Andrei's ex-girlfriend Tania (Anzhela Belyanskaya) has been constantly in danger of going to jail since he knew her. Their breakup was not his doing, and he is determined to keep her out of jail. Andrei (Oleg Menshikov) has a notion that, if he can raise enough money, he can smuggle her out of Russia into New York, where all will be well. While Andrei's grasp on reality may be tenuous, his ability to maneuver and scheme is unimpaired. He is a student filmmaker, and the kind of money he needs to save Tania with doesn't grow on trees. He begins raising funds by mugging men at public toilets, and graduates to stealing the drug money accumulated by more serious gangsters. After he has raised the money to accomplish his goal, his girl, the light of his life, confesses that she despises him, and then goes out and gets arrested.
Acting
Menshikov's unraveling desperation is magnetic and pitiful
Direction
Khvan captures Moscow's grimy post-collapse desperation
Writing
The cruel final twist lands like a gut punch
Director
Aleksandr Khvan
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released in 1992, the film captures the specific post-Soviet desperation where America became a mythical escape hatch for those who'd lost everything.
Director Khvan reportedly wanted the ending to feel like a slap—Andrei's grand romantic gesture dissolving into irrelevance.
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