|
VODKA LEMON Send This Review to a Friend
Seeing how other people live can be one of the charms of filmgoing, which comes to mind with “Vodka Lemon,” an odd import that is set in a village in post-Soviet Armenia. It is cold and snowy, and its inhabitants attempt to survive in poverty. This film tells about making a human connection of affection in the midst of it all, with a touch of whimsy by writer-director Hiner Saleem.
The principals are a widower and a widow, each lonely and struggling. Hamo (Romen Avinian) is hoping for money from his son in Paris, but it turns out the son wants money from him. The son still at home drinks excessively but Hamo also has an attractive granddaughter.
One day Hamo befriends Nina (Lala Sarkissian), the widow, on the run-down bus operating in the area and it is the beginning of a possibility for both. There is tenderness in the shyness depicted and the gradual warming between them. Nina works at a bar from which the film derives its name. In enabling us to get to know the characters, the filmmaker also gives us an indelible portrait of the surroundings and the difficulties of daily life.
Saleem lets his imagination loose with occasional surreal touches, such as a piano moving swiftly on a snowy road, touches that elevate the film to a joyful level as problems are worked out with warmth and dignity. A New Yorker Films release.
|