Perestroika

Writer/director Slava Tsukerman ("Liquid Sky") examines early post-communist Russia with a determinedly left-handed approach that comes across in the experiences of Sasha Greenberg (Sam Robards), a middle-aged astrophysicist who returns in 1992 to Moscow after spending the last 17-years in America. Tsukerman strikes an ironically nostalgic tone as the ever-popular local hero/traitor Sasha becomes immersed in a familiar social world--some romantic--with old friends, associates, teachers, and enemies. "Perestroika" is a reference to Gorbachev's restructuring of the Soviet economy after the collapse of the Soviet Union, that here comprises the expectations and sadness of generations of Russian citizens caught beneath the same indifferent sky as the rest of humanity. It's a film that attempts to look beyond political constraints via a Western-informed mindset that's still firmly rooted in Eastern European culture. Thought-provoking, if not wholly satisfying, "Perestroika" is a deconstructionist filmic stew to be savored without expectation in order to enjoy its laissez-faire reality.
Not Rated. 94 mins. (B-)