Voyna

The story: Two British actors are kidnapped somewhere in Georgia and are delivered to Chechnya. The kidnappers demand a ransom, while victims are sitting in a hole in the ground. That's where they meet captain Medvedev (Sergey Bodrov Jr) and Ivan Ermakov (Aleksey Chadov). Medvedev is wounded and very strict, but Ermakov seems to have adjusted and is even helping out the Chechen gang (tribe?) leader with computers.

When Chechen leader - Aslan - learns that he can't get any money he let's the British man go home and get two million pounds to buy out his fiancée. As a gesture of generosity he lets go Ermakov.

The Brit - John - is trying to get the money, and Ivan experiences a post-war life for a Chechnya veteran in his town - no money, no work, ill father. Somehow, John, who was kicked out by every Russian official, finds Ivan and begs him to help him get his fiancée out. Ivan has nothing to lose and he agrees to back to Chechnya...

The movie: This is certainly one of the, if not THE, best movies of Aleksey Balaganov. The story that intertwines lives of Russian soldier, Chechen barbarian bandit and totally not ready for the war as it is British civilian. As always, there is a very deep meaning in every dialogue, every scene and even every look of every character. The music like in many other Balaganov's movies is mostly popular Russian and some Ukranian songs, that emphasize each act and add more emotional content to it.

Perhaps, the movie will shed some light on the situation in Chechnya, and the West will finally understand that you can't negotiate with these people and you can't let them have what they want, because it's never enough for them because they are different. If you're polite with them, they think you're weak - that's the main idea of Balaganov.

John: - Ivan, why do you keep beating this man?

Ivan: - Because this is the only way he will understand. (kicks the prisoner) Faster!

Enjoy the movie. It's a rear quality movie about war.

the really tricky thing and a very good question is why aleksei balabanov don't shoot movies in hollywood?i think that would be great thing both for this director and for hollywood.vojna is film of that kind that was filmed in america in the golden days of hollywood-late 60 till the end of 70 maybe early 80.but the thing is that film come from russia-does russians knows better what is a good action-war movie than anyone in america?YES i say, and i also say to give that man everything he needs to just keep shooting movies.by my humble opinion that was the best movie shown during fest-main belgrade film festival, recently ended.

From a British perspective, it's interesting to note the only really poor performance came from Ian Kelly (John), an English actor. Had it not been for his atrocious skills, the film would have been excellent. Casting him took some authenticity away from the film, but then again, why Ingeborga Dapkunaite as (Margaret) didn't have a single spoken line in the film didn't help either! Aleksei Chadov as (Ivan) put in a great performance, and all other elements came together to make good entertainment and a rare look at the Chechen "situation".

This is probably one of the most realistic films I've seen gore-wise. Family entertainment it ain't.

If you're male, and looking for something different from the usual blockbuster bore-fest, then give this a viewing!

Some people complain of the "boring" action scenes, but this is not true. The scenes that occur in villages or other close-quarters situations really are interesting. Many people expect something out of Commando or Total Recall, but that is not how these battles happen. Even at relatively close range, there isn't much that a pinned down, wounded soldier can do. He can shoot back, hoping to hit something, but he is more or less immobile and probably less aware of his surroundings. The battles that occur at range are slow because, well, they are. When soldiers are closing in on a location from, coming over a mountain and moving around, there isn't much you can do, even with a relatively accurate machine gun. You can fire off rounds here and there, but mostly it is about killing at least one or two of them, while conserving ammo for the time when the enemies are closer. You are even worse off with an AK-47 when are long ranges. That's why it isn't so exciting. It is, nonetheless, an interesting and realistic plot. No, the cars don't explode because the hero fired a few rifle rounds from a huge distance.

I think this movie is great. A few things upset it a bit, but overall it's very true to the realty of the situation in Chechnya and Russia, which is ultimately what matters to me. I especially like the style with which the movie was shot. It is as if it is made of little pieces each with it's own tagline. It's not philosophical in most aspects; it just shows the reality and well... that's it. If the viewer wants to think about something he/she can, if not just take it as it comes.

Plus at least it's honest with the viewer that in ANY war conflict civilians do die, unlike `Black hawk down'.