Moscow on the Hudson — Moscow on the Hudson(Blu Ray)
Vladimir’s friend and colleague Anatoly, the clown (Elya Baskin) has told him of his plans to defect once he reaches the US. The KGB are suspicious of Anatoly and put pressure on Vladimir to keep an eye on his friend. Once they arrive in the US, they find themselves treated in a much more humane way than they are used to. There are no queues to buying essentials and New York represents a world apart from their homelife. On the final day of their trip the entire group are taken to Bloomingdales for a shopping trip where Vladimir plans to buy some Calvin Klein jeans. After speaking to the very beautiful Lucia Lombardo (Maria Conchita Alonso) who works on the perfume counter he heads to the menswear department to buy his jeans. Anatoly then admits to Vladimir that he no longer has the bottle to defect and will return to Moscow with the others. Just as the group are about to board the coach to head to the airport, Vladimir makes the snap decision to defect himself, and with the assistance of the store’s security guard Lionel Witherspoon (Cleavant Derricks) and Lucia, he manages to evade the KGB officers for long enough that the authorities arrive and take him into protective custody, and so begins Vladimir’s life in the US.
What follows is Mazursky’s love letter to America, Mazursky’s Grandfather was an immigrant from the Ukraine, and one imagines Mazursky makes good use of his Grandfather’s experiences to present the US as a wonderful and enlightened place to live. Vladimir moves through several jobs eventually settling as a chauffeur, and whilst things don’t always go to plan for Vladimir (he is mugged and lives in relative poverty) he is free to do as he wishes and that alone seems to drive him on.
Interestingly this is probably one of Williams finest performances, and one of the first of the more serious roles which he took on. There is still some comic value to his performance, however, he is anything but the clown prince we had come to know and love. The supporting cast are great, especially both Derricks and Alonso, as well as Alejandro Rey who stars as Vladimir’s Cuban lawyer, Orlando Ramirez. The film itself is a damning indictment on the Soviet social and economic system, whilst depicting the US as some kind of economic Utopia in comparison, albeit somewhat flawed.
This new Blu Ray release on Powerhouse features a solid print of the film with no problems to report. There's some interesting bonus materials too, namely an audio commentary with director Mazursky, and a Guardian interview with Mazursky and Williams conducted by journalist Derek Malcolm. These sit alongside the usual trailers and image gallery. So, whilst there isn’t a lot in the way of bonus materials those featured are interesting and worthy of a listen.