Assa

I can hardly believe that this incredible film, directed by Sergey Solovyov, was produced by the Soviet state film agency MosFilm! Set against the backdrop of the decaying seaside town of Yalta...

This film is truly a cult classic... a countercultural anthem that reflects significant sociopolitical shifts in a country undergoing profound change. Back in 1987, writer-director Sergei Solovyov and co-writer Sergei Livnev's bold and experimental rock-crime film "Chernukha" Assa or ACCA played a pivotal role in bringing the Soviet underground rock scene and the Perestroika film movement into the public eye. It's also notable for being one of the few films featuring the legendary Russian rock artist Viktor Tsoi, and it quickly became a symbol of protest, with its emotional resonance still felt by film and music enthusiasts today.

The film opens with an underground Russian rock concert in Yalta, where we meet the curious and open-minded Bananan (Sergei "Afrika" Bugaev), who plays one of the drummers. The acting is phenomenal - the chemistry between Bananan and Alika (Tatyana Drubich) is palpable. Her "boyfriend" Krymov (Stanislav Govorukhin), an intellectual who secretly leads a criminal organization under the watchful eyes of clueless KGB agents, is oblivious to their growing bond. As Alika and Bananan develop a close friendship that flirts with romance, introducing her to the world of Soviet counterculture, the tension builds!

Enough said... just watch it! No words can do this film a favour... it is above the description.

When I think of this now, 12 years after I saw this movie for the first time, I can probably compare it somehow with "Fargo". The same gloomy colors, the same snow everywhere, the same slow motion of people dozing in winter like bears. The same sad realism in all the scenes, including the car chases, the same end. And also -- and this is the most amazing of it all, in my opinion -- the same feeling of light you experience at the end, despite the end which can hardly be called happy.

This film also has a winning mixture of criminal plot and love triangle. (Remember "Heat"?). A young girl is waiting for her lover in the snowy Yalta, and he comes one night too late because of the storm -- and in this one night she meets a young musician who offers her to spend the night in his apartment. (Mind you, this is a Soviet film -- there are no sex scenes at all in the movie, but the simplest gestures become erotic as they are real, as we all have been in those situations of late teens who just discover each other). Her lover is an underworld tycoon who manages to plan some more of his dark affairs, to mislead the KGB trail and to entertain the girl -- he saw for everything but the musician. Clever, rich, attractive, charming when needed (although extremely cruel when needed as well), brilliantly educated erudite -- he can do nothing against a young boy who has nothing but a pure heart and a love this heart can generate. And as usual in the love triangles, it does not end well for the involved sides -- for some lethally, for some with awful soul scars...

The movie is slow and viscous -- but this is its charm. The music of Grebenschikov (and the XVII-century piece of "Gorod Zolotoi", of course) became a real Russian classic; the historical jumps to the times of Paul I look like an original move of Sergei Solovyov and not like a ridiculous trial to look educated. The guest appearance of Victor Tsoi seems well-timed as well. And finally, Sergei Bugayev (the musician) has a winning role in itself, a martyr against his will -- but to play the parts of Alika and Krymov, it took all the talent of Tatyana Drubich and Stanislav Govorukhin, and they deliver the performances which will never be forgotten.

A good test of movies' quality is watching it again, 10-12 years after its release. I watched it recently, and it became worse -- the colors of the Soviet film faded, and the voices became muter. Technicalities. But as for the movie itself, I dreamt of it at night. This was an epochal movie for the 80-ies, but one that remains as a monument even in the XXI century.

However, the ONLY reason that most Russians saw this movie is Viktor Tsoy, credited in the titles. Actually, it was more of a cameo appearance. Absolute rock legend Tsoy made this film's success, especially after his accidental and mysterious death soon after release.

For fans : his appearance within the film lasts about 30 seconds. However, there is a stunning piece of live concert footage playing in the background during the end credits.

The film IS quite decent, although the plot is rather confusing. Personally, however, I spent the entire movie waiting for Tsoy to appear, as he was credited as if he was in the main cast. In fact, his first appearance is AFTER the dramatic finale... And has little if anything to do with the plot. This may have something to do with the fact that, besides his brilliant music career, he got an actor of the year award for the film 'Igla' (The Needle).

Basically, his casting is a scam --- to get a star into the cast to draw young audiences. He participated to support the lead actor, a close friend.

The film is just fine to shoot. Conveys the spirit of those years and immerses in the atmosphere of the late 80s. The emphasis was placed on the contact of two different worlds, two different generations. On one side is a criminal authority, a person who is well versed in this world, with a firm hand. And on the other side, a young informal guy who sings on stage, lives in his own world. And in the middle is a beautiful girl, Alika.

The Acca film Festival legalized Russian rock and roll - not so much sound as "all this": men's earrings, communication tubes, lighters dancing in the dark, the maxim "the main thing is to feel sighted" and the whole countercultural show-off, without which rock becomes just highly paid music.

The face of Russia as it was in the 80's. The image of the young generation through the face of gloomy regime. Love story of 2 young people is stuck between the old norms of Soviet union and the new rising power of organized mafia, two ingredients which will affect the collapse of the 70 years socialist power. The young generation demand changes, and immediately but it's being suffocated by both sides of the old order, and the movie ends with legendary Viktor Tsoi's song "Changes" which became an anthem after Tsoi's tragic death in a car accident. A Parallel story in the movie is the murder of Russia's emperor on 12th March of 1801 which is probably a metaphor of constant corruption in Russia.