| Abstract |
Moscow 1955. Stalin has been dead two years, but not even Khrushchev's thaw can prevent Komsomol shock troops from hounding hipsters (stilyagi), fans of American jazz, culture and fashion. The student Mels, a Komsomol member, meets Polya, a hipster, while conducting a raid on a hipster hangout. Mels falls in love with Polya while his Communist comrade harbors romantic feelings for him. Mels ingratiates himself into Polya's group of hipsters who meet up on "Broadway" (Gorky/Tverskaya Street), and begins adopting their extreme fashion and lifestyle. Soon, Mels is a hit on the dance floor and starts learning to play the saxophone. He is expelled from college, changes his name to Mel and has the beautiful Polya for a girlfriend. Polya becomes pregnant and the couple's hipster lifestyle is threatened as members of their scene start abandoning their wild ways. With delightful retro-musical scenes and cinematography parodying the style of Soviet realism, Hipsters is a lush rebel-with-a-cause romance full of intricately choreographed toe-tapping numbers, and plenty of satirical social commentary. |
