‘Rock on Bones’: The Role of Western Music and Russian Rock in Perestroika and Post-Soviet Cinema

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the role of Western and Russian rock music as represented in perestroika and post-Soviet film. This research aims to define the political subtext and historical accuracy of the musical movements represented in films, such as the stilyagi movement of the 1940s-1960s and the Russian rock movement of the 1970s-1990s. Films of interest include Assa (1987), The Needle (1988), Taxi Blues (1990), Hipsters (2008), and Leto (2018). There was an interplay between the musical films of Perestroika and the Russian rock movement, which mythologized those rockers and lent a cultural capital to the films. Moving into post-Soviet cinema, directors are able to engage with reflective nostalgia to retroactively paint the stilyagi and Russian rock movements as more active and revolutionary than they were, imparting stronger political messaging. Films from both periods manipulate diegesis and utilize song choice to make social commentary the movements themselves could not have made.