Great Film overall

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Chicago journalist in Moscow, the American news correspondent to the Soviet Union, becomes smitten with a bubbly young woman who has an elderly benefactor but no working papers (she sells her body to make ends meet); it doesn't take much for him to convince her that capitalism suits her better than communism. Terrible vehicle for Goldie Hawn, who nevertheless was reportedly quite proud of this misbegotten romantic drama, adapted from the book by George Feifer. Hawn, speaking (and singing!) with a wobbly Russian accent, is still easier to take than Hal Holbrook, more cranky and nasal than usual. Anthony Hopkins shows them both up as Hawn's flamboyant friend, although there isn't much of a role there. Filmed in Vienna, the picture certainly looks good, but the characters are simply not engaging. *1/2 from ****

A love story based on a novel by George Feifer, The Girl From Petrovka doesn't totally work but it doesn't totally fail either. The unfamiliar backdrop of Cold War-era Moscow - where paranoia and secrecy could be the difference between free life or a stint in a Siberian labour camp – adds something new and interesting to an otherwise familiar 'odd-couple' romance. The film benefits too from good performances, especially Hal Holbrook as the male lead, Goldie Hawn as the female lead, and Anthony Hopkins as a secretive wheeler-dealer who is a friend to them both. There is a remarkable story about Hopkins' role in the film which goes like this. When he learned he had got the part, he spent a day trawling through the second-hand bookshops of London in search of the original George Feifer novel which he wanted to read to get a better idea of the character. His search proved unsuccessful so he headed to the railway station to catch a train home… and there, on a seat, lay a discarded copy of the very book he had been looking for. More extraordinary still, when he opened it he discovered it had Feifer's name inside, and was a personal copy the author had mislaid some years earlier! American journalist Joe (Hal Holbrook) is a correspondent in Russia during the Cold War. Mourning the recent death of his wife, he decides to sell her belongings and asks his friend Kostya (Anthony Hopkins) to help him find a buyer. While selling off the things at a sort of unofficial bric-a-brac sale, Joe meets beautiful and mysterious ballerina Oktyabrina (Goldie Hawn). Oktyabrina lives in Moscow illegally, without the necessary papers, and runs the continual risk of being captured and sent to a labour camp by the authorities. Despite this, she is a vivacious and free-spirited individual whose carefree breeziness quickly attracts Joe. Beneath the façade, though, her personality proves a conundrum – outwardly warm yet privately stand- offish; eager to love yet simultaneously afraid of it. Eventually they do fall in love, but their relationship draws unwanted attention and leads to an unhappy outcome for the young ballerina.Nicely scored by Henry Mancini and grandly shot by Vilmos Zsigmond, the film is pleasant fare despite its rather lowly critical reputation. Holbrook is more of a character-actor than a leading man, and certainly not your typical romantic lead… nevertheless he is very good as the lonely and cynical reporter living in a place and a manner far removed from home. Hawn is surprisingly good too as the freewheeling ballerina, a rare serious role for her (complete with decent accent). Sometimes the script is a little hard to follow, especially since the ultra-secret and paperwork-obsessed aspect of Russian life depicted here altered dramatically when the Berlin Wall fell and the Cold War came to an end. One can't help but suspect some familiarity with the book - or, at least, a detailed grasp of communist policies and lifestyles at that time - might be necessary for the viewer to fully appreciate the finer points of several scenes. The film's downbeat climax certainly packs an emotional wallop, however… and overall it provides a diverting couple of hours' viewing. A likable curiosity.

I didn't know much about this when I picked it up. The fact that I haven't ever heard of a film before doesn't necessarily mean that it's poor, and I enjoy discovering the overlooked gems of recent time as well as older releases. Unfortunately, that approach can also lead to finding average nothings like this, that just happen to have landed talented actors. It is kind of funny to see Hopkins be so animated, I can't think of many other roles where that is so; he's usually so subtle and downplayed. And you can't help but fall for Hawn, she is so lively and fun. There are some reasonably developed characters that are mostly credible. The editing and cinematography are fine. This didn't grab me or particularly have me engaged at any point. Now, I realize that this was made before the wall fell... still, seriously, OK, we get it, Soviet Russia sucks, quit hammering it home. Several of these problems exist in America, too, y'know, like drinking merely to get through the day and being unhappy even though you supposedly have everything that you "should" ever want. This is a cheap and see-through piece of propaganda, and it actually loses all of its credibility, in spite of having strong points. The story has nothing new to offer. I recommend this solely to the biggest fans of those who appear in this. 5/10

A romantic Tragedy with comic elements, this underrated early Goldie Hawn feature is set in Russia during the Cold War (a very serious and cynical place). Goldie's conflicted character, Oktyabrina, appears mostly as a silly young woman, beautiful but fickle. While she is very interested in older men, there are also signs that she has been deeply hurt by them. Through most of the movie she is a puzzle and a pain, especially to her co-star (Hal Holbrook as Joe, an older American journalist), who has trouble seeing through her carefree facade. What is wrong with her? Does she feel unworthy? Is she too jaded? Can she overcome her issues? Her behavior regarding willingness to risk and sacrifice is both fascinating and informative. But perhaps Soviet Russia is simply too brutal a place for love. Will Joe give up on her?A good 'chick flick', this film also has interesting Cold War elements such as "official truth" (pravda) and the relationships between Oktyabrina's men which lead me to rate it as a 'date movie' also. Definitely worth seeing, this love story breaks the stereotype, showing a woman running from intimacy. Simultaneously, it examines the timeless question 'if you can't feel innocent, how can you fall in love?'