100 Days Before the Command

Rating:
Summary: Pointless, plodding
Review: After viewing this DVD, I can't help but feel that I want my hour back (and my $26). The film, while ostensibly tries to convey some sense of the malevolence of a Soviet military academy, fails miserably. The quality of film is also greatly disappointing--very grainy, dark to the point of inability to see, etc...

There is a dearth of dialogue, and the subtitles translate less than half of what is being said. Even so, as stated previously, I doubt this would matter, since the characters say so very little in the first place that I severely doubt anything of profound significance is even there to begin with. When the characters do speak, the camera is often not on them, and it is impossible to determine who is speaking, though, this does not matter, since what they say is of very little importance.

However, the lack of dialogue is not inherently bad in a movie, as I have seen many films that pull it off beautifully. 100 Days is definitely not one of those films. The translations are clumsy, almost rediculous; "stop goggling at me!" is a phrase thrown around often, which is just asinine, considering this never occured in the film (as far as the viewer is concerned). To compensate for the lack of dialogue, the director tries--unsucessfully--to create a story from the imagery. Painful does not begin to describe having to watch his clumsy juxtapositions of scenes; they seem more like editing errors than an attempt at valid film making.

The movie plods along, meandering aimlessly: there is no plot, no conflict that is apparent. Everything is so subtle, that it's to the point of non-existence. The attempt to make it into art failed. The several shots of the sunset failed to convey any point, and the repeated references to the slaying of the dragon was not hashed out far enough to make it valid.

Pointless, plodding. That is the only description I can fit to this film. Based on reviews, and the premise, I was truly looking forward to this film; However, it is bleak, uninteresting, and doesn't get any more interesting than the first scene, which is a good intro to the film: 5 minutes of staring into the gray countryside. There were seveal suicide scenes in the film; if the point was to drive its viewers to suicide (for having wasted their time watching such a mediocre "film"), it has succeeded, but only in that regard.

Rating:
Summary: A timely meditation on the absurdity of war
Review: At this moment in our history we need all the input about the multiple facets of the hideous War Machine that has an apparent strangle hold on every country on the planet. In this Russian meditation, 100 DAYS BEFORE THE COMMAND, we are shown the behind-locked-doors view of youth preparing to become soldiers and leaders of soldiers. On the surface the director's eye seems to be telling us that 'boot camp' for these VERY young appearing boys is no more than a summer camp experience. But then he gradually shows the darker, terrifying side of what preparing these innocents for war produces - suffering, self-doubt, death, alienating behaviour, dreams and nightmares. There is an incredible sense of innocence in the eyes of these youth, and a groping for comradery that lightly brushes on eroticism. The multiple nude scenes seem to be offending more people than the Russian censors, but they are some of the more tender and tangible scenes in this meandering film about questioning our place and mindsets in the propagation of war leaders. Of note, in this very Russian film, the music used in the background is all Bach - excerpts form the Passions, cantatas - instead of works by Russian composers. This adds another dimension to this apparent 'paean' for world peace. This film is not for everyone, especially not for those who still have difficulty with male nudity.........

Rating:
Summary: A timely meditation on the absurdity of war
Review: At this moment in our history we need all the input about the multiple facets of the hideous War Machine that has an apparent strangle hold on every country on the planet. In this Russian meditation, 100 DAYS BEFORE THE COMMAND, we are shown the behind-locked-doors view of youth preparing to become soldiers and leaders of soldiers. On the surface the director's eye seems to be telling us that 'boot camp' for these VERY young appearing boys is no more than a summer camp experience. But then he gradually shows the darker, terrifying side of what preparing these innocents for war produces - suffering, self-doubt, death, alienating behaviour, dreams and nightmares. There is an incredible sense of innocence in the eyes of these youth, and a groping for comradery that lightly brushes on eroticism. The multiple nude scenes seem to be offending more people than the Russian censors, but they are some of the more tender and tangible scenes in this meandering film about questioning our place and mindsets in the propagation of war leaders. Of note, in this very Russian film, the music used in the background is all Bach - excerpts form the Passions, cantatas - instead of works by Russian composers. This adds another dimension to this apparent 'paean' for world peace. This film is not for everyone, especially not for those who still have difficulty with male nudity.........

Rating:
Summary: Behind the lines, life in the soviet military
Review: Enigmatic and at sometimes a surreal film about the day to day monotomy and futility of the lives of a group of conscript Russian soldiers. The film is stark and bare, the actors largely former recruits and the film style moves from dream sequences to fly on the wall documentary.

Its hardly surprising this film was banned in the then Soviet Union - its harsh and disturbing view of conscript life is unreservedly critical, the visual presentation is almost hauntingly homo-erotic at times and as such the film isn't going to be a hit with authorities trying to conscript youths to military service where military life is marked by its drabness, un-ending boredom and the use of humiliation and bullying.

The acting is naturalistic and realistic, the players gritty and real. The viewer is left in no doubt that national service behind the Iron Curtain was neither glamourous nor particularly pleasant.

Well worth a spin if your into foreign films and like a challenging film, not for those who like Top Gun or Stripes.

Rating:
Summary: A good look at Russian boot camp
Review: Excellent movie. The film quality and color were above average. It is a somewhat surreal look at young men enduring life in a typical Russian boot camp setting. Haunting and powerful. You will want to watch this movie more than once. You will understand why this movie was banned in Russia. Not exactly a recruiting tool for the Red Army.

Rating:
Summary: A good look at Russian boot camp
Review: Excellent movie. The film quality and color were above average. It is a somewhat surreal look at young men enduring life in a typical Russian boot camp setting. Haunting and powerful. You will want to watch this movie more than once. You will understand why this movie was banned in Russia. Not exactly a recruiting tool for the Red Army.

Rating:
Summary: What's the fuss about?
Review: I strictly oppose censorship. However, the Soviets who couldn't see this movie really weren't missing much. It substitutes atmosphere for story. I can't see why critics rave about this movie or why anyone even noticed it. Apparently, it caused a stir in the Soviet Union because of the homoerotic scenes and the negative look at military life, but I would still enjoy more dialogue and more of a plot.

Rating:
Summary: 100 men taking a bath
Review: The DVD: A poor transfer - more like a copy of a bootleg VHS tape. Sound is mono and poor - even if I spoke Russian, I doubt I could have comprehended much. And because I don't habla, I have no idea what was being said: the subtitles are flawed and seem to translate less than half the dialogue.
The movie: How is this a military film? What does it have to do with command? I seems that some of the scenes may take place at a military academy (the USSR has dozens) that prepares men for command, but that's about it. Many scenes revolve around either bathing or swimming, but the water theme is not carried through (and therefore I don't believe it's a theme). Is this meant to be about a cruel and harsh military life? Duh! Am I shocked to see physical abuse as part of military training? Egads! I don't need a movie to learn that about the Soviets. They accept 3% casualties on training exercises, they issue rubber ponchos to protect against chemical weapons, they give soldiers "anti-radiation" pills that are aspirin. Soviet leadership make the Spartans look like a knitting group. And speaking of Spartans, as you may gather from the other reviews, there are way too many naked men in this movie.
I would have greatly appreciated an insight into the challenges of preparing junior leaders for command in a poly-linguistic, ethnically diverse, underpaid, undertrained, alcoholic, unmotivated army. Instead I received an unintelligible patchwork of soldiers bathing, screwing off and being mean to the next guy down the food chain. "The Beast" was both more accurate and more revealing. One star only because I can't give it zero.