Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by tinear (A) on October 27, 2009 at 13:12:06

this should-be-a-classic 1968 war film set in 1918 Russia, along the Volga River where a fierce war raged between the aristocrat-loving White Army and the Bolshie Red Army which was made up of many Hungarians.
This is the most unusual of war films: there is no lead character, no group of daring, brave men that either kill many sneering opponents or valiantly die in a lost battle. Rather, this cinema verité masterpiece (and I don't use the term loosely) follows the fortunes of several men as uninterrupted battles rage, terrain changes hand from day to day, and brutality, cruelty, murder, and rape are commonplaces.
Not long ago, The New Yorker published an article about American elite troops (Rangers) helicoptered into a zone suspected of harboring "terrorists." The orders, the men thought, were to kill any inhabitants of the small isle--- the taking of prisoners was disdained by the commander. This became an "incident" not because the captured men summarily were executed but because, rather, the kill order incorrectly was given, i.e. there was not enough evidence of the terrorist presence.
Anyhow, this film shows that kind of reality, not some gung-ho recruiting aid where ceaseless acts of unimaginable bravery lead to a satisfying conclusion.
Men, without mercy or a second-thought, cold-bloodedly execute and, in turn, are executed. They no longer, in other words, behave as human beings nor animals.