Replay: Hipsters

The movie Hipsters is currently playing locally.  It was in 2009 that I saw this story at the Chicago International Film Festival.

Two groups of 1950s Russian youths butt heads: the young Communists headed by Katya (Anton Shagin) who has a secret love for her colleague Mels (Anton Shagin), and the hipsters, a group who wants nothing more than to dance, drink and dress in decadent Western ways. During a raid, Mels sees the beautiful Polly (Oksana Akinshina) and it is love at first sight. He secretly becomes a hipster, pursuing her although she is at first coy and cold. He becomes more bold within the hipsters and no longer hides his secret persona among the Communists. Katya's revenge is just as much about Communism versus the West as it is that of a woman scorned.

There are a few songs and dance numbers but I am not sure that is enough to make it a musical. The film is a commentary about young people being individuals, as portrayed in the last scene where it takes us to present day with punk rockers, people in goth clothes, kids of all types.

This conflict continues even today but the film portrayed it in an exciting new way, with humor and music which is kind of unheard of. I liked the visual style and the musicality.