Reviews on movie Degraded Officer (3)

A lot of tantrums. Not as much as it is usual to see in modern Russian cinema, but there are many. The tantrums are mostly unnatural.

The internal driving force of the motives of different actions of the characters is incomprehensible, and therefore the idea of some soullessness of everything that is happening, some mechanicity and impulsivity is formed.

Most people think and act like crazy people. Many actions do not lend themselves to rational explanation in relation to the events taking place, both with the heroes themselves and in a global sense. And even when all the “maps” are fully revealed, the main character continues to behave inadequately: in the final episode, a beautiful picture is shown, which in fact means nothing but the illogical and delusional nature of this act. I will explain: there are many dead at the battlefield, but only two of them needed to be moved somewhere for some reason. Where to? - I don't understand. But – a beautiful picture of swimming into the fog, after death forever reconciled the two “brothers-cockerels”. . .

The plot, due to its stupidity, is forced to regularly throw pianos in the bushes: a cannibal guerrilla, a crazy woman, a “secret” brigade commander, then all together, knowing nothing about subordination or at least any discipline. In general, it is not surprising for the script on the topic of “military-psychological hardness”, written by a woman. After all, even a female soldier in this plot also knows nothing about subordination, about her immediate official duties, about professionalism, etc. things necessary in a military situation.
Instead of somehow caring for the wounded (she is a surgeon! – at least do dressings periodically), a female military doctor only states that the wounded die and die. Probably, bandages hanging everywhere should build some logical relationships in the mind of the viewer, but total general nonsense does not allow this. All the military doctor can help the wounded is to pour alcohol down his throat, with a warning that you need to swallow immediately so that the throat does not burn. That's five! Inspection and dressings are no longer necessary, because what can be better than alcohol? But in the yard is already 1943, the troops have already returned epaulettes! That is, the first tragic confusion and chaos of military surprise is long gone, people are used to war, know what it looks like and what to do. Instead, we see only impotence, incapacity, unprofessionalism and as the last effective way out in any situation – hysteria. The only more or less integral character is a political leader, deftly managing everyone around and organizing order at least in his immediate environment. But he is, of course, a negative character, because Stalin’s chain dog cannot be good by definition.
Does the film save the participation of a good actor Alexander Mikhailov? On the contrary, aggravates the unpleasant sensation. Mikhailov plays well, but the dialogue, motivation and actions caused by the plot cast a painful gray shadow on his character: he is as murky a character as the others, entangled in his own desires and intentions, with a partially atrophied sense of danger and fear of death, having no high meaningful purpose in life. Obviously, the author of the script did not understand her hero herself, and left the viewer only a set of indistinct sketches for personal thinking and fantasizing.
The film has many plot incompletenesses: officer rations, medical instruments, a crazy woman, farewell letters to relatives. But the main one is the central hero, removed from everything and wisely hovering over any fight, with a murky personality orientation, intentions and life principles.

The picture gravely sins possible chronology, because in one incomplete day there is an incredible number of events.

It is impossible to call this film anti-Soviet, but in general the focus is exactly this: the unfortunate heroes fell under the rink of cruel military events, where for some reason there is no place for personal heroism, and everything is solved by extrajudicial killings. Or they will be judged, but they will be unjust. If a personal feat is present, then the homeland in the person of the command does not evaluate it, nullifying any good intention. Everything in stories of this kind turns into meaninglessness and a miserable attempt at survival, there is no general idea of victory, of a just war, of universal suffering of the people. There are only individuals who are crushed by brutal power and war. The pettiness of the script is blatant, but, unfortunately, writers of this kind will not understand this, because they were raised on the ideas of consumption and self-centeredness. In the stories from such authors, there is no understanding that the homeland is in danger, that everything should be subordinated to the main thing - victory over the enemy. Instead, it is necessary to return again and again to the perestroika vomit about the innocent-permanent-suffering victims of repression, extrajudicial killings and cruel soulless power. I will say again, the film is not brightly anti-Soviet, but the general vector is exactly that.
Pros. The entourage for such a passing film did well, and it seems that the lion’s part of the budget went here.
Conclusion. Is this a good movie? Nope. It's more like he's nothing. I wish I hadn't watched it or wasted time. (Watched on recommendation).

