''Assa'' (''Асса'') is a 1987 Soviet
crime film
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
directed and co-written by
Sergei Solovyov. It became a
cult film,
[Nikonova, Valeria]
"Russia on Screen: The 10 Best Russian Films"
mainly due to the fact that it was one of the films that brought
Russian rock
Rock music became known in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and quickly broke free from its Western roots. According to many music critics, its "golden age" years were the 1980s (especially the era of perestroika), when the Soviet underground ro ...
music from the
underground
Underground most commonly refers to:
* Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth
Underground may also refer to:
Places
* The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston
* The Underground ...
into the mainstream. Solovyov made a sequel to the film twenty years later, ''2-ASSA-2''.
While there are no causal links to it,
Sovietology
Kremlinology is the study and analysis of the politics and policies of the Soviet Union while Sovietology is the study of politics and policies of both the Soviet Union and former communist states more generally. These two terms were synonymous unt ...
uses the release of ''Assa'' as a benchmark for when
Perestroika reached the mass culture, and accordingly, entered its prime phase. This could be explained by the fact that the film was the first sanctioned production to feature previously-banned musicians.
Plot
The film has several plot lines. The main plot takes place in the winter of 1980 and tells the story of Alika (
Tatyana Drubich
Tatyana Drubich (born 7 June 1959) is a Russian film actress. She has appeared in 20 films since 1972. She starred in the 1974 film ''Sto dney posle detstva'', which was entered into the 25th Berlin International Film Festival where it won the S ...
), a young nurse who stays in
Yalta
Yalta (: Я́лта) is a resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Cri ...
with her patient and lover Krymov (
Stanislav Govorukhin
Stanislav Sergeyevich Govorukhin (russian: Станислав Сергеевич Говорухин; 29 March 1936 – 14 June 2018) was a Soviet and Russian film director, actor, screenwriter, producer and politician. He was named People's Artis ...
), who is considerably older than she is. Krymov is the head of a
criminal group and is being watched by inept
KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
agents, but Alika is not completely aware of it. In Yalta Alika meets Bananan (
Sergei "Afrika" Bugaev), a young and eccentric underground rock musician, who introduces her to the Soviet counterculture. When Krymov discovers that Alika is developing a relationship with Bananan, he becomes jealous and tries to convince Bananan to leave Alika and Yalta altogether; after Bananan refuses, Krymov's minions murder him. When he tells Alika about this, she murders him and is arrested by the
Militsiya, although they treat her gently.
Another minor plot line shows the history of the murder of tsar
Paul I of Russia. It is based on a book by
Natan Eidelman, which Krymov is shown reading throughout the movie.
Experimental scenes and Russian rock relation
Besides the two conventional plot lines, the film is notable for having many experimental scenes which are only loosely related to the plot: Bananan's surreal dreams, "
footnote
A note is a string of text placed at the bottom of a page in a book or document or at the end of a chapter, volume, or the whole text. The note can provide an author's comments on the main text or citations of a reference work in support of th ...
s" with explanation of Russian rock
slang
Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-g ...
and performances of complete Russian rock songs by
Aquarium
An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...
,
Bravo
Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels
*Bravo (band), a Russian rock band
* Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984
*Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...
, Soyuz kompozitorov,
Yury Chernavsky
Yury (George) Chernavsky (russian: Юрий Александрович Чернавский; born March 17, 1947) is a Russian producer, composer and songwriter. Chernavsky is a member of performance rights organisations such as GEMA, BMI, an ...
with
Vesyolye Rebyata and
Kino
Kino may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasters
* KINO, a radio station in Arizona, U.S.
* Kino FM (98.0 FM – Moscow), a Russian music radio station
* KinoTV, now Ruutu+ Leffat ja Sarjat, a Finnish TV channel
Fictional entiti ...
.
Boris Grebenshchikov
Boris Borisovich Grebenshchikov (russian: link=no, Борис Борисович Гребенщиков; born ) is a prominent member of the generation which is widely considered to be the "founding fathers" of Russian rock music. He is the fo ...
of Aquarium wrote the film's instrumental soundtrack and he is also referenced in the film's dialog: Bananan tells Krymov that Grebenshchikov ''"is a God who radiates light"''.
