The Girl from Petrovka

I just saw this film for the first time. While Goldie Hawn's Russian accent left a lot to be desired, I found this an entertaining story. Hal Holbrook was great, of course. I thought the Soviet background was fairly well presented of it's 1970's time period. While this was the "Cold War" period, one should not mistake this film for some spy vs. spy story. It is a love story set against the background of the Soviet Union. Some of Goldie's character motivation seem a bit odd at times, I will say. Perhaps another film where if one read the book, some of the character development details would be filled in and better understood. While one recommendation here for a similar story was, "Reds," I would say the 1980's film, "White Nights," with Gregory Hines would be a much better comparison.

Chicago journalist in Moscow, the American news correspondent to the Soviet Union, becomes smitten with a bubbly young woman who has an elderly benefactor but no working papers (she sells her body to make ends meet); it doesn't take much for him to convince her that capitalism suits her better than communism. Terrible vehicle for Goldie Hawn, who nevertheless was reportedly quite proud of this misbegotten romantic drama, adapted from the book by George Feifer. Hawn, speaking (and singing!) with a wobbly Russian accent, is still easier to take than Hal Holbrook, more cranky and nasal than usual. Anthony Hopkins shows them both up as Hawn's flamboyant friend, although there isn't much of a role there. Filmed in Vienna, the picture certainly looks good, but the characters are simply not engaging. *1/2 from ****

I didn't know much about this when I picked it up. The fact that I haven't ever heard of a film before doesn't necessarily mean that it's poor, and I enjoy discovering the overlooked gems of recent time as well as older releases. Unfortunately, that approach can also lead to finding average nothings like this, that just happen to have landed talented actors. It is kind of funny to see Hopkins be so animated, I can't think of many other roles where that is so; he's usually so subtle and downplayed. And you can't help but fall for Hawn, she is so lively and fun. There are some reasonably developed characters that are mostly credible. The editing and cinematography are fine. This didn't grab me or particularly have me engaged at any point. Now, I realize that this was made before the wall fell... still, seriously, OK, we get it, Soviet Russia sucks, quit hammering it home. Several of these problems exist in America, too, y'know, like drinking merely to get through the day and being unhappy even though you supposedly have everything that you "should" ever want. This is a cheap and see-through piece of propaganda, and it actually loses all of its credibility, in spite of having strong points. The story has nothing new to offer. I recommend this solely to the biggest fans of those who appear in this. 5/10

The film is excellent. It invoked my personal associations of living in the USSR at the time shown in the film.At that time I was a so-called "refusenick', i.e. a person whose application for emigration was denied. One of my close friend, a lady whose name was Nadezhda (Nadya) Fradkova, was imprisoned for the same reason as Oktyabrina from the movie was: a so-called "parasitic" way of life. She was sentenced to two years in labor camps. It happened in December 1984 - 10 years after the film was released. At that time I was fighting the Soviets in the courtrooms and was able to acquire significant judicial knowledge. That knowledge helped me to fight for Nadya and to prove her innocence. In my own archive I keep original documents from the Soviets illustrating my fight for Nadya, the fight that occurred to be successful. Another association with the main character of the film, a very painful association, was a loss of my dear friend. She was allowed to emigrate, and I was doomed to fight for my freedom for the next 10 years. My best wishes to Goldie Hawn whose performance was above any praise. If I could only tell her my admiration with her performance along with my own history, the history which resembles so much the one of the film. I sorry only for seeing that film so late and only by accident. Mark Reznik. mkhnreznik@comcast.net.

When I saw this title on the TV didn’t know what to expect. Anthony Hopkins with Goldie Hawn and Hal Holbrook…It was enough for me so I decided to stay up (it was late at night) and watch it! I didn’t regret it. I saw Goldie Hawn in a role that I am not used seeing her in. Anthony Hopkins acting was really different from what I am used too and Hal Holbrook was great as well. The story was really crazy but decent and I didn’t find a lot of comic elements. It is about an American journalist falling in love with a Russian woman who was an outcast. It takes place in the Soviet Union and it has a really dramatic touch. Although it is a romantic film, I wouldn’t call it a chick flick. The story is really great and I hope that if you get a chance to see this one you will really like it.