The story is purely female and, of course, more for ladies. However, this is not a stigma or a signal to escape. And, having watched the film again 6 years after I first saw it, I was convinced that it was good, sweet and wonderful.
There is some incontemporary, some of the past years intonation of kindness. There are almost no films with her now. And if they do, they are not in the vanguard. And brazenly push themselves through advertising, they are also shy. The picture is naive to fantastic, but it is so sweet! .
The plot is simple and clear, and that is the beauty of it. A woman is no longer young, but not at all old, but at an age when you get lost and do not know whether it is appropriate to be cheerful, do what you want, or it is time to acquire beauty and become a respectable lady. The other one is waiting for you. And after all, more than once in the film there is a phrase: “you are a laughingstock”, “at your age they do not do this!”, etc. What's the age? It's only 37 years old, which is ridiculous. At least it's funny now, but I don't think things have changed that much in 14 years. And so Azalia Viktorovna (Zaza for friends and relatives; probably, you can call her that, and age is not a hindrance) accidentally meets a young guy, a major-gulyak, and this meeting does not bode well, because it proceeds in a very conflicting tone.
But fate is cunning, so she is a mockingbird to pluck the deck in the most bizarre way. Against the background of the empty sacrifice of life, when the son abandons his mother, who gave everything for him, one for the sake of a girl she liked, Zaza (Evgeny Dmitriev) - on the one hand, and Anton (Artem Grigoriev) - who saw a living unquenchable soul, beating aching heart in a seemingly elderly woman - and this is when such mannequins as Vika around you are unable to cope with the sudden rushing passion.
Their relationship is doomed, and the wise Azalea not only understands this, but directly tells Anton. How many such stories have already been: and Mtsenskaya Lady Macbeth Leskova, and Julia & Tom in Moem's "Theater" and so on. Calling adulthood more cowardly, Zaza is partly right. Of course, in 37 years of experience, one does not gain the best, alas, more than in 23 years. But both are too self-absorbed and overjoyed that this bitter thought fades into the background.
A good soulful film that leaves a pleasant aftertaste. There is much debate about how real the story is. But I don’t think it’s so important – the film made you experience a variety of emotions, and this is more important, because what else is art for? The ending is interesting and correct – making any other decision, the director and writers would lose. Very “in the theme” were the songs “Gorky Park” and the final composition by authorship and performance of Alla Borisovna. A wonderful work of the actors – after the film, I drew attention to Artem Grigoriev (it is a pity that Mikhail Tikhonov voiced him here). Of course, K. Borodina is a complete achtung and misunderstanding, and it is better to quickly forget about it. Look at the rest, you won’t regret it.
9 out of 10