Review: Dear Comrades

Stories about the Soviet Union are usually cold and grim affairs. But when done right, it can be an impactful watch.

Director Andrey Konchalovskiy manages to give his latest feature some weight and emotion around all the usual Russian bleakness.

It starts as something that I was fearing. A story that should be interesting, but isn't quite captivating me.

But despite the setting usually considered to be dark and bleak, the way the story evolved enhanced virtually every department. The way its shot gave it the bit of scope it needed. The characters became a lot more memorable and really helped the film mean something. Also, the neat editing, cinematography by Andrey Navydenov and the choice of presenting the story in black and white made it quite gripping viewing.

In the middle of all this seriousness, I also noticed a surprising amount of comedy in small portions. This gave it a refreshing edge and a sense of realism. It shows that even in the most darkest of times, people can still bring out a sense of humor to the situation.

One reason for this being a memorable watch, was the great leading performance by Yuliya Vysotskaya. It felt like a true reflection of the minds of citizens from that era. As the character develops, it is her intensity that made her incredibly watchable and fitted the tone perfectly. It made me really care for everything that was happening and gave the tragic sequences a lot more weight and emotion.

So while there were still moments that did not do enough to fully engage me, this managed to produce many memorable sequences to give this solid rewatchability. It tells a story that just isn't mentioned enough in mainstream media anymore and the way it was told made it a lot more relatable to current affairs then I expected. The whole vibe it was giving off managed to hold my attention and I can see it being a lot more accessible then I initially thought.

Rating: 7/10