Leto

This movie has a soul. One could write about Soviet (harsh) realities, but I won't. I was surprised, when an elderly pair (looked like 70+) arrived to watch the film - even some of 50+ Russian folks would criticize what is shown (but I hope they have their right not to watch it). For a younger people, this will be a good example to have a glimpse on Soviet life of 1980s. Takes a very talented director to make the actors act like this. I've got several recalls of "Assa" (one of the best movies of late 1980s), but this has got its own charms. So, I definitely recommend this one to watch. At least, for the memory of those, whom we loved.

Leto is one of these rare movies that know how to talk to your heart, to open it up and awaken all the dreams you ever thought of. Leto is a little jewel, the one in which resides such powerful, impacting strength but also a beauty that you can only admire.

The movie puts us in the underground rock scene of late Soviet Union. It sets itself in a climate where change is asked but also felt, the times of the Perestroika. But yet control over culture is really strong. The way youth wants to express itself, by the music they listen to and make (music inspired in many occidental rock groups) is only limited to abandoned warehouses where access is restricted, under control of the regime's police. This creative climate is always contained, but never feels oppressive for the viewer nor for the characters that actually act with great liberty. And this is particularly thanks to Serebrennikov's directing. He uses all cinema's artifices, pushes the limits of staging to create his own universe. The black and white creates an atmosphere of such simplicity, yet full of possibilities. The adopted view expresses how all the characters and all the legends that forged this period were great dreamers at core. They had dreams, they dream all along, they tried to transmit their dreams in the frame that was imposed to them. They created a new vision, a new world. The power of youth for change is one of the great motors of this movie. But the real beauty is that the movie never falls in a pamphletarian tone, it always stays with this optimist vision that awakens the dreamer in each one of us, and encourages everyone to pursue their dreams. Although it's dealing with past, Serebrennikov's tale is still really relevant in our time, where we all absolutely need to dream and need to fulfill our dreams to escape this anxiogenous climate that reigns in our society. The movie warms your heart, gives you power and energy for change -whatever type of change it is- and that's where resides all the greatness of the movie; it is a source of light that will reheat your heart, and give you hope.

That's why I am still scandalized that it didn't win a single prize in Cannes when it is one of the movies that was really worth winning a distinction. It would of been the occasion of giving a great impulse to this creative, crazy and ambitious cinema, that throws traditional codes away and finally dares to brake rules ! It would of been the occasion to recognize the talent and vision of Serebrennikov that is, we all know, put at risk by elements that he cannot control.

So go, run to watch this hymn to youth, revolution, change, beauty and dream !

Leto is to me the best film of 2018 as its direction is so original, unique and magnificient. The story is rather simple. A confirmed rock star of the early eighties (Mayk) struggles to promote rock music in the declining Sovietic Union when another musician (Viktor Tsoi) arises as a new promising talent. His wife, Natalia can't help to be attracted to this new talent...and so does he. This film almost has it all. It features fantastic actors, an interesting story (who would not like to know what was being a rock star in the Soviet Union in the 80's ?), a great soundtrack, and some developments in the film you do not expect. I would definitely take on the direction of this film as its main feature, as Serebrennikov films so well, invents moments of magic, and has so much inventions that you can feel the soul of rock. Quite early in the film, you understand the movie is not just all about following the emergence of Viktor Tsoi the Kurt Cobain of Russia (or the Jim Morisson of Russia back in those days), but also about giving pride of place to the ideal of rock. Serebrennikov pays tribute to what rock and roll meant for his generation, what it inspired and what it felt to listen to this music in this oppressive atmosphere of Russia in the 80's. I believe that many many directors tried this before him, but Serebrennikov may be the only one to have succeeded in this initiative of linking music to political protest. The long take at the beach and several musica clips are simply fantastic ! For this and for his fantastic direction, the film has already become a must-see film to me.

I've not posted for a while, life taking a huge dip lately and i've been busy with other stuff. No idea what to start with, i had been listening to bands from the Eastern bloc. Then switched to Thrash metal and listened to Shah's Beware album (1989) and E. S. T. Electro Shock Therapy (1989). I was going back and forth and played classic rock bands from the Soviet. I remembered Serebrennikov's movie but was not able to recollect the name. I looked it up and it put me in a good zone after all the music, I watched it twice!

The movie is a portrait of Leningrad's underground music scene of the early 1980s - shot in moody monochrome, loosely based on Kino frontman Viktor Tsoi ( the Marc Bolan of Russia back in those days) with an interesting story of keeping the flame alive in the declining scene (who would not like to know what was being a rock star in the Soviet Union in the 80's ?) It is beautifully shot, a perfect ode to the youth and rock in Soviet Russia, which also contains the immortal line: "This is Natasha, she really loves tomatoes". Kirill Serebrennikov has put his sweat, blood and tears and completed the project while he was under house arrest and it triggered backlash from the public when he was denied permission to attend the cremation of his mother by the court.

I would definitely say that I'm a big fan of Serebrennikov films and his vision for Leto is so passionate and poetic that you feel you're part of the era amidst the turmoil and what it really felt like listening to rock music in the 80s featuring music by T-Rex, Talking Heads, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Bowie, Blondie & more. There are filmmakers who have contributed to this genre, but Serebrennikov is one of the handful to have succeeded in this initiative of linking music to political protest.

Biopic/romance about a love triangle between singer-songwriter Mike Naumenko (founding member of Zoopark) that was one of the founding groups in the Russian rock movement, his wife Natalia 'Natasha' Naumenko, and his protege Viktor Tsoy (singer-songwriter who co-founded Kino, one of the most popular and musically influential bands in the history of Russian rock music). Based on the memoir of Natasha Naumenko and filmed in B&W, this is a riveting, lyrical movie that provides a window into ordinary Soviet life in the early 1980s. Not nearly as totalitarian as we in the USA are normally led to believe, but with subtle elements throughout that let us see they are by no means a completely free society. Great music weaves its way thought the film, both by Zoopark and Kino, as well as many references to western artists who are their influences (Sex Pistols, Bowie, T-Rex, Lou Reed, The Beatles, etc.) At several points the film shifts into non-sequitur music videos of western songs (like Lou Reed's 'Perfect Day') at the end of which one of the characters would have a sign saying (in Russian) "This did not really happen"... Overall a fascinating movie, highly recommended for people who love music, especially if you'd like an introduction to some Soviet rock, which I was previously unfamiliar with.