Generation P

Viktor Ginzburg's "Generation P" is a satire on advertising, and the free-for-all that took over Russia after the Soviet collapse. My favorite scene is where the main character imagines Che Guevara showing him how mass consumerism destroys the soul and turns one into a robot watching TV all day (like the characters in Mike Judge's "Idiocracy").

A lot of the movie is filmed so that the audience isn't sure if the action is real or imagined (those mushrooms suggest the latter). And then there's the title. The P could stand for pop, Pepsi, Panasonic, or something else of that ilk. Empty prospects for the generation that saw Boris Yeltsin shell the parliament building that he had previously defended, and then use the constitutional crisis to establish a nearly monarchical government.

I recommend the movie. The main character's immersion in one of the sleaziest worlds of all makes for an intense story. Really good one.

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

It might even be better if you haven't read the book, but come in naively as I did and just start watching with no expectations. Although this work of magical realism has a strong Russian flavor, it is as much about western civilization as anything else. Ironically, one of the themes is that Russia produces no products, but the Russian pose has long been that it produces philosophical literature and this Certainly qualifies. It also gives you a big taste of Russia that will inform someone who knows very little. The "cultural references" may be specific, but the context usually gives you an idea of what sort of thing is being referenced. I look forward to forcing my husband to watch it with me, and I wish I had more time to read, because the book must be really good...

Now that I have seen it again, I look forward to reading the book, preferably annotated. A second viewing means that you can catch more foreshadowing and thematic development. I realized I had missed a few plot points, too. The events of 2015 resonate strongly with this film and it looks like 2016 will be more resonant yet. This film is available on Google, and I can't recommend it enough. From prehistory to modern politics it has something to say. It is funny as hell about some serious stuff.

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 ;)

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.