Leto (2018)

A love triangle emerges around a rock and roll musician, his protege and his wife in 1980s Russia.

Director:

Kirill Serebrennikov

Writers:

Lily Idov (as Lili Idova), Michael Idov

Stars:

Teo Yoo, Irina Starshenbaum, Roman Bilyk

12 wins & 23 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Teo Yoo	...	Viktor Tsoy (as Teo Yu)
Irina Starshenbaum	...	Natalia Vassilievana 'Natasha' Naumenko
Roman Bilyk	...	Mayk Vassilievitch Naumenko (as Roma Zver)
Aleksandr Kuznetsov	...	Skeptic
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anton Adasinsky	...	Khozyain kvartiry (as Anton Adasinskiy)
Liya Akhedzhakova	...	Khozyayka kvartiry
Yuliya Aug	...	Anna Aleksandrovna
Filipp Avdeev	...	Leonid aka Liosha
Aleksandr Bashirov	...	Angry man on train
S. Berdichevsky	...	Draftee
Nikita Efremov	...	Bob
Nikita Elenev
Anastasiya Evgrafova
Aleksey Fokin	...	Lesha
Aleksandr Gorchilin	...	Punk

Storyline

A love triangle emerges around a rock and roll musician, his protege and his wife in 1980s Russia.

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Plot Keywords:

love triangle | leningrad | perestroika | male full frontal nudity | male rear nudity | 

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Genres:

Biography | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Besides Victor Tsoy and Mayk Naumenko, several characters known only by their first names or nicknames are stand-ins for real musicians, popular on the Soviet rock scene .in 1980's Leonid (Filipp Avdeyev) represents Aleksey Rybin of 'Kino' fame. 'Punk' is a stand-in for Andrey 'Svin' Panov (Aleksandr Gorchilin), leader of 'Avtomaticheskiye ydovletvoreniye' punk band and one of the pioneers of punk genre in USSR. Bob (Nikita Efremov) is Boris Grebenshchikov, leader of rock band 'Akvarium' and Artyom (Andrey Khodorchenkov) represents Artemiy Troitskiy, pioneer of rock music in USSR and organizer of multiple rock concerts and festivals.

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Crazy Credits

The title card before the end credits roll is Russian for "This film is dedicated to those we love"

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Connections

Referenced in White Studio: Alexander Kuznetsov (2019)

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Soundtracks

Perfect Day
Written by Lou Reed
Performed by Elena Koreneva and Anton Sevidov

User Reviews

Electrifying experience

This film is nothing short of an electrifying experience.

I was skeptic to begin with. This, I can tell you right off the bat, was a huge mistake. When the actual film started, I immediately forgot about anything outside the screen. It was like a time travel deluxe package. I speak as someone who is a half European, half Russian Gen Z. I never experienced the Soviet era on first hand, but the night I went to watch this film, I forgot the current year. They're writing 2019 now, you say...? Ha ha, but really. Intense and during certain points in the film, I even got chills.

If you've ever heard about "breaking the 4th wall" as a filmography term, well, get excited because this is exactly what happens a lot. The end result is that you feel like you physically *are* present, and thus incredibly difficult for you to not feel connected in some manner.

The special effects are incredible, and the relationship between black and white/colour splashes in the film is something I've hardly ever seen before. This is fantastic.

One of the points about the film which made me skeptic to begin with was the "love triangle" ordeal in the bio. "Love triangle"? I thought. "Oh my, this has been done to death already!" I was fearing Twilight-esque cliché onto cliché, but nothing like it was to be found at all. It felt humane and raw... original. Not cliché.

If you have Russian roots somehow or have studied Russian, it's hard not to enjoy this film. If you've been in the Soviet regime yourself, you might get very touched/cry because as I mentioned, strong time travel feeling in here. If you're a Russian-rooted millennial or Gen Z, there is a huge potential for you to learn a lot and feel connected to the past of Russia.

I certainly felt connected and impressed. Should you folks happen to have any second thoughts or reservations about watching this, I tell you to just let go of them because the experience is incredible. Worth my every penny :)

Details

Official Sites:

Bac Films [France] Gunpowder & Sky [United States]

Country:

Russia France

Language:

Russian English

Release Date:

7 June 2019 (USA)

Also Known As:

Leto

Filming Locations:

Saint Petersburg, Russia

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,071,877

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hype Film, KinoVista, Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image Animée

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby (as Dolby 5.1)

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1