That was an excellent one.

Fantastic!

Admirable film.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

I can clearly understand why this piece of beauty has some wins at different festivals. Mariya Shalayeva's play is the reason number one. Then comes the story itself with some curves you woudn't predict. Plenty of little things like short dialogs, phrases, and situations you would simply laugh at. The moon-selling guy as an epitome of what our world has become.Some people say the ending could be better. I disagree. Mermaid Alica has no place in this human mess and therefore shoud not be a part of it. That simple. And she obviously has a better option. Her smile at the end is a proof ))

Different movies would make a big buff out of you. Especially when they come from other countries. I've always had a craving for Russian films, with Mermaid, it can be perfect for people with big imaginations. Here you have a girl name Alice(Masha Shalayeva) who went through childhood going through different stages of life. When she was a young girl, she wanted to be a ballerina. That fell through because of her mother's indecisiveness. Whenever she had a man who wasn't her father, she would set fire to the place she lived. Going through silent stages, she makes everyone think she has a handicap. By the time she was older, she got through some things by chance, especially when one student dies in a freak accident. Then there was the time she left the house, and jumped in a saved him from drowning. After that, she fell in love with him, not knowing he was already taken. She saw the action between him and his girl, she said the same thing, only without causing arson. Alice made changes in her appearance and she still uses her imagination to fulfill her dreams. She may have the imagination, but her determination makes her relentless to the world. This movie makes some sense, and it gives some meaning throughout. I enjoyed it very much. I owe it all to Sundance. 5 Stars!

Mermaid is an awesomely bizarre tale of a strange girl called Alisa, who, as a little girl, lives by the beach with her comically grotesque mother and grandmother and pines for her father to come and rescue her . Later on in her life she is forced to confront reality when she travels to Moscow with her family, and as a teenager, finds out all about all the wonders of the world, including love, jobs and friendship, all seen through an impossibly optimistic and offbeat sensibility. Mermaid plays like the second coming of Amelie, and everything about it is utterly charming; the fantastically upbeat, jazzy score, the dreamy cinematography tinged with realism, the quirky scenarios, but mostly the utterly charismatic and awesome central performances from the two girls playing Alisa, who like Audrey Tatou before them, will make you fall in love. Alisa is such an endearingly odd character, charmingly offbeat and naive, while remaining startlingly independent and fierce. A last act stumble provoked by a tangle of superfluous characters dampens the charm of the film somewhat,and it meanders in parts, but on the whole Mermaid is an almost note-perfect film that will leave you with a dreamy smile on your face and a longing for days of lost innocence.

This beautiful picture represents the loveliest trend of the modern Russian cinema (that largely consists of cheap action movies and lachrymose dramas) - a definite piece of art and a work of an Author, a story that truthfully and painfully reflects city life from the confused point of view of an outsider, dreamer, youngster. "Rusalka" is often compared to "Progulka" (2003) and "Piter FM" (2006), as in this respect these films are kindred to "Rusalka", never mentioning the fact that they all star Yevgeni Tsyganov - the new Russian Gael García Bernal type. However, watching "Rusalka" aches more than two before-mentioned pictures, for it doesn't lie for the sake of good mood. "Rusalka" is sometimes also called "Amélie Poulain in Moscow" because of the expressive and charming character of the heroine who believes that life is a beautiful and never-ending mystery; however, "Rusalka" goes farther than "Amélie", openly showing that City is not only a place of romance and unexpected adventures, but in fact a get-together of very very lonely people who find each other to remain alone. "Such things do happen in megapoles. Seriously, no big deal. Such things do happen." This might hurt.