Outskirts/The Girl With the Hatbox (2004)

	Keith G.

1 out of  1  people found this review helpful

The Girl With the Hatbox is the real prize in these two films. A cute, charming silent comedy of Russian girl who travels between her home in the country and an apartment owned by a greedy, rich couple in Moscow. She meets a poor student with nowhere to go, and ends up marrying him to give him the right to stay in the apartment although the marriage is platonic. Lots of hi-jinx ensue, almost all well acted, and I found myself enjoying it way more than I expected to. Yes, there are some over the top performances, and a couple of unneeded sub-plots, including our heroines cruel ignoring of the post man who is in love with her, but overall this is a breezy, sweet comedy, well worth watching. Outskirts is an interesting, if not totally successful mix of comedy and drama, a study of small town life and the horrors of WW I. Some wonderful photography, but distractingly bad post-dubbed sound.

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