Piter FM

Masha works at a radio station in Petersburg; she does the night programme and reads out listeners' messages. The man she is to marry is settled, the date is set and the preparations are under way. But she is not sure herself. Maxim is an architect; he sent a project to a competition and is waiting for the result. For now he sweeps streets. One day Masha drops her phone. Maxim finds it. They speak on it and arrange to meet. The meeting does not happen. Then it does not happen again. The city keeps bringing them close and something interposes each time. Oksana Bychkova directs. Yekaterina Fedulova plays Masha and Evgeny Tsyganov plays Maxim. It is a Russian production. The city is at its centre; the streets, canals and courtyards of Petersburg work inside the narrative and the place stands like a character. Its form is coincidence; the two are in the same place again and again and do not see each other. The radio broadcast sets the film's sound; the selection of music is part of it and the songs carry the transitions. The film drew interest among young viewers in Russia and the director became known through it. The narrative uses the romantic comedy shape but delays the meeting to the very end. The supporting characters are given in short sections and the city's own stories enter the narrative. Its limit is plot; the narrative is thin and the coincidences many. Who it is for: viewers who like Russian cinema and romance grounded in a city. Who it is not for: there is little event, the shape familiar, and the ending left open.