Alisa Frejndlikh, Larisa Guzeyeva, Nikita Mikhalkov

Slow-paced and in some longer stretches, this period melodrama features the heroine Larisa (Larisa Guzeyeva) and her various, competing suitors. Sergei Paratov (Nikita Mikhalkov) dashes into Larisa'...( read more  read more... )s sister's wedding like a knight in shining armor and starts to court Larisa. Her head is turned, but not enough to keep her from getting engaged to the boring Yuli Karandyshev (Andrei Myagkov) when the handsome, singing, dancing, and bon vivant Sergei has the temerity to be gone for a year. What ensues is a classic case of seduction by the immoral Sergei and then the inevitable happens -- betrayal and tragedy. The movie is based on the classical play Bespridannitsa ("Without Dowry") by Alexander Ostrovsky.

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93% liked it

297 ratings

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Directed by: Eldar Ryazanov

Release Date: January 1, 1984

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Flixster Reviews (26)


  • August 20, 2009
    I can surely understand how hard must it be to watch a foreign movie especially in Russian. It is not so much the language barrier - many thanks to those who created subtitles (!) but the identification of oneself with the mentality of the country and their beliefs. I was fortuna...( read more)te (or unfortunate) to be born into two cultures so for me watching a Russian movie feels like touching base, feeling closer to home. I don't really want to expand on the synopsis of events, that has already been added but what I really want to stress is that this movie has left its trace in my mind and heart. I must have been in my teens when I first watched it and after watching it over and over again I have come to believe that for me at least it should be classified as one of the best movies of the Russian cinematography. And then there's that song. That beautiful song performed by Larisa Guzeyeva - a successful talk show presenter currently - that every single Russian remembers the words to. I quote & translate:

    "That's what I say before I go
    farewell, don't feel obliged to love
    I'm going mad
    and rising up to a high degree of pure madness
    your way of loving - it destroyed me
    but destroying me is not important
    your way of loving - it destroyed me
    how awkwardly you destroyed me though
    so that's what I say before I go...
    my mind is still alive
    it's still alive but I've got no strength to feel alive
    smells and sounds are fading away
    So that's what I say before I go.....

    Zhestokiy romans

    P.S. That's a free translation so pardon my french lol

  • March 7, 2009
    Amazing love story! So far my favorite Russian film.
  • December 15, 2008
    no thanks not my thing
  • September 24, 2007
    Not exactly my favorite but the most beautiful movie by Eldar Ryazanov.
    It's based on a novel by Ostrovsky, it's a story about a girl from very noble but poor family.

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