The movie takes a peek behind the iron curtain in the post World War 2. Set in a 1955 Moscow, it describes the battle between conformity and individuality that the youth faces while living under a communist regime built on the ideology that no one is better than another and everyone lives for each other. However, there is a tribe that in its youthful defiance of the system (that promotes a monotonous and disciplined life), adopts a culture of colorful clothing and celebrating their life through their love for jazz at broadway and cocktail club. The society that considers following western culture a defiance of the countries ideology and shames them as hipsters or "Stilyagi". Western articles are not imported into the country, but are smuggled and bought through middlemen trading in the dark alleys around the clubs. The sense of defiance through these purchases, further stimulates the propulsion of this culture.
The narrative is bound around the 20 year old Mels who is part of the youth wing of the communist party. He isn't necessarily tied closely to the ideology of the party, but earnestly carries out the orders and is very close friends with its youth commander, Katlyn. During one of the raids on partying hispsters, Mels is smitten by the enchanting Polly. He subsequently realizes that to capture her attention, he would need to learn to dress up and dance like them and become a part of their group. This gives a sneak peak behind the jazzy outlook of the group as they are shown as citizens who too belong normal conformed family lives but choose to express themselves by socializing together. In this journey of transformation, Mels also learns to play Saxaphone which helps him to charter to unexplored facets of this personality.
Through Mels journey of transition the director sheds light on how the hipsters, or "Dandy" as they are called, keep up with their lifestyle. One thing that strikes the viewer is that they are too vibrant and gaudy in their choices, partly because the director wanted to markedly distinguish between the vivid world of Dandys and the grey world of the slobs, but possibly also to show that the hipsters had only a perceived vision of the western culture and was inspired by the dazzling outlook of the western showbiz.
The tension between the komsomol and the Stilyagi's is scratched on the surface through interactions between Mels and Katlyn. Katlyn has had a crush on Mels and is visibly disturbed at losing him to the Stilyagis'. Since the story is told from Stilyagi's perspective, the rendering takes a satirical dig at the conformist communist culture at more than one instance.
Since it is a musical, the music adds well to the narrative and sequenced are very colorfully choreographed. However, the song that really stands out is the one sung in the assembly of the communist party, where Mels is stripped of his membership. All in all, its a light-hearted, entertaining take on the hipster's cult in 1950's Moscow and with a hint on it's substance.
The narrative is bound around the 20 year old Mels who is part of the youth wing of the communist party. He isn't necessarily tied closely to the ideology of the party, but earnestly carries out the orders and is very close friends with its youth commander, Katlyn. During one of the raids on partying hispsters, Mels is smitten by the enchanting Polly. He subsequently realizes that to capture her attention, he would need to learn to dress up and dance like them and become a part of their group. This gives a sneak peak behind the jazzy outlook of the group as they are shown as citizens who too belong normal conformed family lives but choose to express themselves by socializing together. In this journey of transformation, Mels also learns to play Saxaphone which helps him to charter to unexplored facets of this personality.
Through Mels journey of transition the director sheds light on how the hipsters, or "Dandy" as they are called, keep up with their lifestyle. One thing that strikes the viewer is that they are too vibrant and gaudy in their choices, partly because the director wanted to markedly distinguish between the vivid world of Dandys and the grey world of the slobs, but possibly also to show that the hipsters had only a perceived vision of the western culture and was inspired by the dazzling outlook of the western showbiz.
The tension between the komsomol and the Stilyagi's is scratched on the surface through interactions between Mels and Katlyn. Katlyn has had a crush on Mels and is visibly disturbed at losing him to the Stilyagis'. Since the story is told from Stilyagi's perspective, the rendering takes a satirical dig at the conformist communist culture at more than one instance.
Since it is a musical, the music adds well to the narrative and sequenced are very colorfully choreographed. However, the song that really stands out is the one sung in the assembly of the communist party, where Mels is stripped of his membership. All in all, its a light-hearted, entertaining take on the hipster's cult in 1950's Moscow and with a hint on it's substance.