Leto, Kirill Serebrenikov (2018)

Summer (Leto) is a 2018 film directed by Russian rebel and filmmaker Kirill Serebrenikov. The film is a tribute to the underground rock scene in Leningrad in the 1980s and centres around a group of young musicians seeking a voice for their flirtation with revolution in the form of singing honestly about their mundane lives, while still trying to “advance the ideologically sound ideas” of the Soviet Union.

Summer does not require its audience to know much of the political context though and better for it seems to be the message coming from the film. The film is more about revelling in the fun of being young and trying to be free. The song’s lyrics are not even all that revolutionary or inspiring, but they are reflective of a feeling of young people wanting more from life. At the same time, experiencing the film is like living a fantasy that I never needed to have when I was younger because being raucous, or outspoken was never against the rules as a teenager in the noughties in the UK; the punk movement had been and gone and it made a future where speaking up, living out your angst is completely normal for teenagers. University campus for me was the land of debating and campaigning and I’d been in many mosh pits by the age of 18; these things were not statements to society but a part of being young. In Leningrad however, just about anything could be considered rebellious, even singing “the songs of our ideological enemy”, America. During the rock club concerts in Summer, people can’t even hold up signs or bob their head let alone mosh, they can just sit and listen.

One of the greatest moments in the film is when the narrative slides into the musical number “Psycho Killer” by The Talking Heads and the scene transforms into a fantasy world of rebellion, bloodiness and vulgarity with comical drawn illustrations on top of the film stock. Through feeling the frustrations of this stifled youth, I revel in the explosiveness, energy and slick style of the disaffected characters and black and white aesthetic. Simultaneously the film awakens me to how my own ideological freedom was taken for granted when I was young, while also makes me beckon for such stifling just so I can experience again the thrill of rebellion. The dream world of Summer is what all young people are longing for; just enough freedom to speak out against the grain but not so much that it prevents us from forming an identity as we come of age.

The characters themselves are beautifully carved. Mike; the ringleader of the musicians is a kind of John Lennon or Lou Reed, deeply introverted, humble and dedicated to his music but totally loved and admired by all. Viktor; Mike’s protégé and foil- he writes the lyrics that Mike cannot. He speaks out and stands up for reality and truth. He represents the freedom that is at once alluring and threatening to Mike. Alongside this, Viktor is threatening his relationship. Mike lives with his wife Natasha and daughter Genia. Their relationship is something akin to John Lennon and Yoko Ono. They are completely in love and dedicated to one another and trust each other so completely that when Natasha confesses she wants to kiss Viktor he permits it. He jokes “do you need written permission?” As an audience, you almost feel envious for how liberal and trustworthy they are or perhaps a little judgmental but the joke says something larger; we don’t need written permission to do what we want, it may seem wrong and scary but it’s what we must do to if we want to be free. This seems an appropriate attitude for that of the Russian youth during the 1980s but as the films repeatedly reminds us after it transitions into the break out musical numbers, “this never happened”, it’s not real.

Summer never lasts forever and nor does the fantasy.