In Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears, nothing good comes from deception. Throughout the movie, Katerina, Lyudmila, and Antonina devise lies or hold back truths, yet all of these yield negative results: why do they do this? Although the initial setting and home of the women is a worker’s dormitory, these women stand out because they take on roles that seem ahead of their time; they are liberated much more so than many women were at the time of the film’s setting in 1958. The elusiveness of the truth, although it is frustratingly largely self-imposed, serves as a barrier to their freedoms in this film both from the situations developing as a result of the dinner party and in Katerina’s relationship with Gosha 20 years later.

In hopes of finding proper men to court and  brighter futures, Lyudmila convinces Katerina to throw a dinner party wherein the ladies pretend to be daughters of Katherine’s professor uncle. Unfortunately, this deception ultimately leads to turmoil for both Lyudmila and Katerina. Lyudmila develops a relationship with the hockey star, Sergei (who stays with her even after learning of her true identity) as a result of the dinner party, yet he turns to alcoholism later and becomes a nuisance for her even after they have divorced. Katerina suffers too, as she meets Rudolph, who leaves her after impregnating her and learning that she has lied to him. Antonina is the only character to develop a long, stable, healthy relationship, which arose from authentically before the dinner-party.

Despite all these negative results, all three women appear to find professional success and remain a striking level of independence given traditional Russian values. Katerina becomes a factory manager, yet when she meets Gosha and learns of his traditional values, she neglects to tell him of her status. This sharp juxtaposition between female strength and family deference both serves as the conflict for the second half of the movie and provides the viewer with uncertainty at the conclusion of the movie. Are Katerina and Gosha really a good match for one another? Although Lyudmila reminds Katerina that “Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears,” while Katerina is crying because of Gosha’s disappearance, Katerina gives in because of her dependence on a glimmer of happiness that has entered her life after so many years of fierce independence on her part. If nothing else, the film perhaps suggests that such an aversion to tears is unsustainable. Where this leaves Katerina as a symbol of Russian womanhood, however, remains unclear.