''Dear Comrades!'' () is a 2020 Russian

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...

film about the

Novocherkassk massacre The Novocherkassk massacre () took place on 2 June 1962 in Novocherkassk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, when Soviet Army soldiers and MVD Internal Troops, supported by KGB units, fired on unarmed demonstrators protesting economic conditions. The ...

produced, co-written and directed by

Andrei Konchalovsky Andrei Sergeyevich Konchalovsky (; né Mikhalkov; born 20 August 1937) is a Russian film and theatre director, screenwriter, and producer. His filmmaking career spans over 60 years in Cinema of the Soviet Union, Soviet, Cinema of the United St ...

. It was entered in competition at the

77th Venice International Film Festival The 77th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 2 to 12 September 2020, at Venice Lido in Italy. Albeit in a "more restrained format" due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival held all its screenings with public presence. Aust ...

. At Venice, the film won the Special Jury Prize. The film received a nomination for

BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language The BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language is a film award given annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and presented at the British Academy Film Awards. The award was first given at the 36th British Academy F ...

and was selected as the Russian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the

93rd Academy Awards The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released from January 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles. The ceremony was held on April 25, 2021 ...

, making the shortlist of fifteen films.

Plot

The film tells about the shooting of a demonstration of workers in Novocherkassk in 1962. Lyudmila is a party worker of the local city committee, and a staunch communist. During a large workers' strike at the Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Plant over rising food prices and cuts in wages, Lyudmila witnesses the mass shooting of demonstrators by order of the Government Commission, which is trying to hide the strike from the rest of the USSR. During the protest and massacre, Lyudmila's 18-year-old daughter Svetka disappears. Lyudmila searches for her daughter frantically, but discreetly, as the KGB begins arresting suspects, secretly burying bodies, locking the town down completely, and legally swearing every person in town to total silence about the events. Lyudmila struggles to understand how the government could do all this, but also tries to convince herself that communism will triumph in the end. She longs for the days when Stalin ruled, but also prays and begs God to let her daughter still be alive. A sympathetic KGB agent surreptitiously tries to help her locate her daughter. They eventually make their way out of the town to check a rural cemetery where some of the bodies have been secretly buried. A policeman who was ordered to bury the bodies in decrepit graves confirms that he buried the girl in the picture Lyudmila shows him of her daughter Svetka. She becomes grief-stricken when he mentions the girl's toes were sticking out of a hole in one stocking - a hole Lyudmila had recently told her daughter to sew up. She drinks heavily on the way back to town. She is overcome with grief and confusion about all that has happened and what it means for communism and for her life. When she gets back to her apartment at night, her own father is packing up Svetka's suitcase. He tells Lyudmila that Svetka is up on the roof. Lyudmila races up the stairs, and through a window sees her daughter hiding on the roof. She is overcome with joy and shock and repeats God's name in wonder that her daughter is alive. As she hugs Svetka, she promises that she will protect her from the KGB. As the film ends, Lyudmila embraces her daughter and repeats the words, "We'll do better."

Cast

Julia Vysotskaya Julia Aleksandrovna Vysotskaya (; born 16 August 1973) is a Russian actress and television presenter. Biography Julia Vysotskaya was born in Novocherkassk, Rostov Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia). She finished high school № ...

as Lyudmila 'Lyuda' Syomina * Sergei Erlish as Lyuda's father * Yuliya Burova as Svetka, Lyuda's daughter * Vladislav Komarov as Loginov * Andrey Gusev as Viktor

Reception

According to

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which sampled 19 critics and calculated a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, the film received "universal acclaim".

Mark Kermode Mark Kermode (, ; ; born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician, radio presenter, television presenter, author and podcaster. He is the co-presenter (with Ellen E. Jones) of the BBC Radio 4 programme ''Screenshot'', and co-presenter ...

of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' gave the film 4/5 stars, writing, "Seamlessly blending exterior shots of Novocherkassk with grand sets constructed in Moscow, Konchalovsky creates an utterly convincing air of mounting chaos, brilliantly captured on multiple cameras marshalled by cinematographer Andrey Naydenov." ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

s Ann Hornaday gave it 4/4 stars, saying that it "may not make perfect sense of the past, but it goes a long way in allowing people to look at it with a clarity that manages to be exacting and compassionate at the same time."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dear Comrades! 2020 films 2020 drama films 2020s Russian films 2020s historical drama films Russian black-and-white films Russian historical drama films 2020s Russian-language films Drama films based on actual events Films about Soviet repression Films directed by Andrei Konchalovsky Films set in 1962 Films set in Russia Films set in the Soviet Union Venice Special Jury Prize winners Films about communism Films critical of communism Neon (company) films Russian-language historical drama films

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links