Some critics have called Mermaid “the Russian Amelie” but although both films have some superficial similarities, both being centered on quirky young women who isolate themselves from the society in which they live surrounded by colorful eccentrics and who fall madly in love at first sight with men they barely know based on an unusual introduction to them, but Mermaid is an entirely different sort of fairy tale. Even the film’s creator, writer/director Anna Melikian agrees with this assessment, calling Amelie “wonderful” but denying any sort of connection to the film. Melikian also denies a direct connection with Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Little Mermaid” although she does say that it was her favorite fairy tale as a child, “maybe because it is the only fairy tale with a sad ending”. There are some links between the two, and surely the tale is one of the influences on the creation of Mermaid (Russian title: Rusalka), but this strange story stands on its own.

As a young girl Alisa lives in a shack on the seaside with her mother and her grandmother. Both the older women have dreams of their own but it’s Alisa’s bold, bright dreams that propel the plot, along with her belief that she owns magic talents to control the weather and make wishes come true. Life is tough in their worn-down town; when an unexpected change in circumstances after Alisa turnes 17 sends the family to a new life in Moscow, it feels almost like a liberation for Alisa. Just how liberated can a teenaged girl who hasn’t spoken a word aloud be in the materialistic modern Moscow be?

Alisa takes a series of odd jobs and meets an assortment of odd characters around the city. After one of her wishes comes with an uncomfortable price tag Alisa swears off wishing and then falls into despair until she meets a man with despair of his own. Alicia instantly falls for successful salesman Sasha but her attempts to romance him seemed destined to fail. Alisa recovers her voice and finds her magic again, but is that enough to bring about her happy ending?

Mermaid is a beautifully shot, visually arresting film with a rich palette of colors and textures. The camera work is top notch and there’s always something to catch your eye. Melikian and crew successfully created a world both real and fantastic all at once. Particularly enjoyable were the many views of the many views of the rustic rural seashore and the busy metropolis of Moscow. The plot presents some interesting concepts but the story isn’t always interesting–there were several scenes that felt unnecessary and some of the eccentric characters that Alisa encountered seemed added in just to give Alisa something to do for a few minutes while she wandered the city’s streets. Alisa herself is clearly meant to be likeable but I found it hard to warm up to her. Still, the movie has much to offer fans of films that combine fantasy with realism; those who prefer their fairy tales to stay on the sweet side might want to take a pass on this one but those who don’t mind a bit of the sour might find much to savor in Mermaid.

Mermaid plays Saturday, May 24 at 1:15 pm at the Egyptian Theater and Monday, May 26 at Pacific Place.