Guerra

I expected this movie to be simply rubbish, instead i was won over by the quality of the acting (no thanks to Ian Kelly)and the authenticity of the setting. The cinematography was great too. Scenes of beautiful landscape would be contrasted by the gory shootouts as well as great shot of the 4x4 flying off the cliff, which upon meeting the bottom of the ravine was not met by a fireball. It is true that the firefights seem dull and even anticlimactic, however that is the whole beauty behind them. They didn't need to be sugar coated by big explosions and slow-mo deaths instead opting for a more realistic approach. Were some of the weapons real? In all this is a decent movie worthwhile watching because it allows you to take a break from the latest teen slashers and high octane Vin Diesel movies : )

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.

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!

"War" - a military action movie by Aleksey Balabanov. A Russian soldier who miraculously escaped from Chechen captivity decides to help an Englishman release his wife from captivity and returns to Chechnya in the midst of a bloody war. Together they will have to go all the way through the continuous fire of the madness of war. The best role of Aleksey Chadov in the movie.

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.