A Cruel Romance

Starring:Alisa Frejndlikh, Larisa Guzeyeva, Nikita Mikhalkov, Andrei Myagkov, Aleksei Petrenko, Viktor Proskurin, Georgi Burkov, Tatyana Pankova, Borislav Brondukov, Aleksandr Pankratov-Chyorny, Aleksandr Pyatkov, Yuri Sarantsev, Olga Volkova, Yevgeni Tsymbal, Sergei Artsybashev, Dmitri Buzylyov-Kretso
Director: Eldar Ryazanov
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Customer Reviews:

not for most people.......2005-02-07

I cannot imagine an audience for this movie. It is flat, disjointed, with poor production qualities. It smacks of a film trying to be really artsy, but it fails miserably. If you enjoy confusion and disjointedness, this is the movie for you. Otherwise, keep looking.

Female Domination.......2003-08-27

Mikesch and Treut's first film, Verfuhrung: Die Grausame Frau (Seduction: The Cruel Woman, 1985) was inspired by the novel Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. Seduction examines the psychological aspects of sadism and masochism through the tale of Wanda (Mechthild Grossmann), a German lesbian dominatrix who runs a gallery where audiences pay for the privilege of watching her humiliate her slaves.

only for a select few.......2002-01-31

excellent cinematography, capturing the spirit of the subject. not a typical, story- line oriented film, only for those looking for a non-stereotypical, insightful portrait of the s&m scene. enlightening portrayal, dark theme.

Unoriented.......2001-10-03

I thought this video was disjointed and not oriented to any plot. Also the lighting was very dark and much of what was going on was unseeable.

intelligent.......1999-08-31

Probably one of the few interesting and intelligent movies ever done about SM. The actors are good, and the psicology of the characters is well defined and coherent with their involvement in the story.

Description

Unforgettable music and songs highlight this beloved favorite of Russian cinema. The beautiful Larissa, daughter of an impoverished noblewoman, lives in a small town on the Volga River. She falls madly in love with Sergei, who returns her feelings as long as it serves his purposes. In fact he is secretly engaged to another girl, while Larissa is wooed by another man she despises. Romantic complications ensue which leave the lovers' destinies forever changed.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful movie.......2004-03-21

Consider the plot of a very beautiful young woman, whose life ahead is full of promise.. But consider also that this girl's life is actually torn apart by events which seem (apparently) out of her immediate control, like if fate was conspiring against her at every other corner. Even her mother, willingly or not, at some point "sells" her -though like every other mother she blindly believes doing what's best for her daughter's future. Zhestokij Romans is sinonimous to drama: just watch the final scene, which is so powerful, telling and poetic...

I especially enjoyed the Gipsy scenes. All that dancing, joy and vodka were very moving in this film. Just as Yugoslav director Emir Kosturica has immortalised the Gipsy people (i.e. "Underground") we also see in "Zhestokij" droves of joyful Gipsies carrying everywhere they go that sound which is at the same time melancholic and joyous. Some other scenes reminded me of "Svadba" (Pavel Lounguine) a film which also features lots of partying and rivers of vodka despite the imminent disgrace and bitterness of life. I even found some parallels with "Luna Papa" another film from the former Soviet republics in which a young and pretty girl has to rapidly mature and leap from childhood into adulthood.

The Gipsy scenes also served as a very effective contrast between joy and doom. While they kept dancing, tragedy was occurring elsewhere. It's like they say: one man's happiness is another man's suffering.

Terribly sad.......2003-10-04

This is one of the saddest movies that I have ever seen in my life, and I love drama. It is a great story of a love that can never be in a world of Czarist Russia. Wonderfully acted, with some of Russia's greatest actors of that time in lead roles. A profound work of movie making, which leads to question society as a whole.

Great if you speak Russian.......2002-09-10

I realize the listing doesn't state that the video is subtitled, but because Amazon listed it by the English title I assumed that that it was. Anyone interested in this video should be forewarned that it is the Russian original, with NO SUBTITLES. It's a great movie, but if you don't speak Russian, you'll just be looking at the pictures.

A great movie!.......2002-01-16

I would recommend this movie to anyone that is passionate about cinematography. This is a great russian movie starring Nikita Mihalkov.

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