Generation P

First of all, I would like to express my admiration. Admiration for the fact that the creators managed to make a good film with a clear plot, excellent acting, pleasant pictures, high-quality and appropriate special effects, with humor and meaning. There is no vulgarity here, the swearing does not spoil the impression - it is appropriate. And this (good cinema) is in itself a huge achievement.

I was afraid that with such an abundance of stars it would simply turn out to be another skit, but no: everyone played their roles well. I would especially like to mention Efremov: I don't even remember him in a role that lasted more than a couple of minutes and without a bottle. Here, he is both a habitual tyrant, an evil genius, and a victim.

And of course the main star of the film is Epifantsev. From the very beginning I didn't like the fact that he would play Babylen, but he is so organic in this role that any objections disappear from the very first scene. He is simply perfect for the role of a young, energetic man who does not believe in anything, trying to survive in a destroyed country during the troubled times.

One of the best post-modern russian movies, there are not much though. Soundtrack is great, characters are too.

This film beautifully tells the tale of an advertising copy writer as he rises up in the world of Russian Busness. This film is so well done that it borders on an "Art" film and the story is both intriguing and disturbing for the viewer because the mechanisms shown fully exist in the world we live in, and this is a "glimpse behind the curtain" of that dark and relatively unseen world. Filmed with High production values the film showcases that indeed Russians are not only capable of making great movies but, that they can be done in a way that is every bit as entertaining and sophisticated as Hollywood. A remarkably worthwhile watch even with the subtitles. The story will provoke thought long after the film has been watched. Highly recommend for folks that like intellectual storytelling!

A good set of actors. It's also good that director didn't modify the original Pelevin's idea.

If you have read the book, then you will like that movie did not tried to "improve" or "rethink" the original story, but stayed quite close to original, sometimes quoting parts of the book's text entirely.

Cast is fine. Don't let the sucky trailer full you, actors are playing fine and their characters are quite believable (except for maybe, Litvinova, but she has around 30 seconds on screen, so it does not matter).

Visuals are good. Not great, but good. Its "slightly better 90s", with slightly more human bandits, and slightly cleaner streets.

Sound is fine, and music is even good enough to wonder about buying a soundtrack.

.. but. There is always "but", and in this case - you MUST have lived in ex-USSR 90s, and you must speak Russian, to understand the movie. It's very tightly rooted into post-soviet discourse, and without "cultural references" (c), i am afraid, the movie will be hard to grasp on.

alternatively, if you have ever wondered about, or experienced altered states of consciousness, you might find it fun ;)