Rusalka

Mermaid is an awesomely bizarre tale of a strange girl called Alisa, who, as a little girl, lives by the beach with her comically grotesque mother and grandmother and pines for her father to come and rescue her . Later on in her life she is forced to confront reality when she travels to Moscow with her family, and as a teenager, finds out all about all the wonders of the world, including love, jobs and friendship, all seen through an impossibly optimistic and offbeat sensibility. Mermaid plays like the second coming of Amelie, and everything about it is utterly charming; the fantastically upbeat, jazzy score, the dreamy cinematography tinged with realism, the quirky scenarios, but mostly the utterly charismatic and awesome central performances from the two girls playing Alisa, who like Audrey Tatou before them, will make you fall in love. Alisa is such an endearingly odd character, charmingly offbeat and naive, while remaining startlingly independent and fierce. A last act stumble provoked by a tangle of superfluous characters dampens the charm of the film somewhat,and it meanders in parts, but on the whole Mermaid is an almost note-perfect film that will leave you with a dreamy smile on your face and a longing for days of lost innocence.

This is, as the genre indicates here, a fantasy. There is a mix of comedy and drama within, but it is essentially a fantasy story about a young girl who possesses supernatural powers – or so we are led to believe.

Life for anybody, each day, is a succession of events, is it not? So also with this film where we first see the girl, Alisa (Anastasiya Dontsova), as an eight year old, passing through various episodes of growing up at the seaside, and with dreams of being a ballerina. As the story develops in a continually episodic fashion, Alisa (now played by Masha Shalaeva), now eighteen, moves to Moscow with her mother (Mariya Sokova) and grandmother (Albina Evtushevskaya), begins the process of finding work, and discovers the good and bad sides of life in general.

So, like other movies – notably Amelie (2001) with Audrey Tautou – the viewer is treated to a series of comedic/dramatic vignettes about what can happen when a young person starts life in earnest as an adult. And, while I might compare the frenetic Tautou's acting to that of Charlie Chaplin, Masha Shalaeva, in contrast, is a female Buster Keaton par excellence: her deadpan expressions, her sly looks, the ghosts of her smiles are treats to watch and remember.

Central to the story is Alisa's belief she is prescient and can make wishes come true; central, also, is the fact she has fallen in love with a high-powered, boozy, marketing man about Moscow, Sasha (Evgeniy Tsyganov), and does her utmost to make his life more comfortable; in turn, he simple regards Alisa as his bi-weekly cleaning lady. Along the way, Alisa discovers Sasha is already hitched up with a stunning, silky, slinky blonde, Rita (Irina Skrinichenko) – a fact that simple makes Alisa try harder to make Sasha truly see her.

We all make wishes during life. Sometimes, things do come about as we hope. Most of the time, however, nothing fantastic happens. Instead, what ultimately occurs in this story brings Alisa, Sasha and the viewer back to all-too-grim reality, encapsulating, perhaps, the thought that you should be careful about what you wish for...

The production is quite professional; the photography is great, so also the editing and directing. I particularly liked the sound track. And the acting? While the supporting cast is uniformly good – notably Evgeniy Tsyganov – Masha Shaleva is not to be missed, in my opinion; I look forward to seeing her in other roles. Mention should also be made of Anastasiya Dontsova as the young Alisa.

Give this a good seven out of ten. Recommended for all.

August 25, 2012

For whatever reason, Americans rarely are treated to Russian films, which is probably a great loss... certainly seems so after seeing the film "Mermaid." With a quirky story line and a very compelling opening sequence (great graphics!), it's a combination of incredible acting by the two actresses who play the lead character at different ages as well as the supporting cast and creative directing that make this worth watching. Not wanting to give anything away, I'll just say that my family enjoyed this film very much - but nothing prepared us for the ending. Highly recommend. (I reserved one star because I would have liked to see some creative cinematography of the Russian countryside; nevertheless, seeing Moscow up close in film is a treat.)

In the center of the plot there's a girl who can use magic realism to transform her life and the life of people living around her. But this is just as far as I can get with the comparison to The Fabulous World of Amélie Poulain. Because then comes the best.

In this movie you will face not only the benefits of this power but above all the desperation in it. The alienation in it. And the violence in it.

Turns out to be something much closer to real life, and real dreams and frustrations. It's not sweet, it's just big. Deserves to be watched for sure.

I only saw fifteen films at the Sundance Film Festival this year, but this one was my favorite film. The music was fantastic and maintained a level of intrigue and surrealism that produced a sense of mythic reality and impending urgency. Anastasiya Dontsova was phenomenal as Young Alisa and Mariya Shalayeva, who played Alisa from ages 17-18 years old, was spellbinding. The many closeups of her anxious face were a delight to the beholder. Although the pacing was a little slow at times, the story moved forward with a sense of inevitability that I imagine reflects the current circumstance in Russia today. It's always wonderful to see great films still coming out of the former Soviet Union.