O strannostyakh lyubvi: A chaotic little vacation romp

So, is it worth a watch?

If you like old-school farce and don’t mind if the humor feels a little dusty, sure. It’s got that specific vacation-in-the-sun vibe that makes you want to pack a bag, even if the plot is basically just a big game of telephone. Skip this if you need sharp, modern pacing or if you get hives from people just not talking to each other for an hour.

The whole setup feels like one of those plays where everyone is hiding in a closet. Except here, the closet is a scenic Crimean sanatorium. Two friends decide it’s a brilliant idea to switch their life stories—poet becomes pilot, pilot becomes poet—and honestly, watching them try to keep their lies straight is exhausting. It’s the kind of premise you’ve seen in everything from Budding Youth to various slapstick shorts, but here it has a strange, breezy rhythm.

The "Crimean" Charm

There’s something weirdly magnetic about the way they film the outdoors here. It feels like they were genuinely enjoying the sun while making it, even when the script gets bogged down in its own silliness. Some of the shots of the sanatorium grounds have this odd, empty quality, like everyone was on lunch break except the camera crew. 🏖️

The performances are… loud. Especially when the confusion starts hitting the fan. There’s a moment where a character realizes they’ve been talking to the wrong "expert" about poetry that goes on just a few seconds too long, and you can see the actor struggling to keep a straight face. It’s charming, in a clumsy way. It’s not quite on the level of the lighthearted confusion found in Two Fresh Eggs, but it gets there eventually.

• The dialogue is snappy, if a bit dated.
• The misunderstanding plot is the definition of 'classic'—which is a nice way of saying 'predictable.'
• The costumes are surprisingly sharp for the era.

I found myself wondering if they actually had fun making this. There’s a certain looseness to the scenes that feels like an improv session that someone decided to write down later. It doesn’t try to be profound. It just wants to be a distraction. It succeeds at that, mostly. Though, honestly, some of the supporting characters seem to have wandered in from a different movie entirely. 🤷‍♂️

If you’re looking for a heavy cinematic experience, look elsewhere. But if you want a peek at some older Soviet comedy that doesn’t take itself too seriously, give it a whirl. It's not perfect, but it's got heart.