PRISONER OF THE MOUNTAINS
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1997 Ben Hoffman
War movies (actually anti-war) come in all sizes and shapes. Who can forget APOCALYPSE NOW with its gigantic helicopters coming in as if from outer space, firing at the Vietnamese on the ground, with Wagner's Die Valkyrie enhancing the awful drama . . . or the magnificent DAS BOOT with its story of the crew of a German submarine? PRISONER OF THE MOUNTAINS takes an entirely different, much more subdued but every bit as powerful approach to tell of the craziness and inhumanity of war. . . as well as the decent people who are caught up in the insanity.
The time is today in the former USSR. It is set in a small town very much like Chechnya where the inhabitants (Muslims) have been battling their neighbors and the Russians on and off for hundreds of years; where the villagers still live as they did thousands of years ago. The story, while based on Tolstoy's PRISONER OF THE CAUCASUS, (written as a short story for children), has been brought up to date with new themes introduced.
A Russian patrol is ambushed by some Muslim inhabitants of the village with the object of capturing a Russian soldier whom they can use as a hostage, a bargaining chip for a young villager being held prisoner by the Russians. The prisoner ia the son of the village's patriarch, an impressive, tall man, Abdoul-Mourat (Jemal Sikharulidze). Instead, they inadvertently capture 2 Russians, Sacha (Oleg Menshikov) who has become cynical from many years of soldiering and Vania (Sergei Bodrov, Jr. who happens to be the director's son), a recent recruit. Both being prisoners, they have to learn to live together and to cooperate with one another if they hope to escape. In an escape attempt, however, Sacha is killed.
Vania's life now hinges on the patriarch's son being exchanged for him. Vania's mother tells the Russian captain that she is going to speak to Abdoul but before that can be accomplished the young Muslim prisoner in an attempted escape is fatally shot.
A terrible confrontation now seems inevitable. What choice does Abdoul have but to revenge his son by killing Vania? The captain, for his part, tells Vania's mother that if any harm comes to her son, the Russians will exact a terrible price on the village.
On the Muslim side, the father, shotgun in hand, marches Vanua in front of him, prepared to kill him. . What happens next is entirely unexpected, shocking, frustrating. . . and will break your heart.
For several minutes after the film ended and the credits rolled I was still in my seat unable to move. A great movie!
Others in the cast include Susanna Mekhralieva as a young girl of the village, Alexei Zharkov as the Captain, and Valentina Fedotova as the mother.
My own choice for the Best Foreign film of 1996.
In Russian with English subtitles.
Directed by Sergei Bodrov
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Ben Hoffman
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