This international award-winning Russian drama offers a broad look at modern life in the troubled former Soviet Union. Featuring at least 80 characters, Karen Shakhnazarov's drama is really a complex string of interwoven vignettes, some of which occasionally reoccur while others briefly appear and just as quickly disappear without explanation. These little episodes include scenes of a young boy reading Pushkin, a couple eating in a restaurant, the fond reminiscence of a bird dog, a gang-land murder, and the discovery of a slain princess in a medieval monastery. Dyen Polnoluniya was screened at several 1998 film festivals including the Pusan Film Festival, the Montreal Film Festival and the Vancouver Film Festival. Kudos include the prestigious FIPRESCI Award.
~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide