Wedding in Malinovka

I'm not as fluent in Russian as I'd like to be, so a Russian friend suggested that I hone my limited skills by watching this movie: the characters' actions are simple and clear (and the plot is quite funny) even though I had difficulty following the Russian dialogue. I wasn't surprised to learn that 'Wedding in Malinovka' is based on an operetta: the behaviour of the characters in this comedy is certainly operatic. I viewed a print with German subtitles ('Hochzeit In Malinowka'), but I avoided reading them in order to see if I could decipher the Russian dialogue.

The film takes place during Russia's civil war between the Reds (Bolsheviks) and the Whites (Mensheviks). Andrejka and Yarinka are a young betrothed couple in the village of Malinovka, caught between the battle lines. Gritsian is the leader of a Menshevik band who are planning to attack the village. Yarinka (played by Valentina Lysenko, quite pretty) appeals to the local Bolshevik commander for his faction's help. The Bolsheviks quickly come up with a plan to save the village ... but the plan requires Yarinka to enter into a pretend marriage with Gritsian. The action climaxes in a drunken wedding feast.

There's a lot of singing and dancing here, most of it extraneous to the plot. I was quite surprised that this low-budget musical comedy reminded me of the very high-budget musical drama 'West Side Story'. In the latter film, the rival gangs clash more or less as equals but the audience are encouraged to identify with the Jets as the 'good' gang whilst perceiving the Sharks as foreign interlopers: the 'evil' gang. 'Wedding in Malinovka' was made by the Soviets, so naturally it depicts the Red army as courageous freedom fighters whilst showing the White army as drunken bandits and hooligans who use revolution as a mere pretence for looting and mayhem. From an objective viewpoint, the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks were pretty much moral equivalents ... but the Bolsheviks just happened to win the struggle between factions.

I was offended by this film's politics ... but not surprised by them, under the circumstances. The film is well-made on its low budget (though somewhat high by Soviet standards), and I laughed out loud several times. My rating for this one: 7 out of 10.