Alexey Uchitel's Progulka is probably the best mainstream film about today's Russia. Shot almost in real-time manner with a hand camera, it depictures Olga, a woman in early twenties strolling the downtown streets of modern Saint Petersburg accompanied by two young men.
Her first companion is Alexey, a typical modern Russian youth, easy-going, talkative and romantic, a modern variant of SaintPete intellectuals, who meets her on the street at the very beginning of the movie and takes a walk through the city with her.
Pyotr, his best friend, has lots more of man as compared to Alexey, joins the couple later in the movie to take the day-long with them as they walk near the Isaak's Cathedral of the Russia's North capital .
The scenery is perfect, as the three of them visit the very tourist places of SaintPete, though without paying much attention to monuments and cathedrals, just enjoying life and fooling around. The guys compete for Olga's attention, they walk, see the football fans, they take the tram, Alexey get his wallet stolen by gypsies, they laugh and quarrel.
In the end, it is an easy, amazing and definitely a worth seeing movie. Apart from most of the modern Russian film-making (with a few exceptions), it shows Russia can be an enjoyful place to live . It doesn't focus social problems, terrorism, police violence, and gangsters - it just steals a glance at a day in young mens' life, shows their optimism and happiness.
Maybe a bit sour at the end - well, Uchitel and Dunya Smirnova, the scriptwriter, had to invent something to end the trip somewhere (no one dies though, so life goes on and there is no need to shed a tear) - the movie is just a perfect example of what Russian traditionally low budget mainstream cinema (as compared to US standards) can do without advertising-like special effects, mafia shootings, and superheroes.
9 out of 10 to leave some space for further improvements.
