Dear Comrades!

Name: Dear Comrades!
Genre: Drama, History
Released: December 25, 2020
Duration: 121 min
Rating: 82
Cast: Alexander Maskelyne, Andrey Gusev, Sergei Erlish, Vladislav Komarov, Yuliya Burova

2020

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 19 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Ratings

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7.1	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Ratings

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Dear Comrades! (US Trailer 1)

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Movie Details & Credits

Neon | Release Date (Streaming): December 25, 2020 | Not Rated

Starring: Alexander Maskelyne, Andrey Gusev, Sergei Erlish, Vladislav Komarov, Yuliya Burova, Yuliya Vysotskaya

Summary: Novocherkassk, a provincial town in the south of the USSR, 1962. Lyudmila, a devout Communist Party official and idealistic veteran of WWII, is a scourge of anything she perceives as anti- Soviet sentiment. Together with other local Party officials, she is taken by surprise by a strike at the local factory, in which her own daughter isNovocherkassk, a provincial town in the south of the USSR, 1962. Lyudmila, a devout Communist Party official and idealistic veteran of WWII, is a scourge of anything she perceives as anti- Soviet sentiment. Together with other local Party officials, she is taken by surprise by a strike at the local factory, in which her own daughter is taking part. As the situation quickly spirals out of control, Lyudmila begins a desperate search for her daughter in the face of curfews, mass arrests, and the authorities' ruthless attempts to cover up the state violence. Her once unquestioning faith in the Party line is shaken by her growing awareness of its human toll, tearing apart the world she thought she knew.… Expand

Director: Andrei Konchalovsky

Genre(s): Drama, History

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 121 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Bob Strauss

Feb 25, 2021

Setting political movies in the past is an easy, usually safe way to signal virtue. But with its eerie resonances of 2021 reports from Moscow to Washington, D.C., this monochrome aesthetic object looks like something that draws real blood. Read full review

100

The Guardian Peter Bradshaw

Jan 14, 2021

It is a passionate drama of fear and rage. Read full review

The Film Stage Glenn Heath Jr.

Sep 13, 2020

Through its meticulous recreation of historical circumstance both personal and collective, Dear Comrades! beautifully counters these natural feelings of indifference through a blisteringly precise style of dramatic filmmaking that never shies away from revealing the fascism propping up all the propagandistic bluster. Read full review

Deborah Young

Sep 12, 2020

Although at first sight this dramatization of a 1962 strike at a factory in the U.S.S.R. may seem a long way from the interests of contemporary audiences, it is surprising how much resonance the film has with the political struggles of our own time. Read full review

Mark Kermode

Jan 17, 2021

Throughout, Konchalovsky juxtaposes wide-ranging events with seemingly insignificant details to dramatic effect. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Glenn Kenny

Dec 31, 2020

Dear Comrades is a fascinating, irony-steeped portrait of a soul who’s been hardened by her trauma, to the extent that she embraces its architects. Read full review

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky

Feb 3, 2021

Critics are often accused of reviewing a filmmaker’s politics over the film. But the truth is that, outside of welcome stretches of humor (in the beginning) and tension (towards the end), there isn’t much more to Dear Comrades!. The script is filled with flat, rhetorical speeches that are done no favors by Konchalovsky’s static direction. Read full review

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User Reviews

bertobellamy

Jul 10, 2022

A woman's lament is also the nation's. 'Dear Comrades' starts as a political drama only to transform into a thriller about a mother desperately looking for her daughter. Andrei Konchalovsky conjures striking images and a nerve-racking story to make the world remember the NovocherkasskA woman's lament is also the nation's. 'Dear Comrades' starts as a political drama only to transform into a thriller about a mother desperately looking for her daughter. Andrei Konchalovsky conjures striking images and a nerve-racking story to make the world remember the Novocherkassk massacre, in which more than 20 unarmed civilians protesting for labor rights were gunned down by the Soviet army and the KGB. This is a very sharp look into ideologies clashing within different generations, all part of a country that demands everything for them without giving anything in return.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Leon970304

May 30, 2021

B+/77｜对整个政治体制的直白批判毫无新意，视听语言毫无必要的繁琐让整部影片失去了本该有的力量。主角刻画的很立体，其身为不同社会角色所体验到的社会信息和所代表的态度丰满而鲜活。换个角度来说，整部影片的社会价值是值得赞许的，尤其是在当下映射着整个世界——不仅仅是中国社会的社会政治体制所暗含的矛盾和对立。当然，来到letterboxd已经从某些角度证明了中国在这方面的挤压已经到了接近饱和的程度。愿世界和平。B+/77｜对整个政治体制的直白批判毫无新意，视听语言毫无必要的繁琐让整部影片失去了本该有的力量。主角刻画的很立体，其身为不同社会角色所体验到的社会信息和所代表的态度丰满而鲜活。换个角度来说，整部影片的社会价值是值得赞许的，尤其是在当下映射着整个世界——不仅仅是中国社会的社会政治体制所暗含的矛盾和对立。当然，来到letterboxd已经从某些角度证明了中国在这方面的挤压已经到了接近饱和的程度。愿世界和平。

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

netflic

Jan 28, 2021

This movie is an official entry into Oscar 2020 from Russia.
The director is quite famous: Andrei Konchalovsky.
The movie is based on historic events. In 1962 there was a strike at an industrial plant in the Russian city of Novocherkassk. The authorities ruthlessly squashed it and then triedThis movie is an official entry into Oscar 2020 from Russia.
The director is quite famous: Andrei Konchalovsky.
The movie is based on historic events. In 1962 there was a strike at an industrial plant in the Russian city of Novocherkassk.
The authorities ruthlessly squashed it and then tried very hard that no one, neither abroad nor inside the country knew anything about it.
People not intimately familiar with totalitarian regimes would have hard time to understand how it is possible. Well, it is, it was and it will be in a country like the USSR.
I lived in that country, and I got to know about these events well after the Soviet Union collapsed.
But back to the movie. The conflict is shown through the eyes of a woman, a typical "apparatchik", a functionary who has an unwavering belief in the righteousness of the Party and the cause of building communism.
Then she becomes a witness to mass casualties among peaceful demonstrators at the hands of KGB and the Army. When her daughter becomes missing for several days, that unshakable belief of hers seems to be shattered. Or does it?
The movie is done quite professionally, one could feel the hand of a master.
But it failed to impress me the way previous Russian Oscar entries did ("Beanpole" 2019, "Loveless", 2017, "Leviathan" 2014).
Maybe my expectations were too high. Or maybe it was a totally different level of movie making. Who can tell?
… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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