Rating of
3.5/4
"The Beast" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 04/30/12
An liberal conscript Russian soldier in Afghanistan suffers at the hands of an obsessive tyrannical commander. Later he is abandoned to the mercies of the pursuing Afghan rebels for refusing to execute a Muslim crewmate and learns to understand his erstwhile enemies, as they join forces in a quest for vengeance. The Soviet occupation of Afghanistan is a rarely discussed topic in movies, and their campaign is often referred to as the "Russian Vietnam"; in fact the subject matter of a young crew lost in hostile territory combined with it's dreamlike atmosphere actually reminded me a little of a dusty Apocalypse Now. It's obvious where Reynolds' sympathies lie from the outset, as a small rural village is destroyed by Russian bombs and tanks, their well poisoned and women armed with rocks repelled with poison gas; this makes it ironic that the Russian crew are played by American actors which serves to remind us that it's actually THEIR soldiers who are subjugating the Afghans at the moment. The intelligent script also throws up some nice, uncontrived feeling moral retribution in the fact that Patric's character's attempts to learn about and understand his "enemies" proves to be his salvation, just as Dzundza's brutal and inhumane methods prove to be his undoing. Cleverly written, well played and some interesting subject matter make this an unusual and thoughtful war film.
