Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears

The three main female characters of this movie were apparently all very different from each other. I was immediately struck by how naive the young Katya and Lyudmila were as opposed to Antonina. Tonya - Antonina - did not seem to harbor any illusions about life. She struck me as a practical person. Perhaps, she realized Nikolai could not provide her with the most glamorous life; but she seemed to know that life was not a fairy-tale. She was willing to work hard for her happiness. Both of her friends constantly told her how lucky she was to have such a 'perfect relationship'. I would guess that there were times in her marriage where things were not so perfect but she perservered through them. She may not have been the most successful of the three, but she made a nice life for herself. Lyudmila seemed to be just the opposite. Apparently, she wanted only the best for herself and was unwilling to settle for anything less. IN my opinion, she walked around with stars in her eyes throughout the entire movie. When Sergei Gurin failed to deliver the lavish lifestyle that she had always dreamed of living she became disillusioned with him and divorced him. For the rest of the movie, she was focused on winning the lottery and winning a trophy husband. Her odds of achieving either were slim to none and she was clearly unhappy later in life. Katya seemed naive and almost too kind at first. She was willing to be pushed around by Lyudmila and Rodion. Unfortunately for her, because of her inability to stand her ground she had to live an extremely hard life. I did not feel as though she made a 'breakthrough' until she met Gosha. Even shortly before she met him she stooped so low as to have a relationship with a married man. Katya struck me as a character that was a little uncomfortable in her own skin; which was ironic because she was obviously pretty and smart.

Gosha was a man. In other words, he was the embodiment of all of the stereotypes that society feeds to us -men - about what we should be. He was perceptive, tough, guarded, knowledgeable, and helpful. If I had to some him up in one word, I would probably use the word 'manly'. His somewhat 'old school' notions of being the master of his house and asserting himself into every aspect of his relationship with Katya helped to strengthen my opinion. Gosha stood up for himself and was not about to let anybody else push him around or tell him what to do. Fortunately, he rubbed off on Katya and showed her how to take a stance for herself. He also gave Sasha the father that she had never had. When Sasha was having problems in her life Gosha helped her. He had a no-nonsense attitude with her which I felt was exactly what she needed. Gosha was not about to run out on either of them at the first sign of trouble; as opposed to Roidon. However, he ended up leaving them for a little while because he felt insignificant. Gosha and Roidon were different because Gosha came back. He did not care 'what' Katya was but rather 'who' she was. Ultimately, he was willing to compromise and work for his happiness (which was what Katya wanted as well).

Although I was somewhat surprised that Katya fell for Gosha I had no problem believing the plausibility of their relationship. I instantly recognized from the first time that Gosha was introduced that he was a gentleman. He was not like the swine from her previous relationships that seemingly were only interested in forcing themselves on her. Katya was nice but she did not have any gumption. I had no problem seeing a kind person being in a relationship with another kind person.

The 1950's seemed to be about as naive of a time period as Katya and Lyudmila were during that period. I was particularly interested by the scene around the dinner table in Katya's uncle's appartment because the 'new generation' was pitted against the 'old generation'. The radical poet claimed that his generation would have stood up to Stalin. However, the old man just seemingly shrugged him off knowing that he could not possibly have known what people of his generation had to go through under Stalin. Ideals are great to have. But, under the terrible reign of Stalin I doubt that the idealistic poet would have lived up to his claim. Everyone also seemed to be happy and young during the 1950's as opposed to how sedated and old they seemed in the 1970's. This may have signified the agining of the Soviet Union as well. In the 1970's people did not seem to harbor any illusions about anything. They seemed more wize and realistic.

Also, I really liked one of the messages that this film gave. Characters in this movie had lives that were torn apart. They reached seemingly unattainable highs only to hit abysmal lows. Katya went from having a financially secure, interesting boyfriend and living in a grand appartment to being a single mother studying for school and working in a factory. The scene where she was falling asleep studying for school had a particularly great impact on me. I have worked in factories before and could relate to just how taxing that work can be. I cannot imagine what she had to go through studying for school and raising a child as well. However, she was down and she picked herself up again. The message of this movie was seemingly that one has to be persistent in life because there will be highs and lows. Even Sergei Gurin resurrected his life after he seemed to be destined to be a deadbeat for the rest of his existence. If anything, this movie proved that there can always be new beginnings.