The two scenes of Nikolai and the other Russian man exploring France and the French woman exploring Russia contrasted each other. Nikolai and the other Russia man opened the window to a bright sun, beautiful stores and cheerful people. They had a lovely time exploring France once they figured out that the window was magic. There was no horrid events or grouse things to see. When the French woman was locket out of her portal to France, she walked out into a beaten down, dark city that she was not expecting. She was greeted with men peeing in public and a woman who promised to warm her up but stole all of she clothes instead. The troubles that she faced stood out in the film because of such a happy time the Russian men had in France. This contrast emphasized the rough going that Russia was having. Also, all of this stood out when Nikolai was trying to convince the kids to come back to Russia. Telling that Russia is not in the best shape but they need to try and fix it.
I thought it was interesting that music got the attention of a certain group of people and made the group follow the leader of the music. In the beginning of the film, the band lead the crowd waiting for vodka away from the liquor store. There were many scenes of Nikolai grabbing the attention of his kids with music from his flute. I thought this was an interesting theme and was worth noting.
I think the contradiction of the two scenes works to convey the experiences of each character. The isolation of Russia from global consumerism left a sort of hunger that was present in the way the french woman was treated. This hunger was also present with Nikolai’s neighbor and his family. They sold items in the streets and made enough money to spend on clothes and other luxury items.
Shandiin, your word “hunger” is so perceptive! Yes, exactly. Soviet society was SO materially deprived–particularly in the last years of the Soviet Union, when the economy had completely broken down, and there was almost nothing in the stores, and what there was was of terrible quality–that when things began to open up, people really almost lost their minds with consumerist cravings!!!