9th Company (2005) 9 rota (original title)

Director:

Fedor Bondarchuk

Writers:

Yuriy Korotkov
Iskander Galiev

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 | Soviet Army | Army | 1980s

Awards:

8 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Artur Smolyaninov	...	Lyutyy
Aleksey Chadov	...	Vorobey
Konstantin Kryukov	...	Dzhokonda
Ivan Kokorin	...	Chugun
Mikhail Evlanov	...	Ryaba
Artyom Mikhalkov	...	Stas
Soslan Fidarov	...	Pinochet
Ivan Nikolaev	...	Seryy
Mikhail Porechenkov	...	Dygalo
Fedor Bondarchuk	...	Khokhol (as Fyodor Bondarchuk)
Dmitriy Mukhamadeev	...	Afanasiy
Irina Rakhmanova	...	Belosnezhka
Amadu Mamadakov	...	Kurbashi
Aleksandr Shein	...	Patefon (as Aleksandr Sheyn)
Aleksey Kravchenko	...	Kapitan Bystrov
Aleksandr Bashirov	...	Pomidor
Mikhail Efremov	...	Dembel
Stanislav Govorukhin	...	Kompolka v uchebke
Andrey Krasko	...	Kompolka v Afgane
Aleksandr Lykov	...	Mayor-vzryvnik
Aleksey Serebryakov	...	Kapitan-razvedchik
Oles Katsion	...	Mikhey
Karen Martirosyan	...	Ashot
Marat Gudiev	...	Akhmet
Denis Moshkin	...	'Chernyy aist'
Aleksandr Kucherenko	...	Parikmakher
Svetlana Ivanova	...	Olya
Evgeniy Arutyunyan	...	Svyazist
Mikhail Vladimirov	...	Voditel-mekhanik tanka
Oleg Zhukov
Mikhail Solodko	...	Ofitser voenkomata
Evgeniya Popova
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ruslan Khabibullov	...	Soldat (uncredited)
Igor Salimonov	...	Tankist (uncredited)
Viktor Serdyuk	...	Soldat (uncredited)
Dmitriy Sharakois	...	Prizyvnik (uncredited)

Directed by
Fedor Bondarchuk

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Iskander Galiev
Yuriy Korotkov

Produced by
Fedor Bondarchuk	....	producer
Iskander Galiev	....	producer
Andrey Hvatkov	....	line producer
Ilkka Matila	....	co-producer
Sergey Melkumov	....	co-producer
Maria Murashova	....	production head
Vladimir Oseledchik	....	co-producer
Alexander Rodnyansky	....	producer (as Aleksandr Rodnyanskiy)
Dmitriy Rudovskiy	....	associate producer
Marko Röhr	....	co-producer
Vladimir Vorkul	....	line producer
Yelena Yatsura	....	producer

Original Music by
Dato Evgenidze

Cinematography by
Maksim Osadchiy-Korytkovskiy		(as Maksim Osadchiy)

Film Editing by
Igor Litoninskiy

Production Design by
Grigori Pushkin

Makeup Department
Aigul Khabirova	....	makeup artist
Dmitriy Kirillov	....	key makeup artist
Justin Raleigh	....	special makeup effects designer
Irina Ulyanova	....	key makeup artist
Yekaterina Zheleykina	....	assistant makeup artist

Production Management
Evgeniy Arutyunyan	....	assistant production manager
Roman Kokorev	....	unit production manager
Margo Rogovskaya	....	unit production manager

Sound Department
Andrew Caller	....	sound re-recording mixer
Nadine Chambers	....	assistant sound editor
Lev Ezhov	....	sound mixer
Andy Hagon	....	sound re-recording mixer
Max Hoskins	....	supervising sound editor
Nadine Loginova	....	assistant dialogue editor
Brendan Nicholson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Richard Pryke	....	sound re-recording mixer
Steve Schwalbe	....	sound effects editor
Kirill Vasilenko	....	supervising sound editor
Michael Wabro	....	dialogue editor
Michael Wabro	....	sound supervisor
James Doyle	....	sound mixing technician (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Gavin Baxter	....	technical director: Helsinki
Kari Brown	....	technical director: Helsinki
Gregory Chalenko	....	digital compositor: Artreaction
Stephen Coren	....	sequence supervisor: Helsinki
Giuseppe Di Giorgio	....	compositor: Helsinki Unit
Pavel Donatov	....	visual effects supervisor
Nicolaj Drewsky	....	visual effects producer: Helsinki
Severi Glanville	....	visual effects supervisor: Helsinki
Alex Guri	....	lead compositor: Helsinki
Risto Jankkila	....	technical director: Helsinki
Eduard Kargin	....	digital compositor
Tero Kinnunen	....	visual effects director
Jussi Kytö	....	compositor: Helsinki Unit
Robert Lang	....	digital intermediate colourist: Helsinki
Olli Leppänen	....	lead compositor: Helsinki
Antti Peltoranta	....	compositor: Helsinki Unit
Toni Pykäläniemi	....	compositor: Helsinki Unit
Timur Saitgarajev	....	digital compositor
Andrey Samoryadov	....	art director
Ville-Matti Vasama	....	technical director: Helsinki
Leonid Volosatov	....	visual effects supervisor
Sergey Vygran	....	visual effects

