Rating: 
Summary: So far , the 1 and only good film about Russian-Chechen war
Review: 2 Russians was captured during the war by the Chechens . A mother of one of them trying to pay ransome to get her son back ! The reality of propaganda...! The brutality of war ... The realism of ideotism of people in charge ... The reality of pain ... the REAL people's pain ! A must se film ... if you not afraid to se... to understand.
Very personal account , very important massege ! Watch it ...before it is too late ...
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Movie
Review: A rare glimpse into a BEAUTIFUL land and people being ravaged by the Russian military.
Rating:
Summary: Tragic, beautiful, mesmerizing...
Review: but not sappy or sentimental like my words above...Menshikov and Bodrov are wonderful together (see them also in East-West). The scenery is amazing. The politics of war are reduced to their most basic tragic element: war is a violation of the human spirit and dignity, but the best in us will somehow manage to rise above the violation. The characters bridge their class and cultural differences and connect just before the inevitable happens.
Rating:
Summary: The film is excellent
Review: I just cannot figure out why the soundtrack of this film does not exist. The music in this film is superb...
Rating:
Summary: beautiful and........sad
Review: I've rarely seen such a deeply moving movie. I never cry while watching a movie but this one made me cry several times, paticularly at the end...It was so beautiful...
Besides, Serguei Bodrov Jr. died last september in an avalanche and it makes the whole movie even sadder than it is :'-(
It definitely belongs to my favorite movies...
Rating:
Summary: Yanks lose to Russkies when it comes to making war films!
Review: If there were an annual international awards ceremony exclusively for films about war, the Russians would maul us Americans every time. In the case of "Prisoner of the Mountains," they walk away with best director, best actor, best supporting cast, and best script I've seen in years.
One of the most effective film techniques used by the Euros and Russians are the avoidance of close-ups in favor of medium shots, which allow the actors to say more with their bodies and which at the same time places them within a socio-historical context. I have yet to see a scene more moving than the one in which the two Russian soldiers, apparently having been abandoned in captivity by their own government, pass the time by dancing to the American spiritual "Let My People Go." Anyone who can remain dry-eyed during that sequence should ask the Wizard of Oz for a heart.
In powerful yet beautifully understated performances, the entire cast fills the viewer with a sense of the strength of humanity. Truly a masterpiece!
Rating: 
Summary: Realism
Review: In order to understand this movie you have to understand the situation of the Chechnya war. This movie shows how a soldier's mother tries everything in order to help save her son. This movie shows unfair the Chechnya war was. It shows how Russian army doesn't really care about it's soldiers. It shows how the Chechnians will do anything in order to get what they want. This movie is hard to watch. A lot of people may dislike this movie, but that's only because they don't like to look at realism.
Rating:
Summary: Prisoner of the Mountains
Review: Okay, so I am not a huge fan of subtitled movies, but ironically this ranks among my favorites. This is a very human movie but not in a Shirley Maclaine kind of way. After all it is a war flick. It will make you think, cringe, laugh, and then think some more. A very Russian quality that Menshikov does a excellent job of conveying. It is subtle at one time and bowl you over at the next. Hollywood could learn something from this movie. It is that good and well worth the subtitles. The cinemtography is excellent.
Rating:
Summary: Human drama on the Caucasus peaks
Review: Sergei Bodrov has made a film which captivates the viewer. The two young Russians, soldier Vanya and sergeant Sasha are captured by Chechen guerillas during an ambush and they are held in a mountainous muslim village in order to be exchanged with a Chechen prisoner. Their stay among the Chechens will cause very different sentiments to each one: Vanya will come to admire them and even fall in love with a young girl, despite the imminent danger, while Sasha tries to uphold the image of the tough and dedicated Russian military man who does not yeld to the enemy. Their story takes an unexpected and tragic turn when they try to escape, but the finale is also dramatic. I found the most touching scene in a minor episode, when the two prisoners sit back to back on a rooftop looking at the surrounding mountains and the village and Sasha starts to sing a military song which goes to a magnificent musical crescento while the sergeant tries to stop his tears, tame his fear and pull himself together.
Rating:
Summary: a memorable, moving film
Review: This beautiful award winner moves me every time I watch it, and there are scenes that are forever etched in my mind.
Taking place in Chechnya, it has the same Central Asian rugged terrain that we've seen in recent news stories of Afghanistan, one of the many reasons that makes this an interesting film to view...a glimpse into what is an enigmatic part of the world for most of us.The cinematography (Pavel Lebeshev) and soundtrack (Leonid Desyatnikov) are marvelous, and the performances perfect. How director Sergei Bodrov managed to get such fine acting from the local villagers (like Susanna Mekhalieva, who plays "Dina"), is a marvel. As the two soldiers tied by fate, he cast his son, Sergei Bodrov Jr., and Oleg Menshikov (who was so brilliant in "Burnt by the Sun"), and they are superb. Losely based on Tolstoy's tale for children, "Prisoner of the Caucausus", it's a film full of compassion and love, and has plot subtleties that make this rare gem of a film deserve several viewings.
|
