Suman Roberson
It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.
Ezmae Chang
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Philippa
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
Kirpianuscus
beautiful landscapes. and seductive story. clever mixture of humor and drama. a bitter love story. and Russia in a splendid portrait about past, tradition, image about world, love and duty. Oleg Menshikov does one of that characters who are essence of a state of soul. the science to explore the emotions of young Tolstoy, the madness of gesture from profound love, the dialog with Jane, the search of sense in an absurd universe, all as embroidery of significant details. Julia Ormond gives a special aura to her character. and that is not a real surprise. the film is about evolution. the evolution of lead characters. the evolution of Russia itself. an admirable scene - the presence of Nikita Mikhalkov as Alexander II . a not great film. but, surely, a beautiful one.
Dmitry
This movie is a good work for export sale. Collection of some widespread (among foreigners) myths about Russia: the way Russians drink vodka, the way they "have rest", "bears in the street" and so on. In addition the movie has some slip-ups like Soviet lampposts near Kremlin, stars over Kremlin towers, 50 stars on American flag of early 20th century et al. On the other hand, perhaps, Mikhalkov tried to show Russians' good sides for the foreigners who only know those myths and he did it the way they could understand. Girls cried for the love story, they loved the movie. Funny thing: the movie was produced by Mikhalkov himself, but "supported" by State Committee of Cinema, then the movie was shown on TV – hey, tax-payers! ;). Wow, "The Barber" became the really profitable commercial project. So, summary. You can watch this movie one time or another but remember: you will see authentic scenes, dresses and surroundings as well as the usual "Russian myths" made for export, quite beautiful picture and quite predictable love story.
boyan-denizov
I hardly had the patience to watch this boring and stupid film.I do not watch Russian cinema because I think it is a waste of time.It so happened that I HAD to watch this particular film.And it once again confirmed my attitude.Nikita Mihalkov is probably one of the worst directors today.I watched another film of his-"Victims of the sun "or something like that-it is probably the worst film I have ever watched.I simply can't stand his pretensions .The pace is slow,the characters are one-dimensional,the jokes are boring to death(the film attempts to be a comedy,mind you).Clichés about Russia follow one after another.But the worst thing about the film is that it is a narrow-minded Russian propaganda.The foreigners are either stupid or evil,they want to destroy good-hearted,innocent and naive Russians-this is the main idea of the film.King Alexander IIIrd-one of the most autocratic monarchs of Russia who persecuted all minorities is presented 100% positively ( and played by Mr. Mihalkov himself).This film was made to serve the rising Russian nationalism.In this way it is a political propaganda disguised as a historical comedy.It is not by chance that Mihalkov is one of the greatest supporters of Putin's autocracy today.
mvvik
Although I rated it 3 out of 10, I have to be fair and mention that there are certain enjoyable aspects to this movie; perhaps I was too harsh. Let me start therefore by mentioning those positive aspects: it is a very well crafted movie (Mikhalkov sure has no lack of skill), with gorgeous cinematography, and plenty of wonderful visuals. The bad side is, there is nothing else about it that I can recommend. In regards to the portrayal of pre-revolutionary Russia, and the ideas expressed in the movie, it is utterly silly, fake and pretentious. In fact, it is fake and pretentious to the point of being ridiculous.The idealization of tsarist Russia is so unabashed, it will make every Russian in his/her right senses laugh hysterically. Another laughable aspect is that the movie's director (the eminent Nikita Mikhalkov) has chosen to cast himself as H.M. the Russian Tsar Himself. A less laughable (but telling) aspect is that Mikhalkov's monarch of choice is Alexander III, one of the more tyrannical and abhorrent Russian tsars (he succeeded the much more progressive and educated Alexander II, who, alas, was killed by leftist terrorists). The main ideological theme of the movie is very familiar to every Russian: it's the idea of the "Russian soul", too complicated to be grasped by primitive soul-less westerners (especially the uncouth American characters in the movie). The national monopoly on human sentiment implied by the "Russian soul" idea is laughable, and it is deeply ironic that this idea is identical to the purely American notion of American national superiority (here I should mention that I live mostly in U.S. but am Russian by blood, birth and up-bringing - grew up in Moscow - so I know what I am talking about).In short, this movie is candy for your eyes, and renting it may not be a total waste; it has some simple entertainment value. However, the best use for this movie is to select a particularly stunning scene, and press the "pause" button; it makes for a wonderful decoration. -- Victor
