Brutal and real...

Rating: 7/10 (8 June 2008)

This film showed the brutal reality of what war really is. It is frustrating to see how many lives are taken unnecessarily with out any remorse. And unfortunately to see a young boy's dream to be a good soldier for his country be trampled on. Florya gets a rude awakening when he experiences what war is really about and to see all the death at a very young age. Even though some scenes in the film are graphic, the director did a great job in making the death seem so real that as if you could actually smell the blood. The film was raw and making scenes so traumatic that they become embedded in your mind. Also the use of long continuous time takes allowed some scenes to be even more intense, for example when Florya and Glasha are in the mud pool and to see their struggle, their expressions made it even more real that it made you want help to pull them out. This film definitely makes the point across that it's not about the plot, but of the horrors of war. But to also see how young Florya aged through the film was amazing. To see his innocence in the beginning of the film and by the end it has diminished. War has literally stolen the life out of him. This film is brutal, raw but definitely amazing. Highly recommend