The Denver Post
January 7, 2005 Friday
FINAL EDITION
Village, warm movie
by Lisa Kennedy Denver Post Film Critic
“Why is it called Vodka Lemon when it tastes like almonds?” asks a
customer.
“That’s Armenia,” replies Nina, a lovely, 50-year- old bartender at
the Vodka Lemon.
With its ramshackle walls and open-air entrance, the establishment is
more akin to a beach-side refreshment stand. Only the weather is
decidedly brisk – if Nina (Lala Sarkissian) is dropping bottles, it’s
probably because her hands are frozen.
Nina’s customer accepts her answer and walks away, bottle in hand. So
it goes in this part of Russian Armenia, where absurdities are
commonplace.
In writer-director Hiner Saleem’s celebration of a village’s people,
visual non-sequiturs abound and natives of this sub-zero locale don’t
bat an eye.
The first time a horse and its rider canter through the frame, one
easily imagines it as a metaphor for the cavalry coming. But the next
time they gallop through, and the time after that, it becomes clear
that there’s little rescue from the Cold village, warm movie