Leto (2018)

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

Director:

Kirill Serebrennikov

Writers:

Mikhail Idov, Lili Idova

Stars:

Teo Yoo, Irina Starshenbaum, Roman Bilyk

5 wins & 8 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)
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
Ilya Karpenko	...	Trolleybus Passenger

Storyline

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

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Genres:

Biography | Music | Romance

---

Details

Official Sites:

Bac Films [France] KinoVista [France]

Country:

Russia France

Language:

Russian English

Release Date:

7 June 2018 (Russia)

Also Known As:

Summer

Filming Locations:

Saint Petersburg, Russia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hype Film, KinoVista, Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby (as Dolby 5.1)

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2:39

Did You Know?

Trivia

French visa # 149157.

---

Soundtracks

Leto
Written by Viktor Tsoy

User Reviews

A Hymn to Youth, Change and Dream

Leto is one of these rare movies that know how to talk to your heart, to open it up and awaken all the dreams you ever thought of. Leto is a little jewel, the one in which resides such powerful, impacting strength but also a beauty that you can only admire.

The movie puts us in the underground rock scene of late Soviet Union. It sets itself in a climate where change is asked but also felt, the times of the Perestroika. But yet control over culture is really strong. The way youth wants to express itself, by the music they listen to and make (music inspired in many occidental rock groups) is only limited to abandoned warehouses where access is restricted, under control of the regime's police. This creative climate is always contained, but never feels oppressive for the viewer nor for the characters that actually act with great liberty. And this is particularly thanks to Serebrennikov's directing. He uses all cinema's artifices, pushes the limits of staging to create his own universe. The black and white creates an atmosphere of such simplicity, yet full of possibilities. The adopted view expresses how all the characters and all the legends that forged this period were great dreamers at core. They had dreams, they dream all along, they tried to transmit their dreams in the frame that was imposed to them. They created a new vision, a new world. The power of youth for change is one of the great motors of this movie. But the real beauty is that the movie never falls in a pamphletarian tone, it always stays with this optimist vision that awakens the dreamer in each one of us, and encourages everyone to pursue their dreams. Although it's dealing with past, Serebrennikov's tale is still really relevant in our time, where we all absolutely need to dream and need to fulfill our dreams to escape this anxiogenous climate that reigns in our society. The movie warms your heart, gives you power and energy for change -whatever type of change it is- and that's where resides all the greatness of the movie; it is a source of light that will reheat your heart, and give you hope.

That's why I am still scandalized that it didn't win a single prize in Cannes when it is one of the movies that was really worth winning a distinction. It would of been the occasion of giving a great impulse to this creative, crazy and ambitious cinema, that throws traditional codes away and finally dares to brake rules ! It would of been the occasion to recognize the talent and vision of Serebrennikov that is, we all know, put at risk by elements that he cannot control.

So go, run to watch this hymn to youth, revolution, change, beauty and dream !