War (2002)

During the bloody war in Chechnya, a British couple and two Russian soldiers are taken hostage by Chechen rebels. Two of the hostages are then released to bring the money for the British woman who is forced to wait for the ransom.

Director:

Aleksey Balabanov

Writer:

Aleksey Balabanov

Stars:

Aleksey Chadov, Ian Kelly, Ingeborga Dapkunaite

5 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Aleksey Chadov	...	Ivan
Ian Kelly	...	John
Ingeborga Dapkunaite	...	Margaret
Sergey Bodrov	...	Captain Medvedev
Evklid Kyurdzidis	...	Ruslan
Giorgi Gurgulia	...	Aslan
Vladimir Gostyukhin	...	Ivan's Father
Ben Foster
Yuriy Stepanov	...	Aleksandr Matrosov
David McAlister
Andrei Kormunin
Steve Jamieson	...	(as Steve Jameson)
Lev Erenburg
Peter Wickham
Stanislav Stotsky	...	(as Stas Stotsky)

Storyline

During the bloody war in Chechnya, a British couple and two Russian soldiers are taken hostage by Chechen rebels. Two of the hostages are then released to bring the money for the British woman who is forced to wait for the ransom.

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Plot Keywords:

hostage | russian soldier | chechnya | firearm | chechen war | 

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Taglines:

this is no "Brat-3", this is War

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Genres:

Action | Drama | War

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Aleksey Chadov's first movie role.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Ivan: So, I'm Yermakov, Ivan and he's John, so we're, like, namesakes. So, I met him in the summer of 2001. It was the second month that I'd been in the village of Verkhniy Iskhoy at Aslan Gugayev's place. Back then none of us knew him. Just... His detachment is small. There were three of us there at the time: me, Fedka and a Jew, a commercial one. From Vladikavkaz, I think... Uh-huh. Called Semyon. Yeah, me and Fedka were sawing up wood when they brought them in on a truck. There were ...

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Connections

Referenced in Vdud (2017)

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Soundtracks

LYUTAYA
Written by A.Salakayev
Performed by Volga-Volga

User Reviews

Best war movie I've seen

This film is both very different and very superior to American war movies. The latter these days are marred by moral equivalence, sanitisation and excessively balletic theatricality, with battle scenes looking like firework displays filmed in slow motion as the orchestra swells to a cheesy crescendo. This film, by contrast, is infused with an industrial-strength dose of Russian cynicism. It's refreshing to see a lack of PC cant in its depiction of a genuinely evil enemy. For once it has a realistic portrayal of the religion of peace, with peace-loving Islamic terrorists peacefully beheading civilians for internet decapitation videos and leaving their victims in a particularly peaceful state. When they're not welshing on deals or slaughtering the infidel, they're settling scores with each other in inter-clan blood feuds. However unlike older American & British war movies which weren't made by leftists, the nominal good guys on the Russian side are incompetent, corrupt and unmotivated. The battle scenes are very realistic, neither sanitised and bloodless, nor baroque self-indulgent slow-motion Peckinpahesque spectacles. They are gory but not overly spectacular or thunderous, heroic in the abstract but sordid. Civilian casualties are inevitable, somewhat regrettable but unavoidable. It's particularly relevant to see the effete, whining, hypocritical Pilgeresque Englishman demanding human rights from those who spit at the concept, anguishing over the deaths of "civilians" travelling with the terrorists, then putting the whole party in danger with his wild shooting.

In refreshing contrast to Hollywood, the acting is excellent and the plot is tight yet unpredictable. The denouement had me laughing out loud for the way it highlights the hypocrisy of everyone in dealing with the reality of war. The cinematography is magnificent, especially in the mountain tops and steep valleys. The jeep being rolled down the steep gorge was a particular highlight.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site [Russia]

Country:

Russia

Language:

Russian English Chechen

Release Date:

14 March 2002 (Russia)

Also Known As:

War

Filming Locations:

Shad Thames, Southwark, London, England, UK

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,887

Company Credits

Production Co:

CTB Film Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1