Ledokol

An iceberg breaks friendly ice for this Soviet era survival tale. Between Soviet bureaucracy and Russian spirit, a ship and its crew finds itself stalled in Arctic waters with winter's ice advancing. Adding to bureaucratic changes from one seemingly self determined and reckless captain whose near colliding mishap with an iceberg proves too much, this story draws from a number of culminating points which might have served well for hindsight risk analysis. A crew's mutiny adds to the drama of an ending that were more likely a slow moving but still entertaining Sebastian Jünger story. Fortunately for the crew such tale neither ends on a note of deep tragedy and what once might have been an omen of the crew's death serves to provide their safe passage.

Ledokol surprisingly turned out to be a good Russian drama. Good picture, cast and storyline. The dynamics of the film is slowly swinging. There is little action for the first 30 minutes and there is action only in the beginning. But the second half is much more interesting. Surprisingly, Ledokol conveys well the atmosphere of people's survival in a confined space in extreme conditions. It seems that everything is just filmed, without special effects, without CGI and other things. And how the viewer believes in what is happening. Well, in general, the realism of what is happening is not bad. The final was well adapted for Happy End. In general, if you want a good Russian movie without a star cast, then Ledokol is a great choice.

I have to base this review on my viewing experience, not necessary what others saw, or head.

You see, I watched much of this with English subbing which was so bad it turned what I assumed was supposed to be a thriller into a comedy. That's why I gave it 4 stars out of 10 because it was so bad that it was hilarious! There was even a child with, obviously, an adult doing the child's voice. I'm surprised the dog didn't speak too.

Also, I think the translation was a bit off. Either that or the screenwriter was drunk.

Oh dear.

Oh, very very dear. 🤣

THE ICEBREAKER, tells a story, apparently based on true events in 1985, of a Soviet ship which gets stuck in ice and is in danger of being hit by an iceberg, all the while waiting for help which, due to Soviet bureaucracy, may not arrive in time.

The strongest point of this film are the visuals: some of the landscape scenes, whether real or CGI, are simply breathtaking. There is also personal drama involving two rival captains which is used to convey social commentary on Soviet culture and the various inefficiencies and injustices it brought about.

Unfortunately, the lousy dubbing kept taking me out of the movie. Technically, it is so bad that at points we know exactly when the original sound is being silenced so that we can hear the dubbed voices. The first time I heard it, I laughed out loud at this amateurishness, which stands quite in contrast to the rest of the film. Also, a kid in the film was dubbed by an electronically distorted adult voice, which sounded just bizarre.

The ridiculously poor quality of the dubbing made it hard for me to evaluate the dramatic aspects of the film because it kept taking me out of it. It also gave me reason to doubt the quality of the translation. At least the overall story, interlacing personal drama with sociocultural commentary, is a good one, and that is what I went by.

This film is mainly for fans of maritime drama and those who enjoy beautiful icy landscapes, but either way, if you do not know Russian, watch the subtitled version.

I have rarely found a Russian movie pleasant. This one is realistic and very interesting above all because the life of men locked up inside a ship is always a great adventure. The quality of the events in the plot is also remarkable.