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gaperkins
Reviews
Kavkazskiy plennik (1996)
Ivan and Sasha's relationship
Possible Spoilers:
The two main characters of this film are two Russian soldiers, Ivan and Sasha, who are captured by a group of Chechens. Ivan is the younger, and less experienced of the two men, while Sasha has been involved in war before. As the film progresses, the relationship between Ivan and Sasha develops into a father-son relationship. This comes about because both of these characters are missing the role filled by the other character. Ivan reveals that he has no father, although the audience does not learn what happens to him. Sasha also admits later that he has a son, and asks Ivan to send him money if something should happen to Sasha. This relationship manifests itself in various places in the movie, most often with Sasha looking after or attempting to teach Ivan something. It first appears when Ivan and Sasha are first captured, and we learn that Sasha is more experienced of the two soldiers, and the potential for a fatherly relationship becomes apparent.
One place where Sasha decides to teach Ivan something is when the two begin to wrestle. Sasha's lesson for Ivan is that he does not have to be the toughest or hit the hardest, but he simply has to be the most intimidating, in this case by making noise. He repeats this lesson just before Ivan is supposed to fight the Chechen's nephew, and the advice saves Ivan from the fight. Sasha also protects Ivan after their attempted escape failed. He does this by admitting that he was the one who killed the shepherd. In doing so he sacrifices himself and saves Ivan.
Komissar (1967)
Religious symbols in Komissar
One of the reasons that Commissar was initially banned in the Soviet Union was the use of religious imagery in the film. One example of this is shortly after Vavilova, the Commissar, has her baby. She walks by a graveyard, and the Russian Orthodox crosses are prominently featured in the shot. This can be interpreted to mean that Vavilova was forced to carry the baby, which she initially considers a burden, in the same manner that Christ had to carry His cross. It could also symbolize the idea of a life cycle, where Vavilova just had a child and is then seen at the cemetery, where she is surrounded by death. Another instance where crosses appear in the film was when Vavilova, Yefim (the father of the Jewish family she is forced to stay with), and his family were boarding up the windows and doors to prepare for the White Army soldiers that were coming. In one shot, Yefim is nailing a beam across a window, perpendicular to another board which clearly makes the shape of a cross.
The other major example of religion that can be found in the film is when Vavilova travels to the priest, and then to where the synagogue had been. She does this in order to have her baby baptized, or recognized in the Jewish religion. This would not have sat well with Soviet censors, seeing a strong female Commissar traveling in search of someone to baptize her child. I found this scene particularly moving because it seemed that Vavilova simply asked the priest for directions, and would rather have had her baby brought up to be Jewish. This shows the positive impact that Yefim and his family had on Vavilova during her stay.