How a movie by Soviet director Vladimir Menshov conquered the WORLD

On February 11, 1980, the premiere of the movie ‘Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears’ took place. However, the Soviet two-part movie about the fates of three girlfriends and the search for true love might not have appeared. After all, no one believed in the success of director Vladimir Menshov’s idea. But, in the end, his movie was shown at the Soviet box office for two straight years and among its foreign viewers was none other than U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

Valentin Chernykh's script could have also gone unnoticed. The melodramatic story paled against the background of stories about labor exploits and war dramas. Menshov almost turned Chernykh down, but he noticed the unusual plot – the heroine, going to bed, winds her alarm clock and wakes up… 20 years later!

The director significantly expanded the script, but a new problem arose: the actors he invited did not want to be involved in what they considered a run-of-the-mill movie. In the end, the main role was played by Vera Alentova, the director's wife, her friends portrayed characters Irina Muravyova and Raisa Ryazanova, while the role of Gosha was played by the already legendary star of the movie ‘The Cranes Are Flying’ Alexei Batalov.

No one expected that the movie would become a national favorite, but, in the first year of its release, a reported 90 million people watched it! And then, the "passable melodrama" beat Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece ‘The Shadow Warrior’ and ‘The Last Metro’ by Francois Truffaut to win an Oscar for ‘Best Foreign Language Film’ in 1981. True, Vladimir Menshov's Soviet superiors did not let him go to the ceremony itself and he learned that the movie won the prestigious award from the news.

The Soviet movie was purchased by more than a hundred countries – everyone wanted to know how the young director's movie had conquered the Academy of Film. And U.S. President Ronald Reagan watched it before negotiations with Mikhail Gorbachev to try to better understand the mysterious Russian soul.

And, after 45 years, ‘Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears’ has not lost one bit of its charm and special sincere intonation. And the song ‘Alexandra’, which was written especially for it by Dmitry Sukharev, Yuri Vizbor and Sergey Nikitin, is recognizable from the first notes!

Credit: Vladimir Menshov/Mosfilm, 1980

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