everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Better Late Then Never

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Beautiful! I realize not everyone will enjoy this, but if you can look at filmography as an art piece this movie is fantastic! This movie drew me in from the very beginning and I couldn't stop watching it. I hate to admit that I rarely watch a subtitled movie without numerous recommendations, but this one had me hooked. The cinematography was alluring and the plot kept me anticipating-something! It's very lifelike and the meek annoying character grew on me quickly. I started to empathize the exact moment that she mentioned empathy for a pathetic person. The insecurity of Alice and her growth as a character and woman is in sync! I cant wait to watch it with my husband and get his take on it. Watch it!

Or if you could like Rusalka. I must say that this was the first movie for a long time that shocked me . Yes, I was shocked, because I liked Rusalka very much, maybe because she looks a bit like one of my children. I expected a light-footed modern comedy with some Russian strangeness and heart, a better version of the overrated "Amelie", and I was not disappointed. For the first 108 Minutes. Then - obviously announced by movie language - the disaster comes in such a laconic manner, is this typical Russian ? Maybe that's life, but the break-in of the reality into this humorous fairy tale is a serious break of the movie with its own intentions. Rusalka's senseless death (in movie context) is announced by the age counting inserts from the beginning, of course, but the solution is quite an unsatisfying one, because it doesn't fit to the movie and lets me behind with questioning the sense of the story and watching it. But I didn't vote lower than the movie deserves because of the ending I personally hate. I have no problems with bad endings basically, and I can even honor when I am shocked where I didn't want or expect.Rather, the script lacks after about 1 hour or more from speed and originality, so that the movie began to bore me a bit and I asked myself where the story will evolve to keep my interest. I decided that the script writer herself didn't know it, because her inspiration had been worn out in some way. I got the same feeling as reading "Oblomov", where the first 100 pages are simply unbeatable, but the remainder of the book is mediocre.Rusalka did not so bad in telling the old Andersen story in a complete modern and unusual way, taking away this and that and adding instead this and that. But it looses the view for following the potential of its own genius. Thats why it became no masterwork but only a nice and sad story.My conclusion is 9 stars for good ideas, humor, mood, cinematography and the actress, minus 3 for the lack in story advancement. Maybe I am too hard against a very good movie, after all, it felt like a climax lost during a great intercourse.

Mermaid is an awesomely bizarre tale of a strange girl called Alisa, who, as a little girl, lives by the beach with her comically grotesque mother and grandmother and pines for her father to come and rescue her . Later on in her life she is forced to confront reality when she travels to Moscow with her family, and as a teenager, finds out all about all the wonders of the world, including love, jobs and friendship, all seen through an impossibly optimistic and offbeat sensibility. Mermaid plays like the second coming of Amelie, and everything about it is utterly charming; the fantastically upbeat, jazzy score, the dreamy cinematography tinged with realism, the quirky scenarios, but mostly the utterly charismatic and awesome central performances from the two girls playing Alisa, who like Audrey Tatou before them, will make you fall in love. Alisa is such an endearingly odd character, charmingly offbeat and naive, while remaining startlingly independent and fierce. A last act stumble provoked by a tangle of superfluous characters dampens the charm of the film somewhat,and it meanders in parts, but on the whole Mermaid is an almost note-perfect film that will leave you with a dreamy smile on your face and a longing for days of lost innocence.

This beautiful picture represents the loveliest trend of the modern Russian cinema (that largely consists of cheap action movies and lachrymose dramas) - a definite piece of art and a work of an Author, a story that truthfully and painfully reflects city life from the confused point of view of an outsider, dreamer, youngster. "Rusalka" is often compared to "Progulka" (2003) and "Piter FM" (2006), as in this respect these films are kindred to "Rusalka", never mentioning the fact that they all star Yevgeni Tsyganov - the new Russian Gael García Bernal type. However, watching "Rusalka" aches more than two before-mentioned pictures, for it doesn't lie for the sake of good mood. "Rusalka" is sometimes also called "Amélie Poulain in Moscow" because of the expressive and charming character of the heroine who believes that life is a beautiful and never-ending mystery; however, "Rusalka" goes farther than "Amélie", openly showing that City is not only a place of romance and unexpected adventures, but in fact a get-together of very very lonely people who find each other to remain alone. "Such things do happen in megapoles. Seriously, no big deal. Such things do happen." This might hurt.