The Boy's Word: Blood on the Asphalt

Russia is not a favorable topic recently due to the war with Ukraine, but this series is worth watching even now.

Provincial Kazan, late 80s. The Soviet Union mindset and style of living are falling apart (arguably, it only ever existed on Soviet TV). The grip of the Communist Party is already loose. There is nothing substantial inside, only rituals.

The protagonist gets robbed and beaten on his school commute by a local youth gang member. Adults have nothing to offer him besides an extra dose of propaganda. It's not something that the party really cares about. Some down-to-earth militia officers see the problem but can do nothing. According to Soviet laws of that time, young gang members are free to go until they kill someone. That's what adult criminals quickly start to abuse. They organize hierarchical gangs of teenagers, offering them protection and some sort of moral codex. But the codex isn't set on paper, and thugs can interpret it however they like. What comes next is the classical story of any gang film in the world. The spiral of violence is starting to spin.

The series tries to portray the epoch surgically. The scenarist did a terrific job. Slang, music, costumes, actors' play - everything is perfect. Unfortunately, the series is rooted too deep in history, and to fully enjoy it, you should be aware of the late Soviet Union. But anyway, highly recommended.

An accurate representation of a lost generation.

This is a perfect illustration of that time, the music(really sets the mood through the movie), the atmosphere, the friendship, the injustice, the language and the gangs. This movie is filmed with movement, atmosphere and colour. The show shows how although the gangs are dangerous, aggressive, violent and sometimes unnecessary they have history behind them. Kids back then were alone, parents didn't spend much time and kids were stuck with a lot of spare time so they made gangs with other people like them, eventually this was cemented in teenage lives and many people were scarred by these gangs. This show shows how you have to understand one's life before judging them, all the people in this show had reason for their actions, in reality the kids are nice and genuine but misunderstood by society causing an imbalance between them and adults. Another aspect of the movie is death, how it was a common occurrence back then in gangs. Each time someone passed away in this show it's conveyed in a very touching, vivid, real and impactful manner. In conclusion this show reveals the sad reality of back then and nowadays truth is something we can rarely find, that's why I respect and appreciate this show.

"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.

The series covers the so called "The Kazan phenomenon" of the teenager gangs of Tatarstan of 1970s-2020s. I moved to Kazan in the 90s when the "Asphalt wars" period had already been over, but I know many things about it anyway as I still live here and I can confirm the screenplay is very accurate in details. It's also incredibly well shot and played. I would only add that among the characters pictured there are too many ethnic Russians. The real gangs were of mixed ethnic origin of course, but the majority of members, especially the leaders, were Tatars. I highly recommend watching it for everyone and not just for those who want to learn more about the late Soviet Union and why it broke up.

This series is great in everything, entertaining and all but i need for them to add subtitles in english atleast because its hard for me to understand, im from Czechia and im learning russian but it would help me improve if they would add the subtitles and for lot of people too because theres a lot of people from other countried that want to watch it and understand it, all my friends that dont speak it tried to undestand it but they cant because its too hard for them, i understand that and all. (i know its hard to translate russian to english because of the slang but its should be done somehow)