Leonid Fedorov

Two men and a woman happen to meet in a bar. We learn from their conversations both the intriguing and banal details of their lives. But is anyone really telling the truth?

The production by Kirill Serebrennikov revives all four of Alexander Pushkin's classic blank-verse dramas: "Mozart and Salieri", "The Miserly Knight", "The Stone Guest", and "Feast in Time of Plague". Without changing a single word of the original text, Serebrennikov seamlessly blends classic literature with the stark realities of the 21st century. The director explores human nature through a modern lens, reflecting on envy, greed, egocentrism, and the profound fear of aging and oblivion. In this reimagining, the Miserly Knight becomes an archivist of a vast library, his son turns into a motorcycle racer, and the grim "Feast in Time of Plague" takes place inside a modern nursing home. Serving as the central musical and thematic thread, famous Russian rapper Husky performs his own songs between the acts, acting as a contemporary Prophet and bridge between eras.

Five passengers - the Bandit, his friend Matvei, Matvei's old father, the Musician, and a young woman - race along an empty road in a big black jeep, searching for the Belfry of Happiness which, according to hearsay, lies somewhere between St. Petersburg and the town of Uglich, near a deserted nuclear power station. The Belfry takes people, but it does not take everyone. Each of the five passengers believes that he or she will be chosen.

Vika is twenty years old. She has black fingernail polish, wears pink dresses, and is constantly depressed. While working at a pizza place, she gets an order for a pizza delivery from Venya, a strange twenty year old boy who lives all alone in a deserted apartment in the middle of Moscow. Venya suffers from agarophobia, the fear of open space. When Vika arrives Venya lets her in and locks the door behind her.

An exploration of 20th century Russia, following the fusing of the Party and the state after the Russian Civil War, which opened the doors to corruption, resulting in the exiling of the left and right opposition. Described using a combination of historical settings, biographies and masterpieces from Russian avant-garde artists, composers and writers from this period in history.

In an old Soviet music hall, an orchestra is recording a composition based on Pushkin's "Feast During the Plague". An invisible and frightening force is interfering with the musicians - whether it is the spirits of the past or the echo of war, but no one notices what is happening around them until the terrible end comes.

With a brother dedicated to punk rock stardom at any cost and a drunken father who chases skirt between robotic dancing lessons from the TV, young Senka stands as much chance of nurture as the hero of Truffaut's 400 Blows. The amazing thing about Ogorodnikov's film is that it was made in Russia. Clearly, plenty of Soviet teenies share the nihilistic feelings of their Western counterparts, and the extensive footage of safety-pin chic at concerts perhaps points to a sound export instinct on the director's part. Senka's brother Kostya is under pressure from Howmuch, a very heavy rocker, to steal a synthesiser from the Community Centre, so to protect him Senka steals it himself. The story occupies little more space than the music, but the performances are splendid enough to lodge Senka's predicament in the heart.