Zig Zag (1999)

The splay-legged fall of communism and the tumescent rise of ever-burgeoning capitalism make for excellent bedfellows in Zig Zag (1999). A joint production of American and post-Soviet filmmakers, Zig Zag is a modern-day noir caper of blackmail and corruption set in the chaos of Russia’s wicked after-party hangover. A pair of ethics-light American businessmen put the screws to a bent Moscow official who has skimmed several fortunes from the public coffers. Sexual betrayal bleeds into the mix, and even the murder of a cheating husband cannot shield his surviving wife from his partner’s adulterous attentions. The mayhem and double crosses come as thick as the Russian actors’ accents.