FILM TITLE: PRISIONER OF THE MOUNTAINS DIRECTOR: SERGEI BODROV COUNTRY: RUSSIA 1996 CINEMATOGRAPHY: PAVEL LEBESHEV MUSIC: LEONID DESYATNIKOV CAST: Sergei Bodrov Jr., Alexander Bureyev, Susanna Mekharalieva, Pavel Lebeshev, Oleg Menshikov, Djemal Sikharulidze, Alexei Zharkhov SUPER FEATURES: The setting, the story and the music.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Like another film from last year, BURNT BY THE SUN, this one has to travel through an area where sentiments are not comfortable to get its point across. But unlike BURNT BY THE SUN which has irresistible charm in the form of a young girl, this film has to live and die by how well it can convey a sense of humanity in what otherwise is really a bad conflict, in an area where the outsiders can rarely win in the first place.
But the price, the locals have to pay, is real sad, and terribly destructive for all the parties concerned.
A group of Russian soldiers are ambushed in the Chenchen region, and two men survive. The apparent reason for the attack seems to be a certain Abdul-Mourant, who has decided to take the war in his own hands, since the Russians are keeping his son in jail. He hopes to trade the two prisoners for his son. And the Russian contingent, does not seem interested in parlaying a peace, and neither does it seem interested in seeing that the older man gets to see his son. By now, the Russian men in charge have become complacent and couldn't careless about the war. They have the guns and the power, and they probably figure that they can clean house at any moment they feel like.
The two prisoners seem to do well, despite having a bad start. One is aggressive, and the other a young one who failed to fire a shot in the ambush. They befriend a young girl, Dina - Abdul's daughter, who takes care of them and brings them food and water. And it is in the end Dina who really has helped create the only level headed decision, going into the last minute of the film. The hope is that her plight and goal will last and survive, for Dina is much better centered than all of them.
In the middle of the film, one of the prisoners, the aggressive captain, decides that he wants to escape, and he does so, and they survive, with the exception that they do not know where they are going. He makes the mistake of killing a shepherd, and this brings about a change in the film's direction and a serious problem for Abdul. The town wants the prisoners killed, or gotten rid of, as they are a walking problem. But others have better ideas. The rebels want to use the two Russians to find the field mines and disarm them, which they do.
And in between, one comes to find that some locals are not happy either. One has a son in the Russian army, stationed in town. And this elder is ashamed that his own son is turning against the town's own people. And the old man's indiscretion gets Abdul's son killed, and places the film in a terrible dilemma.
The villagers have gotten even with the prisoner that killed the shepherd. They killed him in the same spot. But the young soldier, has been a man of peace, for the most part and has not displayed anything violent... he has befriended Dina nicely, and he probably wishes that they would have had a chance though she is young, but as Dina says, "around here they marry off very young". Abdul, takes his last prisoner to the top of a mountain where he will kill him... and in the film's turnabout ending, Abdul misses the shot on purpose and goes home. His own personal war is over. He has lost his son, but this young man is not the cause or the reason for the conflict. And a new reason has been uplifted. But sadly, the film hints that the Russian military leaders have other reasons in mind, as we see four bombing helicopters fly over their very own, and not pick him up.
The innocent get screwed, in a puzzle and game, that in the end is meaningless, and can only bring about hate and destruction..... story has it that Boris Yeltsin saw this movie and immediately signed a pact to end the war and help the region..
Based on a Tolstoy novel, this adaptation came around at the right time, and brought about a point.
The film is very good, and has some very beautiful moments, specially in the way that it displays the cultures through its own music. The Russian styles are almost, by comparison, stupid and are seen through the prisoners minds when they hear their Russian songs. But right after it, we often hear the Moslem tinged musical style that the region has, and its power is much more evident than the words in the Russian songs.
Full of beautiful cinematography, and moments, this is a very good film, and really deserving of an Oscar nomination. But it fits into the category of the films like Burnt by the Sun, as an anti war film, that really destroys innocent lives needlessly. Still, it is strong, and well done.
Nice performances, and magnificent moments. Dina is excellent. As are Abdul and Hassan's characters. The two soldiers come off as childish next to them. But it is clear that this is just the way it is.
Nice film.
4 GIBLOONS Copyright (c) Pedro Sena 1997. All Rights Reserved.
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