Ruscico. Mosfilm, 1986. Subtitles: English. Heroic drama. Directed by Yevgeniy Karelov. Screenwriter: Yuliy Dunskiy, Valeriy Frid. Cameraman: Mikhail Ardabevskiy. Composer: Yevgeniy Ptichkin. Starring: Oleg Yankovskiy, Rolan Bykov, Vladimir Vysotskiy, Iya Savvina, Anatoliy Papanov, Nikolay Kryuchkov, Petr Krylov.The year was 1920 and the White Army was finally defeated and driven out by the Bolsheviks. The ultimate battle took place in the Crimea, a small peninsula in Southern Russia. The battle as depicted in this film is shot from several different points of view, and the four central actors each give astonishing performances. Yankovskiy is an intellectual who fights for the Revolution but cannot blindly believe in its ideology; Bykov, playing a real Red commissary is as naive as a child, as well as cruel and enthusiastic; Vysotskiy, a White officer is disillusioned and sardonic; Savvina, a White nurse, is a patriot of Russia and of the 'White cause'. Many scenes will remain in your memory forever, among them the one in which White officers enter the sea, preferring death to surrender. The movie is lightened by a wonderful sense of humor - sometimes simple and robust, when coming from Red soldiers, and sometimes elegant and melancholy among the noble officers.
