Film 'Moscow' by Alexander Zeldovich Analyzes Post-Soviet Language and Cultural Void

Alexander Zeldovich's 2000 film 'Moscow', based on a script co-written with Vladimir Sorokin, diverges from its literary source to explore a tragic absence of cultural language in 1990s Russia. The script, a notable late-1990s literary event, examined the emergence of a new totalitarian discourse from Soviet remnants and free enterprise, featuring characters like Mike, Mark, and Lev. Zeldovich's adaptation shifts focus to wordlessness, rendered through music where Soviet songs transform into painful jazz tunes sung by Olga, portrayed by T. Drubich. Characters attempt to fill pauses with sex, vulgar discourse, or violence, reflecting an existential defeat rather than the script's envisioned freedom. The film combines impressionistic lyricism with philosophical analysis, drawing parallels to Chekhov's plays through characters named Irina, Olga, and Masha, though parody gives way to a Chekhovian mood. Visual elements progress from colorful kitsch to cold emptiness, emphasizing themes of dislocation and choice without criteria. Published on ARTMargins Online by Mark Lipovetsky on August 31, 2001, the review highlights the film's material as transparent yet rigidly focused on epochal questions facing Russia.