Irony of Fate (Part One) (1/9/19)

     What struck me initially about this film is from the animation to the opening credits, throughout the first 5 minutes and possibly more of the film, not one flesh and blood human is shown. All we get glimpses of are the caricatures of the architects and bureaucrats, and dozens of shots of buildings that all blend together. Followed by shots of towns that all blend together as a voice over explains why this is so. It seems dystopian, rows and rows of the same blank faced houses sitting in piles of snow. Everything is grey or white, and yet there are so many windows to look out onto this scene we are presented with. But we are reassured by the voice over that we are not meant be saddened by this. Although the architect in the animation seemed upset that his work was stripped of its originality and artistic voice, the voice over reassures us that this one mans discomfort will lead to the comfort of thousands. Nowhere you go will you feel lost in this world. Nowhere you go will the buildings dwarf you and make you feel strange. Everywhere you go you will be home. You will never be lost where all the streets have the same name. This is ironic as the first flesh and blood human we see in the film is lost and looking for directions. So much for never being lost. The opening to this film is definitely one of the scenes that stood out to me as it was really full of backstories and irony. I also really liked the last line of the opening credits where the voice over says something along the lines of this is a peculiar story that could only happen here and only on New Years Eve. It almost reminded me of the Twilight Zone, here is a version of earth only slightly different and here is a story in that world. However I do not know much about Russia, I do not know if this is how it was under communism or if it is supposed to be exaggerated. This opening drew me in quickly and made me very interested to see where the story goes.

     From there on out a comedy of errors ensues and honestly it got pretty hard to not groan when another misunderstanding took place between characters. But I hate when people do that during movies so I resisted. An idea that began floating around in my head the second that Zhenya stumbled into the elevator in Lenningrad was the idea of synchronicity, or the occurrence of two events simultaneously that seem to be significantly connected but have no real discernible casual connection. Like the collective unconscious but less in the mind more in the real world with events and happenings. The synchronicity in this film is obviously the two characters Zhenya and Nadya living hundreds of miles in the same apartment, on the same street, in the same building, with the same furniture, with the same lover coming over at 11 to propose, who both play guitar, who are assumed to be cheaters and who are both of noble professions. This is the other interesting aspect of the film to me. Its a bit like a doppelganger, or a copy. If this film wasn't a comedy it could easily be played off as existentially terrifying, like it is in Dennis Villeneuve's Enemy or the horror film Lake Mungo. It does remind me of these films in a strange way. In a lot of cultures seeing your doppleganger means bad luck and in some cases death. This stands true for Nadya who's "doppleganger" was drunkenly thrust upon her, resulting in terrible events to follow. The same goes for Zhenya.

     It is also an interesting thought as in this film it seems that opposites really attract. Nadya is kind and loving, a teacher who loves her students and is a very patient and kind person, she is with Ippolit who is angry and loud and short tempered. Nadya found Zhenya and didn't attack him or call the police she was mad but not as much as you should be when a strange man is asleep in your house. If Zhenya had decided to crash at Ippolit's the movie would have been over 30 minutes in and it would have ended with a funeral. Same goes for Zhenya and Galya, Zhenya is this dopey and shy doctor and from the little we know about Galya she seems young and beautiful and social, I feel Zhenya's confusion when he wonders why she chose him. This opposites attract theme going on in the relationships in this film is directly opposed by the similarities between Zhenya and Nadya. They get along well enough and seem to be relatively similar with a few differences. The main difference I see that really stood out to me was the lines where they were talking about what their mistakes cost and I feel this line has a larger implication in the story as a whole. Zhenya says as a surgeon his mistakes have big implications and can cause people great distress, it is immediate and it is all on him. Nadya says that her mistakes are just as costly but you do not see the results immediately and that can be for better or for worse. This line not only goes for their profession but for their New Years Eve as well, Zhenya directly caused Nadya and Ippolit distress, he alone ruined their night and possibly their relationship we have yet to see where that goes. But Nadya answering Galya's call had the same exact consequences but they were not as immediately and they were not fully her fault, as it was really Zhenya's for telling Galya the story of his ex-lover in Lenningrad. I just thought this was an interesting detail.

     Honestly I hope that Ippolit is behind the ringing door that Part One of the film closed off with as I really don't know how much I'd like for opposites to stop attracting. The comedy of errors thus far has been so meticulously planned and the misunderstandings happen perfectly. There are so many set ups to error you don't even realize happened until way later in the film. I feel that if all that work in the set up leads to Zhenya and Nadya being happy with their circumstances I think I will honestly be a bit disappointed. We will just have to see how it ends. I feel if it were an American film it would definitely end happily with Nadya and Zhenya accepting their fate and living happily together. But, this is a Russian film, it may end a bit more complicated than an American one. However, I could still that ending happening however, with the message of opposites don't attract, it would fit with the idea of the identical towns and buildings. Thus far I really haven't seen too many differences between this and a GOOD American comedy, the comedy translates through the language well and the events that happen in it are in a strange way universal. Like the Twilight Zone I mentioned earlier, this COULD happen to one of us, there could be a copy of us living somewhere and do not know. However the narrator at the beginning did say that this could only happen right in this place and right on this day. Even with the we can still sympathize and relate and I think that is a sign of a very good movie.