“Degraded” good film about a micro-episode of war, when for a couple of days meet completely different people, spend side by side time, and in the end, the war sums up everything. Despite the fact that there are no large-scale fights, and the budget is not large, the creators managed to put a nerve into the tape, which does not let go until the final. The characters of this film are ambiguous - the lieutenant who did not execute the order in the first battle is right in his own way, but he is also guilty, the order was not fulfilled. The investigator escorting him is also not sinless - he succumbed to flattery and vanity, now he has difficulties with the delivery of the arrested person. The Red Army fighter, who was sent to help with the convoy, has his own view of what is happening. Such characters collided on the front lines and go to the rear, on the battlefields and liberated territories. Terrible landscapes of the front line accompany them on the way. In the film there are no lengthy dialogues, only the lieutenant investigator tries to justify his actions and convinces of the fairness of the military field court, the rest speak little, sparingly and on the case. The most memorable words that will be written to parents that their son chickened out and was punished for it. As wild as it may sound to us, according to the memories of the older generation, such news from the front was a shame for the family. And the thoughts of both young lieutenants revolve around this, that they have disgraced relatives. The denouement of the tape to horror is banal and, alas, true, and from this it becomes a little uncomfortable, the youthful maximalism of the heroes is more vividly demonstrated.

Alexander Mikhailov in this film played perfectly, wise age soldiers with everyday simplicity refers to what is happening. He will reveal his secret only at the end and give an equally simple human explanation. Nikita Tezin (degraded lieutenant) and Philip Bazhin (investigator - lieutenant) played quite naturally, the characters and motives of the heroes’ actions are conveyed very well.
Among the shortcomings, I note some “black” episodes that spoiled the general impression – a political worker intrigues in the battalion (it turned out to be very caricatured), a cannibal in the pit (in my opinion, everyone noted his inappropriateness), a hospital with dying soldiers without medicine and food (still ours came, and did not retreat, could and should have reported where it should be, and marching companies would not pass by the headquarters of the division). The rest is quite a watchable film that makes you think about many things.
7 out of 10

Does the title remind you of anything? And he's very relevant here. Firstly, because the film was shot in those places. Secondly, the time and nature of the action of the picture should take place there, and it is very unfortunate that this section of the front is not marked in any way (at least as a tribute to the memory of that war, because in our film classics there is always a “link to the terrain” and fronts. "And the dawns here are quiet," "Hot snow," etc. Wait for the finale.

... And in that war a lot happened, sometimes so paradoxical and unthinkable that it is impossible to imagine. It turns out that there was a case when a fighter with a mortar shot down a German plane (the chance of hitting is probably one in a million!). In one of the reviews I called the existence of the Hitler kolkhoz fantastic, and it turned out that the fascists actually created such farms. Every year new archival details of the Great Patriotic War are revealed, previously untold memories of veterans are recorded and published. So it is not worth indiscriminately (and it is necessary to prove it!) to accuse the screenwriter of “Dismayed” Natalia Portnova of sucking out of the ballpoint pen implausible facts (except that the “guerrilla-canibal”, perhaps, really... too much). Everything else could well have been, even the forgotten wounded (at the offensive, they forgot not only the petty officer with a field kitchen). The only thing that is obvious is that the rear could not be completely empty, especially since the front was not in Siberia, but in the center of the European part of the country! It seems that the rearists simply “did not fit” into the idea of the picture and its small budget.
And the idea is very good, like the film itself, heavy, dramatic, shot in the best traditions of Soviet “informal” military cinema. And although it is two kilometers to the depth of “Road Checks” and “Ascent”, it is still an impressive attempt to preserve these very traditions, which has nothing to do with new-fangled serial military-adventure “shooters”. But do not forget about the “prototype” – the film “Two in the steppe” (1962), to which I immediately refer you.
If it were not for the above shortcomings, not a parody image of a snotty specialist, I would have put “Dismayed” 8 (oh, completely forgot about the final scene, where the ex-combrig appears in the image of Charon – strongly!), but there is only 7 with a plus.
7 out of 10