Intergirl

Tanya Zaitseva from Leningrad, a nurse by day and a prostitute catering to foreigners by night, suddenly receives a marriage proposal from a Swedish client. The drama of the final episode is reinforced by the Russian folk song "Tramp" ("In the wild steppes of Transbaikal ..."), which is the leitmotif of the film. ==Cast==

• Elena Yakovleva as Tanya Zaytseva • Tomas Laustiola as Edvard Larsen, Tanya Zaytseva's husband (voice by Aleksandr Belyavsky) • Larisa Malevannaya as Alla Sergeyevna Zaytseva, Tanya's mother • Anastasiya Nemolyaeva as Lyalya, nurse, Tanya's friend • Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė as Kisulya, prostitute • Lyubov Polishchuk as Zina Meleyko, prostitute • Irina Rozanova as Sima Gulliver, prostitute • Natalia Shchukina as Natalya «Schoolgirl», prostitute • Martinsh Vilsons as Victor, trucker • Vsevolod Shilovsky as Nikolay Platonovich Zaytsev, Tanya's father • Zinovy Gerdt as Boris Semenovich, chief medical officer • Valeriy Khromushkin as Volodya, union organizer of hospital • Maria Vinogradova as Sergeevna, nurse • Igor Vetrov as Anatoliy A. Kudryavtsev, police captain • Gennady Sidorov as Zhenya, police lieutenant • Tatyana Agafonova as Verka, former Moscow prostitute living in Sweden • Torsten Wahlund as Gunvald, Edvard Larsen's co-worker • Sergey Bekhterev as waiter • Anna Frolovtseva as FRRO employee • Mintai Utepbergenov as Japanese businessman (voice by Aleksei Zolotnitsky) • Igor Efimov as hotel janitor == Production ==

As confirmed later by the director, he was ordered to make this film by the officials. Todorovsky had been chosen precisely for his inability to direct 'hot' content. Yakovleva refused 'messing around with men' in front of the camera, so all sex scenes were filmed without a partner. The feature's main purpose was to demonstrate the Soviet audience how misleading was a hope for a "beautiful Western life".{{cite web As the Swedish partners found the ending too desperate, for Sweden Todorovsky made a version with an open ending and merged the two episodes into one. However, the film was never released in Sweden due to the bankruptcy of Stallet-film, Mosfilm's co-production partner.{{cite web Filming took place in the summer of 1989 in Russia and Sweden. Mira Todorovska managed to attract Swedish sponsors who added the lacking money and helped with the filming,{{cite web == Reception and awards==

Intergirl was the first depiction of a prostitute in Soviet pop culture. The word itself entered the Russian language and came to refer to all prostitutes serving foreigners. The film became the most popular Soviet film in 1989 with 41.3 million viewers, the leading actress Elena Yakovleva immediately became a star.{{cite web Described as the 'Cinderella with a darker twist', despite audience sympathy, the film received a lot of criticism, primarily for its pessimism and focus on the ugly side of life without really showing the hardships of the protagonist's reality. The movie won three awards and received one nomination. Elena Yakovleva won Best Actress at the 1990 Nika Awards.{{cite web == References ==