, to the change in reform in their country since De-Stalinization. It would have been better, if the movie set the events during the 1963's Cuban Mission Crisis. It would be, nice to see, how the average soviet citizen was thinking of the event. Sadly, film content like that, would more likely be heavily circumscribed and subject to censorship and bureaucratic state control. Instead, the film doesn't get good, until the movie took a 20 year leap forward in time, to 1979. It's here, that one of the women's stories really outshine the others. In my opinion, the movie should have been all about Katerina's struggles. Not only, is the actress, the better of the three women, but her character has the most complex and entertaining story-line. Even, with a huge time jump, you see her character, transform from a weak factory worker in the beginning of the film into a strong-will single mother, factory director, by the end. It just sucks that the movie gloss over, how she became so mature. It would been interesting to see, the years that she had to go, through the "double burden" of a job and family-raising responsibilities. It really surprise me; that they didn't focus on that, because it was very common, for Soviet women at the time. Still, I like how they shown a working woman, was able to reach the executive level, in a male-driven field. It's very rare to see a film, like this, both in the Soviet Union and the United States at the time. I just wish, they show, how she rose the ranks to become the woman that she was, toward the end of the film. The movie could have been, easily just be about that, but the movie didn't want to seem, too extreme in its Feminism outlook. So, the movie focus more on, her trying to fall back in love, after a previous man have left her, to rise a child on her own. It's here, where the audience is introduce to Gosha (Aleksey Batalov), a tool-and-die maker. He's one of the better characters in the film. He is a very complex fella, that's mostly entertaining. The only complain that I have, about his character is the weak conflict. Despite that, the movie still shows that he's a good man. Aleksey Batalov plays him, very well. One of the bigger faults, about watching this movie, today, is how dated, it is. Not only does, this movie have some really questionable old-school beliefs about relationships and gender roles. It's somewhat offensive, when you think about it. Still, I can understand that it's a product of the times. One of the funnier moments in the film, is when Rudolph/Rodion (Yuri Vasilyev) makes two speeches about how TV is the wave of the future and will eliminate theater, movies, and books. I guess, he didn't count on, the internet, being made. The true value of the film is its reflection of the Russian culture and traditions. Anyone interested in better understanding the Russian way of life should see this film. It's nice to see, that not everything in the Soviet Union wasn't so gloomy. Even, US President Ronald Reagan watched the film several times prior to his meetings with the President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, in order to gain a better understanding of the Russian people. So it's clear, that this movie does work, but it's still questionable to me, if this movie should have deserve the 1981 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1980. I mean, it's alright, but it's no way beats 1980's Kagemusha. After all, if you take away, the fact that it was made in Soviet Union, it feels like a generic soap opera or chick flick. There wasn't much, substance. While, the movie was shot, pretty well. There were hardly anything great with them. The only one, worth noticing is the park scene, with the long panning shot. In my opinion, it was just alright, but it's pretty eerily, how close, this version is, with the shot in 1979's Kramer vs Kramer. Another problem with the film is the DVD quality. I have, not yet, seen a good version of this film. Most of the audio kinda sucks. I can barely hear what's going on. The English subtitles are bit questionable. I really doubt the Russian language have a word for Hillbilly or Hicks. I would rather, take the Russian slang, than it trying to be go all the way, with the English language. It was a bit jarring. Overall: This is not your typical Bolshevist movie. It's very unique. A must-watch for anybody, trying to understand Russian culture. If, that's your cup of borscht, more power to you! Check it out!

You might say this is a Russian version of American Graffiti. It starts following the lives of a large group of Russian teens in 1958. However, it follows them through the next 20 years as well. The movie gets more and more interesting as the characters evolve to become more serious. The gradual ageing of the players is quite well done, and pangs of nostalgia for how short life is. Nothing too dramatic happens, marriages, divorces, unplanned pregnancies, meddling mothers. It is all in Russian with subtitles. The characters, though often silly, love each other a lot, and stand by each other. Everyone just revels in the joy of hanging out with friends. It makes you wish you were Russian.

Funny title for a Russian soap opera taking place from the 1950s to the 1970s. Three country girls who become friends while living in a dorm together. Katerina is a college student who works in a factory and she watches an apartment for wealthy relatives. She and Lyudmila pretend to be rich kids in order to meet well to do men. Katerina hooks up with Rudolf, a camera man at a TV station and she becomes pregnant by him. He denies paternity and she has a daughter she names Alexandra.Twenty years later, Katerina is in charge of a factory and is still unmarried. She has a lover, an older man who has a wife. Rudolf reappears with a news team to do a report on the factory but doesn't remember Katarina. He eventually meets his daughter Alexandra but nothing is resolved in this Soviet Peyton Place. The mood is cold and so are the characters, and running over two hours, I was not overly impressed with the Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears.

Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears is an appealing comedy-drama with much to say about Soviet society from the 1950s to the 1970s. The cast deliver standout performances, and this is the film's greatest strength. The story is about their lives. The city's scenery is often featured, with cinematography that's good for a Soviet drama film. The score, however, is standard fare, but there are a few notable songs. Considering its high entertainment value it's no wonder that Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears became one of the most popular films in the Soviet Union. It even won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1980. It's just one of those films where everyone involved in making it contributed to a result that delivers on all fronts. If the acting or the direction was worse then the result could have been another forgettable drama. Soviet filmmakers, however, specialized in drama films. This is because of the restrictions that were put on them by the government. Many good dramas were released during the Soviet period, and Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears is one of the most memorable. I definitely recommend seeing it.