a funny and scathing critique of russian society and culture during the transition from communism and okno v parizh also show the west in an unfavorable light . a group of russian live in st. petersburg ( a. k. a. peter the great window on the west ) find a magic portal that instantly transport them to paris . mamin film be truly hilarious and and just weird enough constantly keep even the jaded film viewer on his toe . the song and the dream sequence and and the deliciously disgust fringe of society from both culture mingle to create a memorable and meaningful film . anyone try to understand the shift in russian cultural sentiment since the fall of the ussr should begin here .