Leto

The movie is supposedly about the Russian punk / rock scene in the 80s but totally misses the point. Instead of showing how unique and alternative the artistic scene of Saint Petersburg was, what was the unique context of this era, how Tsoi reflected the frustrations and hopes of an entire generation, it lingers on trivialities and a boring generic sentimental plot. A massive opportunity to make a legendary movie about the most influential band in modern Russian history gone to waste.

The execution of the movie and the acting is on point and it looks like the director tried to paint a portrait of Tsoi as a down to earth genuine artist against the mainstream and American influences, but it unfortunately feels like like the production was set on making another western style biographic movie about a rising rock star. The result is a rather generic and uninspiring 2 hours following bunch of chain smoking guys dressed in black with not much separating this story from hundred of other American made movies. A far stretch from the creativity and uniqueness of mosfilm movies from that era