Taxi Blues (1990)

A comedic love/hate relationship develops between a dour taxi driver and a hapless aspiring musician after the latter stiffs his cab fare.

Director:

Pavel Lungin

Writer:

Pavel Lungin

Stars:

Pyotr Mamonov, Pyotr Zaychenko, Vladimir Kashpur

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pyotr Mamonov	...	Lyosha
Pyotr Zaychenko	...	Shlykov
Vladimir Kashpur	...	Old Nechiporenko
Natalya Kolyakanova	...	Christina
Hal Singer	...	Self
Elena Safonova	...	Nina, Liocha's Wife
Sergey Gazarov	...	Administrator
Evgeniy Gerchakov	...	Bald Musician in the Taxi
Dmitri Prigov	...	Writer Typing in the Train
Igor Zolotovitskiy	...	Petyunchik
Valeri Khlevinsky	...	Fat Kolya
Yelena Stepanova	...	Smart Young Girl
Vladimir Sterzhakov	...	Musician in the Taxi
Konstantin Afonsky	...	Long-Haired Mechanic
Aleksandr Buyanov	...	Passenger with Newspaper

Storyline

Ivan is old Russia: thick, dour, hard-working, often brutish; he misses Communism. He drives a taxi and one night meets Alexi, a new Russian, a musician, an alcoholic, irresponsible. Alexi stiffs Ivan for the fare, so Ivan tracks him down and a love-hate relationship ensues. When Alexi lets the bath water run over in Ivan's flat and Ivan must pay 500 rubles for repairs, he tries to force Alexi into day labor to repay him. It's hopeless. Then, suddenly, Alexi is discovered, goes on a jazz tour of America, becomes a celebrity, and returns in triumph. Ivan longs to renew the friendship, and it looks as if he may get what he wants.

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Plot Keywords:

post soviet russia | hare krishna | automobile | russia | alcoholic | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Official submission of Soviet Union for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 63th Academy Awards in 1991.

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Goofs

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.

User Reviews

The film about two men, about soviet union - they need energy, about new oxygen to survive...

This film is more deeper thats you can imagine. This film is about 2 Russian souls, two tragical souls in the 1980xx( at the end of soviet union). This men are the parallel to the soviet - both are tragical, needs new oxygen, new energy to survive!

I think that only Russians can understand that cinema, its very hard to see this film, if you are not living in Russia. Unreal playing by actors, amazing Vladimir Cherkasin soundtracks

If you like this film, you can see all the films with Petr Mamonov or films by Pavel Lungin.

I think that this film is more than 10/10

Details

Country:

Soviet Union France

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

18 January 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Taxi Blues

Filming Locations:

Russia

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,792

Company Credits

Production Co:

ASK Eurofilm, Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image Animée, La Sept Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1