Taxi Blues (1990) Taksi-Blyuz (original title)

Director:

Pavel Lungin

Writer:

Pavel Lungin

Release Date:

18 January 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Ivan is old Russia: thick, dour, hard-working, often brutish; he misses Communism. He drives a taxi and one night meets Alexi...

Plot Keywords:

Alcoholic | Love Hate Relationship | Taxi | Male Friendship | Artist

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Pyotr Mamonov	...	Lyosha
Pyotr Zaychenko	...	Shlykov
Vladimir Kashpur	...	Old Nechiporenko
Natalya Kolyakanova	...	Christina
Hal Singer	...	Himself
Elena Safonova	...	Nina, Liocha's Wife
Sergey Gazarov	...	Administrator
Evgeniy Gerchakov	...	Bald Musician in the Taxi
Dmitri Prigov	...	Writer Typing in the Train
Igor Zolotovitsky	...	Petyunchik
Valeri Khlevinsky	...	Fat Kolya
Elena Stepanova	...	Smart Young Girl
Vladimir Sterzhakov	...	Musician in the Taxi
Konstantin Afonsky	...	Long-Haired Mechanic
Aleksandr Buyanov	...	Passenger with Newspaper
Lidiya Yezhevskaya	...	'Mousy' Valya
Nikolai Yezhevsky	...	Guardian
Sergey Galkin	...	Hippy
Irina Gobratova	...	Girl with Black Eye
Vyacheslav Gorbunchikov	...	Mechanic at the Taxi Depot
Aleksandr Inshakov	...	Mercedes' Owner
Vladimir Lopatin	...	Police Sergeant
Natalya Markova	...	Blonde Ira (as N. Markova)
Eduard Gimpel	...	Man on a Sofa
Galina Prokhorova	...	Wife of Man on Sofa
Yuriy Sokolov	...	Soldier in the Tube
Yuri Yurchenko	...	1st Civil Servant
Gekubi Vasiliskov	...	2nd Civil Servant
Pierre Rival	...	Malligan the Producer
Iassouo Hiougadsi	...	Japanese Man
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Béatrice Chauvin	...	Femme appartement soirée
Gelena Kirik

Directed by
Pavel Lungin

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Pavel Lungin

Produced by
Mark Gekht	....	producer
Aleksandr Golutva	....	producer
Marin Karmitz	....	executive producer
Vladimir Repnikov	....	executive producer
Pierre Rival	....	producer

Original Music by
Vladimir Chekasin

Cinematography by
Denis Yevstigneyev

Film Editing by
Elisabeth Guido		(as Elizabeth Guido)

Production Design by
Valeri Yurkevich

Set Decoration by
Alexei Chkele

Costume Design by
Natalya Dyanova

Makeup Department
Larisa Avdyushko	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Yvon Crenn	....	production manager
Aleksandr Kabakov	....	production manager

Art Department
Marina Companeetz	....	property master

Sound Department
Catherine Dubeau	....	sound editor
Pierre Lorrain	....	sound
Fred Mays	....	post-synchronization
Oksana Strugina	....	sound mixer
Michel Trouillard	....	assistant sound editor

Stunts
Viktor Ivanov	....	stunt coordinator
Vladislav Barkovskiy	....	stunt driver (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Katia Besimensky	....	assistant editor: second unit

Other crew
Brad Stephens	....	publicist

Production Companies

• ASK Eurofilm
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)
• La Sept Cinéma
• Lenfilm Studio
• MK2 Productions
• Ministry of Culture and Communications

Distributors

• MK2 Diffusion (1990) (France) (theatrical)
• Abril Vídeo (Brazil) (video)
• Koch Lorber Films (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (Argentina) (video)

Also Known As:

"Taksi-Blyuz" - Soviet Union (original title)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

Soviet Union | France

Language:

Russian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Chile:18 | Germany:16 (bw) | Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/12

Company:

ASK Eurofilm

Goofs:

Continuity: In the opening sequence, the guy with the blue palm tree shirt waves his hands hypnotist style in front of a woman. Her position in the seat changes between shots.

A patriotic cabbie tries to change a lazy alcoholic Jew.

This film shows the conflict and forming of a friendship between two opposites: Shlykov, the hard-working patriotic cab driver built like a tank, and Lyosha, the thin, panhandling urban Jew.

A taxi driver in Moscow named Shlykov gets stiffed of his fare by the Jewish saxophone player named Lyosha who calls himself a genius who "speaks to God". Shlykov tracks down Lyosha and takes his saxophone and that is when the fun begins.

Lyosha fails to make money fast enough to pay Shlykov back but Shlykov decides to give him back his saxophone anyways. Lyosha, sensing Shlykov's soft heart, tries to further take advantage of him by begging him for money. After Shlykov lets Lyosha in his apartment, and after Lyosha causes him great trouble costing him even more money, Shlykov takes Lyosha to jail.

After a violent outburst by Shlykov he decides to go back to the police station to drop the charges against Lyosha. He has decided that sending Lyosha to jail would accomplish nothing. He wants to show Lyosha what life is like for honest hard-working people. Shlykov makes Lyosha come to work with him. The "intellectual" breaks down when forced to do what millions of other people in the country have to do everyday of their lives. Both characters show impulsive and unpredictable behaviour, but for different reason. Lyosha is simply a drunk. Shlykov is a patriotic ex-athlete full of proletariat angst and senses his nation is dying because of the "rotten" westernized hooligans he sees everywhere in the streets who lack any work ethic.

I will not reveal the ending to you but I will tell you this story is not a fairy tale.

I think this film goes much deeper than just showing what life was like in the USSR; the two characters can be found in almost every culture in the world today.

Excellent performances by both Zajchenko and Mamonov.