What makes it different from others?

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

This film has great music, acting and sets. Overall very good adaptation of the play. I enjoyed it immensely. The film centers around a young woman who comes from a noble family but has no dowry for suitors. It explores the changing situation in the mid 1800s among the classes. At this time there were 3 classes: the nobles, peasants and the emerging raznochintsy class. Many of the characters in the film are from the latter, and the focus upon wealth and social status is apparent. In summary, this is a great film which really shows the changing social structures of the 1850s Russia. I would highly recommend this film to anybody interested in romance or Russian history.

For me, the movie was good and had a lot of great qualities within it. This story of self discovery takes the audience on a roller coaster of emotions throughout the movie.Larisa Dmitrievna (Larisa Guzeyeva) and her family would have been referred to as the class of the raznochintsy's. They were not peasants, but they were not nobles (they would have had noble descent). Surgey Sergeyevich (Nikita Mikhalkov) was another example of this class. There is also parts of the movie where we see Surgey act kindly towards any social class, including the gypsies, which in Russia's history was around the time when the peasants and serfs of were emancipated. One of the main themes that I noticed was the social obligation that people of the time period had to deal with, such as the women marrying someone with money, or the men marrying a woman with a dowry. Women were usually seen more as objects with money rather than real people. That is clearly shown with Larisa, as she realizes she's only an object for people to auction off. There isn't too much that happens with "true love", because the love the characters had for each other was either lust, or only for money. As far as character development goes, I think that Juliy Kapitonovich(Andrei Myagkov) has the most. Throughout the movie he is seen as the "little man", and he stays that way more or less, but shows a side of his character you wouldn't expect. He starts off as a quiet man trying to win Larisa's heart, but he is constantly shut down. By the end of the movie, he's showing his anger and shows his true character when he tries to win back Larisa. All together, I enjoyed the movie and thought the acting was done very well. I also liked the historical significance seen throughout it.

Ok, this was my first Soviet-era Russian movie, so it was difficult to assess by my (western) standards. By those standards the characters seemed simplistic and exaggerated, and the screenplay cliché-ridden. Also, by those standards, the cinematography came across as ill-developed for the day.However, 'Cruel Romance' was something of a revelation for me. Just as the American Dream is expressed repeatedly (ad nauseam?) in Hollywood movies, I had a strong feeling after watching this movie that the 'Russian Dream' had been laid bare for my comprehension at last. The worship of impossible romance combined with blindness to all practical considerations and the expression of that romance in the gift of expensive baubles and other grand gestures are the main threads running through this story. And, despite the fact that 'Cruel Romance' is a Soviet-era depiction of 19th century Tsarist Russia, these are cultural traits to be found in abundance in modern-day Russians. For this reason watching the movie was a treat to me personally, and henceforth I will view my Russian friends and colleagues with a slightly higher degree of understanding.Also, I hope to see many more Russian movies in the future !

AKA The Cruel RomanceAbsolutely one the the very BEST film ever made. Powerful drama thanks to Orstrovsky, and the amazing director and his heavenly cast. Hail to Alisa Frejndlikh, who appeared in his comedy "The Office Romance". Everyone love movie as a form of art should not miss it.