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Mermaid
The fanciful tale of an introverted little girl who grows up believing she has the power to make wishes come true. She must reconcile this belief with reality when, as a young woman, she journeys to Moscow and grapples with love, modernity and materialism.
Release : | 2007 |
Rating : | 7.2 |
Studio : | Central Partnership, Magnum, |
Crew : | Assistant Art Director, Production Design, |
Cast : | Mariya Shalaeva Yevgeni Tsyganov Mariya Sokova Maksim Konovalov Artur Smolyaninov |
Genre : | Fantasy Drama Comedy Romance |
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An absolute waste of money
A waste of 90 minutes of my life
A story that's too fascinating to pass by...
This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.
I can clearly understand why this piece of beauty has some wins at different festivals. Mariya Shalayeva's play is the reason number one. Then comes the story itself with some curves you woudn't predict. Plenty of little things like short dialogs, phrases, and situations you would simply laugh at. The moon-selling guy as an epitome of what our world has become.Some people say the ending could be better. I disagree. Mermaid Alica has no place in this human mess and therefore shoud not be a part of it. That simple. And she obviously has a better option. Her smile at the end is a proof ))
This is, as the genre indicates here, a fantasy. There is a mix of comedy and drama within, but it is essentially a fantasy story about a young girl who possesses supernatural powers – or so we are led to believe.Life for anybody, each day, is a succession of events, is it not? So also with this film where we first see the girl, Alisa (Anastasiya Dontsova), as an eight year old, passing through various episodes of growing up at the seaside, and with dreams of being a ballerina. As the story develops in a continually episodic fashion, Alisa (now played by Masha Shalaeva), now eighteen, moves to Moscow with her mother (Mariya Sokova) and grandmother (Albina Evtushevskaya), begins the process of finding work, and discovers the good and bad sides of life in general.So, like other movies – notably Amelie (2001) with Audrey Tautou – the viewer is treated to a series of comedic/dramatic vignettes about what can happen when a young person starts life in earnest as an adult. And, while I might compare the frenetic Tautou's acting to that of Charlie Chaplin, Masha Shalaeva, in contrast, is a female Buster Keaton par excellence: her deadpan expressions, her sly looks, the ghosts of her smiles are treats to watch and remember.Central to the story is Alisa's belief she is prescient and can make wishes come true; central, also, is the fact she has fallen in love with a high-powered, boozy, marketing man about Moscow, Sasha (Evgeniy Tsyganov), and does her utmost to make his life more comfortable; in turn, he simple regards Alisa as his bi-weekly cleaning lady. Along the way, Alisa discovers Sasha is already hitched up with a stunning, silky, slinky blonde, Rita (Irina Skrinichenko) – a fact that simple makes Alisa try harder to make Sasha truly see her.We all make wishes during life. Sometimes, things do come about as we hope. Most of the time, however, nothing fantastic happens. Instead, what ultimately occurs in this story brings Alisa, Sasha and the viewer back to all-too-grim reality, encapsulating, perhaps, the thought that you should be careful about what you wish for...The production is quite professional; the photography is great, so also the editing and directing. I particularly liked the sound track. And the acting? While the supporting cast is uniformly good – notably Evgeniy Tsyganov – Masha Shaleva is not to be missed, in my opinion; I look forward to seeing her in other roles. Mention should also be made of Anastasiya Dontsova as the young Alisa.Give this a good seven out of ten. Recommended for all.August 25, 2012
This was a good interpretation. It's the type of movie that I hope opens the imagination to it's viewers and allows you to believe in the unbelievable -if only for a moment. Even though I only viewed this film because it relates to my career field as a mermaid, I liked the feel of the project and can tell this one might have taken a while to plan and come up with. It is more of an adult type of audience more than what you might imagine and if you are hoping for an actual mermaid like in Disney you will be sadly disappointed. Not every film needs to be a replica of the next and this goes into its own direction and interpretation of how to use the word mermaid to tie in it's storyline.
Perhaps 'twee' is to Russian films what 'quirky' is to American. Either way it's a sickly confection that demands nothing from its audience other than it checks its brain at the door. One of the most narcissistically irritating heroines since the repulsive Amelie is able to do stuff for some reason. That the role is played by such an unappealing actress doesn't much help but it could have been Hepburn and it wouldn't have survived the director's insistent 'look at me' style and the archness that sucks out whatever life there might have been in the story leaving behind nothing but pretty-pretty photography.This story was much better done in the 50s in Giraudoux's play Undine which, in fact, introduced Audrey Hepburn in the West End.