1942: Unknown Battle

A well made war film from Russia, but I wasn't too entertained. The opening action scene is very decent, but the characters didn't win me over, the pacing is drawn out and the atmosphere didn't grab me at all. I don't know, it didn't suit me. Story***, Action***, Humor>No, Violence***, Entertainment***, Music***, Visuals****, Atmosphere**, Suspense***. 5/10. (09.08.2020)

Well, the Russians clearly came to their senses. They used to deploy entire fronts, armies, corps or at least divisions, this time it was a single company, and they did well. In addition to realistically shot battle scenes, the film brought up issues which had previously been taboo, and the almost two-hour runtime wasn’t a hindrance. The overly motivated politruk Rykov seemed like a caricature to me, but I understand that he represented a certain kind of Soviet political officer (and there were more than a few like him), whom the creators wanted to get back at in this way. What I liked was the way they portrayed the character of politruk Žurkin. His being torn between the party and humanity was almost schizophrenic. As a result, I was more satisfied than I’d expected. (25.11.2020)