The Boy's Word: Blood on the Asphalt

A realistic depiction of what was happening in Russia in the 80s and 90s. If you know people who lived there during that time, they will basically tell you the same thing. Good actors must also be familiar with the street life to better understand the series. Characters of interest essentially show how everyone looks out for their own interests within every part of society and how everyone reveals their true selves in difficult situations they face. The same music repeats at various points throughout the episodes. At first, it seems tedious, but watching the series as a whole, it feels fitting. I could say it's akin to the lives of the heroes, where every day repeats like a cycle that keeps narrowing until each hero's catharsis arrives.

Very well made series. It was very scary and difficult period for everyone who lived in Soviet Union. It was a freefall for country society, morals etc. I am not romanticizing. I lived true it. In different region of the country. I remember how scary it was sometimes to go outside for a girl of 15.

It is brutal but so it was life back then. Poor parents had no idea how their kids were surviving in the daily bases. Half of them didn't realize that system was breaking and there is nobody to protect them or theirs kids.

I am very happy that the youth of today had never experienced anything like that.

I think people should watch this show, to make sure that something like that would never happen again.

If you are a fan of Breaking Bad, this series might be a must-watch for you. A young boy from a low-income family, being bullied in school, decides to join a neighborhood gang, looking for protection and to assert himself on the streets. From a homeboy, Andrey transforms into a gang fighter who goes head to head with anyone standing in the way. Through surprising small and bigs wins, Andrey evolves as a person, somewhat resembling Walter White's path. A string of violent events between competing gangs results in senseless deaths and makes the violence spiral. Tragedies unfolding in each episode change the main characters radically. Despite the dark and sometimes distressing outcomes, the authors managed to maintain a perspective similar to West Side Story, making the price of the right and wrong choices clear.

"Patsan's Word" is the best Russian TV series of recent years, maybe even decades. Since Brigada, there has been nothing like it, which would have fascinated all people, of all ages and all social groups. It's a big mass flashback that the whole country is immersed in. A massive sense of deja vu.

Ripped dynamic editing, talented actors, lovingly reproduced entourage and atmosphere of those years. The soundtrack that creates a sense of existential and magical atmosphere of what is happening on the background of realistic and truthful cruelty.

The Kazan phenomenon was not in Kazan alone, it was on different scales all over the country. It was a difficult time, a time of broken eras and systems. The Soviet Union was rotting and coming to an end, no one believed in the official ideology anymore, and no one could offer anything new. The guys lived as best they could, and in the absence of structures and hierarchies they created their own. These structures became groups.

Well done, Zhora Kryzhovnikov. A round of applause. This is his magnum opus.

You want to understand something about current Russia? Watch this show. It's the origins, it's part of history, you can't erase it, you can only accept it.

Pretty intense stories well acted. A real time travel into USSR era . I am Italian but interested in Russian culture and I could not asked for more. The story unfolds at fast pace, gripping, the life of people in that era is depicted with almost documentary style quality, the soundtrack is a trip into contemporary russian music, the choice of tracks is perfect . There is a lot to liste, to watch and to re watch. So many details that are difficult to catch, so even a second view can help to understand more this masterpiece. I recommend also some other masterpieces such as Leviathan, The Return.