Slovo patsana. Krov na asfalte

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.

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.

"Patsan's Word" is the best Russian TV series of recent years, maybe even decades. Since Brigada, there has been nothing like it, which would have fascinated all people, of all ages and all social groups. It's a big mass flashback that the whole country is immersed in. A massive sense of deja vu.

Ripped dynamic editing, talented actors, lovingly reproduced entourage and atmosphere of those years. The soundtrack that creates a sense of existential and magical atmosphere of what is happening on the background of realistic and truthful cruelty.

The Kazan phenomenon was not in Kazan alone, it was on different scales all over the country. It was a difficult time, a time of broken eras and systems. The Soviet Union was rotting and coming to an end, no one believed in the official ideology anymore, and no one could offer anything new. The guys lived as best they could, and in the absence of structures and hierarchies they created their own. These structures became groups.

Well done, Zhora Kryzhovnikov. A round of applause. This is his magnum opus.

You want to understand something about current Russia? Watch this show. It's the origins, it's part of history, you can't erase it, you can only accept it.

Very well made series. It was very scary and difficult period for everyone who lived in Soviet Union. It was a freefall for country society, morals etc. I am not romanticizing. I lived true it. In different region of the country. I remember how scary it was sometimes to go outside for a girl of 15.

It is brutal but so it was life back then. Poor parents had no idea how their kids were surviving in the daily bases. Half of them didn't realize that system was breaking and there is nobody to protect them or theirs kids.

I am very happy that the youth of today had never experienced anything like that.

I think people should watch this show, to make sure that something like that would never happen again.

It is very hard to comprehend one man's struggles without being in his shoes. I want to apologize for my English, I used to skip those English classes back in the 80s. I will not lie or create a big story of my review but I'll tell you this. I was born at one time like that, I grew up during those times, on a similar street, similar school, same lifestyle but in a different part of the USSR. Yes, our life was going around three places, school, street and our flat/parents (oh and yes "podval/underground). Our parents had enough on their plate so we never saw them, they worked hard only to lose everything in 1991. Many mothers committed suicide, and fathers drank themselves and slept outside apartment doors in soiled clothing, slowly coming to an end. It was an era of big government workers driving in their Volga's who had salami in their fridges and the rest of us. Kids used to play "seagulls" meaning storming the fridge of the friend who got such parents. We used to play "fanticki" It's a game you hit with your palm on top of chewing gum wrap to collect it. I didn't see that game in this movie, maybe producers would include it in the future seasons of this show (I hope). Do you remember guys we used to say ching gis han, chin giz han sitting on the cold concrete stairs of your school, on a break, playing your Contra or Terminator cool colourful chewing gum wraps, you hit with your palm on top of the stash and what falls on one side is yours if not your opponent gets it? The same was for everything else, the old can of Pepsi or Coca-Cola collection on a wall, or the plokat/poster of the Kino rock group. If you got a new bicycle, some older "starshiki" older guys come to you like "Hey cho takoi bike you have, give it to me for one day to ride around". Next, you see that bike being traded outside of "rayon, ulitsa/street/block" bye-bye bicycle. You come home without the bike, Dad gets mad and beats you with his leather belt from his pants, and your mother is crying, covering you with her body. Then you stand in the "ugl" corner of the room for hours paying your debts. Starsheki/pahani what we used to call older guys, always come to get something from you, but we were never angry, it was kind of one region, everyone knew each other like a brother to brother. I knew one day starsheki would save me when some fat boy from a higher grade came to me in the washroom to take my chewing gum or money etc. Later, pink blazers/malinivie pidjaki started coming up, stores with Asian chewing gums, videotape recorder TV centers yes just like in the movie, you pay 1 ruble and watch a movie with 30 guys. The new Asian 8-bit game consoles replaced old Russian tape loud-noise gaming machines. Hi-Tek 8-bit gaming console with yellow cartridges you stick on the top of a gray console "pristavka" we called them. After watching this TV series I have so many memories back in my head, now in my late age I feel like I lost those memories forever. Slova patsana opened the long shut door to the dusty soviet era memory section in my brain, I wish you'd have the same result. Like oh my goodness the music, Nochnoe Rondevu Chris Kelmi, Lambada just because of this show now I have collected all of those old tracks. The 80s were very difficult for the USSR, and the 90s were even harder. With perestroika came fast money, someone made millions by selling "okorochka" chicken legs, then he was shot in the hallway of his building. Some made quick money by opening gas stations, if they didn't pay "za krishu" for cover, then it was the same experience for them too, one shot from a TT pistol and killed men found all over the city/country. The new "kommersant" and "blotnie", tv news used to call them. Sometimes it was a single man hit, other times the whole family paid the price. People got killed during the late 80,90 and 2000s "pachkami" lots" they used to say.

For everyone who grows up during those times, this movie will be back to the past on "mashina vremeni"/ a time machine. For everyone else, I doubt you'd understand it. We live in a world where movies like Barbie make one man billion-dollar richer. On the other part of the globe, kids sniff shoe glue so their tummies won't hurt. I guess many people grow up with Barbie dollhouses, for the rest of us, we have the "Word of a Boy/Slovo Patsana" TV series. It is a different world we are living in right now, those who made it through the old years are super rich and their kids live in the UK England. Others who have tried to get to the truth are long gone and bear a heavy stone on top of 6 feet under. Many good people perish fighting for a better future. I celebrate this movie with memories of all fallen good souls wherever you are in this world, and their loved ones, families, and friends. I wish the world to become a better, cleaner place without bullying, hate or aggression. I wish that one day your kids would go to school, and later work without fear, and the world will be a fair, honest, place full of love and laughter.

P. S.

Ya vernus' - Igor Talkov, Blood Type - KINO, Good Night - KINO.

These three songs are from two songwriters from that era, if you translate the lyrics you'd think they were the type of silent movement of the "change for the better" artists, Igor Talkov as Victor Tsoi/KINO like many artists from those years died under strange circumstances. I hope that songs from those artists will be included in the future seasons of the TV series.