Why So Blu?

Zerograd (Blu-ray Review)

In this newly restored Mosfilm release, our Zerograd Blu-ray review unpacks Karen Shakhnazarov’s darkly comic vision of a city where logic goes to die.If you like your surrealism dry and your bureaucracy soaked in absurdity, Zerograd might just be your next cult obsession. Newly restored in 2K and released on Blu-ray by Deaf Crocodile, this 1988 film from director Karen Shakhnazarov plays like Kafka by way of Monty Python, with a splash of Agatha Christie and a hint of Brazil. The story follows Varakin, a mild-mannered engineer who arrives in a remote Soviet city where the logic is circular, the locals are eerily polite, and the cake might be made of your own face. Zerograd is part noir, part social satire, and all weird.

 

Film

This was my first time watching the film, and it pulled me in right away. The visuals are haunting: long stretches of mist, crumbling architecture, sterile offices, and uncanny silences. The environment itself feels like a character—cold, sparse, and disorienting. Scenes unfold like fever dreams or bureaucratic riddles: a museum of wax figures frozen in imagined Russian history, a topless secretary serving tea, or a prosecutor interrogating Varakin for crimes that may not exist. Every element plays into the theme of a system so rigid and surreal that even meaning has been drained out of it.

Leonid Filatov anchors the madness with a performance that’s half deadpan confusion, half existential panic. The further his character descends into the town’s weirdness, the more the film leans into its satire. Shakhnazarov doesn’t spoon-feed anything, but his vision is sharp, strange, and surprisingly emotional underneath the layers of oddity. There’s a kind of melancholy running through all the madness, which gives Zerograd some serious staying power.

Shakhnazarov’s direction is meticulous without ever feeling rigid. Scenes stretch out in ways that lull you into a false sense of calm before tipping into something surreal or darkly comic. The pacing isn’t fast, but it’s never dull — it builds atmosphere like a pressure cooker. You’re constantly waiting for reality to crack open, and when it does, the film never points a spotlight on the absurdity. It just sits there with it, letting the viewer feel how truly unnerving institutional logic can be when taken to its extreme.

What makes the Zerograd Blu-ray especially worthwhile is how well this atmosphere is preserved in the restoration. The film’s foggy exteriors, low-lit hallways, and stark interiors all benefit from the new transfer, which maintains the grain and texture that make it feel grounded in its time. There’s a dreamlike quality to the whole experience, but it’s never disconnected. It’s grounded in a very real critique of life under systems that pretend to be orderly while quietly devouring the individual.

Video

NOTE: Stills are provided for promotional use only and are not from the Blu-ray

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1

Region: A

HDR: N/A

Layers: BD-50

Clarity and Detail: The Zerograd Blu-ray review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning how well the film’s atmosphere is preserved in the Mosfilm restoration. Strong detail in both interiors and wide exteriors, with sharpness holding well throughout.

Depth: Excellent spatial depth in corridor and landscape shots. Long shots carry a real sense of distance, while close-quarters scenes have enough layering to avoid feeling flat or compressed. The frame always feels spatially alive, even in still moments.

Black Levels: Deep and stable throughout, with no signs of crush. Shadows in dim interiors hold up well, giving the darker portions of the image a natural gradation without smearing.

Color: The muted palette of greens, browns, and greys suits the bleak tone of the film. Color grading stays consistent, never feeling too boosted or stylized, which helps maintain the grounded absurdity of the visuals.

Flesh Tones: Realistic and well-rendered, even under varying lighting conditions. The naturalism helps anchor the surreal environment without making it look overly polished.

Noise and Artifacts: Light grain is present, as expected, but it’s unobtrusive and filmic. There’s nothing here that distracts from the viewing experience — no compression noise, banding, or edge enhancement. The film’s eerie, washed-out aesthetic is preserved without sacrificing definition. It’s a moody presentation, but everything looks intentional and well-preserved.

Audio

Audio Format(s): Russian DTS-HD MA 2.0

Subtitles: English

Dynamics: The track delivers steady and well-balanced dynamics, with subtle atmospheric shifts that complement the film’s deadpan surrealism.

Height: N/A

Low Frequency Extension: N/A

Surround Sound: N/A

Dialogue: Dialogue is consistently clear and front-centered, with no noticeable syncing issues. The minimalist score by Eduard Artemyev sits gently beneath the surface, never overpowering the vocals but enhancing the film’s eerie tone.

Extras

The Zerograd Blu-ray comes packed with some thoughtful and genuinely informative extras. There’s a brand-new interview with director and co-writer Karen Shakhnazarov, offering insight into the film’s creation and surreal logic. Film journalist Samm Deighan contributes a new commentary track that digs into the political and cinematic context of late-Soviet satire. The release also includes a booklet essay by punk musician and genre expert Chris D., which adds a unique cultural perspective. Rounding out the disc are English subtitles, Region A encoding, and a strong 2K restoration from the original 35mm elements by Mosfilm. It’s a nicely curated package that doesn’t overwhelm but offers plenty for fans to chew on.

Special Features:

• New 2K restoration from the original 35mm picture and sound elements by Mosfilm
• New video interview with director/co-writer Karen Shakhnazarov, moderated by Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile Films
• New commentary track by film journalist Samm Deighan (Diabolique magazine, Daughters of Darkness podcast)
• New booklet essay by filmmaker, writer, punk musician and genre expert Chris D (The Flesh Eaters; author of Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film)

 

 

Summary

From its surreal tone to its curated extras, this Zerograd Blu-ray review shows why the release is more than just a curiosity. Zerograd is one of those rare films that manages to be deeply strange and totally absorbing at the same time. It doesn’t hand you answers, and that’s part of its charm — it just lets you marinate in the madness. The restoration is strong, the extras are smartly curated, and the film itself is unlike anything else. For fans of bleak comedy and Soviet-era oddities, this Zerograd Blu-ray review makes it clear — it’s a must-own for cult cinema shelves. If you enjoy this kind of surreal political satire, check out our review of The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians Blu-ray, another beautifully strange release from Deaf Crocodile.

 

Zerograd is available on Blu-ray!

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