Film Reviews

Vodka Lemon

• Rating:
• Director: Hiner Saleem
• Starring: Armen Maroutyan
• Details: Arm/ 88 mins/ (no cert).

Every bit as side-splittingly hilarious as you'd expect an Armenian comedy about the fall of communism to be, Vodka Lemon traces the development of a relationship between two older people who had survived under the old regime and wonder if it's really any worse than the new one. Hamo (Romen Avinian) is an elderly former soldier who has hit awful times; selling off whatever threadbare material possessions he has left. Only his graveyard pilgrimages to his wife's resting place give him any sort of purpose, no matter how bleak. It's here, in the cemetery, that he meets Nina (Lala Sarkissian) and strikes up a tenuous relationship with her.
Although the story is as barren as the exquisite landscape which frames the proceedings, Vodka Lemon is filled with array of distinctive, well-written characters and a few moments of genuine tenderness. A gentle, rolling little film which never quite justifies its pre-billing as a comedy, the film charts the everyday conundrums of these affable people, who despite appalling conditions, are never likely to be separated from their humanity. It looks bloody cold, though.

Review by Garreth Murphy