by Isabel Adams
11. March 2010 10:18
I recently watched Birthday Girl (2001), a movie starring Nicole Kidman about a lonely British bank clerk who buys a Russian mail order bride and has his life turned upside-down because of it. The movie barely explores the reasons why a man would take such a step, but chooses to focus on the hazards.
Ben Chaplin plays John, a law-abiding bank clerk from the town of St. Albans -- which is “practically London” – who feels trapped by his home town and the lack of choices it provides. To satiate his need to find something new, he orders a Russian woman from a Website called “From Russia with Love”. Shortly thereafter, Nadia (Nicole Kidman) arrives, speaking no English and chain-smoking like a fiend (her profile said she wasn’t a smoker, oops). John freaks out about her lack of English speaking and attempts to return her, but the company never returns his calls. Over time, Nadia woos John by discovering his secret infatuation with bondage porn and his wildest sexual dreams come true.
I don’t want to spoil the entire movie, but on Nadia’s birthday, her two male “little cousins” (Vincent Cassel is one of them, of Ocean’s Twelve fame) show up unannounced and things start to get interesting. The movie is mostly a dark and active romantic comedy that plays on national stereotypes and scammer claims; somewhere between The Graduate and Eastern Promises. It does have a satisfying ending that will leave you wanting more.
As entertaining as the movie is, the concept portrayed is false and is damaging to the Russian dating industry. Women cannot be bought and shipped like dolls on reputable dating Websites. Also, many sites have processes in place to ensure that the lady you are corresponding with is in fact the person you will meet. Do not take this fictional outlier as a common occurrence.