‘You I Love’ plays homophobia as a joke

The opening sequences of Olga Stolpovskaya and Dmitry Troitsky’s glossy “You I Love” suggest that the filmmakers are intent on creating the impression that their romantic comedy could just as easily be unfolding in New York as in Moscow. The settings are sleek, modern and upscale, accented with glimpses of towering vintage landmark buildings. Its stars, Lubov Tolkalina and Evgeny Koryakovsky, are young and attractive.

Tolkalina’s Vera is a TV newscaster, rich and famous, and Koryakovsky’s Timofey is an ad executive, responsible for creating TV commercials. Timofey comes to Vera’s rescue when her purse is snatched, with romance soon following. Then one day, Uloomji (Damir Badmaev), a free-spirited young Kalmyk zoo worker, recklessly walking on top of a fence, tumbles off and onto the hood of Timofey’s car. Not long after, Uloomji is tumbling into Timofey’s arms. Vera is momentarily taken aback but decides she can handle a menage a trois.

So far OK, but when it comes to thinking up complications to keep their plot perking, the filmmakers slide into superficial and disjointed, drawn-out developments. Uloomji’s uncle (Victor Shevidov), a burly, macho government chauffeur, is, not surprisingly, appalled to find his nephew in such an unconventional situation. Vera responds by pretending to the uncle that she is in fact a transsexual, which triggers some nasty consequences for Uloomji that the filmmakers consider amusing.

“You I Love” suggests that Russia is such a progressive society these days that homophobia can be treated in jaunty fashion as a joke, something that’s harmless and transitory. This strains credibility, but in any event in this era of gay backlash in the U.S. it is difficult to find funny a film that takes a serious issue so nonchalantly. Comedy is ever an effective weapon against hypocrisy and oppression, but to be effective it has to cut a lot sharper and deeper than it does in “You I Love.”

*

‘You I Love’

MPAA rating: Unrated

Times guidelines: Adult themes and situations

Damir Badmaev...Uloomji

Lubov Tolkalina...Vera Kirillova

Evgeny Koryakosky...Timofey Pechorin

Victor Shevidov...Uncle Vanya

A Picture This! release of a Malevich production. Directors-producers Olga Stolpovskaya, Dmitry Troitsky. Screenplay by Stolpovskaya. Cinematographer Alexandr Simonov. Editors Sergey Pluschenko, Oleg Raevsky. Music Richardas Norvila. Costumes Anastassia Nefedova. Art director Konstantin Vitovsky. In Russian, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour, 23 minutes.

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