Komrades (2003)

Sorry, this movie sucks

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It's very clear from the beginning that the documentarian has a huge kink for Russian men in uniform. His opening narration tries to play it off as an interest in camaraderie and confident masculinity, but there's no hiding his desire for hearing Russian men's intimate stories of being in close quarters. And that's how the movie starts, with steadily more lustful questions about spending so much time in the barracks with just men all around. But just when you think it's going to run off with lusty sexual testimonies, the movie pulls the rug out from under you. The interviewees' recounts of pranks quickly give way to stories of hazing. And these hazing stories are just awful: people being kicked, punched and abused, sometimes fatally. Every interviewee had their own story of someone they knew who had died because of hazing. The interviewees also gave accounts of the harsh hazing they themselves endured. The worst part was hearing some interviewees just play it off as nothing that bad, that the hazers were just pulling a prank or a really good joke. Some of the other interviewees didn't brush things off as easily and you could tell they had really been emotionally scarred by the experience.After hearing all those stories, the documentary switches back to the soldier's professions of undying camaraderie and drunken friendship. Everything that had been so admired about the institution suddenly becomes completely hollow and fake. It's really a stark transition, and one I doubt the filmmaker expected when he first set out on his trip. Even though the director intended to reveal deep-hidden carnal secrets, he managed to reveal far more shocking secrets about Russian military life. He had an uncanny knack for asking just the right questions, even when the interview went into waters he wasn't ready for. In this process, he unexpectedly documented a widespread system of abuse that Russian censors have fervently denied.

Take one cute gay Canadian documentarian with a bit of a uniform fetish, 15 cute Russian Naval Academy Cadets, add many, many bottles of Vodka and some American cigarettes and you get a documentary such as this. The film maker stated that he started this documentary because he had "a bit of a thing" for Russian boys in "perhaps the world's cutest uniforms" but after talking with the boys he quickly went beyond the initial attraction. In Russia, military service of some type is mandatory for all Russian males. The choices are either 2 years in the unbelievably harsh environment of the Russian Army or 5 years as a military cadet followed by 5 years of active service. Very few Russian males have the means of buying their way out of their military commitment. The guys in this film are from both camps, the naval academy and the regular army. While the naval academy guys have a MUCH longer commitment it seems that they are generally better supervised and conditions while not ideal are at least humane. The Army on the other hand has a reputation of severe hazing and abuse of power by the older soldiers over the younger. It's estimated that over 3000 soldiers die each year and these are NOT from training accidents but from hazing related incidents. The filmmaker (and the audience) may have started this documentary with prurient interests but after the first few young guys open their hearts and souls to the camera we quickly become interested in the young men themselves and their ordeals. We are also won over by the boys honest declarations of love for their fellows and their willingness to die for each other. One film-goer asked the film maker "Did you meet any homely Russian boys" but it's not just their appearance that gets you. As the film maker said, these guys have very open souls.