9 rota (2005)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Fyodor Bondarchuk

Writer:

Yuriy Korotkov (writer)

Release Date:

29 September 2005 (Belarus)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History | War

Tagline:

They stood together while their country fell apart

Plot:

Young Soviet Army recruits are stuck in the bloody war in Afghanistan, that was started by politicians.

Plot Keywords:

Afghanistan | Boot Camp | Army | Soldier | Courage

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Fyodor Bondarchuk	...	Khokhol
Aleksey Chadov	...	Vorobey
Mikhail Yevlanov	...	Ryaba
Ivan Kokorin	...	Chugun
Artyom Mikhalkov	...	Stas
Konstantin Kryukov	...	Gioconda
Artur Smolyaninov	...	Lyutyi
Mikhail Porechenkov	...	Praporshik Dygalo
Irina Rakhmanova	...	Belosnezhka - 'Snow White'
Aleksei Serebryakov	...	Kapitan
Mikhail Efremov	...	Dembel
Aleksei Kravchenko	...	Kapitan Bystrov
Andrei Krasko	...	Kompolka v Afgane
Stanislav Govorukhin	...	Kompolka v Uchebke
Aleksandr Bashirov	...	Pomidor

Also Known As:

9th Company (UK) (USA)
9 РОТА (Russia)
9. komppania (Finland)
9th Legion (Europe: English title)
The 9th Company (International: English title)

Runtime:

139 min

Country:

Finland | Russia | Ukraine

Language:

Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | UK:15 | Argentina:13 | South Korea:15 | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Crimea, Ukraine

Company:

Art Pictures Group

Trivia:

Set domestic box office record in Russia, in 2005, generating $ 7,700,000 in five days. Surpassed Turetskiy gambit (2005) in October 2005 to become the highest-grossing movie in post-communist Russia.

Quotes:

[from trailer]
Hohol: This is war! They don't put low grades here! They kill!

Movie Connections:

Features Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Beautiful

The poster of this movie is not the most attractive, unfortunately, but everything else that's beyond that, exceeds the expectations to a Russian movie.

"9th company is a film about war cruelty, inhuman cross crippling the heroes' lives, about honour and duty, sufferings and friendship, about life that is one for all and death that is different for everyone."

9th company truly shows the beauty, the reality and the uselessness of such wars against locals. Now, 20 years after, the equipment has developed, all in all, it still gives an impression of the actions against the Iraq.

The characters were colorful and well picked, although some of them still looked too similar to me for messing them up.

The movie is high quality, with well mastered sound and Russian spirit in it, but vastly dramatic and definitely not a typical American movie with a happy end. It is a great example of human values and motivates to think about "What matters most".