Mermaid (2007)

I can clearly understand why this piece of beauty has some wins at different festivals. Mariya Shalayeva's play is the reason number one. Then comes the story itself with some curves you woudn't predict. Plenty of little things like short dialogs, phrases, and situations you would simply laugh at. The moon-selling guy as an epitome of what our world has become.Some people say the ending could be better. I disagree. Mermaid Alica has no place in this human mess and therefore shoud not be a part of it. That simple. And she obviously has a better option. Her smile at the end is a proof ))

Anna Melikyan's "Rusalka" ("Mermaid" in English) is an adaptation of "The Little Mermaid" set in post-Soviet Russia. The main character is Alisa, an unfulfilled girl whose life takes a new direction when she meets a young man in Moscow. One of the most effective scenes is right after Alisa and her mother move into their apartment and an advertisement gets opened! A number of the Russian movies from recent years have offered criticism of the free-for-all direction that Russia took after the Soviet Union broke up. This movie also does, but emphasizes Alisa's relationship and how it causes tension with the man's girlfriend. The other link to Hans Christian Andersen's tale is no doubt the fishes that the man keeps in his apartment. And the end was a real shock.I recommend the movie. Other good movies looking at post-Soviet Russia are "Window to Paris" and "The Fool".

Different movies would make a big buff out of you. Especially when they come from other countries. I've always had a craving for Russian films, with Mermaid, it can be perfect for people with big imaginations. Here you have a girl name Alice(Masha Shalayeva) who went through childhood going through different stages of life. When she was a young girl, she wanted to be a ballerina. That fell through because of her mother's indecisiveness. Whenever she had a man who wasn't her father, she would set fire to the place she lived. Going through silent stages, she makes everyone think she has a handicap. By the time she was older, she got through some things by chance, especially when one student dies in a freak accident. Then there was the time she left the house, and jumped in a saved him from drowning. After that, she fell in love with him, not knowing he was already taken. She saw the action between him and his girl, she said the same thing, only without causing arson. Alice made changes in her appearance and she still uses her imagination to fulfill her dreams. She may have the imagination, but her determination makes her relentless to the world. This movie makes some sense, and it gives some meaning throughout. I enjoyed it very much. I owe it all to Sundance. 5 Stars!

Or if you could like Rusalka. I must say that this was the first movie for a long time that shocked me . Yes, I was shocked, because I liked Rusalka very much, maybe because she looks a bit like one of my children. I expected a light-footed modern comedy with some Russian strangeness and heart, a better version of the overrated "Amelie", and I was not disappointed. For the first 108 Minutes. Then - obviously announced by movie language - the disaster comes in such a laconic manner, is this typical Russian ? Maybe that's life, but the break-in of the reality into this humorous fairy tale is a serious break of the movie with its own intentions. Rusalka's senseless death (in movie context) is announced by the age counting inserts from the beginning, of course, but the solution is quite an unsatisfying one, because it doesn't fit to the movie and lets me behind with questioning the sense of the story and watching it. But I didn't vote lower than the movie deserves because of the ending I personally hate. I have no problems with bad endings basically, and I can even honor when I am shocked where I didn't want or expect.Rather, the script lacks after about 1 hour or more from speed and originality, so that the movie began to bore me a bit and I asked myself where the story will evolve to keep my interest. I decided that the script writer herself didn't know it, because her inspiration had been worn out in some way. I got the same feeling as reading "Oblomov", where the first 100 pages are simply unbeatable, but the remainder of the book is mediocre.Rusalka did not so bad in telling the old Andersen story in a complete modern and unusual way, taking away this and that and adding instead this and that. But it looses the view for following the potential of its own genius. Thats why it became no masterwork but only a nice and sad story.My conclusion is 9 stars for good ideas, humor, mood, cinematography and the actress, minus 3 for the lack in story advancement. Maybe I am too hard against a very good movie, after all, it felt like a climax lost during a great intercourse.