Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears (1979)

The first thing I want to say is that while it was a good movie, there was definitely a lot of drama! In fact, there was a little bit too much drama for me. Perhaps it's just who I am, but I get all anxious and flustered when I see all of these relationships fall apart and hearts break... to a point where I almost don't want to watch it. But! It was a great insight as to what Moscow (and Russia) might have been like during the thaw and stagnation era. 

One thing I want to mention about the three girls is that Lyudmila (the girl who gets divorced, hopefully this is the right name) has a very different mindset compared to her other two friends. From the very beginning she lies about her social status, etc. and only chases after the wealthy/famous. While she does end up with a man fairly early (earlier than Katya who tries to convince her to do the honest thing), she ends up divorced with three kids. Even after the time skip we see her chatting with her other two friends and says that she will "come across the right guy eventually" just as she says about the lottery. It isn't really the best mindset in my opinion, and I sort of felt bad for her throughout the film. 

Something that differed from the 'thaw' Moscow to the 'stagnate' Moscow was the form of entertainment. Katya and her friend both went to a concert, however her daughter sat and listened to music through her headphones. Maybe this is a false reality and most people didn't listen to music that way yet. Or perhaps not. (Funny enough my dad found his old headphones from back in the day and they looked just like that.)

Although there was a lot of drama in this film, I enjoyed the cultural insight, the wonderful music, and the story. I think there are even good lessons to be learned that all of us in this class could take away.