A Depressing film, sure...

Rating: 8/10 (3 April 2001)

...but that doesn't make it a bad one. I watched this film with my mum, and she came out of the cinemea asking why they had to make films with such depressing content. I had to explain to her that this was based on a real life story, and that the makers couldn't sweep the more shocking subject matters under the carpet simply because it would upset people too much.
*****PLOT SPOILERS**** I guess what really got to people was Ed Harris (Sorry, I forget his on-screen name) killing the little boy. It was one of the most shocking scenes in the film when they saw him hanging, and it was one that left a sour taste in the mouth of everybody watching. But that's war is. It's not pretty, it's not heroic, and it's definitely not glamorous. People did die, and there's nothing we can do to change that.
But there were moments of genuine warmth. The relationship between Jude Law and Rachel Weisz was very real, and thoroughly watchable. Law was perfectly cast as Vissili, as was Ed Harris in his role. The downbeat ending was good; it didn't seem to be a cop-out like most war films tend to opt for.
This film had faults, sure, but there was so many redeeming features that it doesn't matter. I saw the film almost three weeks ago now, and it's still playing in my mind. It's a relevant film, and one that everybody should be made to watch. And for those people complaining about the British accents, count yourself lucky they weren't putting on fake Russian accents!