adriennenoracarter In Bodrov's Prisoner of the Mountain, Ivan (Vanya) has just entered the Russian army. He's barely uniformed by the time he is on his way to Chechnya. On the road into the mountains, the group comes under attack by a group of Chechen rebels. Vanya and Sacha are both knocked out and taken prisoner by the Chechens in the attack. One of the Chechens, Abdul, is hoping to trade the two Russians for his son, who is being held in a Russian army prison. The story that ensues shows both the cruelty and humanity that can be found in war. Both sides commit atrocities: the two captives kill the mute Hassan in their struggle as they attempt to escape—this is one cruelty on the Russian side. A Chechen father kills his son who has traded sides in order to work for the Russian police. Neither side has its hands clean. However, even in the midst of war, love can be found in this story— not just the fraternal love that grows between Vanya and Sacha, but love between enemies. Abdul's daughter Dina is kind to the captured soldiers, and in turn, Vanya shows her kindness she doesn't experience from her peers. She wants to help him escape, but he refuses to go because he knows that the rest of the villagers will never forgive her. Vanya, throughout the movie, represents an opposition to war. He never directly kills anyone, and never even learns how to properly handle a gun; even by the end of the movie, he is misfiring his weapons. When he is going to spar with the Chechen leader's nephew, he comes off as a pacifist. Even when he knows Sacha is dead, he doesn't turn to violence as a solution. A beautiful story with a beautiful backdrop, Prisoner of the Mountain is a true Russian gem.

rt1302 By definition this is a war film, however the vast majority of the film is something else. The main protagonist, Zhilin, is a novice enlistee, played by Sergei Bodrov Junior. Whereas Sanya, the senior officer is played by an incredibly emotive Oleg Menshikov. Both of these men are captured after being knocked out during the course of a small skirmish with local militants in the Caucasus region, and are held captive in the hope that an exchange of prisoners can be made. War is an existential event, setting our perspectives into two options: life, or death. As one might assume, the role of manhood within this film is evident and in a sense acts as a determining factor as to who makes it out alive. Sanya shows cracks within his inner being; he goes from moments in which he is radiant with boundless energy – dancing on the roof of the aul in which they are held captive, and in another instance he is seen sobbing uncontrollably while chained to his fellow soldier. Obviously this is a perilous predicament, but Vanya (Zhilin) is able to keep a level head under this pressure of not knowing whether or not he might make it out of these mountains. In fact Vanya is able to make friends with his captors, both Hassan and Dina – the daughter of Abdul Murad. Sanya when in his brighter moods is able to socialize and make fun of the tongue-less Hassan, and Vanya seems to go along with this. Overall it is this glimpse into the human side of war that helps to make it a good movie, but it is the ending that truly makes it all worthwhile. As a viewer you feel horrified, because you have begun to see these "mountain savages" as living breathing human beings. Given the ongoing war at the time of the movie's release, it is likely that it could have been filmed in this particular time period (before or after 1996).In terms of rating, I would give it a 9 as it's not the most cinematographically groundbreaking film, but it does gives people a glimpse into the inner sanctum of a lesser understood culture. There are some amazing shots that show the rugged beauty of the auls, which are the dwellings carved into the sides of cliffs. Furthermore, it is possible to get a taste of the way of life – how humans regardless of nationality just want to live by whatever means possible, and that war is not something to seek out.

gaperkins Possible Spoilers:The two main characters of this film are two Russian soldiers, Ivan and Sasha, who are captured by a group of Chechens. Ivan is the younger, and less experienced of the two men, while Sasha has been involved in war before. As the film progresses, the relationship between Ivan and Sasha develops into a father-son relationship. This comes about because both of these characters are missing the role filled by the other character. Ivan reveals that he has no father, although the audience does not learn what happens to him. Sasha also admits later that he has a son, and asks Ivan to send him money if something should happen to Sasha. This relationship manifests itself in various places in the movie, most often with Sasha looking after or attempting to teach Ivan something. It first appears when Ivan and Sasha are first captured, and we learn that Sasha is more experienced of the two soldiers, and the potential for a fatherly relationship becomes apparent.One place where Sasha decides to teach Ivan something is when the two begin to wrestle. Sasha's lesson for Ivan is that he does not have to be the toughest or hit the hardest, but he simply has to be the most intimidating, in this case by making noise. He repeats this lesson just before Ivan is supposed to fight the Chechen's nephew, and the advice saves Ivan from the fight. Sasha also protects Ivan after their attempted escape failed. He does this by admitting that he was the one who killed the shepherd. In doing so he sacrifices himself and saves Ivan.

eelcoz Excellent and intriguing movie about the situation in the kaukasus, a very sensitive movie also which allows you to really live into the situation of the main characters on both sides, with brilliant acting and screenplay.