Dear Comrades!

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Kevin L @Lakeman 03/31/2022 'Dear Comrades' is a sensational, devastating work of cinema. Director Andrey Konchalovskiy has used his considerable skills to craft a film that pulls no punches in portraying in riveting realism the vile, reprehensible lengths that Soviet figureheads in the KGB would go to in order to insure their ever-failing communism and protect 'the Motherland'. Konchaloskiy and screenwriting partner Elena Kiseleva wrote up a screenplay that is equally insightful, honest, and gut-wrenching both visually and in the dialogue. Well done on the translation in general, as well. The script has its teeth bared, pulling no punches in delivering the insanity, desperation, utter outrage and consternation, and of course the outright fear that such murderous actions could be taken on your own people for simply wanting a livable wage to survive on. The full gambit of emotions is truly palpable, especially when portrayed by such accomplished acting. Komarev, Gusev, and Burova are all impressive. Erlish as the father who has seen this all before is all too real in the sense of complete hopeless resignation in the face of the massacre and the witch hunt that follows. Which leads us to Yulia Vysotskaya, the heart and soul of this film. As Lyuda, a committee member who goes from disgust over the actions of the workers to the broken, devastated figure riddled with regret for her words and terror at the thought of her daughter being one of the victims. There's not a single misstep I can recall in her performance. If award nominations and wins were truly going to the most deserving, then she and Konchaloskiy should have an armful each. The scene at the cemetery where bodies were dumped like refuse onto the coffins of others is a hard one to get through, but ultimately a key moment. Black and white film was just the way to go here, helping to put us in the setting so authentically, as good production design should. This does seem to very much be, in many stark, bare bone ways, Russia in 1962. The rundown flats, base holding rooms, streets, the morgue and hospital recreate the time and place so well. This is far better cinema than recent Best Picture winners such as 'Green Room' or 'CODA'. 4.6 stars See more 03/12/2022 The characters are caricatures (maybe Konchalovsky wanted them to be something like archetypes but didn't succeed) and the dialogue is as flat and unnatural as it can be. See more ari v @RT59419633 08/21/2021 Perhaps searches around for that ending some, but sure does find it. See more 08/19/2021 There's a line towards the end of Dear Comrades! (the exclamation mark is deliberate and important to the through line of the film) where Lyudmila, the central character and a staunch communist questions how her town has fallen apart throughout the course of the film. It says everything about the state of the Soviet Union in 1962 when the film is set, that despite the fact that failing communism is so clearly the cause of Lyudmila's desperate situation, and yet she just cannot see it. Such his her unquestionable faith in the system, that early on during the KGB massacre of Novocherkassk (unsurprisingly previously kept under wraps by the Soviet Union) her daughter goes missing and she claims that when she finds her she will hand her into the authorities herself. In 1962, workers from the small industrial town of Novocherkassk went on strike after the communist government raises food prices, Lyudmila's daughter among them. The army is called in to deal with the situation, but more pertinently, KGB agents are amongst the crowd, as well as a sniper on a roof of the building. What follows is horrific, and the film is shot in beautiful black and white, and director Andrey Konchalovskiy captures the authenticity of the period fantastically. Julia Vysotkaya is excellent in the central role as Lyudmila; you fully feel the frustration and terror of her situation, as well as her conflicting emotions with regards to her loyalty, her daughter or her party. Dear Comrades! is an exceptional portrayal of a little known Soviet atrocity, offering the viewer real insight into the way the communist party affected the Soviet people and their political factions within small towns, showing just how difficult it was for those in power of a town taking orders from the government and the military, and then themselves having to take the brunt of the publics' disapproval with decisions. It's a really impressive piece of work. See more 04/22/2021 A beautiful film that truly captures the hell of life under communism in Soviet Union. See more Tim G @tmgreene22 04/02/2021 Now that is pretty grim. What a dark chapter in history. See more Read all reviews

Dear Comrades!

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