In a caustic comedy of startling originality, writer and first-time director Pavel Lounguine takes an unblinking look at Moscow in the glasnost era through the antics of Chlykov (Piotr Zaitchenko), an antisemitic Russian cabbie, and Lyosha (Piotr Mamonov), a vodka-swilling Jewish sax player. Done at a high level of imaginative energy — Denis Evstigneev's location camera work is strikingly vivid — the film is the Soviet entry in the foreign-language Oscar sweepstakes.

Lounguine is cynical about Gorbachev's reforms, and his attitude touched a nerve with the Soviet public. His Moscow is a time bomb where neon-lit streets fail to hide the festering discontent. Chlykov moonlights in the black market, selling vodka to Lyosha and his boozing comrades. But when Lyosha stiffs him on a fare, the brutish Chlykov forces him to work off his debt as a servant in Chlykov's cramped, squalid apartment. Many of these scenes are low-comic howls. And Mamonov, a Russian rock star, gives the kind of exuberantly unleashed performance that spells star in any language.

Chlykov — well played by Zaitchenko — grows to like Lyosha. But class divisions, envy and racism make friendship impossible. When Lyosha becomes a star in America, Chlykov feels rejected and vengeful. Lounguine, a Russian Jew, knows how poverty fans the flames of bigotry. With its depiction of intolerance and budding anarchy, Taxi Blues is a true social satire. Its wit is both revealing and wounding.

“Youth Knows No Pain”

“Like on 'Youth Knows No Pain' — we are the ones that should demonstrate, because we can take it,” Likke Li said. “We can pierce ourselves, take Ecstasy, dance all night and still go to work at our McDonald's jobs.” Despite the hedonistic sentiment in the song, the Swedish singer also admitted in hindsight her youth had repercussions. “I remember when I was 18-19 and feeling that I know it all,” Li said. “I always feel that I know it all. But that song is about realizing you don’t, and reflecting, ‘Boy, if I only knew what would follow.’”