Synopsis
The first novella, Anime, is about a young guy and a young girl who, similar to many of their peers, prefer to live in the fictitious world of animated characters from Japanese cartoons. Every day they put on a heavy make up and dress as their chosen characters to be able to forget who they really are. They prefer to fall in love, to meet friends and communicate with them without leaving the world of anime. An attempt to return to ordinary life and recover their true identities is a disappointment for both of them. Finally, they take a decision to stay in the anime world, because it turns out that for these young people it is the only way to experience strong feelings.
The second novella, A Proposal, puts a young and attractive girl in a situation of choice. She can either choose an easy life under the patronage of a successful but cynical and cruel businessman or a life which will probably be full of hardships and privations, with a man who is lazy and not really ambitious but whom she loves. Finally, under the pressure of circumstances, her beloved proposes to her.
The third novella is Japanese People. The heroine is Japanese. She is charmed by the Russian culture, by its deepness. Under the influence of this charm, she invents an image of a Russian man, inspired and educated. She comes to Russia to look for such man, she visits a festival of Russian culture and tries to make acquaintance with young people. But she is greatly disappointed when she finds out that the majority of Russian men are not interested by culture and artistic heritage of their people. During her research, she does not remark that she meets all the time her compatriot, who came to the festival just like her and whose knowledge of Russian art and Russian music is no less profound then hers. During their meetings and conversations, they become closer and closer. Finally, she understands she met her destined one.
Fourth novella, About Beauty, tells about a young guy who is most probably talented but tired of life. He dates beautiful girls whose feelings for him range from passion to tenderness but who cannot awaken anything inside him. The only thing that can touch his heart and give him inspiration is an external manifestation of momentary beauty. Every time when he sees a beautiful girl, he is electrified with emotion and his reaction gives a hope to this girl. But it is nothing but an illusion.
In the fifth novella, Change of Dishes, the main character is Renata Litvinova who is delivering a lecture about love during the whole film. Her lecture is the thread linking all the stories together. A story about her explains why she knows the topic so well. She is the ex-wife of an influent man who, without taking her feelings into consideration, asks her to help him. He offers her money to make a psychological portrait of his new girlfriend, young and incredibly well-looking, that he believes to have found ‘in the street’...