Celestial Wives of the Meadow Mari

This is a 2012 movie out of Russia. It was originally screened in 2013, and most notably at the Toronto International Film Festival. I saw it at The Parkway Theater in Baltimore in 2018, as part of a mini Russian film festival that was being run in conjunction with the one of the local museums in Baltimore, with their Faberge exhibit. I chose to relish in this due to my sheer film nerdiness. Celestial Wives of the Meadow Mari, is categorized as a Russian comedy-drama. It was directed by Aleksei Fedorchenko and was shot in Mari language. Similar to Paris, Je T'aime stylistically, it tells 23 different tales but is comprised and influenced by the Mari folklore. Each of these stories represents the specific approach to sexuality of "the last authentic pagans in Europe".

With the 23 vignettes, it seemed a bit dragged and lagging in parts. For a small village in Russia, I enjoyed most of the scenes that had sweeping aspects of the small town, I am sure many of us will never come across. There are some short vignettes, which served as more relief, to the longer ones, but some just didn't seem to add to much to the film approach. I think and feel that overall, the movie could have used a bit more of a heavier hand with it's editing job. The textiles and folklore has spawned me to look into more of the folklore, especially of the lady of the forest. Some of them I knew the westernized version. The final scene, I felt was a good way to wrap up, with all the women from the film in traditional dress, in spring. I enjoyed being able to peek into the customs of an area. Overall, I think it was a good contrast of younger generations, older generations, women who wanted to leave, and those that struggled or relished in the small town communities. That being said, I was a bit surprised having this coming out of Russia, as it is just so different than many of the Russian films that I have seen.

It is the classic Russian approach of the human struggle, but it was a collection of actors which seemed to be red headed and vibrant blue eyed. The Russian films I have seen in the past, primarily have focused on the male struggle, so in that sense it was fun to see a new approach. Some scenes are harder to watch than others. The approach to sexuality is a harder broached topic in many films that do not seem to tackle it as head on as this film had. I really enjoyed the use of folklore, and shots of the forests, and hills. It added an earthly element, that I'd like to think was intentional, especially with the life cycle approaches, with pulling up root vegetables, death, and babies. I'd give the film a B+