The film's memorable final scene symbolizes the liberation of Russian music from the state-imposed restrictions. In the scene, which is barely related to the plot, Bananan's bandmate brings
Viktor Tsoi
Viktor Robertovich Tsoi (russian: Виктор Робертович Цой; ; 21 June 1962 – 15 August 1990) was a Soviet singer and songwriter who co-founded Kino, one of the most popular and musically influential bands in the history of ...
, the singer of Kino, portrayed by himself, to work in a restaurant as a singer; the restaurant manager starts reading to him the strict rules that all restaurant performers must follow, but instead of listening to her, Tsoi goes straight to the stage and starts singing ''
I Want Changes!'' (Хочу перемен!); after some time the camera turns around and shows that he's not in a restaurant, but in front of a huge admiring crowd of young people in a theatre. This song became strongly associated with the social changes in the Soviet Union in the times of
Perestroika and
Glasnost in late 1980s, and the Russian opposition movement
Solidarnost
United Democratic Movement "Solidarnost" (russian: Объединённое демократическое движение «Солидарность»; ОДД «Солидарность»; ''Obyedinonnoye demokraticheskoye dvizheniye «Solidarno ...
chose it as its anthem.
Another experimental scene shows one of Krymov's minions (
Alexander Bashirov
Alexander Nikolaevich Bashirov (russian: Александр Николаевич Баширов; born 24 September 1955, in Sogom) is a Russian film and theater actor, director and screenwriter. He performed in more than sixty films since 1986.
...
) being interrogated about Krymov's criminal activities. In an attempt to avoid
squealing he pretends to be insane and reads a monologue about being traumatized by the
death of Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space. T ...
. The monologue was improvised by Bashirov.
КИНО в КИНО
at the fuzz-magazine.ru website
Cast
* Sergei "Afrika" Bugaev as Bananan
* Tatyana Drubich
Tatyana Drubich (born 7 June 1959) is a Russian film actress. She has appeared in 20 films since 1972. She starred in the 1974 film ''Sto dney posle detstva'', which was entered into the 25th Berlin International Film Festival where it won the S ...
as Alika
* Stanislav Govorukhin
Stanislav Sergeyevich Govorukhin (russian: Станислав Сергеевич Говорухин; 29 March 1936 – 14 June 2018) was a Soviet and Russian film director, actor, screenwriter, producer and politician. He was named People's Artis ...
as Andrey Valentinovich Krymov ("Svan")
* Dmitriy Shumilov as Vitya, Bananan's friend
* Aleksandr Bashirov
Alexander Nikolaevich Bashirov (russian: Александр Николаевич Баширов; born 24 September 1955, in Sogom) is a Russian film and theater actor, director and screenwriter. He performed in more than sixty films since 1986.
...
as Shurik Babakin ("Major"), thief
* Anatoly Slivnikov as "Thug", thief
* Viktor Beshlyaga as Albert Petrovich, little actor
* Anita Zhukovskaya as Zoya, Albert's wife
* German Shorr as "Blain", thief
* Ilya Ivanov as "Ball", thief
* Svetlana Tormakhova as Marya Antonovna, Bananan's mother
* Aleksandr Domogarov
Aleksandr Yurievich Domogarov (russian: Алекса́ндр Ю́рьевич Домога́ров, born 12 July 1963) is a Soviet and Russian theater actor, TV presenter, Russian chanson singer, People's Artist of Russia (2007), actor known for p ...
as Aleksandr I
The film features cameo appearance
A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...
s by Viktor Tsoi
Viktor Robertovich Tsoi (russian: Виктор Робертович Цой; ; 21 June 1962 – 15 August 1990) was a Soviet singer and songwriter who co-founded Kino, one of the most popular and musically influential bands in the history of ...
, Yuri Kasparyan
Yuri Dmitriyevich Kasparyan (russian: Ю́рий Дми́триевич Каспаря́н, born 24 June 1963) is a Russian and former Soviet musician best known for his time as the guitarist of the Soviet rock band Kino and as a member of ...
, Sergey Ryizhenko, Timur Novikov
Timur Petrovich Novikov (September 24, 1958, Leningrad – May 23, 2002, St. Petersburg) was a Russian visual artist, designer, art theorist, philosopher, and musician. He is considered one of the most influential proponents of Nonconformist ...
