Grandma
An old Russian grandmother or "babushka", who took part in the Battle of Stalingrad, sacrificed everything for her children and even sold her house to get money for her grandchildren, is shuttled among those very grandchildren--products of the "new" Russia--none of whom want her to stay with them since she's too much of a "burden" for them.
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- Cast:
- Olga Onishchenko , Anna Ovsyannikova , Sergey Gamov , Pavel Derevyanko
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Reviews
The Worst Film Ever
best movie i've ever seen.
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
at the first sigh, a story just for the Eastern public. because only a viewer from East Europe/ maybe from Mediteranean area/ could understand the nuances and the force of message. because the basic tool for discover its beauty is to know the status of grandmother in the family. she is the axis and the wise adviser and the source of joy and the educator and the keeper of the secrets, tradition and traces of the past, pieces from the treasure of family identity. this film is about the fall of this special status. and about the price for this event. result - a touching story about hope and sacrifice and faith and trust. and about the importance of roots. nothing more. but real useful. for see the life. and the other. in different light.
Interesting movie, presenting a glimpse into another culture, undergoing massive changes, affecting everyone. Nostalgic, for it presents scenes from our past - cars, home interiors, different appliances. Nostalgic, for the lucky ones among us have been brought up with the aid of a grandma/grandpa - and we miss them a lot now. And of course - Russian - the view, the snow, the music and the people - such a great country, such a powerful life! I enjoyed the film for all possible reasons, it moved and stirred a lot. IMHO - especially for over 30s, for we all remember who helped and loved us in our upbringing years, and feel so lonely without them. It offered me a strange view into so many souls, all so common to our own.
This is a made-for-HDTV film, and it shows. The cinematography itself is not great either, and the acting and direction are highly uneven (The title role is admirably played by Nina Shubina, but most of the cast is non-professional.) Put that down to the cost of getting the film made at all. Story background -- The film takes place in the Archangelsk region. After raising her family, Tosia raised her daughter Vera's four children while she and her husband were off working on the trains on two-week shifts. The grandchildren are raised, Tosia has sold her house and given them the proceeds, and lives with Vera and her husband. For a tragic reason, she's sent off to her widowed younger sister's, in a village. The sister breaks a hip and her daughter Lysa, a successful TV journalist, tries to put Granny (Babusya) up with her cousins (Tosia's grandchildren). She essentially fails. The object of the film, however, is not this story which, as others have noted, in one form or another is an ageless classic. Rather, it is the contrast between what may be called "old Russians", still centered on their village (mostly women and mostly old), and what the film calls "new Russians", the younger generation busy making it in the city, and which in ten or fifteen years has managed to perfectly learn to look out for numero uno. (Or perfectly unlearn humanity, as one "old Russian", Oleg (?), puts it to a new Russian.) The hardest blows aimed at Granny occur in her absence, addressed to Lysa, who in a sense stands for the audience. Lysa explains to Oleg that "the new Russians are the masters of *that* world". Oleg answers, "Are you sure you're part of *this* world, then?"The "old Russians'" daily life is carefully depicted. The film will interest those who are attracted by this depiction, and only then by the contrast with the "new Russian" class.
I say "Babusya" at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam. It's quite an entertaining movie, but the story takes too long to be told. The acting is good, as is the Russian scenery. The direction is quite good.The story of the film is its biggest flaw. It's nothing more than showing different relatives of "Granny", and how they all refuse to take her in. The movie is only 90 minutes long, but it seems so much longer because of this boring storyline.