Kruty 1918

Production values and special effects are OK except for some silly (and unnecessary) shots of toy trains on fake snow. Acting is acceptable, but the script has lethal flaws, such as the depiction of Bolshevik General Mikhail Muravyov as a ghoul that would scare a James Bond villain. The tone is as propagandistic and grandiloquent as that of some Soviet films of the thirties, with heroics deaths and flag waving aplenty.

The backdrop is the short lived Ukraine's People's Republic = UPR, that declared independence in January 1918 and lasted until the end of Russian Civil War in 1921. The subject is the battle of Kruty, where Ukrainian forces 400 strong, consisting mostly of cadets and students with a few professional soldiers faced a Bolshevik army almost ten times its size near the railway station of Kruty, about 120 kilometers northeast of Kiev. The battle (in which half the Ukrainians were killed) ended when prospective reinforcements changed sides and there was a Bolshevik uprising in the Arsenal Factory in Kiev (the latter the subject of Dovzhenko's movie Arsenal, 1928).

The history of the People's Republic is a tangled web and probably the movie contains some truths. It shows briefly European meddling. It also shows that the UPR was mainly supported by intellectuals, students and some professional soldiers; popular enthusiasm was scarce. There are glaring omissions; two of the founding fathers of the UPR, Mykhailo Hrushevsky and Symon Petliura are seen delivering stirring speeches, but there is no mention of Petliura's responsibility for numerous and bloody pogroms perpetrated by the UPR army under his command. At the end, Ukrainian independence was abolished and its its territories divided among Russia and Poland with other countries (Romania, Hungary) grabbing minor spoils. This lasted until the end of WWII, when the historic boundaries of the Ukraine were restored.

I found the beginning and ending particularly objectionable. We are shown one of the characters at a memorial dressed in a secondhand American uniform, which clearly seeks to link heroic deaths with the present artificial state of "war" between Ukraine and Russia. Dangerous and misleading.

The film is alive, true, not counting some aesthetic moments. It feels that the battles were filmed by the participants of the real battles, the actors were as participants in the ATO (Anti-Terrorist Operation). There's even a steam locomotive to ride using the water from well to well. It was interesting from start to finish. Disadvantages if there is only a question to post production.

Great movie. Which creates a similar situation to today, where ordinary university students take up arms and fight the enemy, defending their native land. The film shows the tragedy of a person, and how many similar tragedies will be in the near future.

Kruty 1918 is a patriotic historical drama that recreates one of the most significant battles in the history of Ukraine, where young Ukrainian students and cadets stood up to defend their country against the Bolshevik army. The film conveys the heroism and self-sacrifice of the young defenders of Ukraine, who, despite their young age and lack of training, went to meet the enemy for the sake of the future of their country. The film successfully recreates the atmosphere of that era, and the visual and historical details set off the tragedy and heroism of the events at Kruty. The actors cope with their roles, although sometimes it seems that the story is a bit exaggerated in dramatic moments. There are also some historical inaccuracies, but in general, they do not detract from the value of the movie. The film reminds us of the courage and sacrifice of young Ukrainians who were not broken even by death. Kruty 1918 deserves 7 out of 10 for its sincerity, emotionality and attempt to convey an important moment in Ukrainian history.