''Assa'' () is a 1987 Soviet

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

directed and co-written by Sergei Solovyov. It became a

cult film A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase, which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in repeated ...

,Nikonova, Valeria
"Russia on Screen: The 10 Best Russian Films"
mainly because it was one of the films that brought Russian rock music from 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 uses the release of ''Assa'' as a benchmark for when

Perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...

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 group Kino.

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), a young nurse who stays in

Yalta Yalta (: ) is a resort town, 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 Crime ...

with her patient and lover Krymov ( Stanislav Govorukhin), who is considerably older than she is. Krymov is the head of a criminal group and is being watched by

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

agents, but Alika is not completely aware of this. 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 Krymov 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 Paul I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1796 until his assassination in 1801. Paul remained overshadowed by his mother, Catherine the Great, for most of his life. He adopted the Pauline Laws, laws of succession to the Russian throne—rules ...

. It is based on a book by Natan Eidelman, which Krymov is shown reading throughout the movie.

Experimental scenes and relation to the Russian rock scene

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, "

footnotes In publishing, a note is a brief text in which the author comments on the subject and themes of the book and names supporting citations. In the editorial production of books and documents, typographically, a note is usually several lines of t ...

" with explanations of Russian rock

slang A slang is a vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in everyday conversation but avoided in formal writing and speech. It also often refers to the language exclusively used by the members of pa ...

, and performances of complete Russian rock songs by

Aquarium An aquarium (: 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. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

, Bravo, Soyuz kompozitorov, Yury Chernavsky with

Vesyolye Rebyata Vesyolye Rebyata (, which means "''Merry Lads''") was a Soviet Union, Soviet VIA music, VIA (vocal instrumental ensemble) band formed in 1968, in Moscow. It became one of the most successful and best known VIA bands of all time. Its debut album ...

, and Kino.

Boris Grebenshchikov Boris Borisovich Grebenshchikov (; born ) is a prominent member of the generation which is widely considered to be the "founding fathers" of Russian rock music. He is the founder and lead singer of the band Aquarium which has been active since ...

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, 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

and

Glasnost ''Glasnost'' ( ; , ) is a concept relating to openness and transparency. It has several general and specific meanings, including a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information and the inadmissi ...

in late 1980s. Another experimental scene shows one of Krymov's minions ( Aleksandr Bashirov) being interrogated about Krymov's criminal activities. In an attempt to avoid squealing he pretends to be insane and delivers 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, aboard the first successful Human spaceflight, crewed sp ...

. The monologue was improvised by Bashirov.КИНО в КИНО
at the fuzz-magazine.ru website

Cast

* Sergei "Afrika" Bugaev as Bananan * Tatyana Drubich as Alika * Stanislav Govorukhin as Andrey Valentinovich Krymov ("Svan") * Dmitriy Shumilov as Vitya, Bananan's friend * Aleksandr Bashirov 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 as Aleksandr I The film features

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

s by Viktor Tsoi, Yuri Kasparyan, Sergey Ryizhenko, Timur Novikov, Andrey Krisanov and Georgy Guryanov.

Soundtrack

# ''Hello, Bananan Boy'' (''Здравствуй, мальчик Бананан'') — Yury Chernavsky and

# ''I Go To You'' (''Иду на ты'') —

and

# ''Air Force'' (''ВВС'') — Aleksandr Sinitsin and Soyuz Kompozitorov band # ''Chick Blues'' (''Мочалкин блюз'') —

and

# ''The Plane'' (''Плоскость'') —

and

# ''Old Kozlodoyev'' (''Старик Козлодоев'') —

and

# ''City Of Gold'' (''Город золотой'') —

and

# ''Wonderful Land'' (''Чудесная страна'') — Jeanne Aguzarova and Bravo # ''I Want Changes'' ( ''Хочу перемен'') — Viktor Tsoi and Kino

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control 1987 films 1987 crime drama films 1987 romantic drama films 1980s historical drama films 1980s historical musical films 1980s historical romance films 1980s musical drama films 1980s romantic musical films 1980s Russian-language films 1980s Soviet films 1980s teen drama films Films about 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 Russian-language historical romance films Russian-language historical drama films Russian-language romantic musical films Russian-language musical drama films Russian-language romantic drama films Russian rock music films Russian musical drama films Russian crime drama films Russian-language crime drama films Soviet historical drama films Soviet historical musical films Soviet musical drama films Soviet crime drama films Soviet romantic drama films Soviet teen drama films Whitewashing in film 1987 musical films