"This movie combines comedy, drama, and some sort of Christmas fairy tale. A guy gets drunk on Christmas eve and, by mistake, is put on a plane from Moscow to St.Petersburg instead of his (also drunk) friend. As a result of this mishap he misses an important date with his girlfriend where (at last) he intended to propose. Instead, he meets another woman in St.Petersburg (Nadya) who just happened to live on a street with the same name, in the same ""typical"" apartment block, and in the same ""typical"" flat with the same ""typical"" furniture as what the guy had in Moscow. The main part of the story only begins as Nadya discovers a completely drunk stranger sleeping on her sofa... Within the remaining hour and a half of the movie you find out that these two were ment for each other. Sounds melodramatic? Sure. The trick that makes this movie work is in excellent acting and in the warm atmosphere that may resemble a good drama theater experience. The movie was made in the 70'es. It became an all-time-favorite ""Christmas movie"" in Russia. Often, it is watched year after year around winter holidays. There are a number of songs with excellent lyrics (e.g. by Pasternak and Ahmatova) that add considerably to the appeal of this movie. I believe that anyone can enjoy the movie even if you don't know Russian (but do not mind subtitles available on this DVD). However, if you don't understand Russian you might be better off ignoring the subtitles for song lyrics as they do not make much sense (they are simply a bad translation). Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!" |
