Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears

Three girlfriends grow up together in the shadow of Moscow and grow into women who juggle work, love, and friendship. The film follows Katya, Lyuda, and Tosya as they chase small dreams that collide with real life in the late Soviet era. We watch them face career choices, family pressures, and the expectations placed on them as they seek happiness in a city that seems to offer both possibility and heartbreak. The tone blends warmth with wit, showing how ordinary moments, a shared conversation, a clumsy romance, a misread signal, shape a lifetime. The screenplay uses sketches and vignettes to paint a society that is changing while staying intimate. It stays true to character while avoiding grandiose melodrama.

Directed by Vladimir Menshov and released in 1980, the film pairs a vivid Moscow backdrop with sharp character moments. The screenplay by Valentin Chernykh and Lyudmila Tsitsina blends drama and comedy to tell a distinctly modern Soviet story.

Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar at the 1981 Academy Awards, becoming the first Soviet entry to take the award. The win cemented its international profile and helped bring attention to Soviet cinema worldwide. Its triumph opened doors for Soviet storytellers.

Over the years the film has become a touchstone of Russian cinema remembered for its humane portrayal of ordinary people and the lives of three women in Moscow. The title line and iconic performances by Vera Alentova and Aleksey Batalov echo in popular culture, and the phrase has entered conversation.

Critics praised its balanced blend of warmth and realism, noting how the film treats romance, ambition, and friendship with empathy rather than cynicism. The story highlights resilience under social pressures and the idea that personal happiness can coexist with collective life under a changing society, and its humor helps.