Taxi Blues Explained

Taxi Blues
Caption:	Film poster
Director:	Pavel Lungin
Producer:	Mark Gekht Aleksandr Golutva Pierre Rival
Starring:	Pyotr Mamonov Pyotr Zaychenko Vladimir Kashpur, Natalya Kolyakanova
Cinematography:	Denis Yevstigneyev
Editing:	Elisabeth Guido
Runtime:	110 minutes
Country:	Soviet Union
Language:	Russian

Taxi Blues (Russian: Такси-блюз, translit. Taksi-Blyuz) is a 1990 Soviet comedy-drama film directed by Pavel Lungin. It was entered into the 1990 Cannes Film Festival where Lungin won the award for Best Director.^{[1] [2]} The film was selected as the Soviet entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 63rd Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.^[3]

Plot

Shlykov, a hard-working taxi driver and Lyosha, a saxophonist, develop a bizarre love-hate relationship, and despite their prejudices, realize they aren't so different after all.

Cast

• Pyotr Mamonov as Lyosha
• Pyotr Zaychenko as Shlykov
• Vladimir Kashpur as Old Nechiporenko
• Natalya Kolyakanova as Christina
• Hal Singer as himself
• Yelena Safonova as Nina, Liocha's Wife
• Sergei Gazarov as Administrator
• Yevgeni Gerchakov as Bald Musician in the Taxi
• Dmitri Prigov as Writer Typing in the Train
• Igor Zolotovitsky as Petyunchik
• Valeri Khlevinsky as Fat Kolya
• Yelena Stepanova as Smart Young Girl
• Vladimir Sterzhakov as Musician in the Taxi
• Konstantin Afonsky as Long-Haired Mechanic
• Aleksandr Buyanov as Passenger with Newspaper
• Lidiya Yezhevskaya as 'Mousy' Valya

Reception

Taxi Blues has an approval rating of 83% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 6 reviews, and an average rating of 6/10.^[4]

See also

• List of submissions to the 63rd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of Soviet submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

Notes and References

1. Web site: Review/Film; Harshness of Soviet Life In Lungin's 'Taxi Blues'. New York Times.
2. Web site: Festival de Cannes: Taxi Blues . 6 August 2009. festival-cannes.com.
3. Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
4. Web site: Taksi-Blyuz (Taxi Blues) (1990). www.rottentomatoes.com . 4 December 2020.