Liza Yankovskaya, like a child, climbed onto a chair and read a poem before the premiere

For the film “Frau” she was awarded the award for Best Actress

At the Mayak festival of contemporary Russian cinema that ended in Gelendzhik, Liza Yankovskaya received the award for best actress. She presented in absentia the film “Frau” by Lyubov Mulmenko, which was also noted for its screenplay. Lisa couldn’t come to the festival, but she sent a video postcard, where, climbing on a chair like a little girl, she read poems about Gagarin, a cat, and grandma’s closet, addressed, as she said, to Lyubka Mulmenko.

“Frau” is a simple and understandable picture about love, very different from the unnecessarily complex searches of many others presented in the “Mayak” competition. Lyubov Mulmenko came to directing from screenwriting. In this profession, she has become a fashionable author, although this is not the point, but the fact that she is a master of dialogue, subtly able to convey complex states. Mulmenko wrote the scripts for the films “Nadezhda Plant” by Natalia Meshchaninova and “Another Year” by Oksana Bychkova, which participated in the Rotterdam Film Festival, “Loyalty” and “What’s My Name” by Nigina Saifullaeva (the latter was shown in San Sebastian). For “Coupe N6” by Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen, she wrote Russian dialogues and co-wrote the script for “Unclenching Fists” by Kira Kovalenko. Both films were awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. Recently, at “Korocha” in Kaliningrad, we saw Oksana Bychkova’s “Nina,” filmed in Georgia, again based on the script by Lyuba Mulmenko.

“Frau” is her second directorial work after her debut “Danube”, filmed in Serbia and which received the White Elephant film critics award. There were a lot of expectations associated with the new film, but the story of a completely ordinary and at the same time outlandish love brought slight disappointment. However, after a few days an aftertaste appeared, and this is worth a lot.

The main character Vanya is an eccentric guy, a retro man who dreams of starting a family. He works at the Hunter and Fisherman store and goes fishing with friends. He keeps a notebook in his freezer called “An Ice Tale.” Vanya was played by Vadik Korolev, an amazing artist and singer from the group OQJAV, for whom filming Frau, as he himself admitted, was soul-saving. Vadik says that every second he knew where he was, meaning Perm, his hometown. He made his debut in the film “The Man from Podolsk” by Semyon Serzin and was a real discovery there. All subsequent roles are like echoes of her. His best is yet to come. Vanya addresses all women as Frau. How could it be otherwise? Vanya believes: “A woman is a higher being, and I am obliged to serve her as expected.” And then he says: “To be honest, I’m looking forward to fishing.” Lyuba Mulmenko has nuance, her dialogues are precise and very funny, no matter how serious things are being discussed.

The ballerina of the Perm Opera and Ballet Theater enters into the following dialogue: “I’m getting married.” – “For a good person?” – “Practically for a saint.” The saint is Vanya. Once he got to see “Giselle”, he saw his “beautiful lady” – ballerina Christina, played by the fragile Liza Yankovskaya. He brings her a bouquet of cornflowers and gives her a short lecture at the service entrance about the fact that cornflowers come in blue and red. Then he brings cornflowers again and quickly tries to run away. And he would have run away if Christina had not detained him, and without that nothing would have happened.

Thus begins their strange romance. Kristina lives with her grandmother (Lyudmila Chirkova) and mother (Inga Oboldina) – single women, and this prospect does not appeal to her. Kristina’s relationship with a doctor and someone else’s husband (a convincing performance by Alexei Rozin, who takes on the role of a married suitor) is hopeless, and she really wants family happiness. In addition, the ballerina has a short eyelid. What’s next? Complete unknown. And Vanya is not like everyone else, strange, of course, but what a problem. He is reliable and thorough, listens to old records, re-reads The Legend of Thiel. His apartment, inherited from his grandmother, is old-fashioned, but why change the furniture if it is still strong. I just want to add: “Made in the USSR.”

Christina will move in with her ridiculous boyfriend with a monstrous stuffed tiger and try to arrange her life. She is also not like everyone else – nervous, demonic and very beautiful. They are not a couple at first glance. One can only guess what their fate will be. Sometimes it’s easier to break up than to be together. Vanya will leave a note to his beloved: “I miss being alone.” So the ending is open – you can speculate.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 29134 dated October 12, 2023

Newspaper headline:
Liza Yankovskaya read poetry from a chair