User Reviews

Not a lot happens in 'Another Year': young Russian husband Yegor (Alexei Filimonov) and wife Zhenya (Nadya Lumpova) struggle to make ends meet, argue, giggle, paint their flat, go shopping for anoraks and have sex (female director Oxana Bychkova allowing Filimonov to get away with flashing merely the occasional nipple while Lumpova has to show breasts and backside). What would have been the ending of some films - the couple's divorce - occurs early in the second half of this one, with the rest of the time devoted to how the couple move on with their newly-separate lives.

Once I realised that there was no real central storyline, I enjoyed this. The little scenes between Yegor and Zhenya are played well, with the giddiness of new love gradually being replaced by familiarity and its close relative, discontentment. When we see them at work - Zhenya a graphic designer in a big, loud, office; Yegor a solitary taxi driver - we learn a little more about their characters. Both are sympathetic: while we can understand why Yegor finds Zhenya infuriating, we can also appreciate why Zhenya finds Yegor boring. This kitchen sink drama was one of my favourite films at the 2014 London Film Festival.

They jumped into marriage too soon. Zhenya is the more intelligent and the better educated, also the fun-loving one. She can appreciate art and culture and she strongly believes in perpetual improvement, be it career-building or home decoration. There's no doubt she loves her husband but she slowly realizes she's having more fun in the office among the like-minded people than at home.

Handsome Yegor is a melancholic type with simple tastes. He's content with spending his spare time at home or with a small circle of (similarly simple) friends. He takes his responsibility as a provider very seriously and makes rather good money as an illegal night-time cab driver. Certainly this is a dead-end job and a dangerous one, too. Not to mention the fact that they are often awake at different times. . . Still he expects praise from Zhenya but gets criticism instead. And he has nothing in common with the wife's friends and colleagues -- actually he does not dare to say anything in his country-boy dialect among them.

Then comes Olya, slightly older and much closer to Yegor culturally. They are not in love the way the married ones used to love each other, but Olya is sure she wants the man in her life and she knows how to treat one. Her traditional, slightly submissive ways are very good for Yegor's self-esteem.

Divorce happens, a fairly easy and friendly one. Life goes on but the ending leaves no doubt: they lost the love of their lives and this is the first spouse they will miss on their deathbeds.

This film does not try to achieve too much, but fulfills all its promises remarkably well. The story is so down-to-earth, credibility and attention to details matter a lot, and it is all in place. (While there are also some memorable symbolic moments, like the one when Zhenya struggles trying to throw away the heavy mattress she does not need anymore.) Cinematography is professional but very unobtrusive, music choices are often ironic. Do not expect as many smiles, this is a sad and eventually nostalgic story, but its passionate realism reminded me of Truffaut frequently.