Armand a Nikita Mikhalkov. with each of elements who defines his work - humor, heroism, sacrifice, justice, melancholic crumbs. a kind of Eastern on the young Soviet Union construction. but out of political circle. because it is only a story. about duty, trust, friendship and profound truth. and not that bricks are fundamental but the manner to present it. with subtle irony, delicacy and a fine Russian style. a film about justice and a hero with has not ambition to be more than a common man. an interesting performance and few splendid images. and special atmosphere. is it enough ? is it too much ? it is just a pure Mikhalkov movie. ant this fact is only essential.

kril10 Nikita Mikhalkov's 1974 At Home among Strangers, a Stranger Among his Own was a truly enjoyable "Eastern," a Soviet parallel to the American "Western." It did a great job in glorifying the Socialist Revolution and its ideology, while at the same time preserving the advantageous, "badass," gun-slinging attitude that audiences loved in the Western. I feel like contemporary viewers of this film would have savored it—a dramatized, heroic account of Soviet values set in the "wild east" would seem like the perfect soothing remedy for a disillusioned Soviet citizen during Brezhnev's period of stagnation.Our Soviet western hero is Shilov, who was tasked with defending a large Cheka shipment of gold for the starving citizens in Moscow following the Russian Civil War. Naturally, the plan is quickly ruined as assassins kill everyone on board the train carrying the gold to steal it, drug Shilov, and let him loose in the town street, hence framing him for being the inside man for giving up the gold. As Shilov sets out to recover the gold and clear his name, the plot further thickens as the assassins get killed and bandits take the gold! The leader of the assassins, Lemke, lived however, and joined up with the bandits to try and discover where their leader, Brylov, was taking the gold. Shilov ends up killing Brylov and recovering the gold, and denies all of Lemke's pleads and temptations to share it with him and escape. Shilov maintained adamant in his Socialist position of giving up the gold, claiming that "even God taught us to share."All of this activity is surrounded by recurring themes of train robbery, horseback chasing, rafting and mountainside firefights. Even the soundtrack emphasizes moments of male camaraderie as Shilov's name is mentioned among his Civil War friends with majestic trumpet solos. As Shilov returns to his wartime friends with the gold, they rush to him, barely holding back tears as they greet their "western Soviet" hero. The film shed some positive, adventurous light upon the Soviet values of collectivization and honor over corruption and private enterprise.

denis888 There are very few films about this time in Russia - 1917 - 1922, which have no clear propaganda smack. This film, albeit made in the stuffy Soviet times 30 years ago, still sounds and looks so fresh and well. Nikita Mikhalkov managed to create a deeply adventurous and excellently tight atmosphere of a Western, but in a Russian soil. The plot is nice - after the main battles of the war, there are many regions which suffer hunger and famine. The local Soviet committee decided to send some gold to buy bread for those people. The secret group of undefeated former monarchists, so-called The White Gueard, attacks the train with this gold and kills all the people who had it. Thus, the film starts to get more and more thrilling. The main hero, a Comissar Shilov, played by the late lamented Yuri Bogatyrev, is indicted falsely for this assault, he escapes the shooting and starts his own investigation. Slowly, he gets into a gang of mountain bandits who rob the trains and there he comes across one of the White officers, played by also untimely demised Aleksnader Kaydanowski, who has the gold. You really must watch this brilliant film which is full of war romanticism, heroism and true feelings. It has none of the false patriotism or propaganda. Real must have!

Viktor Gabbasov One of the best Nikita Mikhalkov's pictures. A gripping, rather confusing adventurous plot, fragmentary editing, mysterious look of heroes - all this became a fresh breeze in the soviet cinematography of the 70th. The excellent crew including a big number of greatest russian actors in the beginning of their career. Beautiful and piercing main theme by Edward Artemyev thinly transfers the mood of the movie combining the romanticism of the 70th and the dramatic line of the picture. In 1974 the movie was sworn by critics. But years went by. And now it's considered to be the cult one.