Slovo patsana. Krov na asfalte

A realistic depiction of what was happening in Russia in the 80s and 90s. If you know people who lived there during that time, they will basically tell you the same thing. Good actors must also be familiar with the street life to better understand the series. Characters of interest essentially show how everyone looks out for their own interests within every part of society and how everyone reveals their true selves in difficult situations they face. The same music repeats at various points throughout the episodes. At first, it seems tedious, but watching the series as a whole, it feels fitting. I could say it's akin to the lives of the heroes, where every day repeats like a cycle that keeps narrowing until each hero's catharsis arrives.

The series covers the so called "The Kazan phenomenon" of the teenager gangs of Tatarstan of 1970s-2020s. I moved to Kazan in the 90s when the "Asphalt wars" period had already been over, but I know many things about it anyway as I still live here and I can confirm the screenplay is very accurate in details. It's also incredibly well shot and played. I would only add that among the characters pictured there are too many ethnic Russians. The real gangs were of mixed ethnic origin of course, but the majority of members, especially the leaders, were Tatars. I highly recommend watching it for everyone and not just for those who want to learn more about the late Soviet Union and why it broke up.

If you are a fan of Breaking Bad, this series might be a must-watch for you. A young boy from a low-income family, being bullied in school, decides to join a neighborhood gang, looking for protection and to assert himself on the streets. From a homeboy, Andrey transforms into a gang fighter who goes head to head with anyone standing in the way. Through surprising small and bigs wins, Andrey evolves as a person, somewhat resembling Walter White's path. A string of violent events between competing gangs results in senseless deaths and makes the violence spiral. Tragedies unfolding in each episode change the main characters radically. Despite the dark and sometimes distressing outcomes, the authors managed to maintain a perspective similar to West Side Story, making the price of the right and wrong choices clear.

Russia is not a favorable topic recently due to the war with Ukraine, but this series is worth watching even now.

Provincial Kazan, late 80s. The Soviet Union mindset and style of living are falling apart (arguably, it only ever existed on Soviet TV). The grip of the Communist Party is already loose. There is nothing substantial inside, only rituals.

The protagonist gets robbed and beaten on his school commute by a local youth gang member. Adults have nothing to offer him besides an extra dose of propaganda. It's not something that the party really cares about. Some down-to-earth militia officers see the problem but can do nothing. According to Soviet laws of that time, young gang members are free to go until they kill someone. That's what adult criminals quickly start to abuse. They organize hierarchical gangs of teenagers, offering them protection and some sort of moral codex. But the codex isn't set on paper, and thugs can interpret it however they like. What comes next is the classical story of any gang film in the world. The spiral of violence is starting to spin.

The series tries to portray the epoch surgically. The scenarist did a terrific job. Slang, music, costumes, actors' play - everything is perfect. Unfortunately, the series is rooted too deep in history, and to fully enjoy it, you should be aware of the late Soviet Union. But anyway, highly recommended.

This series is great in everything, entertaining and all but i need for them to add subtitles in english atleast because its hard for me to understand, im from Czechia and im learning russian but it would help me improve if they would add the subtitles and for lot of people too because theres a lot of people from other countried that want to watch it and understand it, all my friends that dont speak it tried to undestand it but they cant because its too hard for them, i understand that and all. (i know its hard to translate russian to english because of the slang but its should be done somehow)