Hipsters | Telescope Film
Hipsters

Hipsters (Стиляги)

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In this hit Russian musical, a group of friends flaunts Soviet authority in 1950s Moscow by embracing jazz. But when Communist Mels falls for Polly, a free-spirited jazz fan, he risks losing his Party membership by associating with her rebellious crew.

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What are critics saying?

85

NPR by Ella Taylor

The hipster moment may have faded fast through repression and attrition, but in Todorovsky's reading, it was crucially formative on today's Russian youth.

80

Los Angeles Times

The spirited young cast includes the luminous Oksana Akinshina, best known for her title role in Lukas Moodysson's devastating "Lilya 4-Ever," who still lights up the screen like few actresses in the world.

75

The A.V. Club

Light as a bubble, Hipsters suggests that age may catch up with everyone, but that there will always be people fighting against the current of conformity, even if they only express it via how they wear their hair.

75

New York Post by V.A. Musetto

When it comes time for a Hollywood remake, Depp would make a great Mels.

75

Slant Magazine by Diego Semerene

An over-the-top Russian musical about hipsters set in 1950s Moscow, where getting a non-pastel-colored tie is a mafia-mediated operation and a saxophone is considered a concealed weapon? Yes, please.

70

The New York Times by Stephen Holden

Who knows if anything remotely resembling the culture of Hipsters really existed? It's a musical, after all. In any case this movie, which won the 2009 Nika (the Russian Oscar) for best picture, is an endearing curiosity that, at 125 minutes, is as badly in need of a trim as the hair of its comically coiffed dandies.

60

Time Out by Joshua Rothkopf

Hipsters is also a musical (in an intentionally naive "Absolute Beginners" vein), and while everything looks glinty and gorgeous, the story's political edge is dulled by excessive levity.

60

L.A. Weekly

Punch-drunk, decadently designed slice of eye candy.

50

San Francisco Chronicle by Mick LaSalle

The first Russian musical in more than 50 years, Hipsters is appreciated best as a curiosity.

50

Variety by Leslie Felperin

Although a massive hit at home, taking approximately $16 million at the wickets, this great-looking but tonally uneven pic won't jive with audiences quite so well anywhere else.