Yevgeni Lungin

One of the guests shot to death during a meeting of former classmates in a luxurious country house. Investigator Oleg Koshkin arrives at the crime scene. All who were present at the party are under suspicion.

Beginning with perestroika and reaching its peak after the demise of the Soviet Union, pessimistic youth sub-culture films abounded in Russia and the former republics. Anguely V Rayou is another example of these "youth without future" films. Based on the novel Two Notebooks by Piotr Kojevnikov, the action takes place in the Leningrad of 1975, when the "stagnation" era is at its peak. Two teenagers, Micha and Galia, are experiencing a slow death in the slums of the city. Galia's aunt is going crazy in her desperation. Micha's mother is killed by a drunk. One of their friends has committed suicide. These kids are typical of a generation wasted by alcohol and misfortune. Some are bound to become outcasts, some will be destroyed, and others will be sacrificed in Afghanistan. The title is ironic, as there is neither paradise nor angels in this story.

One day, following a grueling performance at a nightclub, jazz-cabaret star Astrov wakes up in his hotel room to find an underage fan in his bed. The girl claims that Astrov raped her and threatens to jump from the balcony. An alert chambermaid immediately calls the police, and a terrible scandal erupts… The tabloid press rubs its hands in gleeful anticipation, certain that the jazz musician is about to be thrown behind bars for the defilement of an underage orphan—a girl whose mother died in childbirth… Yet, in the end, Astrov’s honor is vindicated, and the girl’s innocence is proven.

One of the guests shot to death during a meeting of former classmates in a luxurious country house. Investigator Oleg Koshkin arrives at the crime scene. All who were present at the party are under suspicion.

Beginning with perestroika and reaching its peak after the demise of the Soviet Union, pessimistic youth sub-culture films abounded in Russia and the former republics. Anguely V Rayou is another example of these "youth without future" films. Based on the novel Two Notebooks by Piotr Kojevnikov, the action takes place in the Leningrad of 1975, when the "stagnation" era is at its peak. Two teenagers, Micha and Galia, are experiencing a slow death in the slums of the city. Galia's aunt is going crazy in her desperation. Micha's mother is killed by a drunk. One of their friends has committed suicide. These kids are typical of a generation wasted by alcohol and misfortune. Some are bound to become outcasts, some will be destroyed, and others will be sacrificed in Afghanistan. The title is ironic, as there is neither paradise nor angels in this story.

One day, following a grueling performance at a nightclub, jazz-cabaret star Astrov wakes up in his hotel room to find an underage fan in his bed. The girl claims that Astrov raped her and threatens to jump from the balcony. An alert chambermaid immediately calls the police, and a terrible scandal erupts… The tabloid press rubs its hands in gleeful anticipation, certain that the jazz musician is about to be thrown behind bars for the defilement of an underage orphan—a girl whose mother died in childbirth… Yet, in the end, Astrov’s honor is vindicated, and the girl’s innocence is proven.