Ya shagayu po Moskve

"I Am Walking Along Moscow" aka "Ya Shagayu Po Moskve" (1963) is a charming lyrical comedy directed by Georgi Daneliya in 1963 that was nominated for Golden Palm at Cannes Film Festival. Daneliya proved that it is possible to create a masterpiece in the most difficult genre of romantic comedy. Made by the team of young and incredibly talented artists that besides Daneliya included writer/poet Gennady Shpalikov, composer Andrei Petrov, and cinematographer Vadim Yusov (who had made four films with Andrei Tarkovski), and the dream cast of the talented actors even in the smaller cameos, "I Am Walking Along Moscow" keeps walking victoriously through the decades remaining deservingly one of the best and most beloved Russian comedies and simply one of the best Russian movies ever made. Funny and gentle, dreamy and humorous, romantic and realistic, the film is blessed with the eternal youth and will always take to the walk on the streets of Moscow new generations of the grateful viewers.

I would place it on the same level as Fellini's Roma or Woody's "Manhattan" - yes, I think it is that good and I see it as the love letter to the magnificent city on the Moskva River which used to by My city, too. It is about spring in Moscow of 1963, (in more ways than one), about youth, first love, smiles, sudden meetings and inevitable goodbyes. It takes place on the streets of Moscow, in its parks, subway stations, and movie theaters. It follows the "Moskvichi" and the guests of the city, young and middle-aged, romantic and tired, friendly and suspicious, happy and disappointed, wise and naive in the series of short vignettes and it introduces us to the characters whom we get to meet, to like, and to follow on their journey in the course of one long sunny rainy spring day.