Luna Park (1992)

Andrei is the head of a gang of antisemitic skinheads clinging to the old communist ideals in post-Communist Moscow. When he learns that his long lost father actually is a Jewish bohemian ... See full summary »

Director:

Pavel Lungin

Writers:

Pavel Lungin (screenplay), Pavel Lungin (story)

Stars:

Oleg Borisov, Andrei Gutin, Natalya Yegorova

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Oleg Borisov	...	Naoum Kheifitz
Andrei Gutin	...	Andrei
Natalya Yegorova	...	Aliona
Nonna Mordyukova	...	Aunt
Mikhail Golubovich	...	Mute guy
Aleksandr Feklistov	...	Boris Ivanovich
Tatyana Lebedkova	...	Prostitute
Aleksandr Savin	...	Saniok
Rita Gladunko	...	Dairywoman
Igor Zolotovitsky	...	Restaurant owner
Inga Ilm	...	Girl
V. Pashkov	...	Piton
Kirill Pushkov	...	Gigan
Aleksandr Zaldostanov	...	Leader of the rockers
Aleksandr Zakharkin	...	Policeman

Storyline

Andrei is the head of a gang of antisemitic skinheads clinging to the old communist ideals in post-Communist Moscow. When he learns that his long lost father actually is a Jewish bohemian living in Moscow, rather than an Afghanistan war hero, he traces him down in order to kill him. But the intriguing father and his "reactionary" lifstyle soon fascinates Andrei which leads to a clash with his gang.

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Plot Keywords:

gang | bohemian | lost father | skinhead | secret | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France Russia

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

9 September 1992 (France)

Also Known As:

Lunapark

Filming Locations:

Moscow, Russia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Blyuz, CiBy 2000, IMA Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

User Reviews

An anti-semite finds out he has a Jewish father

This French-Russian production is a visually stark and potent film about life in post-Communist (and pre-Putin) Russian. The main character is Oleg, a young, anti-semitic Muscovite bodybuilder who is the leader of a gang whose goals is showing brute Russian strength. They live in Luna Park, an amusement park, a place of wild rollercoasters and distorting mirrors, where they regularly beat up on foreigners and Jews who come there. During a drunken confessional, a close relative tells Oleg that his father is a Jew and still alive in Moscow.

This fact turns Oleg's life upside-down, partly out of revulsion from whom he is descended, and partly because he wants to know (and be) with his father, and he must someway reconcile himself with this with discovery.

The film is not one necessarily of thoughtful, quiet introspection, but of hi-jinx, clashes, and turmoil, and interactions. Oleg vacillates between his role as the participatory leader of a brutal gang, and that of a son learning about his father. Without giving away too much information, Luna Park, the amusement park where it begins, is where it ends, and is a metaphor for Russia and what it has to face.

"Luna Park" may not be a pretty film. There's the ugly side to human nature depicted in the brutal actions of the skinheads and the decay of Russian society that the skinheads blame on foreigners and Jews. But the majority of the film regards Oleg's journey and transformation as he gets to know his father, and this is the rewarding, and ultimately beautiful side of the film.