Wonderful character development!

Why so much hype?

Captivating movie !

Brilliant and touching

Taxi Blues tells of the antagonistic relationship between Shlykov and Lyosha, which begins when Lyosha fails to pay Shlykov the fare for his taxi ride. However, as the film continues they become friends of a sort. This changes when Lyosha finds fame with a famous American saxophone player and goes off to tour with him. When Lyosha comes back with no acknowledgment to Shlykov who has helped him, Shlykov is obviously hurt. The film ends with a car chase and subsequent crash and then gives an update on each of the main characters. This film was very interesting and bittersweet. There are many moments throughout the film where you can see the potential for a better friendship between Lyosha and Shlykov, but there is always something that happens which prevents this. The differences between Shlykov and Lyosha are immediately noticeable, as Shlykov is shown to be more a patriotic, stoic person while Lyosha is an alcoholic musician. These differences between them seem to illustrate the state people found themselves in during these uncertain times. Many people were disillusioned and uncertain of their political identity and you can definitely see this in Shlykov who struggles with Lyosha because he is a musician and more open to the West. The film also did an excellent job of showing Russian daily life during this time with the many scenes in Shlykov's apartment with the old man as his roommate. Taxi Blues is an insightful look into the mindset of many Russians during this time of political uncertainty, but is also entertaining in it delivery of that message.

The past collides with the present in this unflinching portrait of life behind the late Iron Curtain, showing the often antagonistic relationship between a half-mad, free-spirited saxophone player and his older, old-fashioned alter ego, a hack who has seen too many changes through the window of his Moscow cab. Alexei's exuberant, non-conformist energy is the catalyst for the drama but this is clearly Ivan's film, and the story matches his often irrational mood changes while staying remarkably true to its characters, presenting both archetypes in three not altogether appealing dimensions (Ivan is a traditional anti-Semite; Alexei is an irresponsible deadbeat). The film conveys with almost naked candor the seamier side of the new Moscow subculture, adding a somewhat veiled accusation of moral corruption and decadence in the social reforms of Perestroika. The imagery is often arresting, but if the film is critical of Western influence it isn't entirely immune to them, and it's disconcerting to see the story end in a routine car chase slapped together from what look like outtakes from a William Friedkin movie.

In his "Movie & Video Guide", Mr. Maltin (or one of his reviewers) writes of the musician in "Taxi Blues": "... the latter, who embodies the spirit of the oppressed Soviet artist-intellectual, plays his saxophone solos to block out the reality of his existence." It is true that the man sits in reveries, playing sax solos in his head, and is a brilliant musician. But it is more evident that he has a deep love affair with the bottle: the first time we see him, he is drunk; he goes to jail twice for his lubricated actions; he is homeless because his girlfriend threw him out over it; he has lost gigs due to his flaky behavior. In a nation of future AA members, Zaitchenko's character stands out because he has a talent, and is quickly destroying it. This is why the taxi driver is important; in his own crude way he tries to stabilize the drunk, and he is our window through which we see the sax player. We also get to see the outskirts of Moscow: the dump, seedy allyways, the brutalist apartment complexes, grimy little jails with rebar for cell bars. Truly a time capsule of Muscovite life before everything ended.

This film shows the conflict and forming of a friendship between two opposites: Shlykov, the hard-working patriotic cab driver built like a tank, and Lyosha, the thin, panhandling urban Jew.A taxi driver in Moscow named Shlykov gets stiffed of his fare by the Jewish saxophone player named Lyosha who calls himself a genius who "speaks to God". Shlykov tracks down Lyosha and takes his saxophone and that is when the fun begins.Lyosha fails to make money fast enough to pay Shlykov back but Shlykov decides to give him back his saxophone anyways. Lyosha, sensing Shlykov's soft heart, tries to further take advantage of him by begging him for money. After Shlykov lets Lyosha in his apartment, and after Lyosha causes him great trouble costing him even more money, Shlykov takes Lyosha to jail.After a violent outburst by Shlykov he decides to go back to the police station to drop the charges against Lyosha. He has decided that sending Lyosha to jail would accomplish nothing. He wants to show Lyosha what life is like for honest hard-working people. Shlykov makes Lyosha come to work with him. The "intellectual" breaks down when forced to do what millions of other people in the country have to do everyday of their lives. Both characters show impulsive and unpredictable behaviour, but for different reason. Lyosha is simply a drunk. Shlykov is a patriotic ex-athlete full of proletariat angst and senses his nation is dying because of the "rotten" westernized hooligans he sees everywhere in the streets who lack any work ethic.I will not reveal the ending to you but I will tell you this story is not a fairy tale.I think this film goes much deeper than just showing what life was like in the USSR; the two characters can be found in almost every culture in the world today.Excellent performances by both Zajchenko and Mamonov.