The most recent Russian film I watched was called Я люблю тебя (translated into English as "you I love", though I'm not sure why the word order was switched. Perhaps to make it stand out a bit more)



The reason I watched it was because I was intrigued to see what I believe is the first film in Russia to openly deal with the subject of homosexuality (someone correct me if I'm wrong), so I was curious to see how it would work.

Overall, I enjoyed the film though I wouldn't say it's anything particularly special except for its significance in Russian film history. The two main male actors are Damir Badmaaev as a Kalmyk day worker called Uloomji and Evgeny Koryakovsky as office worker Tim and they are very good. Well portrayed characters enhanced by the fact they are very contrasting, above all culturally. So, not only does the film deal with homosexuality in Russia, it also deals with cultural differences within Russia as well. Does it do this well? I'm not sure. I would have to be a native to be a true judge of that. The portrayal of Uloomji's culture is hardly flattering and I'm not sure whether this is an accurate portrayal of his traditionalist heritage or merely an outdated portrayal. Indeed, the whole "parents shamed by gay son" has become very cliché and, although such a storyline can be pulled off well, I don't think it's particulary good in this film. It ends up being very simplistic with very hollow portrayal's of Uloomji's family. In fact, they get in the way of what was already a decent story. I'd be fascinated to see what a native had to say about this particular film, so if anyone has seen it, I'm open to other reviews.

Another qualm I have with the film is that, despite being the first film to deal with homosexuality, the main character Tim is more bisexual, suggesting that Russia is not necessarily becoming more tolerant to homosexuality in itself. That is to say, homosexuality is fine as long as the man in question is also attracted to women. Then again, perhaps the film is a critique of this.

So, I did enjoy it, though I expect better films to come from Russia of this genre in the future.