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Truly Dreadful Film

Highly Overrated But Still Good

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

What a bad propaganda against Russia!!! I can't believe how some directors have courage to do such a nasty thing like this. I know that a lot of money is in game, but money is expendable, and soul last forever! So pathetic and typical for EU! And now when Eu have problems with migrants, showing they real face how much people of EU like Muslims... Did directors like this one, search any theme before they make a movie?

This is a remake of a 1948 movie with the same name, but with a second story along side the updated original. Like the original movie, this will tug at your heart by displaying the real cost of war. But unlike the original, this movie not only shows the "victim" side through the use of a homeless little child, it also shows the "victimization" of 18 year old boys, those having to fight. This movie is a bit gory, but is very respectful and does not show gratuitous gore. The movie seems to develop slowly, a style many who enjoy European movies have come to expect. However, unlike many European movies, this one has a nice "twist" at the end that is likely to put a smile on your face, in the midst of the horrors and realities of war. The two stories are only tied together at the very end and only in a brief, somewhat unsatisfying way. But if one understands that the movie is reflecting on how awful war is on young lives, it does make sense. Slow, moving and powerful. Not the typical fast paced, complex and neatly wrapped up US production. If you want to watch, sit, relax and enjoy.

This is pretty powerful stuff. It pulls no punches. The performance by the little boy Hadji (played by Abdul Khalim Mamutsiev) is simply outstanding. The settings – the villages under Russian bombardment, the refugees on the road... are all very gritty and convincing. At times this film just hits you in the face. The Russian army scenes do this literally. And from what I understand of new Russian army recruits it can be even worse.The story does have a suitable ending. Annette Bening has a minor role and is eclipsed by Abdul and Berenice Bejo, the human rights worker. Definitely a very engaging film – but be prepared!

I will not elaborate movie plot in detail, it is a remake of the award winning movie of the same name from 1948, and of course it is a similar story. But I must say that it is a important movie about a forgotten conflict in Chechnya. The reception of the movie was poor in EU and it is clear why. The Director shows the reality of European and Russian politics, the europeans are indifferent to the problems of small oppressed nations in the former SSSR, and reluctant to do anything against the Russian terror. I was surprised to see an European movie which clearly takes sides with the victim and does not try to detach from the conflict, something which has always been popular among the political correct movie-makers, quoting „both sides are equally guilty". And we see a surprising accurate depiction of the training in the Russian army, a traditionally brutal thing. All in all, a must see movie. The truth must be told and the crimes must not be forgotten.