''Love in the Big City'' (russian: Любовь в большом городе, Lyubov v bolshom gorode) is a 2009

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by

Maryus Vaysberg Maryus Erikovich Vaysberg (, born 1 April 1971), also known as Marius Balčiūnas-Weisberg, is a Russian film director, producer, and screenwriter of Lithuanian and Jewish descent. Career His father, Erik Vaysberg, had had his own career in th ...

. It is based on the first full-length film project by

Kvartal 95 Studio Kvartal 95 Studio (Ukrainian: Сту́дія «Кварта́л-95»; Russian: Сту́дия «Кварта́л-95») is a publicly held television entertainment production company operating in Ukraine since 2003. The company was founded by ...

with the support of ICTV. This is the first film of a trilogy about the adventures of three friends in search of true love. It stars Aleksey Chadov,

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...

, and

Ville Haapasalo Ville Juhana Haapasalo (born 28 February 1972) is a Finnish stage and film actor who has worked in Finland and Russia. His acting career started in 1995, after he finished his studies in St. Petersburg. In 2003, he was honored with the State Priz ...

Plot

The film takes place in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. The main characters of the film are friends Igor (

Volodymyr Zelensky Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...

), Artem ( Aleksey Chadov) and "almost Russian" Finn Oleg (

). They work in America, and in their spare time they enjoy a life of hedonism. Igor is a dentist. Oleg, nicknamed "Sauna", is an instructor in a women's fitness club group. Artem earns a living as a tour guide by showing New York to Russian tourists. He is married, but this fact does not prevent him from having affairs. But one day the carefree life of friends comes to an end. At another party a strange looking man makes a toast for love and then corrects himself: "Let what you drank for, be impossible without what I drank for." At one point, all three completely lose the ability to have sex. The friends desperately attempt everything to regain their virility but all is in vain. After long torment, friends find that same person from the party and it turns out that he is Saint Valentine (

Philipp Kirkorov Philipp Bedrosovich Kirkorov PAR (russian: Филипп Бедросович Киркоров; bg, Филип Бедросов Киркоров, Filip Bedrosov Kirkorov; born 30 April 1967) is a Bulgarian-born Russian pop singer. He is a five ...

), who settled in America to help its residents find love. With the help of his mystical abilities he "programmed" them against promiscuity. Only finding love can help the friends, and sex can only be with a beloved woman. Igor, Artem and Oleg face many problems, and must go their own way to understand that true love is the most important thing in life.

Cast

* Aleksey Chadov – Artem *

– Igor *

– Oleg Sauna *

Vera Brezhneva Vira Viktorivna Halushka ( uk, Віра Вікторівна Галушка; russian: link=no, Вера Викторовна Галушка, ''Vira Viktorivna Halushka''; born 3 February 1982), better known by her stage name Vera Brezhneva (russi ...

– Katya *

Svetlana Khodchenkova Svetlana Viktorovna Khodchenkova (russian: Светла́на Ви́кторовна Хо́дченкова; born 21 January 1983) is a Russian film, television and theater actress. She is an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation (2018). Earl ...

– Nastya *

Anastasia Zadorozhnaya Anastasia Sergeyevna Zadorozhnaya (russian: Анастаси́я Серге́евна Задоро́жная; born August 30, 1985) is a Russian film actress, singer, TV presenter and fashion model. She is dubbed as the Russian Britney Spears. B ...

– Alisa *

Olesya Zheleznyak Olesya Vladimirovna Zheleznyak (russian: Оле́ся Влади́мировна Железня́к; born November 11, 1974) is a Russian theater and film actress, TV presenter.

– Pelageya * Alika Smekhova – neighbor Raisa Montievna * Liza Arzamasova – Vera, sister of Nastya *

– Saint Valentine *Sabina Ahmedova – girlfriend of "Sauna"

Production

The film was produced in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, New York. The other films of this trilogy are ''

Love in the Big City 2 ''Love in the Big City 2'' (russian: Любовь в большом городе 2, Lyubov v bolshom gorode 2) is a 2010 romantic comedy film directed by Maryus Vaysberg. This is the second film of a trilogy about the adventures of three friends i ...

'' and ''

Love in Vegas ''Love in Vegas'' (russian: Любовь в большом городе 3, Lyubov v bolshom gorode, ''Love in the Big City 3'') is a 2014 Russian-Ukrainian romantic comedy film directed by Maryus Vaysberg and David Dodson. The film was co-produced ...

''.

References

External links

YouTube - trailer

IMDB - "Lyubov v bolshom gorode"

Kvartal 95 Studio - Project "Кохання у великому місті"

ICTV - "Кохання у великому місті"
Ukrainian romantic comedy films Russian romantic comedy films 2009 romantic comedy films 2009 films Films shot in New York City Films set in New York City Films directed by Maryus Vaysberg Volodymyr Zelenskyy films Russian sex comedy films 2000s sex comedy films Slapstick films {{Russia-film-stub