Admiral (2008)

Admiral: Directed by Andrey Kravchuk. With Konstantin Khabenskiy, Elizaveta Boyarskaya, Sergey Bezrukov, Vladislav Vetrov. The story of admiral Aleksandr Kolchak who remained faithful to his oath to the Russian Emperor and fought against the Bolshevik rule after the 1917 October Revolution.

“An interesting, if flawed, biopic about Alexander Kolchak, Russian admiral during World War I, and after the Russian revolution, leader of the Russian whites during the civil war. I know the Soviet Union ended more than 20 years ago, but I was still surprised to see such a reverent movie about one of the leaders of the Russian whites. For example, the scene where Kolchak takes command of his army with the blessing of the Russian Orthodox Church is told with soaring musing, and without any hint of irony. Story of his romance with the wife of one of his fellow officers adds very little (in fact, probably detracts) from the film. In summary, a generally well made film and with a relatively generous budget, but a bit too reverent and solemn toward its subject.”