San Diego Union Tribune, CA
Jan 14 2005
‘Vodka Lemon’: Dry comedy via Armenia
By David Elliott
Union-Tribune Movie Critic
The red of communism has bleached from post-Soviet Armenia, and the
hills are white with dense snow. In “Vodka Lemon,” often penurious
rustics scuffle for U.S. dollars, hope for cash from relatives in the
West, and sell off heirlooms.
Hiner Saleem’s dry, wintry film is a gentle hug for Armenia as an
outpost of endurance; life is all coping. Widowed Hamo (Romen
Avinian) is in mourning and going broke, but has the time and vigor
to shyly court a lady (Lala Sarkissian) who sells vodka to
half-numbed truckers on a desolate road.
The tone is one of mildly mournful comedy, of a carpet gone
threadbare yet still richly colored. When the vendor is asked why
Vodka Lemon doesn’t taste at all like lemon, her reply is a sobering
shrug: “It’s Armenia.”
