A man is born out of the ashes of defeat to act out a spectacular war story that may never end. The official submission of Russia to the Best Foreign Language Film of the 85th Academy Awards 2013, Karen Shakhnazarov.s scintillating thriller presents an entirely different side of tank warfare. Set in the closing days of WWII, Russian forces are closing in on Berlin after months of brutal fighting and unparalleled casualties. After one of many horrendous tank and infantry battles, an injured tank commander (Aleksey Vertkov) is pulled from the wreckage and thrown into the back of a truck headed for the medical battalion. Burned over 90% of his body, his hands must be pried from the controls of...
- 11/15/2012
- by Ron Wilkinson
- Monsters and Critics
Director: Sergei Loznitsa Writer: Sergei Loznitsa Starring: Viktor Nemets, Vladimir Golovin, Olga Shuvalova, Dmitriy Gotsdiner, Aleksey Vertkov A prologue reveals a lifeless human body as it is tossed into a hole and promptly buried in cement and dirt. With this short opening sequence it becomes bitingly obvious that the joyful title of Russian writer-director Sergei Loznitsa's film is intended to reek of cynicism and irony. Soon thereafter we meet Georgy (Viktor Nemets); he is our truck driving guide across a dilapidated and somewhat foreboding Russian landscape. As if trapped in a surrealist nightmare, Georgy is constantly delayed and/or detoured from delivering his cargo of flour to its destination. This, however, allows the extremely affable Georgy ample opportunity to fraternize with some shady check-point security officers, a couple of mischievous thieves, a teenage prostitute (Olga Shuvalova), and an elderly wanderer (Vladimir Golovin) who hijacks the narrative (ala Wojciech Has...
- 10/13/2011
- by Don Simpson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
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