Dorogie tovarishchi (2020)

Dorogie tovarishchi: Directed by Andrey Konchalovskiy. With Yuliya Vysotskaya, Vladislav Komarov, Andrey Gusev, Yuliya Burova. When the communist government raises food prices in 1962, the rebellious workers from the small industrial town of Novocherkassk go on strike. The massacre which then ensues is seen through the eyes of a devout party activist.

“The sight of massed workers marching against the Soviet government demanding MORE Communism may strike many as strange, yet it is just one of the many seeming contradictions here. Director and Co-Writer Andrey Konchalovskiy (RUNAWAY TRAIN, INNER CIRCLE) has fashioned his tale (with Elena Kiseleva) out of a tragic 1962 incident where factory workers were shot at by government officials leaving at least 26 dead.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLyuda (Yuliya Vysotskaya; the Directoru0026#39;s wife) is a committee member for the town of Novocherkassk. As an apparatchik, she eats and drinks better than those she serves. When we first see her sheu0026#39;s in the midst of an affair with a married official. Her daughter is an agitator at the factory in question. And, her father hasnu0026#39;t lived down his anti-government views from his youth. Lyuda is clearly supposed to represent the many hypocrisies of the Soviet system. When the fateful day occurs, Lyuda is caught in the middle of the literal crossfire.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eKonchalovsky builds his movie slowly. The details of the bureaucracy are laid out as are the intertwined loyalties which abound. The truth is both impossible to discern, but, seemingly frowned up. Andrey Naydenov shoots brilliantly in stark Black u0026amp; White and framed in classic 1:37 aspect ratio. There is no musical score, only traditional Soviet music, often propaganda heard in the background. Even with this bleak style Konchalovsky manages to finagle a underlying streak of bitter humor. Chairman Nikita Khrushchevu0026#39;s policies were so unpopular that many Soviets were pining for a return of genocidal former leader Joseph Stalin. Just over two years after the massacre, Khrushchev would himself be forced out of office. No matter how much the events effect her personally, Lyuda is both a true believer and a blind loyalist – and, canu0026#39;t distinguish the two. Vysotskayau0026#39;s performance superbly navigates her characteru0026#39;s (and that of her country) paradoxes with skill and vigor. As does DEAR COMRADES! Itself.”