A Russian here. A lot of fellow Russians criticize the movie for a) bad characters and focus on bad side of the national character, b) "dumb" comedy. I have to say, a) the movie is obviously made from the point of view of a more educated and cultured person, which is easy to share, and why not laugh at dumb people once in a while anyway? b) Yes, the humor is rather sit-com-yelling, but it fits the situation well, and it only builds tension, rather than other Russian movies that build tension and then discharge it by just calming down or making smart meta-comments aimed at the viewer.
A young couple wants a modern-like modest and picturesque wedding, while their parents want a traditional drink-a-bucket-of-vodka-have-cossacks-choir-invite-respectful-men-and-a-star-presenter ceremony. All these characters and situations are very, very plausible.
The plot gets only tenser with time, with all quite real things thrown in together: the authoritative traditional-family father yelling, the lower-class relatives, that you never see in your life, coming and making a mess, etc.
All of this is only slightly an exaggeration, and the editor made a good job making it fun. Although the humor is a usual Russian situation comedy, it's done pretty well, without the typical self-proud hey-viewer-look-how-we're-smarter-than-them winking that other Russian comedy movies usually do.
The movie obviously borrows a lot from Lars von Trier's "Idiots", but that does not distract, but rather adds to the atmosphere. The only drawback was that the ending scene is really pathetic, striking-out all the tension and momentum that was built up before. This is very Russian to say "no, forget all that". Lars von Trier, in "The Idiots", on the contrary, after a lot of spassing, makes a huge leap forward and opens you up a very dreadful situation to think about.
A young couple wants a modern-like modest and picturesque wedding, while their parents want a traditional drink-a-bucket-of-vodka-have-cossacks-choir-invite-respectful-men-and-a-star-presenter ceremony. All these characters and situations are very, very plausible.
The plot gets only tenser with time, with all quite real things thrown in together: the authoritative traditional-family father yelling, the lower-class relatives, that you never see in your life, coming and making a mess, etc.
All of this is only slightly an exaggeration, and the editor made a good job making it fun. Although the humor is a usual Russian situation comedy, it's done pretty well, without the typical self-proud hey-viewer-look-how-we're-smarter-than-them winking that other Russian comedy movies usually do.
The movie obviously borrows a lot from Lars von Trier's "Idiots", but that does not distract, but rather adds to the atmosphere. The only drawback was that the ending scene is really pathetic, striking-out all the tension and momentum that was built up before. This is very Russian to say "no, forget all that". Lars von Trier, in "The Idiots", on the contrary, after a lot of spassing, makes a huge leap forward and opens you up a very dreadful situation to think about.