In the beginning of the film we see Katya, who gets inside Oleg’s car and asks if he’s drunk? Oleg replies that he drank just a bit, what results in him being moved to a passenger sit. While they are driving to Katya’s father’s anniversary celebration, Oleg asks to stop the car and goes to buy a carton box of red wine. At the time of their arrival, Oleg is already drunk, what doesn’t go unnoticed by Katya’s father. Katya tries to calm her father, but perfectly understands why he is upset. This is not the first time Oleg behaves like this. At the end of the evening, desperate Katya sends a text to her husband asking for divorce.

Alcohol constantly stops Oleg from understanding Katya. He gets drunk during the first night of sleeping in the kitchen. In the following days, he invites some of his friends for drinking. His drunken behavior provokes Katya for strong antipathy and pushes her away. When Katya comes home tired after work, she sees Oleg and his friends, who are drinking, singing and yelling, despite of her requests to be quiet and give her a rest. The only time Katya and Oleg can have a proper conversation is when they both are drinking. For a brief period, alcohol takes her away from the worries and even lets her to feel intimacy with Oleg again. But this is only temporary. Alcohol doesn’t take away the sense of hopelessness from Katya, as it doesn’t solve Oleg’s problems at home and at work.

• In your opinion, what are the roots of Oleg’s alcoholism? Try to analyze how does the film shows drinking (for example, the episode of Katya’s father’s anniversary)?

Russia ranks fourth in the world in terms of alcohol consumption per person. Alcoholism in Russia is a large-scale social catastrophe. According to official statistics, about 75 thousand of people per year die from excessive alcohol consumption. Meanwhile, the state is fighting alcoholism by banning alcohol advertising in mass media, by forbidding drinking of alcohol in public spaces, and by promoting healthy lifestyle.

Finland, as other Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway), has an alcohol monopoly, meaning the exclusive right for government on manufacturing and/or retailing alcohol beverages. Throughout its history, Russia has tried several times to implement such alcohol monopoly, however all the attempts proved to be unsuccessful.

• In your opinion, what is the reason for the high level of alcohol consumption in Russia? Which methods of fighting alcoholism do you think are successful? How do you assess the Finnish alcohol monopoly?