Unlike great writers of the glorious past, modern Russian men of letters can’t boast the same level of worldwide recognition. However there is probably one exception to this rule: Viktor Pelevin. He is claimed to be the most widely read and praised writer among Russian language audience.
His novel Generation P published in the late 90′s was an immediate success and since then has been reprinted dozens of times. This April we are going to witness the first screen adaptation of the cult novel directed by a young film producer Viktor Ginzburg who has previously released a mockumentary film called The Restless Garden depicting the final days of Soviet Union.
Generation P is largely based on hallucinations of a main hero Vavilen Tatarsky who throws himself into the bustling life of advertising agency. He is responsible for adapting Western brands to the mysterious Russian mentality. Throughout the film Tatarsky meets Che Guevara, uncovers a conspiracy plot of Pepsi fans who turned out to be servants of the Sumerian goddess Ishtar and gradually comes to a conclusion that television was invented to annihilate humankind.
Complex enough, the altered reality of Generation P is a perfect reflexion on the absurdity and tragedy of life in Moscow in the early 1990 with hordes of people suffering from post-soviet phantoms and embracing unknown reality.