Oksana Arbuzova Movies

This emotional Russian drama is set in Moscow, 1963 and centers on Elena who works as a hostess at an upscale nightspot. She lives in a single-room flat with her 22-year-old son Yuri. Elena dreams of going with her son, a budding concert pianist, to an important Paris competition, but before they can go, there is much work to be done and she must keep him focused on his music. Unfortunately, Yuri and his fiancee Katya have a tremendous fight after she tells him that she is Jewish (the anti-Semitic Elena fears that the Katya could ruin Yuri's chances of winning the competition). They break up and Yuri turns to a seductive translator for consolation. Meanwhile, Elena is busily hobnobbing, manipulating and doing anything she can to insure her son a place in the competition. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Work is hard to find in Moscow these days, and although native Muscovites are probably reluctant to do the kinds of toilet-swabbing low-level labor that migrants into the town happily do, the natives still resent the fact that immigrants are (at least theoretically) taking jobs away from locals. This is a familiar theme, even in the U.S. In the story, Pavel and Pavlina, two ethnic Russians from the rural areas of former Soviet states, have separately come to Moscow seeking exactly that sort of work. Pavel has a tiny room somewhere, Pavlina is homeless. They meet during an altercation at a bar during which they are picked up by the police. After their release, she spends the night in Pavel's room. Their goal is to avoid both the police and the criminal gangs who, between them, govern so much of the life in that difficult city. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi