Ya shagayu po Moskve

for the admirable portrait of freedom. for the young Nikita Mihalkov, doing a great role. for the touching portrait of Mosow, youth, friendship, love and innocence. for the status of slice from a period spirit. because it is a beautiful film, remembering the air of a time, the talent of young actors, the force of a good director, for the delicacy and realism of a world, almost magic, surely - unique. a film about a city and about a splendid age. that is all. and it is enough. to see it time by time.

The film is a well-executed attempt to record the transient youth impressions of the aging generation of the Soviet baby-boomers. Or rather the inevitable fantasising about them 20+ years later. Not that it makes it any different from any other generation which has ever lived.

Just as in the end of a news hour, there's a 60 second feel-good segment, in every generation, there's its own feel-good story. The scrutiny of how realistic those dreamy fantasies of the past are is beyond the point. Relaxing in the backyard's arm chair with a glass of well-deserved glass of wine reflecting on the past is of course a part of the drill.

In the end, this patriotic narcissistic drivel could have been "Ya shagayu po Berlin (1964)" or "Ya shagayu po Hiroshima (1964)" full of love, spring vitality and romanticism. Which is of course fine as the life obviously goes on.

And perhaps it's fine. It depends on the viewer's outlook. But for some, the film will be clearly interspersed with visual and conceptual references aggrandising and beautifying what the country has gone through in the preceding 50 years. A sort of the Soviet Union of Amnesia that is. A common propaganda "feel-good" trick in a wide range of other tricks in the toolboxes of various Ministries of Truth across the globe.

One thing is for sure: this is a movie done by the power which won the war, so history is written accordingly. Small but curious detail.

I am curious so few comments here …this is truly great film and became classics.

The movie portraits Soviet 'ottepel'' period but is not about politics-

It is about Moscow, sincere human relations, freedom, youth, idealism, great actors' play, great song - 'A ya idu shagau po Moskve i ya proiti eshe smogu!…'.

I like the spirit of the movie (freedom) which has been copied thousands of times in other Russian movies but neither succeeded.

So, honestly, find and see this movie!

My rating: 10/10.

There is some kind of hackneyed opinion in the world that Moscow is a city of almost everlasting winter. Unfortunately there is a lot of truth in such words: we live in cold and rather dark city for 5-6 months a year. But if you'll come to Moscow in May or maybe in last April, it is most likely that you'd fall in love with this city. The film of G.Danelia brings you this delightful and intoxicating scent of spring Moscow, a fresh and brilliant scent of youth, beauty and first love.

I think it is a best role of well-known Russian actor and director Nikita Mikhalkov - and it's of no doubt the most sincere work of him. And I also should say about sparkling supporting role of Vladimir Basov - his clever Floor polisher is really wonder :))

"Walking the streets of Moscow" is a cultmovie in Russia but not in the rest of the World.

The film was made in the period of the cultural thaw after the deat of Stalin. In this period much was possible leading to films that are also cult in the rest of the World, like "Soy Cuba" (1964, Mikhail Kalatozov) from the same year.

Much was possible, but not everything. Just like in the West in the first half of the '60s a post Second World War generation grew up and raised his voice. Screenwriter Gennady Shpalikov wrote a script about this generation featuring friends returning to Moscow after their military service. The script was not received warmly by the censors although it ultimately became the film "I am twenty" (1965, Marlen Khustsiev).

"Walking the streets of Moscow" is the more innocent version of "I am twenty" written by the same screenwriter. Its protagonists are younger (17-18 years of age) and their rebellion more innocent. Helpful too would have been that Moscow is portrayed at his most advantageous side. Look at the metro stations, the GUM department store, Gorki park and the brandnew airport.

"Walking the streets of Londen" is about two boys and a girl doing exactly that what the title describes. Apart from the rebellion of the post war generation it is also about a love triangle. Comparing it with Western counterparts as "A hard day's night" (1964, Richard Lester, rebellion of the post war generation) and "Jules and Jim" (1962, Francois Truffaut, love triangle) we understand why the film never became a World-wide cult movie.

The movie contains an iconic scene in which a girl walking barefoot in the rain is accompanied by a boy cycling next to her and trying to hold an umbrella above her head. Comparing this iconoc scene with for example the scene from "La dolce vita" (1960, Federico Fellini) in which Anita Ekberg is wading in the Trevi fountain there is again one word that comes to mind: innocence!

Why did the film became cult in Russia? I think one explanation is that the cultural thaw disappeared in the Brezhnev years and that there is a lot og nostalgia connected to the early sixties.