Reviews

the title tells the story: 2 people (igor, an ex-athlete aimlessly living and chasing rubles to get drunk and vera, an ugly duck librarian) try to find there luck by planning to fall in love with each other by means of "psychological conditioning". intelligent, funny and heartwarming movie from 1982. the movie was show as part of a Oleg Yankovsky retrospective at filmfest muenchen 2003.

funny idea for a plot line: the mother of two kids in their early 20s in eastern germany in 1989 falls into a coma and misses the fall of the berlin wall. being a `believing` socialist it would be too big a shock for her health to hear about the collapse of communism. so her son decides to take her home (she has to lay in bed) and play as if nothing ever happened. consequently he has to create all the things that don´t exist anymore (food, clothes,...)

a drama with a lot of comedy and great actors (most notably in a supporting role Chulpan Khamatova) develops.

very good movie about the unbelievable but true story about a bank manager who misapplies money for his gambling problem. great acting from the whole cast, a unique and consistent style and an entertaining book. PS Hoffman is so convincing in the role of the agonized soul that it´s hard to believe that it´s not close to him ...