Igla

The main attraction in the movie is obviosly it's main actor - Viktor Tsoy, a late Russian rock star with an asian facial qualities. Eleven years after his death, his music still holds a huge following and unfortunately exploited. In this movie, he plays a Bruce Lee-esque character who defeats the villains and suffers for it in the end. I love this movie because I'm a huge fan of Tsoy's band "KINO" otherwise I wouldn't pay much attention to it. Great soundtrack and interesting photography. Unfortunately Tsoy was not an actor and he was pretty much playing himself. Pyotr Mamonov, ex-leader of Russian experimental band "Zvuki Mu" probably was the best actor but received a minor role.

The mere presence of a celebrity is not enough to guarantee commercial as well as critical success of a film. A good film should also possess content, depth and form. Kazakh director Rashid Nugmanov made history of sorts in 1987 when he made "Igla" during the heyday of Glasnost and Perestroika in former Russia. At this juncture, it would be right if one mentions that we need to eternally thank Russian leader Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev for those bold initiatives which were instrumental in making freedom an attainable dream for countless young Russian people. It is true that Igla refers to a needle but the entire film is not a tragic discourse about drug addiction in Russia as on an official level drug addiction did not exist at all in Russia. It was considered a purely western phenomenon. In Igla we get a chance to see that director Rashid Nugmonov has shot a film which speaks more about the myth surrounding an impossible love which in many ways symbolized the difficult life of young generation in communist era Russia. Igla scores well in all artistic departments as it has great music by Viktor Tsoi which blends perfectly with constructive, meaningful lyrics. The major highlight of the film is its imagery which brings forth the bleakness of a troubled nation. For example- a visually rich scenes features an abandoned ship lying lost in dry sands of Aral sea. The late Russian rock star Viktor Tsoi is one of the principal reasons to watch this film due to his character having two distinct yet interesting styles. He appears credible as a comical hero who doesn't hesitate to use force in order to accomplish some true to life action scenes. The overall mood of the film is nice despite a minor dose of profane humor.

In Soviet Union, nearly everything was Soviet -- Soviet music, Soviet food (you don't want to know the details, believe me), Soviet politics and, yes, Soviet cinema. And, as with all things Soviet, also Soviet cinema had those very special marks that distinguished it as typically Soviet. Now, Igla is the essence of Soviet cinema. Just about everything that has to be in Soviet Perestroika time drama is present in Igla -- lousy storyline about some "current problem" (drug addicts in this one -- although if it was called a problem then, I don't know how to call it now), very clear and visible efforts to make "art" out of this storyline, popular "star" (Tsoy) in leading role, Soviet rock as a soundtrack, unbelievably low-quality picture with mono sound and lots and lots of Soviet reality.

Overall, I find the film very depressing (must be because it reminds me of the "good ol'" Soviet Union times), but what do I know. Anyway -- if you're interested in Soviet Union, especially Perestroika time, this is a must see -- it really captures the mood of the time and feels much like time-machine. But if you are not, then you really shouldn't bother (and it might be extremely hard to get a copy anywhere that's to West from Russia).

There is an opinion under this sky that Russian cinema died at the end of 1980s or in the beginning of the 1990s and since then nothing appropriate has been shot on camera. Well, to be more exact, to my mind, the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s is the golden era of Russian cinema. While Soviet era shined on screen for quite some time delivering many amusing and family-oriented masterpieces, the period we are talking about is like a flash of light. Being a shooting star, it screeched and vanished near the end of the millennium, while sky-rocketing in its full bliss. The movies of this short, tragic but awesome period were loaded and loaded with real ammo unlike today's flip-flop chicken flicks-blockbusters, which, in most cases, are able to shoot blanks only... OK, got carried away, for which sorry, ladies and gentlemen.

"Igla" is one of those loaded movies. Maybe you should have spent your teen years in the 1980s-1990s to feel its drive. Or perhaps you should be kind of out-of-this-world. Or, maybe, just a very romantic and un-CGI dreamer. Or corny and unpretentious fellow, who enjoys cinema without cornflakes & Coca-Cola. Or insane... Just make sure that you are watching the original "Igla", not a glamour remix/remake, which, as this treacherous cinema business rotates today, does exist too.

Oh, almost forgot to say a couple of words regarding the essence of the movie. It's about a bunch of young degenerates living on the ashes of the once prolific empire (USSR). You cannot blame these weirdos - the older generation led them into a dead end.

A 10 out of 10 for this greyish no-escape flick from the amazing 1980s. Thanks for attention.

I have no doubt that the main reason why many people chose to watch this film was because the Soviet rock legend Viktor Tsoi was the protagonist, and this was my reason for watching too. I have been a fan of his music for quite a while, so was curious how about this film, and it was actually far better than I expected.

Tsoi does a great job at playing the role of the protagonist Moro, and whilst the plot was fairly simple, I still enjoyed it. As many others have also pointed out, the ending scene was very good and I can understand why it became so iconic.

The soundtrack here is also great, with several iconic Kino songs playing throughout the duration of the film, as well as some original music that was created specifically for the film.

Ultimately, if you are a fan of Viktor Tsoi and Kino, you will definitely enjoy this film. However, if you are not, you may not find much that holds your interest unless you are particularly a fan of late Soviet-era films such as this.