jamesjvarela I recall all the idealism and hope for a better future during the late 80s and early 90s. The Russian people gambled everything and they were cruelly double-crossed by the people who now own and run the country. When Putin came to power in 1999 despite his KGB background he struck me as a sensible man who only wanted his nation to reach his potential. Much of Masha's generation reminds me of mine who came of age during the Reagan years. Growing up in the 70s we saw an America that was plagued with economic problems, Soviet expansionism seemed everywhere and the decade ended with the fall of the Shah of Iran and the humiliating hostage crisis. As a teen I saw the Reagan Republicans in a way similar I think many young Russians saw Putin in the 2000s. The difference, of course, is stark. Reagan is was not Putin nor vice versa. I applaud this brave young woman for taking the stand she has, no doubt many more young Russians will follow the question is what will be the detonating event that brings down the Putin System.

lkfitz I agree with the other posters who have said that the style of this doc was unnatural and contrived. It didn't have a candid "real life" feel to it; it was like a loosely scripted reality show at times. There were culture shock moments however, like when Masha talked about what book she'd like to burn, and the march was very interesting. The vast membership of Nashi, the aggression behind the group, the funding, and all the details which made it clear that it was a tool for leveraging political control, like a mini FSB was all very intriguing. Overall though this film felt very amateur and it crossed my mind a couple of times that it could be opposition propaganda rather than a legitimate documentary. For a topic of this magnitude they should've had a much larger and more diverse pool of people to interview. With the scope of perspective being so small, the documentary felt more like a school project.

MartinHafer To fully appreciate this documentary, you need to have some idea of the political situation in Russia today. Although technically a democratically elected government and wildly popular with the people, it is essentially a dictatorship. That's because police routinely arrest opposition party candidates (only to release them AFTER the election is over) and journalists are murdered--and so, it's actually a one-party system.This film is about one element that works hard to enforce the will of Putin and his friends. The NASHI is a youth organization that is fiercely nationalistic, pro-government and against 'enemies of the state'--though these enemies are either vague or people who simply are the opposition party. And, many elements within the NASHI then take it on themselves to attack these folks--after all, they've been repeatedly been told they are the nation's enemies! Sounds familiar? Of course, its parallels to the Hitler Youth are obvious.Instead of just doing an exposé on NASHI, this film does something very creative. It follows a high officer within NASHI--one of their rising stars. And, through the course of the film you see her gradually begin to question this need to create enemies within Russia. And, she sees friends beaten just for offering civil dissent.This film is very well-constructed, insightful and will most likely cause a strong reaction within the viewer--all hallmarks of an excellent film. Very thought-provoking--never dull. The bottom line is even if you like Putin, you can't possibly see the system as democratic when the government creates a self-serving youth group and encourages them to 'action' (whatever that means).

niels-entp The documentary unfolds in the last half of the 2000s (decade) and follows a young Russian girls development in the state organised youth organisation Nashi. Starting with full faith in the systems ideas and ideals, she gradually discovers unresolvable issues between her ideals and the actual consequences of the system, this prompts her to take some difficult choices. I like the film a lot because I think it very accurately portraits a shift in youth perception of this period, from unabridged optimism due to the economical rise of Russia with Putin and the democratic thoughts of Medvedev, to a reluctant realism of the re- arrival of a Sovjet like system. Furthermore although documentary in its nature the film has a number of aesthetic pleasing scenes as well as some scenes that very sharply portrait persons and actions. I would recommend this film to anyone interested in an understanding of modern Russia.