channel4.com
23 Sept 2004
Vodka Lemon
90 minutes
France/Italy/Switzerland/Armenia (2003)
PG
starringRomen Avinian , Lala Sarkissian , Ivan Franek , Armen Marutyan ,
Astrik Avaguian
directed by Hiner Saleem
VODKA LEMON FILM REVIEW
A group of Kurdish villagers face an ever-escalating struggle to survive in
the wake of Communism’s fall. Quirky and moving drama from Armenia
Opening with the surreal sight of a musician towed through a snowy landscape
in his own bed, Vodka Lemon is a quietly ironic portrait of survival in a
post-Communist world. It’s a theme that’s been addressed in films like Good
Bye Lenin! and Since Otar Left, but here the tone is much darker, the story
following lost souls trapped in a country where everything comes down to
what you’re prepared to sell.
The location is a snowbound Armenian village, slowly dying thanks to the
absence of any subsidies from the local government. The Kurd inhabitants
find that freedom from socialism means they’re trapped in an even more
meagre existence than before. With job opportunities drying up and most of
their young relations moving away, they either drown their sorrows in the
bittersweet taste of vodka lemon, or make money by methodically selling the
relics of their past – everything from furniture to their prized army
uniforms.
The main thread of the film concerns elderly Hamo (Avinian) and his daily
visits to the local cemetery where he tends the grave of his wife and tells
her all his news – none of which is ever good. Between his family’s
arguments and the constant disappointments of having to sell his possessions
for a fraction of their true value, life finally begins to look up for Hamo.
Through a charming sequence of shared glances, he builds a hesitant
relationship with Nina (Sarkissian), a beautiful widow whose visits to the
cemetery always coincide with his own.
There may be a soft centre to this line of the plot, but the rest of the
film doesn’t flinch from depicting the despair of the characters’ situation,
from the piano-playing daughter who turns out to be prostituting herself, to
an arranged marriage that goes horribly wrong. The landscapes around the
characters are stark and unforgiving, endless plains of snow that the
director uses as a stage to give the exterior scenes a magical, theatrical
tone.
There are welcome moments of deadpan humour heavily reminiscent of Finnish
director Aki Kaurismäki, but the story struggles against the deliberately
slow pacing, while the gradual escalation of tragedy eventually overbalances
the film. Brilliantly performed by local Armenian actors, it’s a tale that
touches the emotions, but the bleak tone is only slightly rectified by a
dreamlike, optimistic ending that suggests hope will never truly die.
Verdict
Like the titular drink, Vodka Lemon mixes sweet with sour. The downbeat mood
and the offbeat, magical realist style mean it’s a cocktail that’s unlikely
to please everyone.