Stunts
Reijo Kontio	....	stunt coordinator: Crimean unit

Camera and Electrical Department
Dimitri Opekine	....	assistant camera
Joona Pettersson	....	camera loader

Music Department
Ian Dowling	....	music assistant
Sergei Groshev	....	music arranger
Sergei Groshev	....	music supervisor
Mike Nielsen	....	music engineer
Michael Wabro	....	music editor
Ivan Burlyaev	....	composer: main theme (uncredited)

Other crew
Iskander Galiev	....	co-author

Production Companies

• Art Pictures Group
• Channel 1+1
• Finnish Film Foundation (production support)
• Matila Röhr Productions (MRP) (co-production)
• Slovo
• Telekanal STS
• Yleisradio (YLE) (co-production: YLE TV1 Yhteistuotannot)

Distributors

• Well Go (2010) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Brunbro Entertainment Group (2007) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Contender Entertainment Group (2007) (UK) (theatrical)
• Gemini Film (2005) (Belarus) (theatrical)
• Gemini Film (2005) (Kazakhstan) (theatrical)
• Gemini Film (2005) (Russia) (theatrical)
• Gemini Film (2005) (Ukraine) (theatrical)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2006) (Finland) (theatrical) (DVD)
• Contender Entertainment Group (2007) (UK) (DVD)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Eagle Entertainment (2011) (Australia) (DVD)
• Emerald (2007) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Emerald (2007) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Flashstar Home Vídeo (2007) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Gravitas Ventures (2010) (USA) (video) (VOD)
• KinoVista (2006) (France) (all media)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2008) (Germany) (DVD)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2006) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (2008) (Finland) (TV)

Special Effects

• Artreaction
• Fractured FX (special make-up effects)

Other Companies

• Digital Film Finland Oy  post-production
• Pinewood Studios  sound re-recording
• Reelsound  sound post-production
• Russian Ministry of Culture  with the support of
• Strongroom Recording Studios  music re-recorded at (as Strongroom Studios)

Also Known As:

"9 rota" - Finland (original title)
"9th Legion" - Europe (English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sequences of strong bloody warfare, pervasive language, some sexuality/nudity and drug use

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 | Netherlands:16 | USA:R | Australia:MA (2011) | Singapore:M18

Filming Locations:

Crimea, Ukraine

Company:

Art Pictures Group

Trivia:

Was a Russian candidate for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film nomination in 2007.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in The Best Movie (2008)

Common war movie, but still somehow unique

Yes, we have all seen a lot of those movies that focus on soldiers in the battle, their bravery, weaknesses, breakdowns etc. Those films are always end up in a way that let's us know once again, how pointless is war and how it has its impact to every single life separately. This movie is not an exception in overall point of view. It has quite a same morale.

But few things make it still unique and are the reason to rate it a bit higher than just average.

At first reality. Not historically, but people in the movie are much more real than in Hollywood movie. It seems that only Russian actors can let the public see the soul of Russian people and soldiers. I'm not Russian myself, but I've met a lot of them and this is just the unique thing they call "Russkaja dusha" (Russian soul). Russians have very hot temper, they can blaze up in a second and start the fight, but they never let it damage their friendship.

Second dose of realism: people in war. I mean especially Dygalo was a very realistic character. When I was serving my time in Estonian army I met an officer who was also veteran of Afganistan war. And believe me, he was quite a copy of Dygalo. It is hard to understand, how real war experience could leave such a trace in human mind, but now when I saw Praporshik Dygalo in that movie, I noticed a huge similarity between Dygalo and that officer and I instantly understood that this is the real thing, this is exactly how war affected those soldiers. And the fact this film has managed to take it to public so real, gives it a great bonus.

And last, but not least: Russian language in a movie that also really sounds as Russian language. I'm always laughing about the episodes in Hollywood movies that should include Russian army or characters and I have to say that Russian language in Hollywood movies is more than ridiculous, therefore I'm quite happy that this film was made in Russian. By the way, Russian is considered to have the most developed vocabulary in swearing and as this is war movie and those guys are pretty rough as well, it sounds much better and more real in Russian. Translation usually manages to lost at least half of the meaning.

In conclusion: yes, I would recommend this movie to everybody. Although it shares the same morale than other war movies, it's still somehow unique and especially Americans could take a look and compare it to Hollywood stuff.