''Mars'' (russian: Марс) is a 2004

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n film, directed and written by

Anna Melikian Anna Melikian ( hy, Աննա Մելիքյան; russian: Анна Меликян; born February 8, 1976) is a Russian film and TV director/ producer whose work has been recognized with various awards at major international film festivals. After he ...

. Set in a small Russian city of Mars, the film tells the story of a professional boxer who has run away from his life to a small Russian town on the coast of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

. The story contains elements of surrealism and

magical realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) Magical (foaled 18 May 2015) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who excelled over middle distances and was rated in the top twenty racehorses in the world in 2018 and ...

. The town's main industry is the manufacture of

plush toy A stuffed toy is a toy doll with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, stuffed animals, and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be ...

s, which function as a local currency. The boxer is

color blind Color blindness or color vision deficiency (CVD) is the decreased ability to see color or differences in color. It can impair tasks such as selecting ripe fruit, choosing clothing, and reading traffic lights. Color blindness may make some aca ...

; his color blindness is portrayed, for example, by a profusion of blue apples. The city of Mars was formerly called

Marks Marks may refer to: Business * Mark's, a Canadian retail chain * Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain * Collective trade marks, trademarks owned by an organisation for the benefit of its members * Marks & Co, the inspiration for the novel ...

: ''Марс'' as opposed to ''Маркс'', the name change being effected by removing one letter from the roof of the railway station.

External links

* 2004 films Magic realism films 2004 comedy films Films directed by Anna Melikian Russian comedy films 2000s Russian-language films {{2000s-comedy-film-stub