Out of the Cold

Who is this Aleksandr Buravsky who gets all those wonderful actors to work for him?? And not only in this one, also in a couple of other of his ill-conceived movies. The story here starts out quite promising and soon collapses. The characters are not likable, except for tragic Deborah, the historical errors are many, some situations laughable. And I was looking forward to seeing Keith Carradine in a leading role, after how long....Just wasted my time. Why are there so many bad movies lately which dabble in the Holocaust instead of using history's lessons wisely and weave them into a good story??? There are hundreds of good true stories out there - why don't scriptwriters and directors pick them up and use them???

After I saw this movie I thought it was good for a number of reasons. As a World War II buff I was interested in the war aspect. It was enlightening to see the viciousness of the Russians portrayed during and after the second world war. I got a kick out of Keith Karradine sticking the hand of the sultry female SS agent down his trousers. All to prove if he was circumcised or not. It also reminded me of the Richard Burton film, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold as the post war scenes were similar. Women will find the romance angle of the movie just as interesting as I found the war part. Great cast and terrific production values.

My name is Irina Ginzburg and I'm professor emeritus at the Undergraduate Department of Film and TV at Queens College. In September I had the great privilege of seeing "Out of the Cold", directed by Sasha Buravsky, at the Montreal Film Festival. All I can say is that it is one of the best, most beautifully realized motion pictures I have seen in a long, long while. The writing, production design, costumes and music are fist rate. But what truly stands out is Sasha Buravsky's masterful direction. A veteran Russian playwright, Mr. Buravsky was able to convey a heartbreaking feel of awe and dread, and using his august sets and the atmosphere of the world gone wrong, he fused art and commerce in such deft, delicate way that all I can say is… "Go west, young man! You'll have a great career in Hollywood!"

I think this is an OK film. Americans really don`t know much about Estonia or even worse - absolutly nothing. Even the step-dancer in the film said "Estonia - where ever that is". But this film has a greater idea - to tell the world that we are here! Estonia has had had a tought history. About a thousand years ago we lived here near The Baltic sea, Estonians were great sailors. Then the germans came and after a great war, we were put into slavery. 700 years later we were occupied by russians. And in 1918, when there was a revolution in russia, we became independent. but not just so easly - after a great war, The War of Independence. Then we lived happily for only twenty years. Then came the time this movie talks about. The russians just occupied us. And about 40% of our people were sent to Siberia or killed. We were occupied until the Soviet union fell in 1991. The historic background of this movie is absolutly correct. The American actors are nothing special, never heard of them. but there are the best Estoinan actors acting in this movie. Sorry, that in such a small parts. They should have been given bigger parts, all the Estonians in the movie should have been Estonians. And if the script would have been also more Estonian-like, this movie would have been perfect.

I must admit, I would willing watch Mia Kirshner read the phone book. This movie is MUCH better than that. Sad, poignent it is a faithful retelling of some of the worst humanity has to offer. As I have told both my nieces -- Rent it! Sit down and watch with your boyfriend! If he doesn't start crying at the last scene, kick him in th nuts & leave!