Tak žiť nělzja

Stanislav Govoroechin gives his view on the present situation in a communist society in plain terms in this documentary. Not only the Soviet Union but also Cuba and the Asian republics are drawn a bead on by the director. All that is left in this form of society is deterioration due to crime and far-reaching corruption. Govoroechin takes a bite from the rotten apple and invites the spectator to enjoy it with him. The translation of tak zjiet nelzja is: "This is no way to live". Russian boys of barely twenty proudly tell in front of the camera how many robberies and murders they have to their names, unpunished! Prostitutes enticing costumers brazenly let themselves be filmed by Govoroechin. Traffic offenders immediately redeem their ticket with the policemen. That is the commonly accepted solution to minor offences. Officially, roubles can buy anything, but a woman selling caviar unambiguously says that she will only accept foreign, hard currency. Liquor can be bought with roubles and the fighting queue in front of the liquor store shows the only escape the system offers to the people. The church does not offer consolation, either. It has merely grown into a symbol of decay. The 'churchgoers' consist of couples making love against a graffiti-covered wall with slogans such as 'Aids!', or 'Condom!'. Wanderers are sleeping in dark corners beneath repainted pictures of Christ. The religious ideology is replaced by advertising slogans of, probably equally unattainable, Western products: 'Honda', 'Mazda', and 'Panasonic'. Govoroechin accompanies these images with aggressive, inflammatory music, until the promised land comes into view: the West. Then, Glenn Miller accompanies the sirens of the New York police. The well-oiled police system in this exciting metropolis surely gives another impression than the listless officers in Govoroechin's native country. The regulated life in West Germany also meets with his approval. The people live in real living rooms with hi-fi equipment, and the car on hire purchase in front of their house is their only lie. Govoroechin feels that the communists are out to destroy the economy and culture with their policy, and could therefore be found guilty of atrocities against their own people. A new Neurenberg trial would be required to sentence the guilty ones. This Russian documentary is a disconcerting product of a director who, with his film, attempts to refute the lies he believed in for years. His aversion to the way of life in Russia is shaped by an anarchic and sometimes even capitalistic view of life. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)