The film "About Love", the reviews of which are given in this article, is the cinematic almanac of the popular Russian director Anna Melikyan. It consists of five stories. The plot is connected by a lecture on love, which is read by actress Renata Litvinova.
Creating a picture
The film "About Love", reviews of which give a full picture of the plot, was released in December 2015. It was based on two short films by Anna Melikyan, which she shot every year for a charity auction. Interestingly, they did not enter the tape itself, becoming only an inspiration for the director.
Filming was carried out for 25 days. The budget of the picture was 55 million rubles. The lecture, which links all 5 stories, was shot at the Strelka Institute of Architecture and Design. Everyone could act as listeners. There are many unprofessional actors in the picture itself.
In addition to Litvinova’s lecture, music is the connecting link. These are the songs of the Christmas tree, the group "Dry", Noize MC.
Film director
The film "About Love" (2015) was shot by Anna Melikyan. This is a Russian director who was born in Baku. She is 41 years old. Having spent her youth in Yerevan, at the age of 17, Melikyan moved to Moscow. She began working as a director on television in the 90s, wrote scripts for commercials.
In 2002 she graduated from the directing department of VGIK. She was engaged in the creative workshop of Sergei Solovyov and Valery Rubchik.
Her first full-length work was the comedy Mars, which was released in 2004. The story of an invincible boxer who decides to escape one day wherever his eyes look. In the morning he finds himself at the station "MAR ... S".
In 2007, the drama comedy "The Mermaid" about the girl Alisa with unique abilities received the prize of film critics of the Berlin Festival, won the Golden Apricot festivals in Yerevan, international festivals in Serbian Palich and Bulgarian Sofia.
In 2014, Melikyan released the tragedy "Star", in the center of which the oligarch’s wife and aspiring actress, each of whom is experiencing a deep personality crisis.
The film "About Love" by Anna Melikyan received the main prize at the "Kinotavr". She also won the Golden Eagle film award in the Best Feature Film nomination.
Star cast
In the film "About Love" Anna Melikyan plays many famous actors. Be sure to mention Mikhail Efremov. He received the main prize at the festival "Nika" in the nomination "Best Actor in a Supporting Role". In the picture, he plays the groom in one of the short stories.
The connecting link of all the stories in the film "About Love" is Renata Litvinova. She got the role of a lecturer, who skillfully combines interpretations of the physiological essence of processes with high feelings, which are dedicated to works of art. At the lecture, experiments are constantly organized, the participants of which are the students themselves.
Among the actors of the film "About Love" stands out Maria Shalaeva. For the role of Lena Gracheva, she was nominated for the "Nick" award among the best supporting actors.
At the Golden Eagle awards, Evgeny Tsyganov, who played Boris graffiti artist, and Ravshan Kurkov, who played police officer Olya, received a nomination as Best Supporting Actors. True, they failed to win.
Among the actors of the film "About Love" are also Vasily Raksha, Yuri Kolokolnikov, Julia Snigir, Vladimir Mashkov, Alexandra Bortich, Maxim Lagashkin, Alexander Robak.
"Role-playing games"
With a short story under this name, this tape begins. In the film “About Love” (2015), the police raid a club where fans of anime movements gather. Among others, Taito and Himea are being detained. They have been dating for six months now. But, as it turns out, they have never seen each other in ordinary life. Only in the images of anime heroes.
In fact, their names are Igor Petrov and Lena Gracheva. After a night at the police station, they decide to meet like ordinary people. It does not lead to anything good. Relations between them resume only after the lovers again dress up in the characters of Japanese animated films.
By the way, while they were in the police department, they gave recommendations on the image of a lone law enforcement officer. Using them, she immediately received compliments and tokens at the very first trip to the club.
"Dismissal"
In the second part of the comedy "About Love", a large businessman gathers all the employees to announce to them that they are fired. The company is going through hard times.
His secretary Lisa does not know what to do now. It turns out that she has no one else to make coffee. But she has a significant advantage over other colleagues - her outstanding breasts. Lisa’s forms haunt her boss. As a result, he practically openly offers her full content if she becomes his mistress.
Lisa did not immediately decide to agree to this proposal. But her young man, Grisha, has not been able to find work for the third month. They are in a difficult financial situation.
Then Lisa agrees to become a kept woman, and on the same evening receives a marriage proposal from her lover.
"Festival of Russian culture"
In the comedy "About Love" there was a place and stories about the festival of Russian culture in Moscow. Representatives of various peoples and nationalities gather at it. One of them is Japanese Miyako, who purposefully arrived to find a Russian husband.
With the help of a popular dating site, she makes an appointment in the capital at once. Moreover, each of the partners is associated with musical notes. But they all turn out to be petty and uninteresting with a personal acquaintance. None of them know anything about the great Russian literature, are not able to support a highly intellectual conversation. In the room she invites only one who conquered her with his charm and presented a nesting doll. But he also turns out to be an ordinary collector of sex with foreigners, who has a wife and children.
Upset Miyako seeks help from her neighbor, a Japanese from her hometown. He is the only one with whom you can discuss the Russian soul and culture. They talk enthusiastically all night, and finally perform the song "Gop-stop." By morning they understand that they have found their happiness.
"The connoisseur of female beauty"
The plot of the film "About Love" in the fourth short story tells about the public figure Boris, who agitates everyone for the demolition of monuments that spoil the city. He devotes another action to the statue of Peter I.
In addition, Boris is a graffiti artist. Everything that he is fond of, he transfers to the boring and uniform walls of high-rise buildings or industrial buildings. After each romantic meeting, an image of his new girlfriend appears on the wall.
Once the wife manages to track him down. At night, she tries to destroy the drawing of her rival, but she just encounters the girl whose drawing she wanted to spoil. Girls meet and suddenly find a common language. They spend their nights merrily and recklessly, and in the morning they return home, where they find Boris. They offer him to live together.
"Nymphomaniac"
The heroine of the latest novel of this picture is the character of Renata Litvinova, a teacher who lectures about love. Through a dating site, she regularly makes sexual encounters with strangers.
On one of her dates comes her ex named Boris. Now he is a rich, well-off man. He admits that the day before he made an offer to his very young darling. But at the same time, in fact, he does not want to get married.
He turns to his ex for a paid consultation. He asks to conduct an analysis and find out what his bride’s intentions really are. It turns out that the young lady launched all the famous love spells, even a voodoo doll, to get a rich spouse.
He asks to remove the love spell, but the heroine of Litvinova leaves, taking her fee. On the street, she meets the artist Boris and playfully opens his cloak in front of him. So it becomes for him a new object of desire and inspiration.
Movie Reviews
The film "About Love" received mostly positive reviews. The critic Anton Dolin called him the funniest holiday almanac, because he came out on the eve of the New Year holidays.
In the recall, he notes that the picture was a success because Melikyan shot it as a confession. Even if not serious, but very sincere. The main value of this tape is not to report anything new, but at the same time to break the established pattern, to amaze the viewer with an unexpected and original interpretation. Try to look with love eyes on those who were near.
Also, many critics in reviews of the film "About Love" noted that it was interesting to look at a real, non-caricatured Moscow, without unnecessary embellishment and frills. Spectators manage to bribe with truly sincere stories that make you smile more than once.