9 rota (2005)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Fyodor Bondarchuk

Writer:

Yuri Korotkov (writer)

Release Date:

29 September 2005 (Belarus)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History | War

Tagline:

They stood together while their country fell apart

Plot:

Young Soviet Army recruits are stuck in the bloody war in Afghanistan, that was started by politicians.

Plot Keywords:

Afghan | Boot Camp | Guerilla | Red Army | Military Training

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Fyodor Bondarchuk	...	Khokhol
Aleksei Chadov	...	Vorobey
Mikhail Yevlanov	...	Ryaba
Ivan Kokorin	...	Chugun
Artyom Mikhalkov	...	Stas
Konstantin Kryukov	...	Gioconda
Artur Smolyaninov	...	Lyutyi
Mikhail Porechenkov	...	Praporshik Dygalo
Irina Rakhmanova	...	Belosnezhka - 'Snow White'
Aleksei Serebryakov	...	Kapitan
Mikhail Yefremov	...	Dembel
Aleksei Kravchenko	...	Kapitan Bystrov
Andrei Krasko	...	Kompolka v Afgane
Stanislav Govorukhin	...	Kompolka v Uchebke
Aleksandr Bashirov	...	Pomidor

Also Known As:

9 РОТА (Russia)
9. komppania (Finland)
9th Legion (Europe: English title)
The 9th Company (International: English title)

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

Finland | Russia | Ukraine

Language:

Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | UK:15 | Argentina:13 | South Korea:15 | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Crimea, Ukraine

Company:

Art Pictures Group

Trivia:

Was a Russian candidate for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film nomination in 2007.

Quotes:

[from trailer]
Hohol: This is war! They don't put low grades here! They kill!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dnevnoy dozor (2006)

Common war movie, but still somehow unique

Yes, we have all seen a lot of those movies that focus on soldiers in the battle, their bravery, weaknesses, breakdowns etc. Those films are always end up in a way that let's us know once again, how pointless is war and how it has its impact to every single life separately. This movie is not an exception in overall point of view. It has quite a same morale.

But few things make it still unique and are the reason to rate it a bit higher than just average.

At first reality. Not historically, but people in the movie are much more real than in Hollywood movie. It seems that only Russian actors can let the public see the soul of Russian people and soldiers. I'm not Russian myself, but I've met a lot of them and this is just the unique thing they call "Russkaja dusha" (Russian soul). Russians have very hot temper, they can blaze up in a second and start the fight, but they never let it damage their friendship.

Second dose of realism: people in war. I mean especially Dygalo was a very realistic character. When I was serving my time in Estonian army I met an officer who was also veteran of Afganistan war. And believe me, he was quite a copy of Dygalo. It is hard to understand, how real war experience could leave such a trace in human mind, but now when I saw Praporshik Dygalo in that movie, I noticed a huge similarity between Dygalo and that officer and I instantly understood that this is the real thing, this is exactly how war affected those soldiers. And the fact this film has managed to take it to public so real, gives it a great bonus.

And last, but not least: Russian language in a movie that also really sounds as Russian language. I'm always laughing about the episodes in Hollywood movies that should include Russian army or characters and I have to say that Russian language in Hollywood movies is more than ridiculous, therefore I'm quite happy that this film was made in Russian. By the way, Russian is considered to have the most developed vocabulary in swearing and as this is war movie and those guys are pretty rough as well, it sounds much better and more real in Russian. Translation usually manages to lost at least half of the meaning.

In conclusion: yes, I would recommend this movie to everybody. Although it shares the same morale than other war movies, it's still somehow unique and especially Americans could take a look and compare it to Hollywood stuff.