, Andrey Krisanov and Georgy Guryanov
Georgy (Gustav) Konstantinovich Guryanov (; 27 February 1961 – 20 July 2013) was a Soviet and Russian musician and artist.
From 1984 to 1990, Guryanov was the drummer, arranger, and backing vocalist in Kino and participant in Sergey Kuryokhin' ...
.
Soundtrack
# ''Hello, Bananan Boy'' (''Здравствуй, мальчик Бананан'') — Yury Chernavsky
Yury (George) Chernavsky (russian: Юрий Александрович Чернавский; born March 17, 1947) is a Russian producer, composer and songwriter. Chernavsky is a member of performance rights organisations such as GEMA, BMI, an ...
and Vesiolie Rebiata
# ''I Go To You'' (''Иду на ты'') — Boris Grebenshchikov
Boris Borisovich Grebenshchikov (russian: link=no, Борис Борисович Гребенщиков; born ) is a prominent member of the generation which is widely considered to be the "founding fathers" of Russian rock music. He is the fo ...
and Aquarium
An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...
# ''Air Force'' (''ВВС'') — Aleksandr Sinitsin and Soyuz Kompozitorov band
# ''Chick Blues'' (''Мочалкин блюз'') — Boris Grebenshchikov
Boris Borisovich Grebenshchikov (russian: link=no, Борис Борисович Гребенщиков; born ) is a prominent member of the generation which is widely considered to be the "founding fathers" of Russian rock music. He is the fo ...
and Aquarium
An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...
# ''The Plane'' (''Плоскость'') — Boris Grebenshchikov
Boris Borisovich Grebenshchikov (russian: link=no, Борис Борисович Гребенщиков; born ) is a prominent member of the generation which is widely considered to be the "founding fathers" of Russian rock music. He is the fo ...
and Aquarium
An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...
# ''Old Kozlodoyev'' (''Старик Козлодоев'') — Boris Grebenshchikov
Boris Borisovich Grebenshchikov (russian: link=no, Борис Борисович Гребенщиков; born ) is a prominent member of the generation which is widely considered to be the "founding fathers" of Russian rock music. He is the fo ...
and Aquarium
An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...
# ''City Of Gold'' (''Город золотой'') — Boris Grebenshchikov
Boris Borisovich Grebenshchikov (russian: link=no, Борис Борисович Гребенщиков; born ) is a prominent member of the generation which is widely considered to be the "founding fathers" of Russian rock music. He is the fo ...
and Aquarium
An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...
# ''Wonderful Land'' (''Чудесная страна'') — Jeanne Aguzarova
Jeanne may refer to:
Places
* Jeanne (crater), on Venus
People
* Jeanne (given name)
* Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc, 1412–1431)
* Joanna of Flanders (1295–1374)
* Joan, Duchess of Brittany (1319–1384)
* Ruth Stuber Jeanne (1910–2004), Amer ...
and Bravo
Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels
*Bravo (band), a Russian rock band
* Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984
*Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...
# ''I Want Change'' ( Хочу перемен) — Viktor Tsoi
Viktor Robertovich Tsoi (russian: Виктор Робертович Цой; ; 21 June 1962 – 15 August 1990) was a Soviet singer and songwriter who co-founded Kino, one of the most popular and musically influential bands in the history of ...
and Kino
Kino may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasters
* KINO, a radio station in Arizona, U.S.
* Kino FM (98.0 FM – Moscow), a Russian music radio station
* KinoTV, now Ruutu+ Leffat ja Sarjat, a Finnish TV channel
Fictional entiti ...
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Authority control
1980s crime drama films
Russian rock music films
Russian musical drama films
Soviet musical drama films
Soviet crime drama films
Russian crime drama films
Cultural depictions of Paul I of Russia
Films set in 1801
Films set in 1980
Films set in Crimea
Films set in Saint Petersburg
Films set in the Soviet Union
Films shot in Crimea
Films shot in Moscow
Films shot in Saint Petersburg
Films directed by Sergei Solovyov
Films scored by Boris Grebenshchikov
1987 drama films
1987 films
Soviet teen films