Soviet era films

Technically, not a Soviet but a Russian film about various gangs of the 1990's. This is what a "strelka" (Russian slang to describe both a meeting/vtrecha and a possible shootout/strel'ba) between two rival clans might have looked like. The interesting part here is that the bald actor (Vitaliy Demochka) playing a gangster is/was a real life gangster himself and not a small fry either. Then he decided to make a film about his life. So, this is how the criminal 1990's in Russia were.


Here's Demochka's short Wikipedia page.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitali_Dyomochka

And an article about the miniseries (and not just in English, but written by an American)

http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_296.html
 
PS. The show was called "Spetz" (a Russian description that the racket was known as), written, directed, funded and starring Demochka himself. His group staged car accidents and then extorted victims for large car repair bills, far exceeding the actual costs. The meet is about Demochka's group accidentally setting up a rival gang's member and then demanding an exorbitant sum for the "repairs". The other group tries to clear matters by trying to figure out if the accident was indeed accidental or whether Demochka was provoking a war. After a little posturing, they settle the case. And had they failed to do so ...

PPS. One can add closed captions and do a translate but, because so much of the dialog is a criminal slang, it does a poor job. I had to watch it a few times myself to understand what it's about.
 
A similar 2002 film about gangs called "Anti-killer". This is how a "strelka" between two warring crime groups looked like when the verbal exchange was surplus to the requirements.

 
Back
Top