Hipsters

A colorful Russian film set in the youth culture of 1955 Moscow, director Valery Todorovsky's 2008 Hipsters is an old-fashioned musical, coming-of-age tale, and adventure in youthful rebellion. In the conformist society of Soviet Russia, loyal young communist Mels (Anton Shagin) falls in love with Polya (Oksana Akinshina), a member of a group of self-defined "hipsters" who parade about in peacock fashions, and dance to swing and small combo dance bands from World War II-era America in underground clubs. It's a bright blast of dissident culture in a society where rebels are regularly jailed for much less. The eye-gouging color, flamboyant dress, and appropriated style is not just a fashion statement, but also a cry of individualism and freedom in a country where "kowtowing to Western ideology is punishable by up to 10 years" and "a saxophone is considered a concealed weapon." It's also a warped mirror reflection of what these Soviet youths imagine that American culture is like from the snatched glimpses and slivers of artifacts seen between the cracks of the Iron Curtain—not only a decade out of date but also exaggerated to hyperbolic extremes. The drama itself is much more conventional, with the kids forced to choose between their rebel identities and donning the costume of conformity for advancement, marriage, parenthood, and responsibility. But what's most interesting here is the heady combination of realistic detail and expressionist song-and-dance sequences, offering a rare glimpse into a Russian subculture that Americans have not seen dramatized before. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)