Moscow on the Hudson

Another Robin Williams movie that had somehow escaped my viewing was Moscow on the Hudson, which turns out to be a lovely, contemplative film from director Paul Mazursky, who also died this summer. It was Williams' first serious role, and while the film isn't exactly intense, it has a nice sense of place and a rich understanding of what it means to be an immigrant in America.

Williams stars as a saxophonist for a Russian circus. He is content with the miserable life in Soviet Russia (the movie is from 1984, pre-Perestroika), whether that means lining up to buy toilet paper or wondering if the KGB is going to take you away. His friend (Elia Baskin), a clown, tells Williams he's going to defect on their upcoming trip to New York.

Once in New York, Baskin chickens out, but Williams impulsively defects in Bloomingdale's. A security guard (Cleavant Derricks) takes him in, and he makes a friend with an Italian perfume saleswoman (Maria Conchita Alonso) and his immigration lawyer (Alejandro Rey). Mazursky does a nice job of showing what a diverse quilt New York is, and a scene when new citizens are sworn in should be shown to every nut that stands on the Mexican border with a gun.

While I enjoyed the film, it moves at a deliberate pace and once Williams gets established in New York it takes on a kind of fantasy approach, as he gets several different jobs (including a limo driver, which requires a license). The relationship with Alonso, which never quite clicks, dominates the second half of the film. However, after he is mugged, Williams wonders if he's really free.

This is how I liked Robin Williams--restrained. It is really a complex performance, and it's clear from this that he was an actor of some depth. If the world lost a clown with his passing, it is also lost a dramatic actor of great talent.